Exploring Human Geography

Blog posts from prompts from GEOG2260 by Alanna Wyllie 

[angeog2260]

Reflection on Applied Human Geography (GEOG*2260)

Throughout Applied Human Geography, GEOG*2260, I not only learned about the research process as a whole, but I also gained skills I will continue to use in my future. Below, I will express my thoughts regarding my knowledge and topics I found confusing on human geographical research.

These three things I know for certain about human geography research:

Deconstruction of media events and textual material is something I know for certain as I used this approach for the DSP. Textual information and analyses are predicated on a constructionist epistemology, meaning that the world is socially constructed and mediated (Hay, 2016, chapter 1). While the media is often a common source of the portrayal of information, it was interesting to apply my skills to analyze research articles and ensure that I am limiting common problems in human geographic research.

Another thing that I know for certain (and one of my favourite things to learn about), was Peggy McIntosh’s concept of invisible backpacks. Initially, she began using this term to explore women's studies and how women and underrepresented races were in experience of oppression, denial and/or disadvantage (Hooykaas, 2021). I find this to be very interesting because it can not only be applied in this class but in other social aspects of life. For example, while we live through unprecedented times with the ongoing pandemic, we all need to realize that others are impacted differently and have different underlying circumstances.

The final thing that I know for certain is the idea of focus groups in a study. A focus group method involves a small group of people to discuss a topic or issue defined by a researcher (Hay, 2016, chapter 10). Focus groups allow individuals to speak their truth on a matter more specifically while also allowing a semi-structured interview style. This creates a more accepting environment, enabling the participants to feel more at ease and more thoughtfully answered questions (Hooykaas, 2021).

These three things I am still confused by:

Although I do have a strong understanding of the research process and everything that is incorporated and associated with that, there are still some topics that confuse me. I often find myself questioning how to start a research process, more specifically, what approach to take. I find that often there is overlap between the best approach to take, and I believe with a bit more practice (as I am still a `rookie’ researcher), I would be able to confine to the best approach to take.

I also got confused with the flat coding type, versus a hierarchical coding type. I understand the basis of it, but reviewing back to the blog post about coding, I had a debate with myself of which one is more practical to use and how to apply this to a scenario. After reading up and allowing myself to understand and engage in the coding frames, I was able to determine what is best for that scenario, but I still often get confused with the difference between them.

The third thing that I get confused with is ensuring that I am evaluating reliable sources for my studies. The media is often so easy to get swayed one way, and although it may seem reliable, it has the possibility of being biased or misrepresentative of the topic. With the help of this class, I have been more adamant about checking the source of the article and their credentials. The process in qualitative research requires that writers explicitly state the criteria by which a reader can assess the trustworthiness of a given piece of research (Hay, 2016, chapter 19).

These three things I know for certain about me as a human geographic researcher:

I am confident in some of my skills as a human geographic researcher, one of them being understanding how power can influence a study. Power relations exist beyond the relationship of the researcher and the participant (Hay, 2016, chapter 2). It is crucial to consider these aspects of direct and indirect power in a study as this can alter the final outcome of the study, and perhaps enhance potential biases as well.

I also understand the concept of reflexivity and how to apply it to human geographic research. Reflexivity is a process of constant, self-conscious scrutiny of the self as a researcher and of the research process (Hay, 2016, chapter 2). In ‘easier to understand’ terms, it is simply analyzing the situation as if it were something you were studying (Hay, 2016, chapter 2). This is important to consider and break down the social relations that are being enacted and how those relations can influence the data.

Another thing that I know for certain about myself as a human geographic researcher, is that if I were to do research in the future, I would lean more to quantitative data rather than qualitative data. Although I do enjoy hearing other people’s stories and gaining insights on topics that are crucial nowadays, I enjoy the quantitative aspect more.

These three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

I need to spend some time developing and applying my knowledge in the field to real-life scenarios. Understanding the course content from a literal context differs from the application to case studies and other geographical problems in human research.

Another issue that I need to spend some time working on is coding. Coding allows the researcher to confine their studies. The purposes of coding are for data reduction, organization and a substantive press of data exploration (Hay, 2016, chapter 18). I think with more assistance on how specifically to code, and understanding what data is relevant to the study versus what is not would assist my confidence.

I understand the research process as a whole, but there are aspects in the process that if I worked on, I would feel more confident. One of my biggest worries as a researcher would be the process of writing up analyzed data and confining it to ensure that there are no biases. I would look to use a latent content analysis, which is searching the document for themes (Hay, 2016, chapter 8). This would be an asset because I could find the common themes that arise, then code them based on that matter.

Resources:

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

Hooykaas, A. (2021). Applied Human Geography (GEOG*2260) Lecture Notes. University of Guelph.

[awgeog2260]

Hi Amy,

It was nice reading your post and learning about some of your findings and personal reflections on the course. It sounds like you took a lot away from this class.

I am also still confused by types of coding; flat versus hierarchical. When I did the coding blog, I chose to do flat coding as I thought that was the most efficient for the task, but I noticed most other people thought hierarchical type coding was the best type to use. I think this may be because I had already analyzed the articles I was reading, so it made sense to allocate equal importance to my codes. I find the idea of coding interested and I think I will use it as a tool in the future while researching for assignments. 

I find it interesting that multiple of the blog posts I’ve read from this week include reliability of sources as one of the struggles. Do you think there are more discrepancies in the reliability of qualitative research versus quantitative? Also, you mentioned you prefer working with quantitative data more, I am curious about what intrigues you about quantitative research?

In reference to your last paragraph, I totally agree that trying to eliminate any biases you include into your research project (things we bring with us via our ‘invisible backpack’), is very important in order to be a reputable researcher and contribute solid information to the field. I think this is an issue with qualitative research, because there are so many moments throughout the process where interpretations and possibly assumptions can be made. I think getting people to review the validity of your data is the best way to ensure your work is justified. 

Thanks!

Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Reflecting on Geography 2260 - Applied Human Geography

These things I know for certain about human geography research:

Firstly, I know for certain what kind of research is considered qualitative geography research. Qualitative research is diverse, has been maturing in recent years, and has strong methods to understand people and place relationships (Hay, I., 2016, p.3). Qualitative research is meant to understand human environments and human experiences (Hay, I., 2016, p.5). An example of methods used in qualitative methods versus quantitative methods is that qualitative research would include in-depth interviews, while quantitative techniques more likely would include questionnaires (Hay, I., 2016, p.5). 

Secondly, something I learned from this class is what research requires an ethics clearance, and what goes into ensuring research participants are respected. Complying with ethics requirements from an institution is a way to ensure the researcher is respecting everyone involved in the project (Hay, I., 2016, p.57). Formal ethics requirements ensures that cultural and ethical contexts are being considered before the project commences (Hay, I., 2016, p.57). If your research involves you interviewing participants, you need an ethics approval. An ethics clearance also helps the researcher get funding, increase their legitimacy, and get published. 

Thirdly, I know for certain that human geography research requires us to be critically reflexive throughout the research process. This is something we have talked about a lot in this course. Reflexivity requires the researcher to be self-conscious and constantly scrutinize their position in the research process to ensure the data is unbiased and that the research is ethical (Hay, I., 2016, p.34). Critical reflexivity is a difficult process because people are not used to analyzing their engagement in their work and I also know that not many researcher’s write about their research process in their work (Hay, I., 2016, p.34). This being said, asking ourselves self-critical questions during research, and keeping a journal to log this process, is key to providing ethical, justifiable research.

These things I am still confused by:

I am still confused by how to write-up research findings. I find it difficult to determine categories that need to be discussed and figuring out what is salient information. We learned how to write up research findings in chapter 19 (Hay, I., 2016, p.392-416), but I still need practice in how to identify what information is the best to use in a research paper. This is something I struggled with in the Digital Storytelling Assignment. There were so many options of things to include, it was difficult to determine what was the most solid. This is a skill I continue to develop throughout my time as an undergrad student.

Secondly, I know that ethical considerations are crucial for a justified, respectful research project, but I am sometimes confused by what is and what is not ethical. In the case study we reviewed with Agafia, when I first watched the video I thought the researchers did their duty of ensuring the research was ethical, but after more consideration, I found it difficult to justify some of their actions. So, what kind of research is and is not ethical is something I am still thinking about.

