4 . 1 Introd u ction
Th is, the seco nd of the a na lytica l chapters, focuses on fiel dtri p s at a time w hen geog ra p hers used the concept of genera l theories to ex p l a i n aspects of society a n d its fu n ctio n i n g , a n d of the l a n d a n d its p rocesses . Their s u ppositions were based on a set of hy potheses, w hich if valid ated
e m pi rica l ly g a i ned the stat u s of laws. I nfo rmation or data was gathered a n d a na lysed to test whether t h e genera l theory w a s correct or fa l se . T h i s i s a crucia l meta p h o r of fi el dtri ps fo r those geogra p hers who a re termed general theorists beca use of this foc u s . Their theoretica l perspective i s positivis m . M a ny geogra p hers in N e w Z ea la n d d ra w o n this episte me a nd a l a rg e g ro u p o f t h e participa nts, who were interviewed as pa rt o f t h i s resea rc h , u se t h i s a p proach for t h e i r teach i n g , research, a nd i n the i r a pproach to t h e pra ctice of fie ldtrips.
P u b l ished sources provide b a ckground i nfo rmation to the a p proach ta ken by
general theorists as descri bed in the fi rst part of the chapter. Sections 4 . 3
a n d 4 . 4 consider the i ntro d u ction of this episteme t o N ew Zea l a nd ; Secti o n
4 . 3 looks a t u n iversity geogra p hy a nd Section 4 . 4 a t school geogra p hy. The b u l k of the a n a l ysis from the i nterviews with these geo g ra p hers comes afte r t h i s . It is divided i nto a n u m ber of sections, cl ustered a round the m a i n m e a n i ngs a b o ut fieldtrips t h a t emerged fro m t h e i nterviews with th ese geogra p hers. These a re : fie l dtrips a re u sed to demo nstrate scie ntific m ethod a nd hypothesis testi n g a nd they p rovide exa m ples, which a l low students to s u p p ort or rej ect hypotheses; fieldtrips a re sites w he re e x a m ples of theories ta u g ht i n lect u res or i n the classroom ca n be
i l l u strated; specia l ised sk i l l s s h ould be l ea rnt o n fieldtri ps, ofte n rel ating to the practitio n e r's own researc h methodologies; a nd ( u n iversity ) fieldtri ps a re a mea ns of encoura g i n g stude nts to ca rry on as postg rad uates i n the
d i sci p l i n e . The na rratives that i n fo rm these meta p hors a re described for each mea n i n g . Exa m i nation of the m i l ieux that were ide ntified by
participa nts as contri b uti n g to the a p p roach they take to fieldtri p s com pletes t h e d iscussi o n .
T h e l a st seg ment, 'Co n c l u s i o ns', provides i n si g hts i nto t h e practice of fie ldtri ps by these geog ra p h e rs, constructed with refere n ce to the material that has been assembled in p rece d i n g sections of the chapter. Reflection on the p ra ctice of fiel dtri ps by the general theorists i n re lation to the
classifiers, and the structuralists a n d deconstructivists d iscu ssed in s u bseq uent a n a lytica l cha pters, i s g iv e n .
4.2 G e n e ra l theories
The a p p roach to geog ra p hy u sed by these geogra phers fo l l ows on from the atte m pts by those who h a d e n deavou red to classify phenomena on the earth 's s u rfa ce by g ro u p i n g together a spects of society a nd the l a n d that were perceived as hav i ng ca u sa l rel atio n s h i ps . The d iffe rence i s that these geog ra p he rs so u g ht to esta b l i s h a nd u se genera l theories rather than cla ssificatio n s w h ich were valid for l i m ited a rea s , th u s moving to a more n o m othetic a p proach rath e r t h a n the id iogra p h i c approach used previ ously . The geogra p hers who fol l owed this a pp roach in the academy, a n d ex plain the world a s dependent o n l aws, have been term ed positivists (Joh nston et a l . , 2 0 00 ) . I n some ca ses these laws a re viewed as si m i l a r to the laws of p hysics a nd i n fact on occa sion l a ws of p hysics, such a s the law of
g ravitatio n h ave been u sed by geogra p h ers to exp l a i n a spects of h u m a n geogra p hy (Joh nsto n e t a l . , 2 0 0 0 ; J o h nsto n and Sidaway, 2 0 0 4 ) . The basi s for this a p p roach stretch es b a ck to the E n l i g hte n m e nt a n d the work of the Fre n ch p h i l oso pher and sociolog ist, Aug u st Comte, w h ose main aim was to sepa rate scie nce from m eta p hysics a nd promote the idea of logic a n d rea so n . H e s a w scie n ce a s advanci n g b y t h e esta b l i s h ment o f ge neral theo ries, w h ich if verified em p i rica l l y , achieved the status of laws.
