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Becoming a geographical researcher. I will have to be a good ‘hunter-gatherer’ and get myself organised to keep things…. I will need to think like a detective….finding, sifting and filtering information from a range of sources. Research options. Books – including standard A’Level texts.
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Becoming a geographical researcher I will have to be a good ‘hunter-gatherer’ and get myself organised to keep things….. I will need to think like a detective….finding, sifting and filtering information from a range of sources
Books – including standard A’Level texts Lots of choice
Articles – the ‘big 6’ GeoFile online Guardian & Independent Range of articles newspapers GeoFactsheet GeoNews Review Geographical ‘dossier’ Geography Review
Further Journals The Ecologist Remember to use their websites New Scientist, Nature National Geographic
Getting additional help • Try the exam boards
Probably the best geography websites: Fieldwork - OTHERS Google Books Search http://books.google.com/ Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/
Consider ‘Ethnography’ ??? Ethnography is a qualitative field of research intended to construct in-depth depictions of the every day life events of people, through active researcher participation and engagement • Direct, first-hand observation of daily behaviour. This can include participant observation, e.g. monitoring movements • Conversation with different levels of formality. This can involve ‘small talk’ to long interviews. • Detailed work with key consultants / stakeholders e.g. teachers, publicans, post-office personnel etc about particular areas of community life. Can be recorded focus groups. • Virtual or online ethnography – online conversations and text based research. Email research.
On the web…always consider • Who published the information - a site maintained by a university or government organisation is probably more reliable than one maintained by a private individual. • Who wrote the information - you can probably assume that material provided by a known expert in the field is likely to be reliable. • The age of the material - if you need current statistics, carefully check the age of the material you've found. A site dealing with historical hazards information may not need updating as frequently as one related to news and current events. • Why the material exists - many special interest groups have web pages. And while this doesn't necessarily mean the material is biased, it's something you should consider. Think about whether they might have some reason, other than pure helpfulness, for posting information