Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
testing of existing institutional policies within
the context of ethical standards as criteria. This
should not imply a simple system maintenance
approach to problem solving. Indeed, it is often
necessary to take an unpopular anti-
establishment position, which can result in a
major confrontation.' For practical examples of
this, we need only refer to the pragmatic
radicalism practised by the Cleveland City
Planning Commission (Kraushaar 1979), the
recommendations of the British Community
Development Projects, which advocated
fundamental changes in the distribution of
wealth and power and which led to conflict
with both central and local government, and
more recent policy-oriented analyses of poverty
and deprivation in which the identification of
socio-spatial patterns is used to advance a
critique of government policy (Pacione 1990).
(for example the politician or the planner) to the
research designer.' The impossibility of objective
value-free research is now axiomatic.
One issue of particular concern refers to the
values that condition the selection, conduct and
implementation of research, a dilemma
highlighted by the aphorism 'he who pays the
piper calls the tune'. J.T.Coppock (1974: p. 9),
an advocate of public policy research by applied
geographers, expressed this in terms of 'doubts
over whether government departments will
commission necessary research into the
effectiveness and consequences of their own
policies and there is a real danger that
constraints will be imposed over publication,
especially if this contains criticisms of the
sponsors or explores politically sensitive areas'.
Applied geographers must beware of any
restrictions imposed by research sponsors and
aware of the ways in which their research results
may be used. Applied geographers must seek to
ensure that their work contributes to human
welfare. In practice, this goal may be approached
by careful selection of clients and research
projects, by ensuring freedom to disseminate
results and, where possible, through engagement
in the implementation and monitoring of
relevant policy or strategies.
VALUES IN APPLIED GEOGRAPHY
At each stage of the research process, the applied
geographer is faced with a number of
methodological and ethical questions. Decisions
are required on defining the nature of the
problem, its magnitude, who is affected and in
what ways, and on the best means of addressing
the problem. All of these require value judgements
on, for example, the acceptability of existing
conditions (what is an acceptable level of air
pollution? or of infant malnutrition?). Values are
also central to the evaluation and selection of
possible remedial strategies, including comparative
analysis of the benefits and disbenefits of different
approaches for different people and places. In
some cases, the applied geographer may seek to
minimise such value judgements by enhancing the
objectivity of the research methodology (for
example, by employing a classification of
agricultural land capability to inform a set-aside
policy). In most instances, however, it is impossible
to remove the need for value judgement. As Briggs
(1981: p. 4) concluded, 'whether objectivity is ever
achieved is a moot point. In most cases the
subjectivity is merely transferred from the client
TYPES OF APPLIED RESEARCH
In deciding how to engage in applied geography,
practitioners have recourse to three principal kinds
of science (Habermas 1974). These are:
1
the empirical-analytical, in which the goal is
to predict the empirical world using the
scientific methods of positivism;
2
the historical-hermeneutic, with the goal of
interpretation of the meaning of the world
by examining the thoughts behind the actions
that produce the world of experience;
3
the realist-emancipatory, where the goal is to
uncover the real explanations governing
society and encourage people to seek a
superior social formation.
