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Geospatial Science

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CHAPTER 3

Data Collection in Geography
Overview

Learning Objectives:





What is the distinction between primary and secondary data sources?
What are the five major types of data collection in geography?
What are some of the ways geographers and others have made a distinction between quantitative and qualitative methods, and how do they relate to scientific and humanistic approaches in geography?

I

n the previous chapter, we explained that the empirical part of scientific research involves systematically observing cases in order to record measurements of variables that reflect properties of those cases. Researchers analyze the resulting set of data (usually numbers) graphically, verbally, and mathematically in order to learn something about the properties of the cases. Data collection efforts do not generally go on continuously but are grouped into periods of activity focused on particular research issues or questions. Such a focused period of data collection and analysis is a study (in Chapter 7, we learn that there are two major categories of scientific studies, experimental and nonexperimental). In this chapter, we introduce some basic characteristics of data collection in geography, including the distinction between primary and secondary data sources, the five major types of data collection, and the distinction between quantitative and qualitative methods.

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36——AN INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METHODS IN GEOGRAPHY

Primary and Secondary Data Sources
One way to characterize data in geography concerns whether they were collected specifically for the purpose of a researcher’s particular study. If so, we call the data primary. An example would be a geographer who interviews people about their

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