Week 2 Planning and Proposing Field Research GEOG 4520B 3.0 Research Design and Field Studies Department of Geography Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional

Week 2Planning and Proposing Field Research

GEOG 4520B 3.0Research Design and Field Studies

Department of GeographyFaculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

York UniversityFall Term 2010-2011

Week 2 22 September 2010 1GEOG 4520B

© Amy Lavender Harris, 2010

Expose yourself to …

Week 2 22 September 2010

GEOG 4520B © Amy Lavender Harris, 2010 2

What is research anyway?• Research is a process of enquiry and discovery.• In human geography, research is the process of trying to gain a better

understanding of the relationship between humans, space, place and the environment and advance our understanding of our interactions with the world.

• Good research occurs at the intersection between theory, method, and practice.

• Research involves asking one or more questions and devising a plan for finding out answers (which may be provisional, varied, and even contradictory).

• Research should contribute to knowledge and understanding about something.

• Researchers seek variously to explore, describe, explain, and predict.(source: Kitchin and Tate, 2000)



Some elements of geographical field research:

• “… at least part of what human geography entails is the actual ‘practising’ of human geography: the practical ‘doing’ of it in the sense of leaving the office, the library and the lecture hall for the far less cozy ‘real world’ beyond and, in seeking to encounter this world in all its complexity, to find out new things about the many peoples and places found there, to make sense of what may be going on in the lives of these peoples and places and, subsequently, to develop ways of representing their findings back to other audiences …”

• The field of geographical research is not only a physical location or domain, but also includes the social terrain, the encounter of people with their environment.

(more)



• “Being there” is a vital dimension of geographic research; but at the same time raises questions of perspective – the “politics of ‘being there’”; issues of ‘naming and claiming’

• Geography researchers need to navigate access to spaces and cultures and acknowledge our own biases, preconceptions, prejudices, and limitations. There is no such thing as an omniscient, detached, objective researcher.

• Successful field work relies on the senses, especially developing our capacity to see and listen.

• Geographical knowledge is constructed and interpreted• The questions you ask influence the answers you get

(quoted, adapted, and expanded from Cloke et al, 2004)



Marshall and Rossman’s Model of the Research Cycle (1989, 1995)



QuestionFocus

Theory

Models

Concepts

Hypothesis

Operalizational

Tools and IndicesObservations;data collection

DataAnalysis

Description

Generalization

Explanation

Prediction

Policy &Practice

But ...• “In thinking about research, what I came to see was the enormous amount

of pretentious ritual that students are made to wallow through before they can undertake imaginative inquiry about something they find intriguing. … The problem is that no-one is allowed to say openly and honestly “Well, what I really want to do is poke around in this area and see what I can find.” Before you can do what you want to do, you will have to posture, pose and distort as you formalize and disguise your geographic curiosity in the great ritual of the Research Proposal. This document may have little to do with what you really want to accomplish, or the way you will actually go about it when your adviser or committee have been lulled into thinking that it is alright to unleash you.

• […] When I first started to teach, one of the ‘Great Figures’ of the day said, with characteristically unquestioned authority, that ‘the purpose of writing research proposals, and holding doctoral examinations, is to give the student a good dose of humility’. I cannot think of a more inappropriate or humanly disgusting attitude for a teacher to have, and I despised the man from that day on.”

(Peter Gould, “Expose Yourself to Geographic Research”, in Research in Human Geography: Introductions and Investigations, ed. John Eyles, Basil Blackwell, 1988: 11-27)



What you really want to do is ...• “ … what you really want to do is observe carefully, closely, openly, and

with as little prejudice as you can muster, and then describe, with insight, skill, and thoughtful imagination, the topic you have chosen. In the process, you hope that along the way all sorts of interesting things turn up that you could not possibly have anticipated. … something not seen before emerges into the open clearing of our thinking. Something dawns on us, we say ‘Oh, I see!’ …

• “Notice how we constantly use images of light whenever we try to express our own sense of coming-to-understand-something. We direct our thinking, which means we direct ourselves, like an illuminating beam to light up something that was there all along, only we did not see it before. In every science, and in all successful research, there are moments of sudden seeing when something that was concealed from us becomes unconcealed. Which is why aletheia for the Greeks was the word for truth, the a negating the Lethe, the dark underworld of concealment, to make truth un-concealment.” (ibid)



If Peter Gould is right, why do I still have to write a research proposal?

• Gould objects to narrow, inflexible formalization. He does not object to planning. How can you have a ‘eureka experience’ unless you have some idea about where to look?

• Remember, good research begins with good questions, a sense of disturbance or wonderment: curiosity, a desire to account for or explain something.

• If geography field research amounts to a process of mapping, then a research proposal is a record of the initial exploration (the reconnaissance), and an equipment checklist accounting for the directions to be traveled in and the gear brought to help ensure success (or at least survival).

• This is why you are expected to spend some time scoping out York’s campus before writing your proposal. And this is also why you will undertake some library research before you launch into your field work.