Lastly, I am still confused about how to formulate a good research question that fills a gap in research literature. In the textbook chapter, Writing a Compelling Research Proposal (Hay, I., 2016, p.95-116), we learned how to write a research proposal, but I am still wondering how to find a topic that has not yet been discovered, and how to convince people that your research topic should be investigated. 

These things I know for certain about me as a human geographic researcher:

I know that my strengths are in historical research, which involves systematic collection and objective evaluation of data. This is the only type of qualitative research that I have had experience with in undergrad.  

I also know that I tend to get distracted and overwhelmed when I am met with too much information. The tips to manage data we learned in Week 5 helped me to figure out how to organize some data for the digital storytelling assignment. Specifically, using highlighters and notes tools help me to stay organized. Coding was something that helped me figure out the focus for the digital storying telling assignment and what information to focus on in the literature.

Lastly, I know that I am more interested in qualitative human geography research than quantitative. I am interested in current events and I like thinking critically. Researching in-depth human relationships to different things interests me more than numerical data.

These three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

I need to spend more time working with data in different ways, spend time analyzing data by coding more, and writing it all up. I feel as though the storytelling assignment helped me to work with data more by reviewing a lot of literature and going back to it throughout several months, which is something I have never done before for an assignment. I want to develop these skills of going back to research and thinking critically about my position as well as the validity of sources throughout a lengthy period of time. 

Secondly, I would like to gain experience doing basic fieldwork to feel more confident in my research abilities. I have always done secondary research at my desk, which can be limiting. I would like to develop some skills in conducting my own research outside of historical based research methods, and try out some of my own data collection.

Lastly, I need to spend some time on developing my interviewing skills. I now know about the three main types of interviewing, structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews (Hay, I., 2016, p.150-158). I would like to specifically learn more about how to conduct semi-structured interviews, which are interviews that have some sort of structure but also allow for some free flowing conversation (Hay, I. year p.150). This I think would come with practice as well as thinking critically about what kind of interviews are at play when listening to interviews in podcasts or other media.

Resources: 

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

[amfgeog2260]

Hi Alanna!

Congratulations on your final post of the semester! Your reflection on your knowledge throughout the semester is clear from your post this week. I think it is a really important skill to be able to think of, and describe our areas of strength and our areas of confusion especially in a topic as big as human geography. I would be interested to hear what you thought of this blog post, but I found it difficult to look back through the semester and be honest with myself in terms of what I was strong at and what I needed work on. You seem to have a very good grasp on your strengths, knowledge, confusion, and areas of need, which is an important skill outside of this class as well.  

I completely agree with your commentary on having a difficult time actually writing-up research findings. This was a point of confusion for me too, as I find it interesting and engaging to actually find the information through research, and then I get overwhelmed or somewhat less motivated when it comes time to actually describe, outline, or analyze the things that were found. I agree it is a really important skill, and like most things, continually practicing it is probably the most beneficial way to further my understanding or appreciation for this side of the research process. 

I also found your discussion about your interest in gaining basic field work skills to further your research toolkit and understanding really interesting too. It is definitely an interesting year to try and get practice doing field work, considering our inability to be physically present with other researchers, or gather information from a group of people, or generally do research that isn’t online. Especially with a topic as socially interactive as human geography, it seems strange to have to gain our research skills solely online for this year. 

Thank you again for sharing your final blog post with all of us, I enjoyed reading it and found myself agreeing with a lot of your discussion! I hope you had an enjoyable semester, and wish you all the best for the rest of this course and this coming summer! 

Aden

[awgeog2260]

Hi Aden,

Thank you for your response and your kind words! To answer your first question, I do find these types of reflection questions difficult, and this blog prompt was no exception. I resonate with what you said about it being difficult to think critically about your own learning, and what your strengths and weaknesses are/were. I always find it difficult to talk about myself with an academic lens. I think this may be because it is not super often that we as students get asked these questions. I find it easier to talk about what I do know than explore areas that I am still confused about. Do you keep a journal or do any kind of reflection about a course on your own time? I agree that reflecting on a course, and even reflecting on the areas that we think we need to dive deeper into to have a holistic understanding of the topic, is crucial for continuous learning and growing as geographers.

In reference to writing up research data, I think this is a common area of difficulty with qualitative research. As chapter 17: Writing Qualitative Geographies, Constructing Geographical Knowledge discusses, a problem with qualitative data is that there are no pre-described categories that the data is supposed to fall into, and there are many interpretations that can be taken for types of data such as interviews (Hay, I., 2016, p.333-355). This being said, I enjoy qualitative research because of these diverse elements and the ability to interpret things in different ways, because it allows us to get a deeper understanding of humanity.

I agree, it is disappointing that we’re unable to participate in field research at this time. I do feel lucky to still be able to have access to a plethora of data on the internet, and to still be able to do a course like this online, and hopefully we will be able to do some field research in the near future.

Thanks Aden!

[awgeog2260]

Reflecting on Geography 2260 - Applied Human Geography

These things I know for certain about human geography research:

Firstly, I know for certain what kind of research is considered qualitative geography research. Qualitative research is diverse, has been maturing in recent years, and has strong methods to understand people and place relationships (Hay, I., 2016, p.3). Qualitative research is meant to understand human environments and human experiences (Hay, I., 2016, p.5). An example of methods used in qualitative methods versus quantitative methods is that qualitative research would include in-depth interviews, while quantitative techniques more likely would include questionnaires (Hay, I., 2016, p.5). 

Secondly, something I learned from this class is what research requires an ethics clearance, and what goes into ensuring research participants are respected. Complying with ethics requirements from an institution is a way to ensure the researcher is respecting everyone involved in the project (Hay, I., 2016, p.57). Formal ethics requirements ensures that cultural and ethical contexts are being considered before the project commences (Hay, I., 2016, p.57). If your research involves you interviewing participants, you need an ethics approval. An ethics clearance also helps the researcher get funding, increase their legitimacy, and get published. 

Thirdly, I know for certain that human geography research requires us to be critically reflexive throughout the research process. This is something we have talked about a lot in this course. Reflexivity requires the researcher to be self-conscious and constantly scrutinize their position in the research process to ensure the data is unbiased and that the research is ethical (Hay, I., 2016, p.34). Critical reflexivity is a difficult process because people are not used to analyzing their engagement in their work and I also know that not many researcher’s write about their research process in their work (Hay, I., 2016, p.34). This being said, asking ourselves self-critical questions during research, and keeping a journal to log this process, is key to providing ethical, justifiable research.

These things I am still confused by:

I am still confused by how to write-up research findings. I find it difficult to determine categories that need to be discussed and figuring out what is salient information. We learned how to write up research findings in chapter 19 (Hay, I., 2016, p.392-416), but I still need practice in how to identify what information is the best to use in a research paper. This is something I struggled with in the Digital Storytelling Assignment. There were so many options of things to include, it was difficult to determine what was the most solid. This is a skill I continue to develop throughout my time as an undergrad student.

Secondly, I know that ethical considerations are crucial for a justified, respectful research project, but I am sometimes confused by what is and what is not ethical. In the case study we reviewed with Agafia, when I first watched the video I thought the researchers did their duty of ensuring the research was ethical, but after more consideration, I found it difficult to justify some of their actions. So, what kind of research is and is not ethical is something I am still thinking about.

Lastly, I am still confused about how to formulate a good research question that fills a gap in research literature. In the textbook chapter, Writing a Compelling Research Proposal (Hay, I., 2016, p.95-116), we learned how to write a research proposal, but I am still wondering how to find a topic that has not yet been discovered, and how to convince people that your research topic should be investigated. 

These things I know for certain about me as a human geographic researcher:

I know that my strengths are in historical research, which involves systematic collection and objective evaluation of data. This is the only type of qualitative research that I have had experience with in undergrad.  

I also know that I tend to get distracted and overwhelmed when I am met with too much information. The tips to manage data we learned in Week 5 helped me to figure out how to organize some data for the digital storytelling assignment. Specifically, using highlighters and notes tools help me to stay organized. Coding was something that helped me figure out the focus for the digital storying telling assignment and what information to focus on in the literature.

Lastly, I know that I am more interested in qualitative human geography research than quantitative. I am interested in current events and I like thinking critically. Researching in-depth human relationships to different things interests me more than numerical data.

These three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

I need to spend more time working with data in different ways, spend time analyzing data by coding more, and writing it all up. I feel as though the storytelling assignment helped me to work with data more by reviewing a lot of literature and going back to it throughout several months, which is something I have never done before for an assignment. I want to develop these skills of going back to research and thinking critically about my position as well as the validity of sources throughout a lengthy period of time. 

