XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

610

Spatial Analysis

RC33 Logic and Methodology in Sociology (host committee)

Language: English

This session aims at exploring new developments in spatial methods, seeing space either as dependent or as independent variable: Researchers can ask how people think about space and construct space or they can see space as a relevant frame for social action that influences social life.

The session builds on the discussion started at the “8^th International Conference on Social Science Methodology” (Sydney, 2012) and in the HSR Special Issue “Spatial Analysis in the Social Sciences and Humanities” (2014) which was continued at the “World Congress of Sociology” (Yokohama 2014), the “6^th Conference of the European Survey Research Association” (Reykjavik 2015) and the “9^th International Conference on Social Science Methodology” (Leicester 2016).

Papers should address one of the questions below either at a more general methodological level or using a concrete example in a specific research project:

1. Which qualitative and/or quantitative methods are best suited for which kind of theoretical problems?

2. What methodological innovations concerning the spatial can be observed? (How) can traditional sociological or geographical methods be adjusted to address spatial problems within sociology?

3. How can the development, usage, integration, and/or analysis of maps or mappings (e.g. sketches, drawings, and pictures) contribute to the research process?

4. Which sampling strategies are appropriate for spatial problems?

5. What are the specific data requirements for spatial analysis, and how can these data be collected?

6. Which strategies of data analysis are appropriate for spatial analysis?