Seven Worthwhile Research Aims1. Identifying general patterns or relations2. Testing or refining existing theories3. Making predictions (or prescriptions), or diagnosing something4. Interpreting culturally or historically (or politically or economically or

spatially) significant phenomena5. Explaining social diversity6. Giving voice to those who are outside the mainstream7. Advancing new theories

(adapted from Hogart et al, 2002: 44; after Ragin, 1994)



1. Identifying your research interest2. Framing your research question3. Thinking about why and how (and when and where) you will do it:

crafting a research proposal.



Beginning the Research Process: Three Initial Steps

1. Identifying your Research Interest

• “What are you interested in researching? Start by first locating yourself in the general topics in which you are interested. To do this, you can map out possible research concerns and the experience you have in relation to those concerns. It won’t be a complete mapping, but it will form the parameters within which your research can begin to take shape.” (Kirby & McKenna, 1989: 44-45)



In other words ... What do you want to find out more about?

- the answer to this question is the beginning of your research focus and will lead to your research question.

- Identifying your research focus may be straightforward or it may be a complex process.

- It may arise from your own experience, or an observation, or an idea, or something you have read or watched or been told, or something that bothers, puzzles, or surprises you.

- Think also about the intellectual / theoretical context of your work: where is it situated within the scope of geographical thought?

- It is worth sitting down with pen and paper to consider what you, as an individual, are interested in researching (A big sheet of paper can be especially useful. Draw a map of ideas.)



2. Framing your research question

• Framing your research question means developing a focus. • Your research question will guide you through your research.• It may take several tries to frame the question in the best way, and you

may rewrite it as your research progresses.• The more concise and clear your question, the easier it will be to keep

focused throughout the research process.• Your research question should give a sense of what you will explore, how

you will study it (methods), and why it is worth investigating. • Your research question does not have to be in the form of a question!



More about framing your research question• Choose a question that has enough research scope but not so much that

it cannot be answered.• Choose a question that you are able to gather information about.• Choose a question that is exciting or enticing to you. It has to be able to

sustain your interest.• Talk to others as you develop your question. Their suggestions may be

very helpful.• Read the existing literature on a subject you are interested in. (Information in the preceding slides is adapted from Sandra Kirby and Kate McKenna, 1989.

Experience Research Social Change: Methods from the Margins. Toronto: Garamond.)





3. Preparing

your Field Research Proposal

Field Research Proposal: Suggested Format



Section Content Length

Working Title

Should represent your research interest as clearly as possible at this stage of your research. It will probably change later, which is why it is called a ‘working’ title.

1. Central Research Question

A clear statement of your central question, problem or hypothesis. This is similar to a thesis statement in the sense that it should explain what you plan to explore, how you plan to study it, and why it is worth investigating.

1 or 2 paragraphs

2. Context / backgroun

d

An introduction to the geographic theories or explanations that underlie or inform your field research. What is the broader context of your research?

1-2 pages

3. Methods and

approaches

What field research methods do you plan to use? Questionnaires? Interviews? Participant observation? Content or discourse analysis? Include a preliminary list of questions / an outline of your method as you envision applying it in the field.

1-2 pages

4. Chronology / timetable

Outline a schedule for your research, identifying what components you hope to accomplish and when (a week-by-week schedule is especially helpful)

1 page

5. Conclusion

A brief comment on what you hope your research will accomplish. How do you hope it will contribute to geographic knowledge or understandings of Kensington Market?

1 paragraph

Annotated Bibliography

• Annotated bibliography should reference at least five (5) sources• At least three (3) of your sources should be academic references

(including scholarly books or journal articles)• Other sources may include primary or secondary sources such as land

use plans (identify which ones), census data (specify years), newspaper or magazine articles (specify title, etc.)

• Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.• Each annotation should consist of a short (100 to 150 word) commentary

discussing the source (what it is about) as well as explain its anticipated significance to your field research (how and why do you think it will be helpful).

• Use any standard academic citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, etc.)



A few additional considerations• Field research is not atheoretical – it involves the use of explanatory

concepts that are useful for explaining a phenomenon, situation, or activity. Without theory, there is nothing to research. In other words, research always tests or develops a theory about something. This is at the heart of the ‘scientific method.’

• Field research is creative and requires an engaged imagination.• Field research involves concern for ethics.• Field research involves applying one or more methods to text a

hypothesis or theory. There is a systematic element to research.• When you do field research, you are creating knowledge.• Field research requires getting out there – getting out into the field.



Research Methods and Data Sources- Questionnaires or surveys- Interviews- Observation and participant observation- Statistical data (e.g., census, industrial data, real estate data, municipal

records)- Geo-referenced data (GIS)- Case studies- Action research- Content analysis and discourse analysis (texts, films, images, etc.)- Document study (archival research)- Ethnography- Focus group research- Oral histories- Etc.



A few further considerations

• Research ethics (human participants, informed consent)• How much can you do in the time available?• Sample sizes (n=50)• Who to talk to, and where, and when• How to analyze your data / information



Week 2 22 September 2010 GEOG 4520B © Amy Lavender Harris, 2010 22

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Week 2 Planning and Proposing Field Research GEOG 4520B 3.0 Research Design and Field Studies Department of Geography Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional