Читать книгу GIS Research Methods - Steven J. Steinberg - Страница 95

What are the factors to consider in choosing a research method? One should first consider the project goal and the sorts of data most appropriate in meeting it. Can you use existing data, or will you require new data (or both)? Should the data you use in your study be quantitative or qualitative (or both)? What will the boundaries of your study be? Research can be conducted at the local, regional, national, or global level or at any combination of the four levels. Will you be doing a descriptive study of one area or comparing multiple research locations? Are there one or several methods you might use in the collection and analysis of the data?

If time and money allow, it is sometimes beneficial to incorporate multiple research methods in studying your topic because a variety of methods adds a greater empirical angle to your study. One popular approach is triangulation, or cross-examination, which is simply studying the same phenomena using three different research methods. Triangulation gives the researcher greater choice in gathering information on the topic. When data collected using multiple methods all point to a similar result, confidence in your results is strengthened.

So you could approach your problem or issue using a variety of methods, such as surveys, key-informant interviews, external or participant observation, and a review of historic or archival data. You could incorporate a geographic component into some or all of these different methods.

AN ASIDE ON TRIANGULATION

Interestingly, the term triangulation is historically associated with geometry, not the social sciences. If you work primarily in the social sciences, you may be familiar with the term as it applies to using multiple sources or methods to arrive at a result or conclusion. However, if you do an Internet search on the term, you will find that the first several pages of resulting hits relate to mapping and geometry. The properties of triangles were well understood by the ancient Greeks and are the basis for many modern mapping and land surveying techniques. As we were writing this chapter, we realized that an unintentional relationship between the mapping and social sciences may have originated in the translation of this geometric mapping term into the social science lexicon. In mapping, triangulation refers to the process of calculating a distance to a location by knowing the length of one side of a triangle and the related angles. This is accomplished with an instrument known as a theodolite, or its modern equivalents, including the Global Positioning System or surveyor’s total station (figure 3.11).

Figure 3.11 A surveyor making assessments in the field. CandyBox Images/Shutterstock.com.