Geography: Theory and Methods, Regionalism and the Quantitative Revolution

Geography
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Geography
Theory and Methods
Theory basically means a mode of ordering the multiplicity of facts and raw experience. Theory could be considered as a lens which allows people to see some things in a clear manner – it serves to impose theoretical order on disordered reality – as it brings a vague blur into focus. In essence, theory turns the experienced and perceived world into an interpreted world (Creswell, 2013). Theory is important to geography considering that all geographical inquiry is actually shaped by philosophy and theory. Theory shapes geographical inquiry in a number of ways. Firstly, theory is there when a person makes choices with regard to what to study. For instance, if a person chooses to look at the home’s micro spaces, there is a history of feminist theory that urges a geographer to take private space seriously. If a person chooses to study how public spaces are structured, there are several theorists arguing about what the term public really means – leave alone the meaning of space (Creswell, 2013).
Another way in which theory shapes geographical study is actually in the choices that people make regarding what to disregard or include in their study. After one has decided to look at domestic space, there is still much to do. There are a number of theoretical questions that a person is faced with. For instance, what type of domestic space? How many? Where? The third manner in which theory really shapes geographical study is in the decisions that people make with regard to how to collect information. Theory is connected to method through epistemology and methodology (Creswell, 2013). The individual may ask himself or herself: can the questions be answered by carrying out a survey of thousands of households? Would a quantitative approach be more generalisable or scientific? Do we have to live life with the occupants of a few households for sometime so as to get some of the richness and depth of life as it is lived? These are also theoretical questions regarding what it is that is considered vital to establish, whether the researcher is more interested in depth or generalizability. The methods are also theoretical. The other manner in which theory shapes geographical study is basically in the choices that researchers make as regards how to represent their research to their audiences. Some of the questions asked include: What journal would be chosen to publish the results? What type of charts or maps would be used? These are also theoretical questions. As such, theory is actually involved in each stage of geographical research (Creswell, 2013).
All in all, the meaning of theory varies in accordance with which types of theory a person ascribes to. Without doubt, physical and human geographers differ in how they talk about theory. The methods that human and physical geographers utilize differ. Whilst many projects in physical and human geography require the researcher to go out into the field, for instance to take measurements or samples, or to observe or interview people, a geographer can also carry out research without having to leave his or her library, living room, or computer (Tuan, 1977). For instance, research could be based on secondary sources such as archival/historical and contemporary material; visual imagery for instance television programmes and films; or even remote sensing and GIS. Human geographers can also conduct surveys and interviews in chat-rooms or by email (Harvey, 1969).
Human geographers essentially deal with the world, the people in the world and their economies, cultures, communities and interaction with the environment by giving emphasis to their relations across and with place and space. In essence, human geography focuses on the study of human activities by applying quantitative and qualitative research methods (Creswell, 2013). Human geographers explore the behaviour and impact of people and the way in which they relate to the physical world. How human geographers utilize theory is actually not unique to human geography but is brought in from and shared with cultural studies, literary studies, continental philosophy among other fields. Physical geographers are focused in studying the patterns and processes within the natural environment, for instance geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and the atmosphere (Bunge, 1962). Physical geographers look at the earth’s natural processes for instance plate tectonics and climate. In physical geography, theory is understood as a framework of ideas which guide what people consider as reality and how to study it. Other geographers define theories as a methodically well-organized set of hypotheses which are interconnected by a network of deductive relationships (Creswell, 2013).
The choice of theory and methods shape the kind of research that is done in that some research studies are better conducted by using certain theory or method and not others. In other words, some theories and methods are appropriate for certain types of research but they are inappropriate for other types of research. However, the geographer can also combine different methods. The process in which the geographer draws on various perspectives or sources is referred to as triangulation (Relph, 1976). Various sources of information or a number of methods could be used by the researcher in order to maximize an understanding of a given research question. Both quantitative and qualitative methods could be utilized. It is worth mentioning that dissimilar techniques must each contribute something unique to the research project instead of just being repetitive of each other. For instance, each technique should collect a new type of data or address a different research question (Sibley, 1995).
Torsten Hagerstrand, a human geographer, developed the idea of diffusion of innovations, which is essentially an area of study that actually concerns every science that deals with human activity, for instance economic and cultural geography. In his text Innovation Diffusion as a Spatial Process, Hagerstrand (1953) documents the different stages in his research, which started with collecting diffusion data, constructing an initial diffusion model, and modifying this model so that it can create patterns almost similar to those that are observed within the real world. He develops models that incorporate different suppositions on the nature as well as spatial distribution of resistance and information. The suppositions are structured as rules used to simulate the diffusion of an innovation all through an ideal uniform plane with a population that is distributed evenly. The Monet Carlo method is utilized in these simulations (Hagerstrand, 1953).
