Further Reading

Further reading links to supplement your studies.

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  • The different philosophies underlying human geography research are outlined in numerous volumes including Aitken and Valentine (2015), Cresswell (2012) and Johnston and Siddaway (2015). Trudgill and Roy (2003) attempt a similar review of methods and meanings in physical geography. Various chapters in Clifford et al. (2009) explain the tensions between geography as a physical science, social science or arts subject and show how geographers’ understandings of key concepts have evolved as approaches to geographical thought have developed.

Aitken, S. C. and Valentine, G. (eds) (2015) Approaches to Human Geography: Philosophies, theories, people and practices. London: Sage. 2nd edition.

Cresswell, T. (2012) Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Johnston, R.J. and Siddaway, J. (2015) Geography and Geographers: Anglo-North American Human Geography since 1945. London: Routledge. 7th edition.

Trudgill, S. J. and Roy, A. R. (eds.) (2003) Contemporary Meanings in Physical Geography: From What to Why? London: Routledge.

Clifford, N.J., Holloway, S.L., Rice, S.P. and Valentine, G. (2009) Key Concepts in Geography. London: Sage. 2nd edition.

  • Sayer (2010) is a thorough and extensive treatment of ‘methodology’ and its connections to the way in which we make sense of the world through observations, experiments, surveys and experiences. It argues that our philosophy of the way in which the world is structured (how things come to be as they are seen) must inform our choice of research design, and our choice of techniques for generalizing on the basis of the information which we collect from putting the research design into practice. The book depends on a particular (‘realist’) approach, but is an excellent starting point from which to relate philosophy to the practicalities of doing research, and to the strengths and weakness of particular kinds of research methods.
    Sayer, A. (2010) Method in Social Science. London: Routledge. Revised 2nd edition. 
  • Chalmers (2013) is a student-centred volume which covers an enormous range of material dealing with the various approaches to the philosophy of science and the status of scientific knowledge. It examines the nature of scientific explanation (the relations between observations, experiments and generalization), and gives both a historical and contemporary overview of contrasting viewpoints and approaches.
    Chalmers, A. F. (2013) What Is This Thing Called Science? Cambridge, MA: Hackett Publishing. 4th edition.
  • The edited book by Hay (2010) provides a detailed guide to selecting, operationalising and presenting the results of qualitative methodologies in geographical research. It has chapters dealing with research design, ethics, differing methodologies, and the use of internet and computing-related resources. Moss (2001) is a collection of essays exploring feminist geography in practice. These essays share a particular concern with the ethics and politics of knowledge production, notably in terms of the positionality of the researcher and the way ‘other’ people and places are represented.
    Hay, I. (ed) (2010) Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3rd edition.

Moss, P. (ed.) (2001) Feminist Geography in Practice. Oxford: Blackwell.

  • The journal Anthropocene review spans material from earth, environmental and social science and the humanities, while he journals Progress in Human Geography and Progress in Physical Geography provide substantive research articles, summaries of up-to-date developments in progress reports, reviews of research resources, and retrospectives on classics works in Geography.
    http://anr.sagepub.com/