METHODOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

Though technically a support field and an infrastructure rather than a substantive domain, methodology and technology are at the heart of every subfield in the department, and hence worthy of calling out for special attention. The department supports a full range of methodological approaches, the choices of which are best made on the basis of research questions and objectives rather than pre-set ideas about the relevance of this or that technique. We support critical methodologies such as discourse analysis and participatory methods, traditional qualitative methods such as interviewing and ethnography, mixed quantitative and qualitative approaches relying on survey data, and traditional quantitative approaches, especially spatial statistics and GIS. In terms of technology, faculty support projects with specialized software and hardware dedicated to GIS and remote sensing. Increasingly the department is home to new approaches in web-based technology, decision support science, and geo-visualization.

Current research areas in methodology and technology in geography at the University of Arizona include:

• Public participation in data gathering and analysis
• Web-based decision support systems
• Integrating GIS, remote sensing, and field-based methods
• Spatial analysis of human and physical systems