Qualitative GIS: A Mixed Methods Approach

Geographic Information Systems are an essential tool for analyzing and representing quantitative spatial data. Qualitative GIS explains the recent integration of qualitative research with Geographical Information Systems.

With a detailed contextualizing introduction, the text is organized in three sections:

Representation: examines how researchers are using software techniques to create new types of representations: either ′quantifying qualitative data′ or using non-numerical data in GIS to provide texture and context

Analysis: discusses the new techniques of analysis that are emerging at the margins between qualitative research and GIS; this in the wider context of a critical review of mixed-methods in geographical research

Theory: questions how knowledge is produced, showing how ideas of ′science′ and ′truth′ inform research, and demonstrates how qualitative GIS can be used to interrogate discussions of power, community and social action

Making reference to representation, analysis, and theory throughout, the text shows how to frame questions, collect data, analyze results, and represent findings in a truly integrated way. An important addition to the mixed methods literature, Qualitative GIS will be the standard reference for upper-level students and researchers using qualitative methods and Geographic Information Systems.