Qualitative geography

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A compound chorochromatic map of Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages in South Asia. The color scheme represents the hierarchical nature of language classification, by grouping similar language families: yellows are Eastern Indic, purples are Dardic, reds are Southern Indic, greens are Western Indic, browns are Northern Indic, and oranges are Central Indic. Maps like these are often referred to as qualitative in the literature. Indo-Aryan language map.svg
A compound chorochromatic map of Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages in South Asia. The color scheme represents the hierarchical nature of language classification, by grouping similar language families: yellows are Eastern Indic, purples are Dardic, reds are Southern Indic, greens are Western Indic, browns are Northern Indic, and oranges are Central Indic. Maps like these are often referred to as qualitative in the literature.

Qualitative geography is a subfield and methodological approach to geography focusing on nominal data, descriptive information, and the subjective and interpretive aspects of how humans experience and perceive the world. [2] [1] Often, it is concerned with understanding the lived experiences of individuals and groups and the social, cultural, and political contexts in which those experiences occur. Thus, qualitative geography is traditionally placed under the branch of human geography; however, technical geographers are increasingly directing their methods toward interpreting, visualizing, and understanding qualitative datasets, and physical geographers employ nominal qualitative data as well as quanitative. [3] [1] Furthermore, there is increased interest in applying approaches and methods that are generally viewed as more qualitative in nature to physical geography, such as in critical physical geography. [4] While qualitative geography is often viewed as the opposite of quantitative geography, the two sets of techniques are increasingly used to complement each other. [2] [5] [4] Qualitative research can be employed in the scientific process to start the observation process, determine variables to include in research, validate results, and contextualize the results of quantitative research through mixed-methods approaches. [3] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Approaches

Several scientific fields/subfields created or modified and applied specific concepts, theories, methods, principles/laws, techniques/technologies, etc. so to propose specific interdisciplinary approaches for addressing qualitative research-questions of geography.[ citation needed ] Qualitative geography is the interdisciplinary field of geography gathering these proposed interdisciplinary-approaches from:

Concept of place

Geography considers place as one of its most significant and complicated concepts, and describing a place is something that qualitative methods are absolutely necessary to accomplish. [9] [10] [11] [12] When referring to human geography, place is a combination of the geographical coordinates of a location, the activities that take place there (past, present, and future), and the interpretations that human individuals and groups assigned to that space. This can be highly intricate because people may have different uses and perceptions of the exact location at different times. Moreover, places are not isolated entities and have complex spatial connections, as geography is interested in how an area is positioned relative to all other locations. [13] [14] Therefore, geography includes all spatial phenomena at a particular site, the various meanings and uses attributed to it, and how it affects and is affected by all other locations on the planet. [11] [12] While quantitative methods can describe spatial coordinates, the concept of place is, in many ways, non-quantifiable. Thus, while quantitative methods are incredibly useful in an understanding of space, qualitative methods are essential.

Methods

Qualitative geography is descriptive rather than numerical or statistical in nature. [6] [15] Qualitative geography involves methods such as ethnography, interviews, and participant observation to gather data and make sense of the complexity and diversity of human geography. [2] [8] It emphasizes the importance of subjectivity, reflexivity, and interpretation in research. Qualitative geography aims to produce rich, detailed accounts of the social and cultural landscapes in which people live. Qualitative research is often exploratory and descriptive, emphasizing the importance of subjectivity, reflexivity, and interpretation. While qualitative methods are often viewed as opposite to quantitative methods, there is an increased emphasis in geography on mixed methods approaches that employ both. Increasingly, technical geographers are exploring GIS methods applied to qualitative datasets. [6] [3] [16]

Qualitative cartography

USGS geological map of Georgia that visualizes distinctive geological regions as unique colors using a chorochromatic map. Note that the regions change based on variations in rock type, not preexisting political boundaries. Geologic Map of Georgia.png
USGS geological map of Georgia that visualizes distinctive geological regions as unique colors using a chorochromatic map. Note that the regions change based on variations in rock type, not preexisting political boundaries.

Qualitative cartography employs many of the same software and techniques as quantitative. [16] It may be employed to inform on map practices, or to visualize perspectives and ideas that are not strictly quantitative in nature. [16] [6] Examples of common qualitative information mapped include Chorochromatic map of nominal data, such as land use and land cover. [1] In such cases, literature suggests using hue, rather than saturation, for displaying qualitative map topics. [1]

Qualitative cartography can be used as art to communicate concepts not necessarily tied to spatial coordinates or to demonstrate the impacts, limitations, and implications of cartography on diverse groups of people. [17]

Qualitative methods are employed by geographers seeking to improve cartographic practices by understanding how subjective cartographic choices impact how data is understood by users. [16]

Ethnography

Ethnographical research techniques are used by human geographers. [18] In cultural geography, there is a tradition of employing qualitative research techniques, also used in anthropology and sociology. Participant observation and in-depth interviews provide human geographers with qualitative data.

Interviews

Geographers can employ interviews to gather data and insights from individuals or groups about their experiences, perceptions, and opinions related to geographic phenomena. [8] [19] Interviews can be conducted in various formats, including face-to-face, telephone, online, or written. [2] [8] To employ interviews in research, geographers typically follow a structured or semi-structured format with questions or topics to guide the conversation. [8] These questions elicit specific information about the research topic while allowing participants to share their personal experiences and insights. [19] Geographers also often use open-ended questions to encourage participants to provide more detailed and nuanced responses. [8]

Geopoetics

Geopoetics is a discipline that combines geography and poetry to explore, contextualize, and communicate geographic concepts, research, and phenomena. [20] Geopoetics can be viewed as a methodology in itself, but is increasingly used as a mixed methods tool to explain the implications of quantitative geographic research and phenomena. [20] [21] Topics addressed by geopoetics often include impacts of the anthropocene, such as climate change and environmental exploitation. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]

Criticisms

One of the primary criticisms of qualitative geography is its lack of generalizability. [2] [27] The findings of qualitative geography research are often based on small sample sizes, specific cases, or small-scale phenomena, making it challenging to generalize the results to larger populations or areas or capture larger patterns and trends. The data often rely on the research participants' unique circumstances and experiences, making qualitative research studies challenging to replicate. This makes strictly controlling variables, systematic data collection, and analysis procedures challenging. Finally, qualitative geographic research often relies heavily on the researcher's subjective interpretation of the data, which can introduce potential bias into the study. The researcher's background, experiences, and assumptions can influence their interpretation of the data. Ultimately, these factors of qualitative geographic lead some critics to argue that qualitative research lacks the rigor and objectivity of quantitative analysis. This can limit the applicability of the study to other researchers and policymakers.

Influential geographers

Publications

Main category: Geography Journals

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human geography</span> Study of cultures, communities, and activities of peoples of the world

Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban redevelopment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social interactions and the environment through qualitative and quantitative methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldo R. Tobler</span> American geographer

Waldo Rudolph Tobler was an American-Swiss geographer and cartographer. Tobler is regarded as one of the most influential geographers and cartographers of the late 20th century and early 21st century. Tobler is most well known for his proposed idea that "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things," which has come to be referred to as the "first law of geography." He proposed a second law as well: "The phenomenon external to an area of interest affects what goes on inside."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choropleth map</span> Type of data visualization for geographic regions

A choropleth map is a type of statistical thematic map that uses pseudocolor, meaning color corresponding with an aggregate summary of a geographic characteristic within spatial enumeration units, such as population density or per-capita income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Frank Goodchild</span> British-American geographer

Michael Frank Goodchild is a British-American geographer. He is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After nineteen years at the University of Western Ontario, including three years as chair, he moved to Santa Barbara in 1988, as part of the establishment of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, which he directed for over 20 years. In 2008, he founded the UCSB Center for Spatial Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobler's first law of geography</span> The first of several proposed laws of geography

The First Law of Geography, according to Waldo Tobler, is "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." This first law is the foundation of the fundamental concepts of spatial dependence and spatial autocorrelation and is utilized specifically for the inverse distance weighting method for spatial interpolation and to support the regionalized variable theory for kriging. The first law of geography is the fundamental assumption used in all spatial analysis.

The quantitative revolution (QR) was a paradigm shift that sought to develop a more rigorous and systematic methodology for the discipline of geography. It came as a response to the inadequacy of regional geography to explain general spatial dynamics. The main claim for the quantitative revolution is that it led to a shift from a descriptive (idiographic) geography to an empirical law-making (nomothetic) geography. The quantitative revolution occurred during the 1950s and 1960s and marked a rapid change in the method behind geographical research, from regional geography into a spatial science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health geography</span>

Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care. Medical geography, a sub-discipline of or sister field of health geography, focuses on understanding spatial patterns of health and disease as related to the natural and social environment. Conventionally, there are two primary areas of research within medical geography: the first deals with the spatial distribution and determinants of morbidity and mortality, while the second deals with health planning, help-seeking behavior, and the provision of health services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spatial analysis</span> Formal techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties

Spatial analysis is any of the formal techniques which studies entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques using different analytic approaches, especially spatial statistics. It may be applied in fields as diverse as astronomy, with its studies of the placement of galaxies in the cosmos, or to chip fabrication engineering, with its use of "place and route" algorithms to build complex wiring structures. In a more restricted sense, spatial analysis is geospatial analysis, the technique applied to structures at the human scale, most notably in the analysis of geographic data. It may also be applied to genomics, as in transcriptomics data.

