Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
There is little merit in pursuing a false
dichotomy between pure and applied research. A
more useful distinction is that which recognises
the different levels of involvement of researchers
at each stage of the research and specifically the
greater engagement of applied geographers in the
'downstream' or post-analysis stages. The applied
researcher has a greater interest than the pure
researcher in taking the investigation beyond
analysis into the realms of application of results
and monitoring the effects of proposed strategies.
Researcher participation in the implementation
stage may range from recommendations in
scholarly publications or contracted reports (a
route favoured by most academic applied
geographers, although not exclusively) to active
involvement in implementation (more usually by
applied geographers employed outside academia).
Between these positions lie a variety of degrees of
engagement, including acting as expert witnesses
at public inquiries, dissemination of research
findings via the media, field involvement in, for
example, landscape conservation projects, and
monitoring the effects of policies and strategies
enacted by governmental and private sector
agencies.
The balance between pure and applied research
within a discipline varies over time in relation to
the prevailing socio-political environment. When
external pressures are at their greatest, disciplines
will tend to emphasise their problem-solving
capacity, while during periods of national
economic expansion 'more academic' activity may
be pursued in comfort. Taylor (1985) equated
these cycles with the long waves of the world
economy, and identified three periods in which
applied geography was in the ascendancy (in the
late nineteenth century, inter-war era and mid-
1980s) separated by two periods of pure
geography (in the early twentieth century and
during the post-1945 economic boom) (Table
1.1).
Our exploration of the link between pure and
applied research is not to imply the superiority of
one form of knowledge over the other. Rather, it
focuses attention on the fundamental question of
the use to which the results of geographical
research may be put. More specifically, the applied
geographer's interest in the application of their
research findings is of particular importance given
the role of values in the formulation of political
decisions. As Harvey (1984: p. 7) observed
'geography is far too important to be left to
generals, politicians, and corporate chiefs. Notions
of “applied” and “relevant” geography pose
questions of objectives and interests served….
There is more to geography than the
production
of
knowledge' (emphasis added). This conclusion
underlines the need for explicit consideration of
both the role of values in applied geography and
the value of the applied geographical approach.
These questions are considered below.
THE VALUE OF APPLIED GEOGRAPHY
A fundamental question for those working
within the framework of applied geography
concerns the value of a problem-oriented
approach. We have examined this issue already in
our discussions of useful knowledge and the
relationship between pure and applied research,
but we return to it here to address the specific
critique of applied geography that has emanated
from Marxist theorists. While the power of the
Marxist critique has been much reduced by its
own success in exposing the value bases of
research, it still offers a useful perspective on the
value of applied research.
The essence of the Marxist critique of applied
social research is that it produces ameliorative
policies that merely serve to patch up the present
system, aid the legitimation of the state and bolster
the forces of capitalism, with their inherent
tendencies to create inequality. For these radical
geographers, participation in policy evaluation and
formulation is ineffective, since it hinders the
achievement of the greater goal of revolutionary
social change.
In terms of praxis, the outcome of this
perspective is to do nothing short of a radical
reconstruction of the dominant political economy
(a position which, as we have seen, may also be
reached from a different direction by
