Researching Human Geography

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Gain and apply knowledge and understanding of the range of data sources and methods available to human geographers, including their relative strengths and weaknesses, and some related research-design concerns (A7) (A8) (B1) (B3) (B5)
• Gain and apply knowledge and understanding of the range of available approaches to human geography, including their relevant strengths and weaknesses. (A1) (A2) (A3) (A4) (A5) (A6) (A7) (B1) (B2) (B3) (B5)
• Discuss and critique these approaches, data sources, methods, strengths, weaknesses, and concerns in talk with fellow students and in writing for assessment (B5) (B7) (C1) (C2) (C6) (D3)

Part 1: Conceptual themes in human geography

• Introduction: key conceptual tensions in Human Geography
• Local / Global: understanding scale and networks
• Society / Space: understanding how social identities can produce material and symbolic space
• Masculinity / Femininity: understanding gendered spaces
• Modern / Postmodern: understanding spatial order and disorder

Part 2: Research methods in human geography

• Ontology, epistemology, normativity... or, what questions do we ask and how do we answer them?
• Secondary data sources: statistics and archives
• Surveys and questionnaires
• Interviews & focus groups
• Ethnography and participatory methods
• Creative methods
• Visual analysis
• Discourse analysis

lectures, in-class exercises, seminars

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.