William Morris Davis, a physical geographer, was a leading figure in the discipline of geography during the late 19th century and early 20th century. This geographer was influential in developing geography as an autonomous scholarly discipline in America. For over 50 years, Davis’ theories of landform development dominated geomorphology. When doing fieldwork, Davis would first look at maps of the region (Davis, 2000).
He worked with whichever maps that was available during that time considering that detailed topographic maps were unavailable until the 1920s (Livingstone, 1992). Before this geographer went to the field, he first poured over existing maps at every scale and drew the landscape, and he would then alter the drawing in the field according to the observations that he made. Davis was a skilled illustrator who at times drew using both hands. In field work, he gave emphasis to 4 themes: go, see, think, and draw. Davis employed deductive approach, which entails outlining a general theory and then seeing the way in which it is applied to certain situations (Davis, 2000).
Regionalism and the quantitative revolution
The study of regions basically entails studying world’s regions. It is notable that a region refers to a part of the surface of the earth that has one or several similar features making it to be unique and different from other areas. The study of regions and regionalism essentially studies the particular unique features of places related to their politics, climate, topography, economy and culture as well as environmental factors for instance their dissimilar species of fauna and flora (Bunge, 1962).
Regionalism played a vital role in the discipline of geography during the early 20th century as it enabled geographers to study various issues from spatial perspective. According to Sibley (1995), regions are an essential way of organizing and simplifying this immense volume of information. Although regions are essentially made-up by geographers, they are designed in a manner such that the information which they provide would be helpful. A biologist does more or less the same thing when he or she divides living organisms into various dissimilar groupings with the same traits in order to better comprehend the wide variety of living organisms.
Vidal de la Blanche and Richard Hartshorne made major contributions to the discipline of geography. Regionalism has its roots in Europe, particularly with Vidal de la Blanche, the French geographer. Toward the ending of the nineteenth century, De la Blanche conceptualized his notions of the pays, milieu and possibilisme. The pays signified the local region or the country while the milieu signified the natural environment (Relph, 1976). Possibilisme, or possibilism, denoted the theory which stated that the environment sets limits and/or restraints on human beings but the actions of humans in response to these restraints is what actually develops a culture and helps to define a region. Afterwards, possibilism resulted in the development of environmental determinism, which states that physical regions/environment is primarily responsible for the development of human culture as well as societal development (Tuan, 1977). In the United States, Carl Sauer and his works resulted in the development of regional geography. During this time, regional geography or regionalism was led by Richard Hartshorne as well, who studied German regional geography. Geography was defined by Hartshorne as a science to provide rational, orderly and accurate interpretation and description of the changeable character of the earth surface (Harvey, 1969).
The quantitative revolution was a far-reaching transformation of the purpose as well as spirit of geography. This revolution was characterized by a new-found eagerness for the utilization of some sort of numerical techniques, which were directed toward clarifying the details of the patterns of the earth surface – what was later referred to as spatial science (Creswell, 2013). The quantitative revolution forever changed the discipline of geography in that it resulted in a move from an idiographic/descriptive geography to a nomothetic/empirical law-making geography. It marked a quick change in the method that is employed in geographical research – a shift from regional geography into a spatial science. It took place in the 1950s and 1960s. It also completely altered the discipline of geography since it led to the usage of the following techniques: inferential statistics such as regression and correlation; deterministic models such as Weber and Von Thunen’s location models; descriptive statistics; stochastic models that involve probability concepts; and basic mathematical equations such as the Coulomb equation and the gravity model of social physics (Creswell, 2013). One key factor that links each of these techniques was basically its preference for numbers over the use of words as well as a belief in its better scientific pedigree.
In theory, there are several problems encountered by geographers every time they think, talk or write about regions. The main problem is probably the question of the value of thinking about the specific and the particular. There is an underlying tension between the universal and the particular, or the specific and the universal. On one hand, some geographers assert that it is only in the universal that true scientific thought could be found. When something unique is encountered, there is no foundation in that for the creation of laws that might enable geographers to understand things in general (Creswell, 2013). For instance, when one states that water will become frozen at O°C, it does not mean that water in one particular pool would become frozen at this temperature; rather, it means that all water everywhere will become frozen at O°C. When one posits a theory of gravity, it is essentially not about why a single apple falls from a tree, but is rather about why everything on earth would actually fall down to the ground (Creswell, 2013). Conversely, some geographers such as Richard Hartshorne claim that the particular uniqueness of regions is somewhat essential and th...