Grade 12 Geography Lecture Note

Unit 1: Basic Research Methodologies in Geography

Introduction
Geography has no single definition. It is because of the dynamic nature of the subject matter and
its broadness.
 The word geography comes from two Greek words geo—means earth, graphia- means to
write about or description. Geography is thus defined as the description of the earth, to
write about the earth or to study about the earth.
 Geography is one of the “earth sciences” or “spatial science” that concern about
places/spaces.
 In modern time, geography is defined as: “a discipline that studies about the spatio-
temporal variation, distribution and organization of the natural (physical) and human
phenomena on the surface of the earth as well as the two-way interactions between them.
 Since it is concerned with both natural and human aspects of the earth, the issues
studied in geography are very broad, interrelated and dynamic.
 Historically, the need for conducting research in the field of geography was initiated by
geographers’ desires to better understand and explain natural and human aspects of the
earth.
 For example, geographical research addresses issues such as: How and why are
places different? How and why does the natural environment influence where
people reside and how they live? How and why do human beings change the natural
environment?
 These days, geographical research is particularly important for understanding places and
tackling contemporary environmental, social, economic and political problems.
 Current global problems that occur in geographic context and that are addressed by
geographic researchers include worldwide environmental degradation, problems of food
supply, the societal effects of globalization, the effects of rapid population growth in the
developing world, the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the rise of religious
fundamentalism around the world.

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1.1. Definition and Concept of Research
 The term research came from old French root word ‘cerchier’ means to seek or search.
 The prefix ‘re’ - means again and thus, research- means to seek or search again with a
view to become certain.
 Some definitions of the term research:
 A scientific method of investigating solutions or answers to a given problem, but
research is not necessarily problem oriented and solution looking.
 A systematic way of producing new knowledge or improving and filling gaps in
existing knowledge.
 Systematic, planned and organized efforts by which new facts are discovered.
 A search for knowledge through objective and systematic approaches.
1.2. Significance of Research
 A research has significance at various levels, including the personal, institutional,
societal, national, and global levels.
 Development in any country depends, among other things, upon its research capability
and the extent to which this capability is channeled into action.
 Advances in science, technology and welfare are often considered to be the result of
capable research.
 Governments in developed countries allocate huge sums of money for research work.
 Developing countries are also adopting this approach. This situation has made research
work a good business for professionals.
Some of major significance or benefits of research:
 Enables us to identify problems, define their magnitude, causes, consequences, and
develop possible solutions. Example, the occurrences of hunger, flood, epidemics, etc…
 Adds new knowledge
 Enables us to visualize or understand the gap between the real world and the
formulated theory.
 Serve as springboards for further investigation that widen our own knowledge.
 Widens/enlarges one’s own reading, writing, and thinking skills
 Strengthens our capacity for critical observation and prediction
 Enables us to make rational decisions or predict about the future
 Serves as an aid to formulate policy

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1.3. Approaches of Research (Qualitative and Quantitative)
Research can be conducted using:
a) Quantitative Approach
b) Qualitative Approach
c) Combination of them (Mixed Approach)
A. Quantitative Approach
 Uses a wide range of statistical and mathematical tools, models and techniques in
order to:
 Analyze and interpret quantitative data obtained from different sources.
 Manipulate variables and see the effects of one variable on other variables.
 Verify a given theory.
 Test established hypotheses.
 The study can be repeated by other researchers.
Examples:
 Land-lease prices decrease as one travels from the centre of a city to its suburbs.
 Population density decrease as one travels from the centre of a city to its edges
 Temperature decrease towards the poles from the equator.
 Quantitative approach can be subdivided:
 Inferential quantitative approach: the target-study uses an existing data base and
infers characteristics or relationships from it.
 Experimental quantitative approach: the research work manipulates variables to
see their effects on other variables.
 Simulation (model) approach: this approach involves constructing an artificial
environment (model) to represent the actual environment we are studying.
Example: algebraic model explains soil as a function of its parent material, climate
and slope; S = f (Pm, S1, Cl, etc…), where S = Soil, Pm = parent materials (rock), S1
= slope, Cl = climate.
B. Qualitative Approach
 Uses non-numerical types of data to explain a new theory
 Statistical and mathematical techniques are not used.
 No previously existing theory or hypothesis is established or tested

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  The relationships between variables are not analyzed or presented numerically
 An established theory is not verified statistically or mathematically
 The study cannot be repeated by other researcher.
Some examples of qualitative approach are:
 Differences between urban and rural populations of Ethiopia
 Differences in academic achievement between boys and girls
 Effects of harsh climate on human activity
 Effects of poor leadership on students’ national examination results
1.4 Nature of Geographic Research
 Historically, various changes have been observed in the nature, scope and approaches of
geographic researches over time through the development of technology and accumulation
of information.
 Traditionally, geographers focused on the exploration of location and simple
description of places and people
 In the 18th C, geography’s focus shifted to the physical and human characteristics of
places or description of the relationships between humans and their environments.
 Since the mid-20th C (1950s and 1960s), the adoption of quantitative, statistical and
mathematical technique/ methods revolutionized geographic research, causing it to
focus more on:
 the spatial analysis of the distributions of phenomena and things
 the resulting patterns and two way interactions b/n human and the environment
 the forces responsible for the formation of the patterns
 Since then, geography has been considered as an applied science that brings practical
solutions to a wide range of problems related to the physical and social environment.
 Very lately, geographical research has begun to deal with environmental issues
like hunger, global warming, poverty and the sustainable development of our
ecosystem
 At the end of the millennium (20th C), the development of the Geographical
Information system (GIS) produced a powerful investigative tool for geographic
research.

