With reference to geographic research on 'nature and bodies', what do human geographers consider academic research to be and how can you best prepare to do it well
With reference to geographic research on ‘nature and bodies’, what do human geographers consider academic research to be and how can you best prepare to do it well?
Academic research in human geography has developed since Stoddart’s (1986) image of the positivist ‘explorer-scientist’ using predominantly quantitative methods of research. With the cultural turn in the latter half of the 20th century human geography research took on new meaning; encompassing a broad range of subjects, it was shaped by various sub-disciplines to form a modern yet still debated concept. (Cloke et al., 2004).
Critical Realism opposed the foundations of positivism in conducting research. Critical realists suggest positivism produces a closed system of formulaic research where empirical laws and intervening factors create an unnecessarily objective framework for research. Cloke at al. (2004) talk about the importance of ‘listening to voices’ and ‘being reflexive’, involving an increased humanistic approach . In keeping with the latter, Hoggart suggests that: “a [freely objective] observation is not possible when constructing data and the conceptualizations by which we view the world must be critically analyzed” (Hoggart et al., 2002: 36). David Ley (1974), who founded ‘interpretive geography’, showed the importance of ethnographic practices in academic research, essentially ‘listening to voices’ through in depth interview techniques. When Ley studied the existential meanings of place and black street gangs in Philadelphia, he not only collected ‘unstructured’ interpretive data from his own analysis of the everyday lives of the researched. As well as interviews, he looked at other data and documents to create an eclectic mix of data containing quantitive and qualitative moments (Cloke et al., 2004). Alison Blunt (2003) states that when researching cultural geographies, it is important to use a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques as David Ley did.
Schwartz and Jacobs
Academic research in human geography has developed since Stoddart’s (1986) image of the positivist ‘explorer-scientist’ using predominantly quantitative methods of research. With the cultural turn in the latter half of the 20th century human geography research took on new meaning; encompassing a broad range of subjects, it was shaped by various sub-disciplines to form a modern yet still debated concept. (Cloke et al., 2004).
Critical Realism opposed the foundations of positivism in conducting research. Critical realists suggest positivism produces a closed system of formulaic research where empirical laws and intervening factors create an unnecessarily objective framework for research. Cloke at al. (2004) talk about the importance of ‘listening to voices’ and ‘being reflexive’, involving an increased humanistic approach . In keeping with the latter, Hoggart suggests that: “a [freely objective] observation is not possible when constructing data and the conceptualizations by which we view the world must be critically analyzed” (Hoggart et al., 2002: 36). David Ley (1974), who founded ‘interpretive geography’, showed the importance of ethnographic practices in academic research, essentially ‘listening to voices’ through in depth interview techniques. When Ley studied the existential meanings of place and black street gangs in Philadelphia, he not only collected ‘unstructured’ interpretive data from his own analysis of the everyday lives of the researched. As well as interviews, he looked at other data and documents to create an eclectic mix of data containing quantitive and qualitative moments (Cloke et al., 2004). Alison Blunt (2003) states that when researching cultural geographies, it is important to use a mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques as David Ley did.
Schwartz and Jacobs