Secondly, I would like to gain experience doing basic fieldwork to feel more confident in my research abilities. I have always done secondary research at my desk, which can be limiting. I would like to develop some skills in conducting my own research outside of historical based research methods, and try out some of my own data collection.

Lastly, I need to spend some time on developing my interviewing skills. I now know about the three main types of interviewing, structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews (Hay, I., 2016, p.150-158). I would like to specifically learn more about how to conduct semi-structured interviews, which are interviews that have some sort of structure but also allow for some free flowing conversation (Hay, I. year p.150). This I think would come with practice as well as thinking critically about what kind of interviews are at play when listening to interviews in podcasts or other media.

Resources: 

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

[ahgeog2260-deactivated20211210]

A Critical Evaluation of National Geographic

Introduction

The article I chose to critically evaluate comes from National Geographic. I consciously chose this publisher because I enjoy reading their postings and they have a wide range of topics to choose from. The specific article I chose is Where can you travel safely once you’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine? By Johanna Read. I know that I’ve chosen COVID as my topic for past blog posts but it is so clearly relevant in today’s world and there are new information and articles daily. The key message of this article is clear, the present is that you need a negative COVID-19 test hours-days before arriving at your destination, and in some areas, a mandatory quarantine is also in effect (Read, 2021). The future, and the present for areas such as Seychelles, is that you must be fully inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine and able to show proof before arriving at your destination (Read, 2021).

Where can you travel safely once you’ve had the COVID-19 vaccine?

Wanderlust is going to kick in after your jab. Here’s what to know before you book a trip.

Sources

Various sources were used in the research conducted to write this article, many of which are very reputable. The author, Johanna Read, provides readers with references to all keywords and sentences used throughout the article. For example, many of the points she makes come from various articles found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website, a very reputable source as it is a government website and referenced widely across the web. A few other sources are news websites such as NBC News, The New York Times, and Reuters News.

The Evaluation of Sources

The sources used throughout this article were evaluated by a few different methods. Upon reading through the article for the first time, I was able to identify two types of data collection I believe to have been used. The first is contextual information which is data that creates a context for an event (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021). This event would be the current pandemic we are facing, COVID-19. The second was determined through the reported key findings that support the main topic of the article (COVID-19 and Tourism) through the verbatim of speeches, such as the quotes provided from expert consultants (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021). By use of this data type, the author linked various findings from different sources to create another credible source, this article (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021).

Validation and Verification

From a quick read-through, I was able to determine that validation techniques were used throughout this article to ensure the information being repeated was credible. For example, the author showed that they continuously checked for representativeness of data (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021) as they said things like “the CDC released…” and “according to the Transportation Security Administration.” The author has used large, credible associations to validate their data. Additionally, the author used direct quotes from expert consultants in the field of study to validate their data (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021). For example, Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor, and professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, to validate data based on COVID-19 tests and vaccines itself (the science), and Judy Kepher Gonna, the founder of Sustainable Travel & Tourism Agenda, to validate data based on traveling and restrictions (the tourism) (Read, 2021).

I can not confirm or deny if any verification techniques were used to credit the data throughout this article. I am unaware if the exert consultants were personally interviewed by National Geographic, or if their quotes come from other sources and are being used by National Geographic in this article. However, on the basis that this data was not verified then I would suggest that the author, Johanna Read, have the possible interviewees/experts react to the article and ask them questions surrounding if the information makes sense or if certain pieces of data appear to be misinterpreted (Hooykaas, Week 9, 2021). This would allow for reflection to obtain validation and verification.

Expectations and Responsibilities of the Consumer

The expectations of a consumer when reviewing this article could be for the information presented to be of reference from credible sources, as well as for this information to not be skewed or rephrased in a way that misinterprets it. The responsibility that a consumer may have when reviewing this article is to further their research by reviewing the references as well to ensure that the information being provided is credible and correct. Furthermore, the consumer could cross-check the facts from the article under review with other credible sources of the same topic.

References

Hooykaas, A. (2021). Week 9: Writing Qualitative Geographies, Constructing Geographical Knowledge Data Analysis, Writing, and Re-Evaluating Research Aims Presenting Findings

Read, J. (2021, March 17). Where can you travel safely once you've had the COVID-19 vaccine? Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/what-will-international-travel-look-like-once-you-are-vaccinated

[awgeog2260]

Hi,

I found this article very interesting. I also chose an article about COVID, and I agree with you that the influx of new, daily information makes it impossible to avoid. We are constantly finding out new things, even now a year later, and the anticipation of getting my vaxxine is something I think about often. 

This conversation about what sources we can trust when it comes to COVID information is so very important, as there is so much misinformation and unsolicited opinions on the internet, it becomes difficult knowing who to trust. I agree that the CDC is the most reputable source for COVID data.

I think you’ve got your methods for evaluation down. I’m curious, which of these methods do you think are the strongest in order to evaluate the validity of the sources used in this article?

You mention the author getting the experts to react to this article to achieve more verification that the data is accurate. I think that getting validation from experts, or your peers, is the best way to know that information is accurate and unbiased. Especially in this context, it is crucial that authors are ensuring they’re using up-to-date data, as to not sway people into thinking something that is not true. 

Lastly, I believe this is an article that readers would have varied opinions on. Although the sources are rooted in reputable data, opinions on when we should start traveling vary among the general consumer and among medical experts. 

Thanks Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Evaluating the Validity of an Article on Winter Park Accessibility

https://thewalrus.ca/how-parks-got-us-through-a-tough-winter/

The Importance of Parks in a Global Pandemic

The article I chose to evaluate is “The Longest Winter: How Parks Got Us Through a Tough Winter”. This article was written by Tannara Yelland for The Walrus and was published on March 18, 2021. The key message of this article is that the pandemic emphasized how green spaces are important for the public’s mental health and that the city should look for ways to keep them accessible during cold months. 

The Sources Used

The author used data from a Park People Survey for this article, as well as other statements from public respondents. This includes an Urban Planner from Edmonton, a resident of Toronto’s Alexandra Park, and a University of Toronto epidemiologist. It is not stated whether these statements were done through interviews conducted by the author or from other sources. Online sources used by the author of this article could be Municipality websites and Statistics Canada, as well as reports done by their peers.

Evaluation and Validation/Verification

In our course lectures, we have learned of five criteria, according to Brown (2004), for the evaluation of the validity of sources used in qualitative research. These include purpose, scope, authority, audience, and format. A couple of these criteria could have been used to evaluate the validation of the sources used in this article, specifically scope and purpose. Yelland had a wide variety of sources, from the People Park Survey done by an organization whose purpose is to find out what the public values in terms of green space, city documents, and interviews from city planners and people who use parks for different purposes. The textbook tells us that we must understand the role that power and meaning plays into what words we use or do not use, in our research (Hay, I. 2016, p.416). To this point, the text also states that when using direct quotations, representation and authority are important considerations (Hay, I. 2016, p.412). In Yelland’s article on city Parks, they include quotations from an interview with a houseless person living in one of the encampments in Alexandra Park in Toronto. Including this perspective, I believe, acknowledges these issues of power and representation. Acknowledges whose voices are being used makes qualitative research more valid and truthful (Hay, I. 2016, p.416).Since the sources used to write this article are non-peer reviewed sources, and are not cited, it is uncertain the actual validity of these sources.

Expectations/ Responsibilities of the Consumer 

While reviewing this article, the consumer would expect the information the author is speaking on to be valid and factual. This is because the article is not an opinion piece, but rather a report on what has been happening in and around our city parks, and the opinions of the general public on the uses of these parks in the winter months. A responsibility of the consumer after reading this article could be to do more independent research on the issues the houseless community faces in terms of park regulations and accessibility in the winter months in Canada.

Question for the class:

What do you think is the most important element of evaluating the validity of a source?

References

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

Yelland, T. (2021). The Longest Winter: How Parks Got Us Through a Tough Winter. The Walrus. https://thewalrus.ca/how-parks-got-us-through-a-tough-winter/

[awgeog2260]

Coding Qualitative Research

The Articles I Coded

I decided to code two resources that are related to Rural Geography and include many similar topics, though the sources are quite different. The first piece of data is a peer reviewed journal article published in The Journal of Rural Studies and the second is a discussion paper written for a NGO called Food Secure Canada. The central theme of these two papers include rural land use and projections for the future of food structures, agriculture and rural development in the Global North. 

