Whose method is it anyway? Researching space, setting, and practice

Smith, Robin 2010. Whose method is it anyway? Researching space, setting, and practice. [Working Paper]. School of Social Sciences Working Papers Series, vol. 135. Cardiff: Cardiff University.

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Abstract

This paper was presented at the NCRM Oxford Methods Festival (2010) and considers some analytical problems observed within recent innovations in qualitative research; specifically, the use of GPS technology and the various ways in which such spatial data may be represented. The paper is intended as a reminder of the critique of the social sciences posed by Ethnomethodology and, in particular, applies these observations to the recent focus upon matters of space, place, and practice. It is argued below that in mapping and representing spatial practice the analyst runs the risk of obscuring the just what and just how of the practice they claim to gain access to. The paper draws on the three examples, outreach work in Cardiff, housewives’ cleaning, and people crossing the road, to demonstrate the form of reduction that can be observed operating in what we may call ‘formal spatial analysis’.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Cardiff University
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2016 09:59
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/78195

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