GLOSSARY (in progress)

DEDUCTIVE RESEARCH: Looks at human behavior through the use of a hypothesis derived from a theory. The variables of significance are identified and then tested. We might theorize that cultural messages of inequality and risk make women feel more vulnerable in their use of public space. A hypothesis could test this by looking at where women and men sit in public space. The research would identify which spaces in public parks are "protected" and which are "not protected". The researcher would then count the number of men and women in these spaces at a range of times and seasons. If there were more women using protected spaces than men, the hypothesis would be confirmed.... BUT we wouldn't know WHY that was the case without doing additional research. It might be that the decision on where to sit is actually driven by male choices for more public access or the opportunity for prospect. We discussed biophilia in passing and the ecological theories about differences in male and female behavior that stem from our genetic programming. It could be that men still retain their historical programming as hunters and therefore choose the spaces that are more open, rather than that women are choosing spaces that are more protected.

ETHNOGRAPHY:
Ethnography is the study of culture using in-depth research techniques to explain WHY people make the choices they do in real world settings. It was originally the set of tools used by anthropologists, but is now applied to many other settings  including consumer and organizational research and what is called HCI for Human Computer Interaction. It assumes that the stories that people tell about their lives are what matter, rather than the more passive and purportedly objective techniques that are used in more quantitative research. It shares approaches with journalism and oral history.

INDUCTIVE RESEARCH:
Looks at human behavior  (or other forms of data) and tries  to determine what themes there are that might lead to an explanation of behavior. My research in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey was inductive research. I spent 4 years hanging out with people at their kitchen tables, at bars, and in planning hearings listening to what they had to say. Eventually, I determined that one of the factors that influenced the experience of environmental change in rural areas was people's attitudes toward independence and interdependence. The "natives" had very different attitudes than those "from away". There were other themes that evolved from that research but the data drove the research hypotheses and conclusions rather than the other way around  (which is deductive research).

PHENOMENOLOGY:
This is where my heart lies in doing research. It focuses on the experience of place and allows us to pull together threads from many places, to weave them into a narrative cloth.  It presumes that we begin with the archival work of documenting a place from what has already been written, from the maps and the oral histories of place. Then it pulls together observations and interviews, mapping and trace measures - pretty much everything to provide a holistic portrait of a place. Then the hard work of categorizing what we see begins, so that we can develop grounded theory that is based in the uniqueness of the place.

POSITIVISM:
I struggle with this... It presumes that we know what the significant variables are in a research site - before we get in and do the work. But perhaps I am jealous, because it is so clear that all you have to do is test the levels of variables "x" and "y" and assess how they influence each other. And then you have a publication or six. It is SO much more efficient that phenomenological research!