Deductive Coding and Flat Coding Frames

Since I already had an idea of some common themes in rural research, I chose to use Deductive Coding. I chose to come up with a the set of codes to start with because I had already read through these articles for the project and knew they have some key similarities related to Rural geography, and specifically I knew what themes they discuss. Also, I know what key subject matter I want to retain and include in our project, so using Deductive Coding saves me time and ensures I will get what I need from these sources. I also chose to use a Flat Coding Frame mostly because of the limited number of codes I included. Since I only have 4 codes, and all seem to have similar levels of importance for what I want to know from these sources, I chose not to use a Hierarchical Coding frame.

The Codes I Used

My four codes I used are Agriculture, Development, Community, and Sustainability. As said previously, I chose these codes before starting to actually code the papers because I knew these were common themes in rural research on rural land use and food systems, and my group wants to include these themes in our project. I also chose these codes because I feel they are encompassing of the issues in these 2 papers as well as some of the other papers my group has sed to help us with our Digital Storytelling Project. These are some screen shots of my coding in action:

I used different colour to highlight the codes using the preview app on Mac.

Applying This to the Assignment

Coding this research helped me narrow my focus on key themes that my group is focusing on in our project. It also helped me analyze similarities and differences in each source on these topics in an efficient way. I am aware of my biases that may come from doing the coding in this way, and the possibility of overlooking some themes that I have not coded, but I believe since I have already spent a couple weeks researching the literature on rural geography and these sources specifically, so I could narrow down some codes more easily. Coding helped me organize the data and my own thoughts. I believe this process will make the research process for the Digital Storytelling Project more rigorous. 

Resources

Knickel, K., et al. (2018). Between aspirations and reality: Making farming, food systems and rural areas more resilient, sustainable and equitable. Journal of Rural Studies. 59. 197-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.012

Food Secure Canada. (2011). Discussion Paper 2: Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote Communities. Human Rights Impact Assessment 

[mtgeog2260]

Hi Alanna! 

It is great to see that you have begun organizing for your Digital Storytelling Project and it really looks like you are off to a good start.  I noticed that we used the same deductive coding methods for very similar reasons.  We both found that our sources had connecting themes and information that relates directly to each other and our main focus for our projects.  I also noticed that you chose to use flat coding frames whereas I chose to use a hierarchical approach.  This is because my relevant themes all had key terms that could be found in each of my sources.  This is probably why this technique works for my sources better as I noticed you said you were only working with four specific key terms.  

One suggestion that I would like to make for you is to highlight large chunks of information within your sources instead of only highlighting one word.  This could help you with your Digital Storytelling Project in the future because more information will be readily available to you.  For example, if you only highlight one word, you will have to re-read parts of the articles in order to find out why that one word is highlighted.  Whereas highlighting a whole chunk will allow for that explanation to be read without searching for it!

Lastly, thank you for sharing that you have used the preview on the Mac system to do your highlighting.  I have done mine within google drive and it is hard to keep highlighted sections in the correct colour.

Best of luck in the future, Maddison.  

[awgeog2260]

Hey Maddison,

Thank you for your suggestion. I totally agree that highlighting large chunks of information in these papers would have been more efficient. I misunderstood what the task was haha. I did have to go back and highlight some more things to get sufficient information from the articles. Thanks for your feedback, and good luck with your project!

Alanna

[rhgeog2260]

Coding Sources of Data for Historical Geography

As we have learned in this week’s lecture, coding is an important and very helpful way of organizing data when conducting research. Going through a relevant article and highlighting key information is an excellent way of organizing your research, as well as breaking it down into essentials. 

The first source I am using today is an article from the online journal Making History. It is entitled simply “Historical geography”, and is written by Mike Heffernan. Upon further research, I found out that Heffernan is a professor at the University of Nottingham, specializing in historical geography.

My second source is a section from the book Progress in Human Geography. The section is entitled “The relations between geography and history: work in historical geography in 1997”.

The manner in which I have gone about this corresponds to inductive coding, because I started by reading the articles fully before forming my codes. I noted patterns and pieces of information that seemed very important to the research. The following are my codes:

“Cartography” -> highlighted in green

“Rome” / “Roman” -> highlighted in pink"

Landscape" -> highlighted in yellow

“Environment” -> highlighted in blue

I highlighted large segments containing my coding keywords in order to get context and background information. This is my first step in coding. I plan on coding more, narrowing down the details even further to aide in my project.

  I read through around 10 different articles before narrowing it down to the two I personally feel will help me the most with my Digital Storytelling Project. I thought about what codes I wanted to use carefully. My group, historical geography, is organizing our teachings in a manner that incorporates three unique case studies wherein historical geography is utilized. My case study revolves around ancient Rome, so I made sure to incorporate that in my codes as well. 

Since my two other partners are focusing on different case studies in the world of historical geography, it will be very beneficial to each of us to have done this preliminary research. Additionally, we now have good resources to help us answer fundamental questions, including “what is historical geography”.

I am eager to reconvene with my group and share our findings with each other. We have all expressed an interest in history, so diving deeper into the world that also connects us with geography is certainly exciting. Additionally, I am excited to share our research with the rest of my class peers, and teach everyone a bit more about geography in a historical context.

References:

 Ogborn, M. (1999). The relations between geography and history: work in historical geography in 1997. Progress in Human Geography, 23(1), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1191/030913299672557598

Heffernan, M. (2008). Historical geography. Making History. https://archives.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/historical_geography.html

[awgeog2260]

Hello,

Your post was very interesting, Historical Geography seems like a fun topic for this project! It makes sense that you used inductive coding, since you didn’t have previous insight on what the main themes would necessarily be in these papers. Did you find that having these two papers side- by - side and comparing the two helped you synthesize the text more? Personally, I found that doing this coding with two papers that were quite different but still on the same topic, helped me get a more holistic interpretation of the key themes.

I like that you chose to focus on a few case studies for your Digital Storytelling Project. I can imagine Historical Geography is quite dynamic and that there is a ton of information you could include. It seems that narrowing it down is essential for this project.

After scanning your articles, it seems like your codes are well thought out and make sense for these papers.Were there any other codes you considered using for this assignment?

I am excited to see what your group comes up with!

-Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Coding Qualitative Research

The Articles I Coded

I decided to code two resources that are related to Rural Geography and include many similar topics, though the sources are quite different. The first piece of data is a peer reviewed journal article published in The Journal of Rural Studies and the second is a discussion paper written for a NGO called Food Secure Canada. The central theme of these two papers include rural land use and projections for the future of food structures, agriculture and rural development in the Global North. 

Deductive Coding and Flat Coding Frames

Since I already had an idea of some common themes in rural research, I chose to use Deductive Coding. I chose to come up with a the set of codes to start with because I had already read through these articles for the project and knew they have some key similarities related to Rural geography, and specifically I knew what themes they discuss. Also, I know what key subject matter I want to retain and include in our project, so using Deductive Coding saves me time and ensures I will get what I need from these sources. I also chose to use a Flat Coding Frame mostly because of the limited number of codes I included. Since I only have 4 codes, and all seem to have similar levels of importance for what I want to know from these sources, I chose not to use a Hierarchical Coding frame.

The Codes I Used

My four codes I used are Agriculture, Development, Community, and Sustainability. As said previously, I chose these codes before starting to actually code the papers because I knew these were common themes in rural research on rural land use and food systems, and my group wants to include these themes in our project. I also chose these codes because I feel they are encompassing of the issues in these 2 papers as well as some of the other papers my group has sed to help us with our Digital Storytelling Project. These are some screen shots of my coding in action:

I used different colour to highlight the codes using the preview app on Mac.

Applying This to the Assignment

Coding this research helped me narrow my focus on key themes that my group is focusing on in our project. It also helped me analyze similarities and differences in each source on these topics in an efficient way. I am aware of my biases that may come from doing the coding in this way, and the possibility of overlooking some themes that I have not coded, but I believe since I have already spent a couple weeks researching the literature on rural geography and these sources specifically, so I could narrow down some codes more easily. Coding helped me organize the data and my own thoughts. I believe this process will make the research process for the Digital Storytelling Project more rigorous. 

