The traditional way of describing places in geography is to refer to location. Today some writers refer to urban spaces as ‘hypercomplex’, recognising that places are made up of webs of components and relationships. If we ‘peel back’ the locational layer we begin to see how cities function as flows and networks: some physical and visible but many more subtle, with social, and often invisible components. Remember that these flows change minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day (something that can be investigated).
If we take this approach to place, fieldwork studying local neighbourhoods might be mainly qualitative (non-numerical) in design. This type of study is in many ways more challenging than the quantitative (‘counting’ fieldwork) that you will be familiar with from GCSE. Rather than numeracy, it requires a set of skills including social and cultural awareness. Qualitative data are often in the form of texts, images and descriptions of behaviours, actions and practices witnessed in the urban landscape. Figure 1 shows some examples of qualitative and semi-quantitative fieldwork and research approaches that can be used to explore aspects of place.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe
