This is the first sustained discussion of methodological issues in economic geography in the last twenty years. It comprises an extended discussion of qualitative and ethnographic methods; an assessment of quantitative and numerical methods; an examination of post-structuralist and feminist methodologies; an overview of case-study approaches; and an inquiry into the relation between economic geography and other disciplines. With short, accessible, and engaging chapters, this is a critical assessment of qualitative and quantitative methods in economic geography.

Of Pufferfish and Ethnography: Plumbing New Depths in Economic Geography

Of Pufferfish and Ethnography: Plumbing New Depths in Economic Geography

Of pufferfish and ethnography: Plumbing new depths in economic geography
Elizabeth C.Dunn

Economic geographers are increasingly concerned with the ways in which decisions made in smaller places — in regions, industrial districts, and even inside workplaces — shape larger economic trends. But do we really have the tools to connect the dots between the choices and actions of individuals at the local level and larger-scale economic formations? I would say not. The problem, I think, results directly from a misunderstanding of the terms ‘culture’ and ‘ethnography’, a theoretical lack of attention to both culture and economy as lived processes, and a resulting failure to develop methods to observe those processes.

Put more cogently, the problem with ‘qualitative research’ ...

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