T h e o n tology i n g eog ra p hy u n d e r this theoreti ca l perspective was that there is a rea l world , w h ich ca n be ful ly ex p l a i ned by detached o bservers . I n h u ma n geog ra p hy some ideas w ere ba sed o n theories a bo ut society , w h ich had been fi rstly expounded in t h e 19th or 2 0th centuries . Theories such as V o n T h u nen's model of land use, wh ich had first been develo ped i n 1 8 2 6 , Bu rgess's m o d e l o f u rba n z o n e s proposed i n 1 924 a nd Chri sta l l e r's theories o n centra l place, w h ich had been adva nced i n the 1 9 3 0 s in Germ a ny , were u se d . Geogra p h ers i n the USA, B rita i n , a nd Sweden exte nded s u ch theories in the 1 960s. An A merica n , Bu nge, i n 1 9 6 2 wrote of how g eog ra p hy w a s t h e scie nce o f spati a l re lati o n s a n d too k the idea s o f ce ntra l place theory i nto the world of geometry a n d m athe matics . McCarty at Iowa l i nked theories of l ocati o n , derived fro m ce ntra l pl ace theory, with econom ics . H a ggett and the C a m bridge g ro u p took the ideas to Brita i n a n d H aggett ( 1 9 6 5 ) published Locational A nalysis in Human Geography, w h ich sought to show how geometry cou l d be used to develop m odels i n geogra p h y .
Another major atte m pt b y h u m a n geogra p h ers a t this time i n t h e search fo r g e n e ra l laws was that made by the Swed ish geogra p her, Torste n
H a g erstrand, w h o developed theories on d iffusion, which were ba sed a ro u nd Monte Carl o sim ulation m ethods a n d the comparison of observed a nd predicted patte rns of a d opti o n . Others viewed g iven a s pects of the worl d a s system s with selected i n p uts, outputs, a nd th ro u g h p uts i n o rder to ex p l a i n what is ha ppe n i n g in a com plex envi ro n m ent; this m ethodology was derived from outside the d i sci p l i n e in a Cold W a r proj ect showing the
work i ng s of m i l ita ry syste m s and it was later developed i n a n u m ber of sci e n ces in America ra n g i ng from engi neeri n g to politica l scie nce (Jo h n ston et a l . , 2000; Joh n st o n a n d S i d a way, 2004) . H a ggett is cred ited with
i nfl u encing a wide a ud ience with the pri nci ples he put forwa rd i n his text, Locational Analysis in Human Geography, (J o h n ston et a l . , 200 0 ) . Joh n ston a nd Sidaway, (2004) view t h is a s one of the texts that hel ped to esta b l i s h t h e tra ns m ission o f the episte m e o f positivism to u ndergra d u ates i n the late
1 9 6 0 s a n d early 1 9 70 s , via the ideas of pattern a n d order. 1 The models utilised by these geog ra p hers were designed to si m p l ify the com plex world a n d t o see if patte rns d i scerned in one pa rt of the world co u l d be re plicated
elsewhere . Mathemati ca l m od e l l i n g was uti lised to prod uce ' g e nera l isati o n s o f rea l ity' . A l ot o f t h e d ata used b y these geographers w a s o bta i ned fro m p u blished materi a l for exa m ple, ce n su s data .