Time geography or time-space geography is an evolving transdisciplinary perspective on spatial and temporal processes and events such as social interaction, ecological interaction, social and environmental change, and biographies of individuals. Time geography "is not a subject area per se", but rather an integrative ontological framework and visual language in which space and time are basic dimensions of analysis of dynamic processes. Time geography was originally developed by human geographers, but today it is applied in multiple fields related to transportation, regional planning, geography, anthropology, time-use research, ecology, environmental science, and public health. According to Swedish geographer Bo Lenntorp: "It is a basic approach, and every researcher can connect it to theoretical considerations in her or his own way."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field (geography)</span> Property that varies over space

In the context of spatial analysis, geographic information systems, and geographic information science, a field is a property that fills space, and varies over space, such as temperature or density. This use of the term has been adopted from physics and mathematics, due to their similarity to physical fields (vector or scalar) such as the electromagnetic field or gravitational field. Synonymous terms include spatially dependent variable (geostatistics), statistical surface ( thematic mapping), and intensive property (physics and chemistry) and crossbreeding between these disciplines is common. The simplest formal model for a field is the function, which yields a single value given a point in space (i.e., t = f(x, y, z) )

Geopoetics is an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of geography, poetry, and philosophy to explore the relationship between places, landscapes, and human experience. Geopoetics as a term was coined by Scottish Poet Kenneth White in 1979, his original manifesto and definitions of geopoetics have been expanded upon by researchers and poets in the subsequent decades. Despite this, geopoetics as a concept has been difficult to define clearly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography</span> Study of lands and inhabitants of Earth

Geography is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. Geography has been called "a bridge between natural science and social science disciplines."

Quantitative geography is a subfield and methodological approach to geography that develops, tests, and uses scientific, mathematical, and statistical methods to analyze and model geographic phenomena and patterns. It aims to explain and predict the distribution and dynamics of human and physical geography through the collection and analysis of quantifiable data. The approach quantitative geographers take is generally in line with the scientific method, where a falsifiable hypothesis is generated, and then tested through observational studies. This has received criticism, and in recent years, quantitative geography has moved to include systematic model creation and understanding the limits of their models. This approach is used to study a wide range of topics, including population demographics, urbanization, environmental patterns, and the spatial distribution of economic activity. The methods of quantitative geography are often contrasted by those employed by qualitative geography, which is more focused on observing and recording characteristics of geographic place. However, there is increasing interest in using combinations of both qualitative and quantitative methods through mixed-methods research to better understand and contextualize geographic phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorochromatic map</span> Thematic map visualizing a discrete field

A Chorochromatic map, also known as an area-class, qualitative area, or mosaic map, is a type of thematic map that portray regions of categorical or nominal data using variations in color symbols. Chorochromatic maps are typically used to represent discrete fields, also known as categorical coverages. Chorochromatic maps differ from choropleth maps in that chorochromatic maps are mapped according to data-driven boundaries instead of trying to make the data fit within existing, sometimes arbitrary units such as political boundaries.

Eric Magrane is a geographer, poet, writer, and assistant professor of geography at New Mexico State University. He has published several poems, peer-reviewed journals, and books. His work is notable in the human geography subfield of geopoetics, both as a contributor and in helping to define the field.

Technical geography is the branch of geography that involves using, studying, and creating tools to obtain, analyze, interpret, understand, and communicate spatial information. The other branches, most commonly limited to human geography and physical geography, can usually apply the concepts and techniques of technical geography. However, the methods and theory are distinct, and a technical geographer may be more concerned with the technological and theoretical concepts than the nature of the data. Further, a technical geographer may explore the relationship between the spatial technology and the end users to improve upon the technology and better understand the impact of the technology on human behavior. Thus, the spatial data types a technical geographer employs may vary widely, including human and physical geography topics, with the common thread being the techniques and philosophies employed. To accomplish this, technical geographers often create their own software or scripts, which can then be applied more broadly by others. They may also explore applying techniques developed for one application to another unrelated topic, such as applying Kriging, originally developed for mining, to disciplines as diverse as real-estate prices. In teaching technical geography, instructors often need to fall back on examples from human and physical geography to explain the theoretical concepts. While technical geography mostly works with quantitative data, the techniques and technology can be applied to qualitative geography, differentiating it from quantitative geography. Within the branch of technical geography are the major and overlapping subbranches of geographic information science, geomatics, and geoinformatics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web GIS</span> Technologies employing the World Wide Web to manage spatial data