Resources

Knickel, K., et al. (2018). Between aspirations and reality: Making farming, food systems and rural areas more resilient, sustainable and equitable. Journal of Rural Studies. 59. 197-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.012

Food Secure Canada. (2011). Discussion Paper 2: Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote Communities. Human Rights Impact Assessment 

[kmgeog2260]

Hello!

I think the the way you went about your coding techniques (i.e. deductive and flat framing) to be a great way of starting your coding process for this project. I too used deductive coding for this specific assignment because I had previously read the information before and had an idea of what I wanted to take out of it. When applying these codes to your research assignment I think that it is smart to start with the focus in on key themes, that is something that I would also like to apply to my own research. I am currently working on research of Urban Geography so it is interesting to see the parallels between our topics, such as sustainability and development. Considering the increasing focus on environmental conservation and climate change it makes sense that these would have a lot of academic attention in the field of Geography. While coding did you have trouble narrowing down to these four codes? Another question I have for you is while coding thus far are you seeing that there is overlap in your codes or any interesting branches that would lead you to create new ones?

Great post, very informative!

[awgeog2260]

Hi Kaya,

Thanks for the reply! It is interesting seeing the overlap in urban and rural geography. I noticed this overlap in your coding assignment as well, specifically the use of 2 of the same codes, sustainability and development. I feel like we also had some similarities in the interviewing blog. Its cool to see the similarities and also dichotomy in urban and rural geographies.

I did have trouble narrowing down to four codes, since there is a lot of other themes that are discussed in these papers. The reason I decided on these 4 was because they seemed broad enough so that I would actually find enough information while coding, but were specific enough so I would get details I wanted to know.

There definitely are overlapping codes throughout rural geography research. Right now we are focusing on one main topic: land use in rural geography. So that is helping to narrow down what we are coding and what we are using in the final project. When deciding to focus on this topic, some new codes have came up, such as; industrialization, protection, countryside, and food security. Thanks for the questions! I am sure urban geography is as diverse a field as rural geography, I am wondering, did you find it difficult to narrow down to just a few codes for this assignment?

Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Coding Qualitative Research

The Articles I Coded

I decided to code two resources that are related to Rural Geography and include many similar topics, though the sources are quite different. The first piece of data is a peer reviewed journal article published in The Journal of Rural Studies and the second is a discussion paper written for a NGO called Food Secure Canada. The central theme of these two papers include rural land use and projections for the future of food structures, agriculture and rural development in the Global North. 

Deductive Coding and Flat Coding Frames

Since I already had an idea of some common themes in rural research, I chose to use Deductive Coding. I chose to come up with a the set of codes to start with because I had already read through these articles for the project and knew they have some key similarities related to Rural geography, and specifically I knew what themes they discuss. Also, I know what key subject matter I want to retain and include in our project, so using Deductive Coding saves me time and ensures I will get what I need from these sources. I also chose to use a Flat Coding Frame mostly because of the limited number of codes I included. Since I only have 4 codes, and all seem to have similar levels of importance for what I want to know from these sources, I chose not to use a Hierarchical Coding frame.

The Codes I Used

My four codes I used are Agriculture, Development, Community, and Sustainability. As said previously, I chose these codes before starting to actually code the papers because I knew these were common themes in rural research on rural land use and food systems, and my group wants to include these themes in our project. I also chose these codes because I feel they are encompassing of the issues in these 2 papers as well as some of the other papers my group has sed to help us with our Digital Storytelling Project. These are some screen shots of my coding in action:

I used different colour to highlight the codes using the preview app on Mac.

Applying This to the Assignment

Coding this research helped me narrow my focus on key themes that my group is focusing on in our project. It also helped me analyze similarities and differences in each source on these topics in an efficient way. I am aware of my biases that may come from doing the coding in this way, and the possibility of overlooking some themes that I have not coded, but I believe since I have already spent a couple weeks researching the literature on rural geography and these sources specifically, so I could narrow down some codes more easily. Coding helped me organize the data and my own thoughts. I believe this process will make the research process for the Digital Storytelling Project more rigorous. 

Resources

Knickel, K., et al. (2018). Between aspirations and reality: Making farming, food systems and rural areas more resilient, sustainable and equitable. Journal of Rural Studies. 59. 197-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.012

Food Secure Canada. (2011). Discussion Paper 2: Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote Communities. Human Rights Impact Assessment 

[cvanheergeog2260]

Interviews, podcasts, and the debate

Over the last few years, and especially since the pandemic started, how people consume information has changed. More and more people are starting to listen to podcasts more regularly than anything else. According to Podcast Insights, there are currently over 1.7 million different shows to pick from, all in the podcast format. 3 years ago, there were only around 500 thousand shows. In three years it has tripled. 

Why is this? Some would say that the distrust in the media/government has pushed people to search for more unmoderated sources of information. An interview setting has predetermined questions, that are given to the person being interviewed which effectively means it is scripted. In focus groups, there is no debate allowed, so what does that even accomplish. Podcasts on the other hand, provide a platform for unscripted debates to happen, without moderation. There are a large amount of platforms to choose from when looking for a podcast to listen to or to even start your own. This accessibility combined with sheer lack of moderation and script, creates a space where a true debate may take place.

I am not saying interviews and focus groups do not have a place in todays society. What I am saying is that the sudden interest in podcasts is not spontaneous and given the path that mainstream media has been going down in the last few years, it was inevitable. At a certain point, people want to know what is going on in the world, and if the media stops providing that then it will be acquired somewhere else. 

Ironically a quote from a recent Forbes article states that “61% of Americans think that the media is not doing well at being objective and non-partisan.” Which effectively explains the rise of the podcast scene. Although podcast participants are also likely not being objective, it is not hidden from the audience. Everything the participants say and the context they are saying it is preserved in the podcast. The interpretation of what is being said is left to the audience, which is what I believe people want. 

When it comes to studying anything geography related, there are many factors to consider. What research is being conducted, how is it being conducted, who/what is being researched, has there been previous research, what are future research opportunities, and many more things to keep in mind. One of the ultimate goals of research is to find answers (best case scenario) or to at least obtain a better understanding of a situation (better than nothing). The rise of podcasts plays into this because in a day to day life where the information people receive is heavily moderated, any research done into social issues and such will be affected negatively. If the general population has been given a skewed understanding of a topic, how can any research done using the same population be taken seriously. 

Example: A group of researchers want to find out in what direction is a town’s policies going regarding a social issue. One of the research techniques would be to go door to door asking individuals from the community. The answers people will give to the researchers are based on two things. Their awareness of the towns’ policies, and how they receive information regarding to social issue. 

My question to you is should researchers be concerned with where their subjects are getting their information from and how does that affect the end results? 

Also, would you consider a three hour podcast with an expert on a topic be more informative and closer to the truth than a 15 minute segment on a popular news program? 

References:

https://www.podcastinsights.com/podcast-statistics/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2021/02/20/fewer-americans-than-ever-before-trust-the-mainstream-media/?sh=7c5a1f67282a

[awgeog2260]

Hello,

I thought your post was really interesting. I think I would agree with you that distrust in mainstream media could be one of the factors making people sway towards listening to podcasts to get their information.

I have listened to podcasts that are quite scripted like a standard interview would be, but also some that are more free-flowing, especially if it is just the hosts and no guests. I agree that podcasts are a more accessible way to get certain information. For me I find the podcast format really digestible. I have a hard time reading some news articles, especially ones with advertisements popping up and weird fonts. I rather listen to someone speak, especially when it’s something either that they’re passionate about or just know a lot about.

I think similarly to being critically reflexive when conducting research, same should be for people who are podcasting. I think if the podcaster is an expert in a field, this may not be as relevant, but for people with podcasts that talk about current events, sociological/environmental issues, and people who are stating their opinions about things for a large audience, they should always be asking themselves about the impact of their assumptions, values, and what theyre putting out there. This being said, I love that podcasts offer podcasters and listeners a place to be creative and start important conversations.

To answer your first question, I think that whenever interviews are being conducted with the general public over their opinions on something, it shouldn’t be taken as fact, but instead as ‘this is how these people living in this area think of this’. I think it really depends on who the subject is; if they’re being interviewed about themselves/ personal experiences, or the general public’s opinions/knowledge on a certain issue.

And to answer your second question, yes, I do think a three hour with an expert would be much more informative than a 15 minute segment on a popular news program.