I n both h u m a n a n d p hysical geogra p hy theories were prese nted concern i n g ca u sa l re lati onships between fea t u res i n society a nd t h e la n d sca pe. To test w hethe r these theories actua l ly exi sted i n the society, com m u n ity , or l a n d scape u nder study, statistica l methods were used to show ca usal
relationships i n both a reas of geogra p hy betwee n a l i m ited a rray of features that were ch osen fo r a na lysis. The rel ati o n s h i ps that were d iscovered were tested agai n st a genera l theory that had been suggested . Generalised e m p i rical mathem atical re lati o n s h i p s were sought. If sufficient re plicati o n s o f a theory c a n b e see n to b e a ccurate t h e n t h e theory is a ccorded the status of a law. S i m i l a rly models such as the ce ntral place o r d iffu sion m od e l s were tested by gatheri n g d ata, whether fro m p u b l i sh ed sources s u ch as census re ports or u si n g s u rvey or sam p l i ng tech n i q ues as part of fie l dwork . This is w he re fie ldwork was used i n this theoretica l perspective . Selected empirica l inform ati o n was collected a nd record ed before being ta ken back to the l a b o ratory for a n alysis, which was often u n dertaken u s i ng q ua ntitative tech n i q u e s . Analysis led to rejection or support fo r the theory that w a s being tested . The n u m ber of theories put forw a rd was l i m ited , a n d u sua l ly ste mmed from p u b l ished materia l by e m i nent geog ra p hers such a s th ose mentioned a bove .
Geog ra p hers a t u n iversity level i n t h e U n ited States of A m e rica, started u s i n g such a p proaches in the 1 9 50s, in a sea rch for order a nd for a n e pi ste m e that would be rigoro u s a n d b e a ccepted b y other a cademics . The
1 9 5 0 s was the time of the H a rtshorne and Schaeffer de bate, which h a s bee n considered a s m a rking the beg i n ni n g o f positivism i n geography . H a rtshorne reite rated h i s ideas, fi rst put fo rwa rd i n 1 9 3 9 , that geog ra phy i s a science o f reg ions, ( H a rts h o rne, 1 9 3 9 , 1 9 54 a , 1954b, 1 9 59 ) . Scha effe r ( 1 9 5 3 ) believed geogra phy to be a systematic scie nce, for wh ich genera l l a w s could be esta b l i shed. J o h n ston a n d S i d a way (2004) consider that too m uc h we i g ht has bee n p laced on this debate a nd McCa rty and others were lea d i n g the move to positivi s m from Iowa i n the 1 9 5 0 s . Positivists believed
i n g ra n d theory a n d l oo ked fo r support of these theories i n fi n d i ng s from experi m e nts conce ntrating on a ssociati ons between vari a b l e s that operated in the world. This l ed the way for the study of geogra p hy as a s patia l
scie nce, ( M cCa rty , 1 9 5 2 , 1 9 53 , 1 9 54, 1 9 58, 1 9 7 9 ) . It w a s i n the era of the ea rly c o m p uters, when large q ua ntities of data could be m o re efficiently m a n i p u lated than had been possi ble previo u s l y . I n itia l ly, th ese were m a i nfra me com pute rs a nd only a few u n ive rsities a nd depa rtments had access to these m a ch i nes ( Forer a nd Cha lm ers, 1 9 87 ) . Loa d i ng data w a s time consu ming, a n d s l o w , b u t n o ne -the-less s u bstanti a l resea rch o f a q ua ntitative nature w a s u n derta ken d u ring the 1 960s i n both h u m a n a nd p hysica l geography .
A shift a l so occu rred i n other soci a l sciences, s u ch a s psychology a n d sociology, d u ring t h e 1 9 5 0 s a n d 1 9 60s, towa rd s a more scie ntific a p p roa ch to k n ow l edge co nstructi o n i n their d i sci pline s . P hysica l geog ra phy was also becom i n g m ore scientifi ca l ly ba sed , a s more e m p hasis was p l a ced on a ded u ctive a pproach to la ndscape stud ies, which h a s persi sted to this day i n p hysica l geography rather than the i n d uctive a p p roach, w h i c h had p reced ed it a nd was d i scussed in C h a pter Thre e . Greg ory ( 2 0 0 3 ) reflecti n g on the h isto ry of p hysical geogra p hy i n Brita i n sa w a d ivergence from h u m a n