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8/10/2019 Lecture 4b Explanation in Geography Sk
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Explanation in Geography
Geog 305 Lecture 6
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What is Science?
Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined,
logical search for knowledge about any and all
aspects of the universe, obtained by examinationof the best available evidence and always subject
to correction and improvement upon discovery
of better evidence
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What is Explanation
Explanation is any satisfactory or reasonableanswer to WHYor HOWthings happen. An
explanation reduces an unexpected outcome (the
unknown) to an expected outcome (the known). An explanation originates from a reaction or
surprise to some experience
Males and females have different number of teeth: Aristotle
Relative position of Sun and Earth in rotation
You can reach India by going west/east: Columbus
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Puzzle 1
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Puzzle 2
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EXPLANATION IN GEOGRAPHY
The relationship between the views of philosophers, methodologistsand practitioners is expressed in explanation
Science seeks explanations and Geography provides the spatial
explanations of earthly range Because of the gulf between philosophy, methodology and practice, it
is therefore important to understand
How far the views of methodologists of Geography tally with theviews of philosophers of science
The relationship between statements made by methodologists ofgeography and empirical work of geographers
The relationship between the explanatory form accepted bygeographers and that of other disciplines
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Methodology of Geography and Philosophy of ScienceSlow pace of development of rigorous theoretical explanation in
Geography
Adoption of scientific method in geography in varying degrees and shapes
Contradictions in bridging the gap between philosophy and practice
Geography defines its objectives rather than providing explanations
Uniqueness foundation laid by Kant, Hettner and Hartshorne: Uniqueness
or Idiographic method affected geographys development ...Exceptionalismin Geography ...Fred Schaefer
Geography as a spatial science beyond science: scientific method isinappropriate, therefore law-making is possible in the physical sciencesbut irrelevant in human geography (City Campus)
Different systematic themes treated by geographers offer problems or blessings Methodological separatism in geography: integration
Geographical writing and research lacks any generally accepted, over allview of the subject: orthodoxy vrs drifting apart
Geographers were remote from the 'ferment of ideas' and bathed in
euphoria of inertia'
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Methodological controversies in Geography
Explanatory forms in geography are spuriousdue to the
objectives defined by geographers Geographys overall aim of acquiring knowledge of the
world is not at variance with science, but the claim that
some questions, which geographers ask, are beyond
science thereby making it a special science, because the
scientific method cannot answer them is nave.
All sciences have some difficulty in using the
scientific method, but it is a question of degreerather than kind
Geographic methodology needs to move in tandem with
the general philosophical debate.
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Reasons for slow move into scientific mainstream
Idiographic method in early geography and the shiftto nomothetism is difficult
Uniqueness is linked to the absolute concept of space, hencegeographers concerned with locations rather than events andobjects. Uniqueness applied to locations rather than properties
Relative view of space: locations are either not unique or, at best,
unique only within a selected coordinate system The uniqueness thesis does not provide a realistic framework for
explaining and describing without a violation of the notion ofuniqueness
Rejection of environmental determinism led to lost of
interest in law-Making Little effort has been put in geography to explore the 'dialogue between the
empirical-inductive and the theoretical-deductive methods of thought andInvestigation.
Indigenous theories in geography can 'only developed in terms of space-time
language' capturing both Kant's absolute space and relativistic concepts.
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Geographical Explanatory Erameworks
The Hartshornian version of Bacon's/Harvey inductive routeprominent in geography, produces weak theories or only
covering laws or valid general statements.
The failure to achieve a hypothetico-deductive unification of
geographic principles has Relegated most geographic thinking and activity simply to the task of
ordering and classifying data
Restricted our ability to order and classify in any meaningful way.
Explanations have been ad hoc and unsystematic in form.
Geographical explanatory frameworks include: Cognitivedescription, Morphometric analysis, Cause-and-effect analysis,
Temporal or genetic modes of analysis, Functional and ecological
analysis, and systems analysis
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6 Geographical Explanatory Frameworks
Cognitive description
Morphometric analysis
Cause-and-effect analysis
Temporal or genetic modes of analysis
Functional and ecological analysis
Systems analysis
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Cognitive Description
Collection, ordering and classification of data
Answers the question how may the phenomena being
studied be ordered and grouped
Involves a priori notions about structure implicit in theprocess
Primitive theories initially and sophisticated descriptive
statements emerge later
Range in quality from simple primary observations
through to sophisticated descriptive statements
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Morphometric analysisShapes & Form
Answers the question how are phenomena organised interms of their spatial structure and form?
Involves a space-time language which provides aframework within which the geographer examines shapesand forms in space
Assumptions are geometric and amounts to identifying aco-ordinate system
Patterns and shapes of town locations and the structure
of networkscan be explained under this pathway Using the laws of central place theory geographers
explain how initial settlements will expand in somedirections.
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Cause-and-effect analysis
Exploration of cause-effect relationships
Answers the question how are phenomena
caused? Led to the adoption of mechanistic and
deterministic concepts
Can be adapted to new philosophical viewswithout being deterministic
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Temporal or genetic modes of analysis
Particular circumstances may be explained by examining theorigin, and subsequent development of phenomena
Answers the question how did the phenomena originateand develop?
The operation of processlaws
Metaphysical assumptions regarding real world processesunderpin analysis
The nature of anything could only be comprehended interms of its development (genetic fallacy)
Provides a dimension of explanation that examinestemporal change and the nature of temporal processes
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Functional and ecological analysis
Tries to analyse phenomena in terms of the role they play
within a particular organisation
Answers the question how do particular phenomenarelate to and interact with phenomena in general?
Towns are analysed in terms of the function they
perform within an economy, rivers in terms of their role
in denudation
Geography as the study of interrelationships within
areas has a distinctively functional-ecological ring to it
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Systems analysis
Examines the structure of an organisation as a system of
interlocking parts and processes
Answers the question how are phenomena organised
as a coherent system?
Provides a framework for describing the whole
complex structure of activity
Good for multivariatesituations
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Sources
Just read the notes. That is enough
OR plus
David Harvey 1969. Explanation in Geography
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Trial Questions
Geographers have been very remote from the ferment of ideasby preserving the status quo, that is, bathing in an euphoria ofinertia. Discuss this statement in relation to the form ofexplanation provided by geographers (before 1960)
Discuss the following geographic explanatory forms showingthe type of questions they seek to answer Cognitive description,
Morphometric analysis,
Cause and effect analysis,
Temporal modes of explanation,
Functional and ecological analysis and Systems analysis.