Introduction to Scientific Research Methods in Geography [Hardback]

Preface: An Introduction to Scientific Research Methods in Geography		ix
Acknowledgments		xv
1. Introduction: A Scientific Approach to Geography		1	(16)
Learning Objectives		1	(2)
Overview of the Logic and Philosophy of Science		3	(7)
Characteristic Metaphysical Beliefs of Scientists		5	(2)
Nonscientific Ways of Knowing		7	(1)
Goals of Science		8	(2)
History and Philosophical Systems of the Discipline of Geography: Natural Science, Social Science, and Humanities		10	(3)
Review Questions		13	(1)
Key Terms		13	(3)
Bibliography		16	(1)
2. Fundamental Research Concepts		17	(18)
Learning Objectives		17	(1)
Idea Concepts		17	(4)
Empirical Concepts		21	(6)
The Concept of Scale in Geography		27	(1)
Generating Research Ideas		28	(2)
Review Questions		30	(1)
Key Terms		30	(3)
Bibliography		33	(2)
3. Data Collection in Geography: Overview		35	(10)
Learning Objectives		35	(1)
Primary and Secondary Data Sources		36	(1)
Types of Data Collection in Geography		36	(2)
An Introduction to Quantitative and Qualitative Methods		38	(3)
Review Questions		41	(1)
Key Terms		42	(1)
Bibliography		43	(2)
4. Physical Measurements		45	(20)
Learning Objectives		45	(1)
Physical Measurements in Physical Geography		46	(10)
Geodetic Measurement		47	(2)
Physical Measurements of Earth Systems		49	(7)
Physical Measurements in Human Geography		56	(2)
Review Questions		58	(1)
Key Terms		58	(5)
Bibliography		63	(2)
5. Behavioral Observations and Archives		65	(16)
Learning Objectives		65	(1)
Behavioral Observations		66	(3)
Archives		69	(1)
Coding Open-Ended Records		70	(8)
Example Coding		72	(3)
Coding Reliability and Validity		75	(3)
Review Questions		78	(1)
Key Terms		79	(1)
Bibliography		80	(1)
6. Explicit Reports: Surveys, Interviews, and Tests		81	(30)
Learning Objectives		81	(3)
Format of Explicit Reports		84	(5)
Rating Scales		87	(2)
The Administration of Explicit Reports		89	(4)
Using the Internet to Collect Explicit Reports		91	(2)
Designing and Generating Explicit Instruments		93	(2)
The Census: An Important Secondary Source of Explicit Report Data for Geographers		95	(6)
What Do U.S. Census Data Look Like and How Can You Obtain Some?		98	(3)
Limitations of Explicit Reports		101	(3)
Review Questions		104	(1)
Key Terms		105	(3)
Bibliography		108	(3)
7. Experimental and Nonexperimental Research Designs		111	(26)
Learning Objectives		111	(1)
Empirical Control in Research		112	(6)
Laboratory vs. Field (Naturalistic) Settings		117	(1)
Basic Research Designs		118	(7)
Specific Research Designs		119	(3)
Developmental Designs (Change over Time)		122	(2)
Single-Case and Multiple-Case Designs		124	(1)
Computational Modeling		125	(7)
Steps of Computational Modeling		129	(3)
Review Questions		132	(1)
Key Terms		132	(4)
Bibliography		136	(1)
8. Sampling		137	(20)
Learning Objectives		137	(2)
Sampling Frames and Sampling Designs		139	(5)
Implications of Sampling Frames and Designs		144	(3)
Nonparticipation and Volunteer Biases		146	(1)
Spatial Sampling from Continuous Fields		147	(4)
Sample Size		151	(2)
Review Questions		153	(1)
Key Terms		153	(3)
Bibliography		156	(1)
9. Statistical Data Analysis		157	(28)
Learning Objectives		157	(1)
Statistical Description		158	(6)
Statistical Inference		164	(9)
Estimation and Hypothesis Testing		168	(5)
Data in Space and Place: Introduction to Geospatial Analysis		173	(5)
Review Questions		178	(1)
Key Terms		179	(5)
Bibliography		184	(1)
10. Data Display: Tables, Graphs, Maps, Visualizations		185	(28)
Learning Objectives		185	(3)
Guidelines for Designing Displays		188	(15)
Tables		190	(2)
Graphs		192	(7)
Maps		199	(4)
New Trends in Scientific Visualization		203	(3)
Review Questions		206	(1)
Key Terms		207	(4)
Bibliography		211	(2)
11. Reliability and Validity		213	(18)
Learning Objectives		213	(1)
Reliability		213	(3)
Validity		216	(8)
Internal Validity		217	(2)
External Validity		219	(1)
Construct Validity		220	(2)
Statistical Conclusion Validity		222	(2)
Researcher-Case Artifacts		224	(2)
Review Questions		226	(1)
Key Terms		227	(2)
Bibliography		229	(2)
12. Geographic Information Techniques in Research		231	(26)
Learning Objectives		231	(1)
Geographic Information		232	(7)
Data Models and Data Structures		236	(3)
Remotely Sensed Geographic Information		239	(3)
Geographic Information Systems		242	(8)
Information Storage		243	(1)
Data Query and Display		244	(2)
Data Manipulation and Analysis		246	(4)
Review Questions		250	(1)
Key Terms		251	(3)
Bibliography		254	(3)
13. Scientific Communication in Geography		257	(22)
Learning Objectives		257	(6)
Peer Review System for Academic Publishing		263	(4)
The Basic Structure of a Journal Manuscript: The One-Study Empirical Article		267	(6)
Two Aspects of Style in Scientific Writing		271	(2)
Using the Library for Scientific Research		273	(2)
Review Questions		275	(1)
Key Terms		276	(2)
Bibliography		278	(1)
14. Ethics in Scientific Research		279	(14)
Learning Objectives		279	(3)
Treating the Natural and Cultural World Ethically		282	(2)
Treating Human Research Subjects Ethically		284	(6)
Institutional Human Subjects Review		287	(1)
A Case Study for Geographic Research: The Ethics of Tracking People		288	(2)
Review Questions		290	(1)
Key Terms		290	(2)
Bibliography		292	(1)
Index		293	(10)
About the Authors		303