[awgeog2260]

Oral Histories: Why they Should be More Acknowledged in Qualitative Research

Originally I enrolled in this course (it is not required for my program) because I wanted to gain research skills in case I decide to do a masters program or do research with a professor at some point after my undergrad. But after the first two weeks I realized how valuable the course content and textbook material is for any consumer of knowledge. Thinking about where we get our information from and how we know this is reliable, is crucial to reflect on in 2021, when there is an abundance of information at our fingertips. We must be able to decipher what is legitimate information and what is not - or just make conscious decisions about what we indulge in. I also found week two on critical reflexivity, power, and subjectivity particularly interesting and again, felt like this kind of learning should be taught to a broad array of people, as it is very relevant in our lives not just as potential researchers, but as knowledge consumers. Thirdly, the Week 6 lecture and the incorporation of oral histories and tradition as a part of qualitative research and data resonated with me.

Personally I think that oral histories tell a story in a way that modern interviews or traditional history books can not. The part of human geography that I find interesting is the individualized human perspective. I like hearing stories from people who were there when a particular event unfolded, or who was living in a geographical place before it shifted into an entirely different landscape, or someone who has personal lived experiences and knowledge in a field that maybe doesn’t make it into our history classes. Right now I’m reading a book called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I am sure some of you have heard of this as it was #1 on the bestseller list for some time.

The author is also a plant scientist and a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She uses oral histories that her mother told her to solve mysteries in the world of botany, and that is a lot of what she writes about in Braiding Sweetgrass. She explains that when she was an undergrad student research plants, she would ask her professors questions like “why do *flower A* and *flower B* always grow together in meadows?”, and the professor would tell her that is not a scientific question. She decides to research this topic more on her own, by asking her relatives that grew up collecting wildflowers and other plants for traditional medicines. Without spoiling this part of the book, I’ll just say that there was a scientific explanation to this question, just not one that was a part of traditional western research. It is important that we document the lives and histories of people before they are forgotten. These histories can also be told through maps and illustrations, later being used to maintain the integrity of these people’s experiences in museums, radia, television, or books. These oral histories seem to be often left out of research, especially in academia. I have tried citing information that people have verbally communicated to me throughout my life in an academic paper and was quickly shut down. To have richer, more inclusive research, we should include oral histories more often.

What are some ways you have seen oral histories used in qualitative research? I would be so interested to know!

References: Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.

[kmgeog2260]

Hello! I have to say I totally agree that oral histories are an extremely interesting component to this course as well as human geography overall. Oral histories have given marginalized people voices and a great way for them to write their own histories which I find very interesting. Human geography unlike other areas of study has unique research techniques that focus on hidden histories, place-based lives and disadvantaged people (Hooykaas, week 6, 2021). I am very interested in the book that you mentioned as well and its use of oral histories to explain scientific phenomena. I think that is also a very unique trait to geography that it blends social studies and scientific studies together to create very interesting research such as your book. To answer your question I read a book last year about Henrietta Lacks and hela cells where the author/researcher used oral histories from her family and doctors to solve the mystery of where and how the hela cells were created. I think this style of research was essential to the researcher because the creation of the hela cells was very unethical and done "under the table" so a lot of its creation was not documented. If you or anyone is interested in reading the book it is called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

[awgeog2260]

Hi! You're right, geography does blend the biophysical world with the human world, that is one of the reasons I love geography. I had never heard of the hella cells before unfortunately, the book sounds interesting.

Thanks Kaya,

Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Oral Histories: Why they Should be More Acknowledged in Qualitative Research

Originally I enrolled in this course (it is not required for my program) because I wanted to gain research skills in case I decide to do a masters program or do research with a professor at some point after my undergrad. But after the first two weeks I realized how valuable the course content and textbook material is for any consumer of knowledge. Thinking about where we get our information from and how we know this is reliable, is crucial to reflect on in 2021, when there is an abundance of information at our fingertips. We must be able to decipher what is legitimate information and what is not - or just make conscious decisions about what we indulge in. I also found week two on critical reflexivity, power, and subjectivity particularly interesting and again, felt like this kind of learning should be taught to a broad array of people, as it is very relevant in our lives not just as potential researchers, but as knowledge consumers. Thirdly, the Week 6 lecture and the incorporation of oral histories and tradition as a part of qualitative research and data resonated with me.

Personally I think that oral histories tell a story in a way that modern interviews or traditional history books can not. The part of human geography that I find interesting is the individualized human perspective. I like hearing stories from people who were there when a particular event unfolded, or who was living in a geographical place before it shifted into an entirely different landscape, or someone who has personal lived experiences and knowledge in a field that maybe doesn’t make it into our history classes. Right now I’m reading a book called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I am sure some of you have heard of this as it was #1 on the bestseller list for some time.

The author is also a plant scientist and a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She uses oral histories that her mother told her to solve mysteries in the world of botany, and that is a lot of what she writes about in Braiding Sweetgrass. She explains that when she was an undergrad student research plants, she would ask her professors questions like “why do *flower A* and *flower B* always grow together in meadows?”, and the professor would tell her that is not a scientific question. She decides to research this topic more on her own, by asking her relatives that grew up collecting wildflowers and other plants for traditional medicines. Without spoiling this part of the book, I’ll just say that there was a scientific explanation to this question, just not one that was a part of traditional western research. It is important that we document the lives and histories of people before they are forgotten. These histories can also be told through maps and illustrations, later being used to maintain the integrity of these people’s experiences in museums, radia, television, or books. These oral histories seem to be often left out of research, especially in academia. I have tried citing information that people have verbally communicated to me throughout my life in an academic paper and was quickly shut down. To have richer, more inclusive research, we should include oral histories more often.

What are some ways you have seen oral histories used in qualitative research? I would be so interested to know!

References: Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.

[asgeog2260]

Hey Alanna,

I really enjoyed reading your post this week! I couldn’t agree with you more in the sense that this course has stressed the importance of how research on a subject should be collected. I constantly find myself exposed to biased news and other information on social media, which I now recognize while viewing. If I have learned anything from this course, it is the importance of using multiple unbiased sources of information to draw conclusions. Otherwise, not taking in the information at face value.

Regarding the information provided in week six, I also find individualized human perspective to be an interesting and viable way of collecting information. Storytelling can be an excellent way to pass on information, by providing a more real-life perspective, along with the traditional aspects that can also follow. I have never heard of Braiding Sweetgrass, but it seems like quite an interesting read. I have come across several examples of oral histories used in research such as Indigenous studies, as well as in a Vikings course at the university. I have found that storytelling has becoming very culturally significant in certain places around the world. I know the Icelandic population is very proud to shave the Viking culture to tourists. Cross referencing these stories with other scholarly sources can be quite the combination while researching.

After the first half of the course, do you find yourself performing more research on a subject you read about on social media?

Best, Antonio

[awgeog2260]

Hi Antonio, 

Thank you for your kind words and for your reply! Wow, a Vikings course sounds super cool, I didn’t know the University offered that course. May I ask, how was that course? I watch Vikings on Netflix, and I love learning about medieval history, so that class sounds very intriguing to me. I agree I think cross referencing these types of stories with academic sources makes researching more rigorous - its more exciting, but also more accurate. 

I always try to do further research on things that catch my interest on social media. For example, there’s a plethora of infographics on current/ historically significant events and public discourse on my feed, which is handy when wanting to get the gist of something quickly and efficiently, but can lack the depth of information needed to really understand it. I try to always look into these things further if I’m interested in the content. To do this I look at podcasts, news articles, journal articles by reputable people that have done lots of work on the subject, so I can get more of an understanding. I’m not perfect but I try to educate myself on things I feel are important to society and myself.

Do you think the university should have more courses, like the Vikings course, that include oral histories? 

[awgeog2260]

Oral Histories: Why they Should be More Acknowledged in Qualitative Research

Originally I enrolled in this course (it is not required for my program) because I wanted to gain research skills in case I decide to do a masters program or do research with a professor at some point after my undergrad. But after the first two weeks I realized how valuable the course content and textbook material is for any consumer of knowledge. Thinking about where we get our information from and how we know this is reliable, is crucial to reflect on in 2021, when there is an abundance of information at our fingertips. We must be able to decipher what is legitimate information and what is not - or just make conscious decisions about what we indulge in. I also found week two on critical reflexivity, power, and subjectivity particularly interesting and again, felt like this kind of learning should be taught to a broad array of people, as it is very relevant in our lives not just as potential researchers, but as knowledge consumers. Thirdly, the Week 6 lecture and the incorporation of oral histories and tradition as a part of qualitative research and data resonated with me.

