Fieldwork for Human Geography
May 2012 | 240 pages | Sage UK
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Description

This book encourages students to critically engage with the reasons for doing fieldwork and what they can get out, explains methods and contexts, and links the fieldwork with wider academic topics. It looks beyond the contents of research projects and field visits to address the wider experience of fieldwork: working in groups; understanding your ethical position; and opening your eyes, ears and minds to the wider possibilities of your trip.

Throughout the book, the authors present first person descriptions of field experiences and predicaments, written by fieldtrip leaders and students from around the world including the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Singapore, and South Africa.

Contents

Introduction: Fieldwork for Human Geographers

Introduction: Fieldwork for Human Geographers

PART ONE: APPROACHING THE FIELD

  • Getting the Most out of Fieldwork
  • Justifying the Cost: Your Degree and Your Job Prospects
  • Before You Go: Research Design and Preparation
  • Ethics: Positioning Yourself and Encountering Others
  • Working in Groups and Travelling Together

PART TWO: METHODS AND CONTEXTS

  • Reading the Landscape: Describing and Interpreting Field Sites
  • Interviewing for Fieldwork
  • Participant Observation and Participatory Geographies
  • How to Be an Explorer: Rediscovering Your Curiosity

Additional materials

Description

This book encourages students to critically engage with the reasons for doing fieldwork and what they can get out, explains methods and contexts, and links the fieldwork with wider academic topics. It looks beyond the contents of research projects and field visits to address the wider experience of fieldwork: working in groups; understanding your ethical position; and opening your eyes, ears and minds to the wider possibilities of your trip.

Throughout the book, the authors present first person descriptions of field experiences and predicaments, written by fieldtrip leaders and students from around the world including the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Singapore, and South Africa.

Contents

Introduction: Fieldwork for Human Geographers

Introduction: Fieldwork for Human Geographers

PART ONE: APPROACHING THE FIELD

  • Getting the Most out of Fieldwork
  • Justifying the Cost: Your Degree and Your Job Prospects
  • Before You Go: Research Design and Preparation
  • Ethics: Positioning Yourself and Encountering Others
  • Working in Groups and Travelling Together

PART TWO: METHODS AND CONTEXTS

  • Reading the Landscape: Describing and Interpreting Field Sites
  • Interviewing for Fieldwork
  • Participant Observation and Participatory Geographies
  • How to Be an Explorer: Rediscovering Your Curiosity

Additional materials

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Fieldwork for Human Geography


May 2012 | 240 pages | Sage UK

Format Published Date ISBN Price

This book encourages students to critically engage with the reasons for doing fieldwork and what they can get out, explains methods and contexts, and links the fieldwork with wider academic topics. It looks beyond the contents of research projects and field visits to address the wider experience of fieldwork: working in groups; understanding your ethical position; and opening your eyes, ears and minds to the wider possibilities of your trip.

Throughout the book, the authors present first person descriptions of field experiences and predicaments, written by fieldtrip leaders and students from around the world including the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Singapore, and South Africa.


Table Of Contents:

  • Introduction: Fieldwork for Human Geographers
  • PART ONE: APPROACHING THE FIELD
  • Getting the Most out of Fieldwork
  • Justifying the Cost: Your Degree and Your Job Prospects
  • Before You Go: Research Design and Preparation
  • Ethics: Positioning Yourself and Encountering Others
  • Working in Groups and Travelling Together
  • PART TWO: METHODS AND CONTEXTS
  • Reading the Landscape: Describing and Interpreting Field Sites
  • Interviewing for Fieldwork
  • Participant Observation and Participatory Geographies
  • How to Be an Explorer: Rediscovering Your Curiosity

Recent Product Reviews:

A highly readable and superbly fun guide to the why and how of doing fieldwork in human geography, this book offers very persuasive perspectives to its target audience - undergraduates who otherwise might just mourn about going into the "foreign" field or take the trip too lightly as a free/subsidized holiday. I recommend it highly to any geographer-wannabes and practicing-geographers. The latter group, including myself, might well rediscover the fun of doing geographyHenry YeungProfessor of Economic Geography, National University of Singapore Fieldwork is the heart of most geographic endeavours to the extent that it stimulates our passions and pushes us to ask the pithy questions that build disciplinary knowledge. This book provides an excellent introduction to the art and science of fieldwork. It makes clear that fieldwork is not just about getting out of the classroom and gaining first-hand experience of places, it is about instilling passion about those placesStuart C. AitkenProfessor, Department of Geography, San Diego State University This book is set to be an indispensible guide to fieldwork that will enrich the practice of geography in a myriad of different ways. In particular, the diverse materials presented here will encourage students and academics alike to pursue new approaches to their work and instil a greater understanding of the conceptual and methodological breadth of their disciplineProfessor Matthew GandyProfessor of Human Geography, University College London If fieldwork is an indispensable component of geographical education then this book is equally essential to making the most of fieldwork: at last, students have a guide to making the most of their journeys abroad or closer to home. At its best fieldwork is a formative experience in which learning about other places is a process of learning about oneself. This book gives students the tools to realise the full potential of what, for many, is the highlight of their geography degree. Fieldwork is about expanding your horizons while reflecting critically on your own place in the world; this book helps students get the most out of their travels - be they abroad or closer to homeNoel CastreeProfessor of Geography, Manchester University Takes readers through the stages of planning, undertaking, analysing and reflecting on the fieldwork experience. It includes discussions of key issues such as ethics, health and safety, justifying the cost of fieldwork, working in groups, methods of field research and the transferable skills that fieldwork can help to develop. The text is engaging and suitably illustrated with a number of personal "postcards" from scholars who are well known for their fieldwork practice, as well as from recent graduates who reflect on their own experiences in the field... Fieldwork for Human Geography is far more grounded in the field than the more abstract discussions that typify many methods textbooks. There are examples, anecdotes and photographs, as well as more substantive reflections on working in various fieldwork situations. Times Higher Education

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