Web GIS, or Web Geographic Information Systems, are GIS that employ the World Wide Web to facilitate the storage, visualization, analysis, and distribution of spatial information over the Internet. The World Wide Web, or the Web, is an information system that uses the internet to host, share, and distribute documents, images, and other data. Web GIS involves using the World Wide Web to facilitate GIS tasks traditionally done on a desktop computer, as well as enabling the sharing of maps and spatial data. While Web GIS and Internet GIS are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different concepts. Web GIS is a subset of Internet GIS, which is itself a subset of distributed GIS, which itself is a subset of broader Geographic information system. The most common application of Web GIS is Web mapping, so much so that the two terms are often used interchangeably in much the same way as Digital mapping and GIS. However, Web GIS and web mapping are distinct concepts, with web mapping not necessarily requiring a Web GIS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncertain geographic context problem</span> Source of statistical bias

The uncertain geographic context problem or UGCoP is a source of statistical bias that can significantly impact the results of spatial analysis when dealing with aggregate data. The UGCoP is very closely related to the Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), and like the MAUP, arises from how we divide the land into areal units. It is caused by the difficulty, or impossibility, of understanding how phenomena under investigation in different enumeration units interact between enumeration units, and outside of a study area over time. It is particularly important to consider the UGCoP within the discipline of time geography, where phenomena under investigation can move between spatial enumeration units during the study period. Examples of research that needs to consider the UGCoP include food access and human mobility.

George Frederick Jenks (1916–1996) was an American geographer known for his significant contributions to cartography and geographic information systems (GIS). With a career spanning over three decades, Jenks played a vital role in advancing map-making technologies, was instrumental in enhancing the visualization of spatial data, and played foundational roles in developing modern cartographic curricula. The Jenks natural breaks optimization, based on his work, is still widely used in the creation of thematic maps, such as choropleth maps.

Arthur Getis was an American geographer known for his significant contributions to spatial statistics and geographic information science (GIScience). With a career spanning over four decades, Getis authored more than one hundred peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, greatly influencing GIScience and geography as a whole. The Getis-Ord family of statistics, one of the most commonly used in spatial analysis, is based on his and J. Keith Ord's work and is still widely used in the creation of hot spot maps.

References

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  13. ↑ Tobler, Waldo (1970). "A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region" (PDF). Economic Geography. 46: 234–240. doi:10.2307/143141. JSTOR   143141. S2CID   34085823. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-08. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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  17. ↑ Ribeiro, Daniel Melo (May 2018). "Art and cartography as a critique of borders". Proceedings of the ICA. 1: 1–6. doi: 10.5194/ica-proc-1-95-2018 . hdl: 1843/43371 .
  18. ↑ Cook, Ian; Crang, Phil (1995). Doing Ethnographies.
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  21. ↑ Magrane, Eric; Johnson, Maria (2017). "An art–science approach to bycatch in the Gulf of California shrimp trawling fishery". Cultural Geographies. 24 (3): 487–495. doi:10.1177/1474474016684129. S2CID   149158790 . Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  22. ↑ Magrane, Eric (2021). "Climate geopoetics (the earth is a composted poem)". Dialogues in Human Geography. 11 (1): 8–22. doi:10.1177/2043820620908390. S2CID   213112503 . Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  23. ↑ Nassar, Aya (2021). "Geopoetics: Storytelling against mastery". Dialogues in Human Geography. 1: 27–30. doi: 10.1177/2043820620986397 . S2CID   232162263.
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  25. ↑ Acker, Maleea (2021). "Gesturing toward the common and the desperation: Climate geopoetics' potential". Dialogues in Human Geography. 11 (1): 23–26. doi:10.1177/2043820620986396. S2CID   232162312 . Retrieved 22 August 2022.
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  27. ↑ Fotheringham, A. Stewart; Brunsdon, Chris; Charlton, Martin (2000). Quantitative Geography: Perspectives on Spatial Data Analysis. Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN   978-0-7619-5948-9.
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