Personally I think that oral histories tell a story in a way that modern interviews or traditional history books can not. The part of human geography that I find interesting is the individualized human perspective. I like hearing stories from people who were there when a particular event unfolded, or who was living in a geographical place before it shifted into an entirely different landscape, or someone who has personal lived experiences and knowledge in a field that maybe doesn’t make it into our history classes. Right now I’m reading a book called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I am sure some of you have heard of this as it was #1 on the bestseller list for some time.

The author is also a plant scientist and a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She uses oral histories that her mother told her to solve mysteries in the world of botany, and that is a lot of what she writes about in Braiding Sweetgrass. She explains that when she was an undergrad student research plants, she would ask her professors questions like “why do *flower A* and *flower B* always grow together in meadows?”, and the professor would tell her that is not a scientific question. She decides to research this topic more on her own, by asking her relatives that grew up collecting wildflowers and other plants for traditional medicines. Without spoiling this part of the book, I’ll just say that there was a scientific explanation to this question, just not one that was a part of traditional western research. It is important that we document the lives and histories of people before they are forgotten. These histories can also be told through maps and illustrations, later being used to maintain the integrity of these people’s experiences in museums, radia, television, or books. These oral histories seem to be often left out of research, especially in academia. I have tried citing information that people have verbally communicated to me throughout my life in an academic paper and was quickly shut down. To have richer, more inclusive research, we should include oral histories more often.

What are some ways you have seen oral histories used in qualitative research? I would be so interested to know!

References: Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.

[awgeog2260]

Interview with the Geographer

Interview Participant:

My group and I are researching Rural Geography for our digital storytelling project. A resource our group valued while doing the preliminary research for our digital storytelling project was the Journal of Rural and Community Development. I am interested in community development because I believe that collective decision making produces the best solutions to overcome common issues, and creates resilient, diverse communities, among other things. For the sake of this blog prompt, I would like to interview one of the authors of an article I found particularly interesting that is titled “The Battle of Little Big Puck: Narratives of Community, Sport, and Relationships in Rural Canada”. Specifically, I would interview Kyle Rich. I would interview this author because I am fascinated with the article they co-wrote. The article is about how sport and recreation impacts the lives and cultures of people living in remote communities. Kyle Rich, PHD, is an assistant professor of Recreation Studies at Brock University and is interested in how community, policy, and societal factors impact experiences in sport in rural and remote areas (Brock University, Faculty).

Pictured is a still from the film “The Grizzlies”, which is based on a true story about how lacrosse changes the lives of a group of Inuit students living in the small Arctic town of Kugluktuk. Source:https://www.landmarkcinemas.com/film-info/grizzlies-the

Interview questions:

1. How do you feel sport and recreation impacts people living in remote and/or rural areas?

I would hope to gain insight on the importance of this theme in rural geography. I would hope that Dr. Rich would be able to tell me how his area of study impacts rural people from his perspective since he has done extensive research on this topic.

2. How can municipal governments improve the availability and/or accessibility of activities in their communities? 

For this question, I would hope to get information from Dr. Rich on local government’s role in providing these services for people living in remote communities, based on his analysis of how policies and funding affects communities.

3. How do remote/rural communities differ in terms of availability and/or accessibility of sports, recreation, or other activities?

I would like to get some insight on the differences in urban recreational activities and rural activities. I would like to see the specific importance of these activities in remote settings, as well as understand barriers that rural communities face in terms of capacity and resources.

4. How does working with rural community members and organizers help you to analyze and address local issues?

Since Dr. Rich is a community based researcher, I would like to know how his approaches and methods help to build a bottom-up approach in the research process, and how his work helps local communities. 

5. Why/how is the work you do important to you?

Lastly, I would like to get some insight on why Dr. Rich does this work. I think this is an important question because it would help me understand the potential and driving forces for this kind of community development work in rural geography. This would be a follow-up question, which he could build on answers from all previous questions.

How I Decided on these Questions:

I made sure my questions are open ended, and the possible answers were not just yes or no’s. This allows the interview participant to drive the conversation (Hay, 2016, p.151). My first few questions are primary questions to open the conversation up to the main issues, and the last question is a secondary question to elaborate on the importance of the themes we discussed earlier (Hay, 2016, p.154). Most of my questions are opinion and storytelling questions, which page 155 of the Hay (2016) explains. I chose these types of questions because Dr. Rich is an expert in his field and has lots of insight to share from his personal observations and personal experiences. I started with a question I believe would be easy for Dr. Rich to respond to. Hay (2016) says that this is a good way to get the informant familiar with the interview. Lastly, I chose these questions because they help with my understanding of my research project, and they are questions I truly would like to know the answers to. 

Please let me know how you found my questions, and what I could improve on in my hypothetical interview. :)

References:

Brock University. Faculty. Retrieved from https://brocku.ca/applied-health-sciences/recreation-leisure/faculty-research/faculty-directory/kyle-rich-phd/

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

Rich, et al. (2020). The Battle of Little Big Puck: Narratives of Community, Sport, and Relationships in Rural Canada. Journal of Rural and Community Development. 15.

[asgeog2260]

Hey Alanna, I enjoyed reading your post! It only makes sense to interview a key thinker that relates back to the major course assignment. I also think the topic that Dr. Rich has written about is particularly interesting as well. I truly believe that sports/recreational activities can provide major benefits to the community, promoting teamwork and healthy lifestyles.

I thought the interview questions you have proposed would be quite viable in collecting information regarding your final assignment. As you mentioned in t your post, the questions provided are open ended. This will indeed lead to more lengthy answers from the subject. In addition, I thought the fourth question was very strong considering it directly links to the actual research methods at play, which can be used to draw meaningful connections in the storytelling assignment. I believe you could improve your questions slightly by being a bit more specific on the case study at focus, potentially using the real life example in order to strengthen any points that could be used for your final assignment.  

Best, Antonio.

[awgeog2260]

Hi Antonio,

Thanks so much for your response. I’m glad you found this research topic interesting!

I agree with your suggestion about using more specific questions on the interviewees area of expertise. I think you are right, and this would help the person I’m interviewing to answer the question, as he has lots of information on the topic, but also it would help me as the interview get a more in-depth understanding of the topic. I am sure the real world examples and experiences would help personalize the interview process which would make for a more interesting final product and project in general.

Thanks for your input!

-Alanna

[kmgeog2260]

Interviewing Doreen Massey on Urban Geography

If I had five minutes to interview a key thinker in the subfield of urban geography, I would choose Doreen Massey. Doreen Massey although not currently alive specialized in Marxist, feminist, cultural and economic geography which allowed her great insights to write her book World City (2007) were Massey uses the case study of London to reimagine the way in which world cities should be viewed but also challenged and changed. By pointing out geographical inequalities to understand the concept of place through urban cities Massey illustrates a style of urban geography that is less concern about the city itself but rather how the city interacts with the rest of the world (DeVries, 2012). I think Doreen Masseys perspective of looking at the city in terms of we ways in which different groups interact with it, and how it interacts with different groups to shine light on inequalities is what makes her very interesting. I believe it is crucial when looking at urban spaces to get perspectives from different demographics so Massey being female gives her an edge because females inherently interact with cities differently than men.

Some interview questions that I would like to ask Doreen Massey for our digital storytelling project that would help us to solve the research question: “What is Urban Geography?” would be.

1. What is urban geography to you?

2. Why were you drawn into the field of urban geography?

3. How has your experience in the field progressed and changed since your started?

4. Why do you think urban geography is an important field of study?

5. Is there anything else you would like to add about urban geography that has not already been asked or answered?

In this interview I am looking to conduct qualitative intensive research which is constructed with open ended questions looking to gain insight on her thoughts, opinions and feelings on urban geography (Hay, 2005), that is why I phrased my questions starting with mostly “how”, and “why”. I also wanted this interview to be a discussion, so I phrased my questions so that there is not yes or no answers. While determining which direction I wanted to take this interview I thought about what kind of answers would be able to help me with my own research question, and what type of information would be transferable. I think that Massey’s experience in the field and critical analysis is what would ultimately be the most useful for this project. The majority of my questions are primary, opinion-based questions (Hooykaas, Week 6, 2021). I structured them this way because the purpose of my own research is to obtain a detailed yet general overview of what urban geography is and therefore there is no one case or issue I would like her to expand on. I have also chosen a semi-structed interview (Hooykaas, Week 6, 2021) style because this loose framework allows Massey (who is the expert) to have some control over what information she might deem the most important on the subject. This semi-structured styled presents itself in my last question where I leave room of Massey to add whatever thoughts or opinions she might have been holding back during the interview.