Daniel Montello is Professor of Geography at the University of California, CA.  I grew up in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California (Laurel Canyon) during the 1960s. The movie Soylent Green and the chest pain I experienced with deep breaths during smog alerts had a significant impact on me and my nascent perception of the Human-Environment-Sustainability problematic. I later moved to Santa Barbara during my High School years and was deeply influenced by the works of Rachel Carson, Paul Ehrlich, and Garrett Hardin. Needless to say my early childhood experiences primed me to be significantly influenced by apocalyptic movies and neo-malthusian jeremiads.

I spent my undergraduate daze at Union College in Schenectady New York. I began as a naive pre-med but I ended up with a Chemistry degree and a desire to work in the area of environmental cleanup. I soon learned that EPA Superfund sites spend more of the clean up funds on lawyers in three piece suits than on chemists in Hazmat suits. This only seeded my latent cynicism as I volunteered for Zero Population Growth while I taught High School Chemistry, Physics, and Math at the Anacapa School in Santa Barbara. I later did some time as a process engineer at the Santa Barbara Research Center where I participated in the design, fabrication, and testing of infrared sensors for scientific and military equipment including satellite sensors.

I discovered Geography through friends that were graduate students in Geography at UCSB in the early 1990s. I milked my time as a graduate student in the Geography Department at UCSB for as long as I could obtaining an M.A. in Geography in 1995, an M.A. in Statistics in 1997, and a PhD in Geography in 1999. My dissertation was titled: "Census from Heaven: Estimation of human population parameters using nighttime satellite imagery and GIS". I am deeply indebted to many faculty at UCSB for their guidance and their service to the discipline.

I took a position in the Geography Department at the University of Denver in the Fall of 1999 and have been here since then. I have many interests spanning much of geography but ranging into ecology, economics, and philosophy. Most of my research focuses on applied issues associated with the Human-Environment-Sustainability problematic. I do a great deal of work with nighttime satellite imagery derived from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Programs Operational Linescan System (DMSP OLS). Data products derived from DMSP OLS imagery are being used to map and estimate human population distribution, energy consumption, economic activity, urban extent, CO2 emissions, Ecological Footprints, and more. The tools needed to engage in this research are remote sensing , geographic information analysis, and statistics. I also am interested in the development of the discipline of ecological economics. I use my expertise in GIS and spatial data analysis in collaborations with economists and ecologists to make spatially explicit valuations of ecosystem services. Nonetheless my interests are quite broad and I have had students write theses and dissertations in areas ranging from crime mapping to explaining high-stakes testing scores in the public schools to mapping invasive species.

My fascination with apocalyptic movies has not faded though and I teach a first year seminar titled: Utopia, Dystopia, and the End of the World. I do my small part to insure that Soylent Green remains in the lexicon of the culturally literate. I also teach geographic statistics, population geography, and ecological economics. I try to serve the discipline of Geography primarily by teaching and mentoring students in a way that prepares them to be informed and active citizens, provides them with unique and relevant skills that helps them pursue meaningful careers, and provokes and stimulates their curiosity and intellect in ways that insures that they appreciate that a geographic perspective is essential to a rich intellectual life.