The organisers, the Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG) and GIScience Research Group (GIScRG) of the Royal Geographical Society invite authors to submit 250-word abstracts for presentation at the Innovative Digital Geographies: Pushing against quantitative and qualitative boundaries session at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2021 2-4th September. Please note this will be an online session.
Instructions for Authors
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words (excluding references) for 15 minute presentations to zg61@leicester.ac.uk before Tuesday March 9th, 2021.
Organisers
- Dr Zoe Gardner, University of Leicester
- Dr Stefano De Sabbata, University of Leicester
- Dr Katy Bennett, University of Leicester
- Dr Tess Osborne, University of Groningen (Netherlands)
Abstract
The inflection of the Digital into almost every corner of modern life has been observed through shifts in economic, political and cultural spheres and shaped by a range of objects, practices, processes and materialities (Ash et al. 2019). The ubiquity and pervasiveness of digital technologies and their effects have excited geographers wanting to understand how these new practices and objects produce space, place and social relations. Geography has therefore responded with a focus on the techniques, logics, devices and spaces – both real and virtual -through which these transformations are underwritten.
The research methodologies through which these transformations have been explored have been diverse: qualitative approaches have been prevalent within digital geographies; while quantitative analysis of social media has been the main focus of studies in geographic information science. However, there is an appetite amongst scholars for more collaborative (and interdisciplinary) working across the quantitative and qualitative realms to understand the potential complementary value of synchronised methodological approaches (Sui & DeLyser 2012).
This session aims to explore, showcase and critically engage with state-of-the-art mixed-methods in digital geographies. It has three core concerns. Firstly, in what ways are geographers working across qualitative and quantitative realms and to what effect? Secondly, what does being creative and novel involve? Finally, what kind of knowledge about space, place and social relations are digital worlds and innovative research practices generating?
References
- Ash, K., R. Kitchin and A. Leszczynski, Eds. (2019). Digital Geographies. London, Sage.
- Sui, D., & DeLyser, D. (2012). Crossing the qualitative-quantitative chasm I: Hybrid geographies, the spatial turn, and volunteered geographic information (VGI). Progress in Human Geography, 36(1), 111-124.