If you were to interview someone on Urban Geography to gain insight on the field as a whole, are there any other questions that you would find necessary?

Hay, I. (2005). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography(4th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780199010912/cfi/0!/4/[email protected]:0.242

DeVries. (2012). Place re-imagined: A review of doreen massey. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from https://www.humansandnature.org/place-re-imagined-a-review-of-doreen-massey

[awgeog2260]

Hi Kaya,

Interesting post! My group is studying rural geography for the digital storytelling project, so it was cool to hear a bit about some subject matter you found when researching urban geography. I agree that the human element of geography, and the ways in which society interacts with the physical environment, is an important element to shine light on. Similar to what you said about the female’s experience in urban geography, I found that there are demographic differences in the ways certain groups experience the rural landscape as well.

I think your questions are great. I specifically like that you said you are asking general questions, because the focus for this project is to be general and get the gist of what this subfield is, without focusing too much on one particular case study. 

One thing I would be interested in asking an urban geography is; what are some differences between urban and rural geography, and how have the two been separated or possibly merged in the past several decades? I would also be interested in the relationship between built structures and the people that live in cities, for example, is there a place attachment people feel when living in urban areas? Also, I would be curious to hear a bit about what a sustainable city is, and what that looks like in the modern age, or what are cities potential in the future when we are moving towards better city planning that includes greening areas while maintaining its integrity and not gentrifying an area. So many questions! I’m excited to hear more about you project possibly in future weeks.

-Alanna

[awgeog2260]

Interview with the Geographer

Interview Participant:

My group and I are researching Rural Geography for our digital storytelling project. A resource our group valued while doing the preliminary research for our digital storytelling project was the Journal of Rural and Community Development. I am interested in community development because I believe that collective decision making produces the best solutions to overcome common issues, and creates resilient, diverse communities, among other things. For the sake of this blog prompt, I would like to interview one of the authors of an article I found particularly interesting that is titled “The Battle of Little Big Puck: Narratives of Community, Sport, and Relationships in Rural Canada”. Specifically, I would interview Kyle Rich. I would interview this author because I am fascinated with the article they co-wrote. The article is about how sport and recreation impacts the lives and cultures of people living in remote communities. Kyle Rich, PHD, is an assistant professor of Recreation Studies at Brock University and is interested in how community, policy, and societal factors impact experiences in sport in rural and remote areas (Brock University, Faculty).

Pictured is a still from the film “The Grizzlies”, which is based on a true story about how lacrosse changes the lives of a group of Inuit students living in the small Arctic town of Kugluktuk. Source:https://www.landmarkcinemas.com/film-info/grizzlies-the

Interview questions:

1. How do you feel sport and recreation impacts people living in remote and/or rural areas?

I would hope to gain insight on the importance of this theme in rural geography. I would hope that Dr. Rich would be able to tell me how his area of study impacts rural people from his perspective since he has done extensive research on this topic.

2. How can municipal governments improve the availability and/or accessibility of activities in their communities? 

For this question, I would hope to get information from Dr. Rich on local government’s role in providing these services for people living in remote communities, based on his analysis of how policies and funding affects communities.

3. How do remote/rural communities differ in terms of availability and/or accessibility of sports, recreation, or other activities?

I would like to get some insight on the differences in urban recreational activities and rural activities. I would like to see the specific importance of these activities in remote settings, as well as understand barriers that rural communities face in terms of capacity and resources.

4. How does working with rural community members and organizers help you to analyze and address local issues?

Since Dr. Rich is a community based researcher, I would like to know how his approaches and methods help to build a bottom-up approach in the research process, and how his work helps local communities. 

5. Why/how is the work you do important to you?

Lastly, I would like to get some insight on why Dr. Rich does this work. I think this is an important question because it would help me understand the potential and driving forces for this kind of community development work in rural geography. This would be a follow-up question, which he could build on answers from all previous questions.

How I Decided on these Questions:

I made sure my questions are open ended, and the possible answers were not just yes or no’s. This allows the interview participant to drive the conversation (Hay, 2016, p.151). My first few questions are primary questions to open the conversation up to the main issues, and the last question is a secondary question to elaborate on the importance of the themes we discussed earlier (Hay, 2016, p.154). Most of my questions are opinion and storytelling questions, which page 155 of the Hay (2016) explains. I chose these types of questions because Dr. Rich is an expert in his field and has lots of insight to share from his personal observations and personal experiences. I started with a question I believe would be easy for Dr. Rich to respond to. Hay (2016) says that this is a good way to get the informant familiar with the interview. Lastly, I chose these questions because they help with my understanding of my research project, and they are questions I truly would like to know the answers to. 

Please let me know how you found my questions, and what I could improve on in my hypothetical interview. :)

References:

Brock University. Faculty. Retrieved from https://brocku.ca/applied-health-sciences/recreation-leisure/faculty-research/faculty-directory/kyle-rich-phd/

Hay, I. (2016). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Toronto. Oxford University Press.

Rich, et al. (2020). The Battle of Little Big Puck: Narratives of Community, Sport, and Relationships in Rural Canada. Journal of Rural and Community Development. 15.

[jkgeog2260]

What I would Like to Research

If money, resources, and time were not a barrier for my research, I would love to work on studying indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest. More specifically, I would like to learn about their relationship with the environment around them including the effects of human deforestation.  

One of the first considerations that I would need to think about while preparing my study is to find a group of people that are willing to conduct the research. There are many Amazonian tribes – some who have not been in any contact with the outside world. So, finding a tribe that would be willing to have researchers come study their way of life could prove to be very difficult. Another challenge that I would have to face would be the language barriers. Some of the people native to the Amazon rainforest speak languages that are only spoken by their tribe. This could possibly make it exceedingly difficult to find someone of capable of translating their language.  

I believe that conducting this research could provide a variety of different benefits along with new insights on Amazonian culture that would help us understand human’s relationship with the natural environment around us. If I were to conduct my research, I would do structured interviews and participate (with permission) in subsistence activities. If the research went successfully, it would help people in the western world understand that we as humans still rely on the environment to survive and it is important to conserve large ecosystems like the Amazon.  

When conducting research, it is of utmost importance to be conscious of any ethical issues that your research could pose and try to mitigate them as much as possible. One ethical problem that could arise from this research would be unintentionally bringing foreign disease. As a citizen of the western world, I am vaccinated to a multitude of diseases. The people in the amazon would not have these vaccinations, unintentionally introducing a disease that could potentially harm the indigenous people would be a tragedy. One way to help prevent this from happening would be to bring my own living space when conducting the research to minimize spreading germs. Another risk that is important to keep in mind is making sure that the indigenous people are fully aware on what the research is about and are giving informed consent to the study being conducted. Due to the language barrier between researcher and the people being studied, it could be challenging to make sure both parties have an understanding on what they are consenting to. However, this is extremely important and must be done in order to participate in an ethical study.

[awgeog2260]

Hi Jonah

I see your desires around conducting human geography research in the Amazon. Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and the biodiversity loss that results from this is devastating. I think the 2020 fires really opened up some people’s eyes to the time-sensitivity of this issue, as if it continued burning, more species would be extinct forever and the ecosystem would look entirely different. The fact that this disaster was on all our minds for no more than a week, shows that continued research and attention needs to be allocated to deforestation in the Amazon.

I know this is a bit different than what your hypothetical research project is about. To be honest, in my opinion, I think that Amazonian tribes should be left alone and outsiders shouldn’t be traveling there to conduct research. There are several reasons why I have this opinion, but mainly I think the possible catastrophes outweigh the benefits of this research. I think the main thing is that it would be next to impossible to achieve informed consent from the tribes to conduct the research. These people have little contact with the outside world like you said, and even if you found someone that speaks their language, they likely would have no concept of research and thus would not be able to offer their informed consent.

I have watched videos of Indigenous tribes living in the Amazon, and I agree that it is fascinating. That being said, I am not sure there is a way to make this research not exploitative. Just my opinion, I hope this does not sway you, and you are welcome to disagree with me. I think there is research that can be done on the Amazon rainforest without actually traveling there and possibly disrupting the sensitive ecosystem and endangering people.

Alanna