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  Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that records,
stores and analyzes information about features of the earth’s surface. GIS
provided the ability to generate two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional
(3D) images of an area.
1.5 Research Methodology in Geography
 A research method or technique is a skill that uses different steps or elements to solve
the identified problem and arrive at a possible solution.
 The main methods are:
 collection and organization of data necessary or related to the problem
 the use of statistical parameters to treat and interpret the organized data
 the evaluation of the accuracy of the result obtained
 Research methodology is a concept that refers to the science of systematically/
scientifically conducting research.
 It has wider dimensions than research method or technique.
 It is the refers to the philosophy or logic behind the research
 Research methodology considers:
 why the study is undertaken (its significance at various levels)
 how the research problem is identified
 what assumptions or hypotheses are formulated
 what type of data are collected
 why a particular method or technique of analyzing the data is chosen

1.6 Basic Elements/Steps of Research

1) Identifying or Formulating Research Problem
 the first stage
 done by discussing with people with the experience and reading literature
2) Defining the significance of the study for solving the problem
 providing new discoveries
 improving existing situations
 demanding new decisions
 enriching or refuting already existing theories

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3) Defining the study of the problem area
 creating a detailed bird's eye-view for ourselves and others who will access the
research
4) Defining the objectives of the study
 goals the researcher intends to achieve through the research project
 general and specific objectives are set; general objectives provide short statements
of the goal, while the specific objectives provide detailed inter-connected
statements
5) Defining the scope and limitations of the study
 research requires time, financing and skilled manpower or professionals that are
not always available at required levels
 shortages of these resources limits the spatial dimension that the research can
cover
6) Reviewing the literature
 identifying, reading and analyzing documentation related to the research you plan
to perform like; books, academic journals, conference proceedings, government
reports, published and unpublished documents related to the problem
7) Developing a working hypothesis
 A hypothesis is a preliminary assumption or tentative explanation that accounts
for a set of facts, taken to be true for the purpose of investigation and testing a
theory.
 A hypothesis must have the following characteristics.
 should be clear and precise
 should be capable of being tested or verified
 should state relationships between the variables determined
 must explain the facts that give rise to the explanation
8) Preparing the research design
a) the conceptual framework within which the research could be conducted
b) research design for a particular problem involves the following considerations
 the means of obtaining the information
 the competence of the researcher

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  the time available for the research
 the money available for the research
 a research design answers such questions as these about your research project and
its subject: what, where, when, how much and by what means
9) Defining the sample design
c) Choosing a representative population from the total is called sampling. The
resulting study is called a “sample study”.
d) There are two types of sampling techniques:
a) Non-Probability Sampling
 This approach is sometimes known as deliberate or purposive sampling.
 The items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher.
 The basis of such samplings is personal decision.
 There is always a danger of bias in such sampling.
b) Probability Sampling (also known as 'Random Sampling')
 This approach is often called chance or lottery sampling.
 Every item of the population has an equal chance of being included.
 Only chance determines whether an item is selected or not. Once an item is
selected for the sample, it cannot appear again.
10) Collecting and organizing the data
a) Primary Data Collection: This type of data collection is original in character. It
produces the data, rather than relying on existing data. There are several ways of
collecting primary data:
 Personal observations.
 Interviews (conducted through telephone conversations and in person).
 Questionnaires (questions printed or typed on a set of forms). The
questionnaire is given to the respondents, who then fill it out by themselves.
It could be given to and collected from the respondents through mail, e-mail,
or in person.
 Schedules (Similar to questionnaires but they are asked and filled by the
enumerator or investigator personally).
 Focus Group Discussion with groups of people.

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 b) Secondary Data Collection: This type of data collection investigates data that has
already been collected, organized and arranged by someone else. Secondary data
may be either published or unpublished:

Published data include:
 publications by governments
 publications by NGOs
 journals
 magazines and newspapers
 reports by universities, scholars, etc
 historical records, etc
 Unpublished data include:
 diaries
 letters
 unpublished biographies, etc
11) Data Analysis and Interpretation
 At this class level, you can use:
 simple ratios and percentages
 pie charts and compound graphs
 measures of averages and raw-data variances
12) Preparing the research report, based on the findings
 The research report is a major component of the study.
 Until the report is written or presented, no one can use the research results.
 The report must be clear and accurate
 To create a good report, you must prepare it carefully. A good report is the product
of concentration, accuracy and the logical arrangement of your facts and ideas.
13) Compiling the bibliography/references
 For Books and Pamphlets
a) Name of the author, last name first.
b) Title, underlined or in italics
c) Place, publisher and date of publication
d) Volume(s) number(s)
Example: Getas A, (2007), Introduction to Geography, 2nd edition, Mc Graw
Hill, New york.
 For Magazines and Newspapers
a) Name of the author, last name first
b) Title of article, in quotation marks

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 c) Name of the periodical, underlined to indicate the practice of italics in
printouts.
d) Volume number
e) The date of the issue
f) Page or page range
Research Process in Flow Chart

1.7 Conducting Action Research

 Action research is an ongoing research process by which a particular real problem is
identified, information/data are gathered, practical solutions are tested, conclusions and
recommendations are reached and finally improvements are made.
 The following are basic features of action research.
 It is based on reality.
 It enables researchers to put ideas into action.
 There is rapid feedback.
 It aims at improving situations, not at producing new knowledge.
 It encourages reflections and further developments