John H. McKendrick

Multi-method research: An introduction to its application in population geography

This paper sets the context for four papers on multi-method research inpopulation geography. It begins by outlining the various ends to which multi-method research may be employed. The focus then shifts to the broader plane of method, epistemology, and research design. It is argued that epistemological position only determines how methods can be used: it does not preclude the use of particular methods. The possibilities for multi-method research are therefore considerable. Finally, some issues pertaining to multi-method research thathave not yet been resolved are raised for future debate.

Something for Everyone? An evaluation of the use of audio-visual resources in geographical learning in the UK

This paper reports from a survey of geographers in the UK that canvassed their experiences of using audio-visual resources to support teaching and learning. The survey results suggest that geographical learning has embraced audio-visual resources and that these are, on the whole, being employed effectively. Yet, very little expansion of audio-visual-based learning is anticipated. It is concluded that integration of audiovisual resources into the mainstream curriculum and active learning on the part of students are essential to ensure effective and sustainable deployment of audio-visual technology.

Dismissing Disaffection: Young People's Attitudes Towards Education, Employment and Participation in a Deprived Community

This article examines whether young people in a deprived area are disaffected with education, training and employment, or disengaged from participation in their community. It draws upon evidence from the Drumchapel Aspirations Survey, a study of the attitudes, aspirations and skills of young people from one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow. The study involved a survey of young people in two secondary schools in the Drumchapel area, and focus groups with recent school-leavers. The research explored young peoples outlooks at a critical life-stage transition: their levels of social participation, existing skills, future employment and training ambitions, and their understandings of the processes involved in the transition to employment. These data are analysed to examine whether there is evidence of any rejection of mainstream values or an oppositional culture among young people in this deprived community or among any sub-groups within it. The Drumchapel Aspirations Survey study demonstrates that there is no evidence that young people in Drumchapel are disaffected or disengaged; however, indications of skills and aspiration gaps between different types of young people merit further attention and action.

Mixed and Multiple Methods

This article defines multimethod research. Multimethod research continues to be widely practiced in human geography, although there has been little direct debate among geographers since the end of the 1990s of this approach to research. The article starts by defining multimethod research, before progressing to consider its many uses and styles. Two key debates pertaining to epistemology and multimethod research design are then discussed, before conclusions are reached on the future of multimethod research in human geography.

The diet of children's geographies

In a recent Viewpoints, Chris Cunningham highlighted the value of applying geographical knowledge to address the growing problem of childhood obesity (Cunningham, 2003). Prominent among the four reasons presented to support this contention was acknowledgement of the dearth of work and lack of understanding amongst those responsible for tackling childhood obesity of those obesity-inducing factors (such as activity patterns) which are of most interest to geographers. However, Cunningham stressed that geographers should also be concerned with issues surrounding nutrition and children’s diet. Indeed, children’s malnutrition, food poverty and the persistently high levels of infant and child mortality that result are a prominent feature of global geographical studies (Seitz, 2002). Food has also proven to be a valuable learning tool for geography; the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (1997) in USA, for example, advocates that children reflect on what they eat and from where this food originates, as a means for schoolchildren to understand how people interact with the earth and the movement of people and commodities. This collection of Viewpoints aims to broaden understanding of the geographies of children and food by considering three distinct issues. First, Bethan Evans revisits the issue of childhood obesity and argues the need for a non-dualistic conceptual framework as a foundation to further study. John Dickie addresses child food poverty in Scotland and reflects on recent government initiatives to improve nutritional intake through eating in schools. Finally, John McKendrick uses recent findings from the British Household Panel Survey to challenge some interpretations of the growth of commercial spaces for family eating.

Equipped for the 21st Century?: Audio-Visual Resource Standards and Product Demands from Geography Departments in the UK.

Mass consumption of image-capture and image-(re)presentation technologies affords opportunities for improved teaching and learning in disciplines which utilise audio-visual data. This paper reports on a survey of geography departments in the UK in which baseline data were collected on the availability, use and opinion on the role of audio visual resources (AVRs) in teaching and learning. AVRs are regarded positively and, on the whole, hardware is readily available. However, the provision of software is uneven and there is considerable variation in the strategic commitment toward, and management of, AVRs. Furthermore, larger departments and those whose research was rated more favourably in the last Research Assessment Exercise were found to be better resourced. There are signs of an emerging resource gap with regard to more specialised AVR equipment. The findings are used to propose audio-visual resource standards and to identify audio-visual products for which there is market demand. There is demand for audio-visual products that support fieldwork activity and it is recommended that further investment is required in digital camcorders and PC-OHP projection units.

Localities: A Holistic Frame of Reference for Appraising Social Justice in Children’s Lives

In this chapter, it is argued that localities are an integral and central part of the experience of childhood. Much of the chapter focuses on neighbourhood, as this is the dominant locality in children’s lives. Supporting arguments in favour of these premises can be found throughout the children’s everyday lives section of this book as neighbourhood settings feature prominently in discussions of children’s bodies, family life, time use, daycare settings, problems and environments. Here, the focus shifts directly to the nature of localities, to complement those insights gleaned from essays in which locality is a canvas on which key elements of children’s everyday lives are portrayed.

Geographies for play in austere times

This concluding essay to a collection of 10 papers examining, Best of times to worst of times? Appraising the changing landscape of play in the UK, reviews six key themes that emerge – re-fuelling longstanding tensions within playwork; organisational legacy of the investment years; broad acceptance of the wider value of play in society; the need to develop a critical play intelligence within the sector; the reconfiguration of play geographies and the impact of play provision on local play cultures; and the need for a much more central focus on play cultures in our enquiry. Without question, Austerity has undermined the public investment in play and play services that characterised the UK in early years of the Millennium. Nevertheless, for every ‘threat’ that this poses, others are able and willing to conceptualise this as an opportunity to reprioritise play priorities. It is argued that play is resilient, and adept an adapting to the changing realities of the financial landscape.

Data for Scotland: Reshaping the nation through population statistics

Abstract This paper is concerned with the ninth and only non‐thematic responsibility of the Scottish Parliament — the need to underpin parliamentary decision‐making and debate with policy‐oriented research and statistical evidence. Developments in the research support infrastructure which are designed to meet data needs for the devolved Scotland are described. It is instructive to comprehend these initiatives within the broader context of on‐going contestations over Scotlands identity. It is argued that the consequences of how Scotlands research base is developed may be as significant for the future of Scotland as any socio‐economic policy intervention that may result from interpretation of Scottish Household Survey data.

Introduction to this collection

In addition to the positioning paper offered by the editors, this collection comprises four substantive papers, each of which seeks to make a particular contribution to understanding play space in the entrepreneurial city and which, together, present as a complementary set. We feel that the themes addressed in this special issue deserve particular attention in entrepreneurship research and have sought to underline the need for further exploration of the intrinsic value of play and playfulness in this field. By connecting to the urban environment, we extend creativity and play into the shared, social realm and explore how our choices in organizing human life through space may support or indeed inhibit entrepreneurial thinking and enterprise. While this special issue may appear somewhat marginal to the more established field, we feel that the complexities of play space open a multitude of questions about playfulness as a form of transgression which may be an increasingly significant democratic right to both acknowledge and celebrate (especially in the context of a global rise in authoritarian politics) for its role at the heart of innovation and expression. As such, the nature of available space and our ability to experiment, play, explore and shape it are offered as necessary conditions for realizing and creating opportunity. Based on carefully framed readings of the promotional literature and business commentary, At work in the toybox explores intrepreneurship in two celebrated applications of play in the workplace, that is, the Googleplex and Lego’s Serious Play. Although both represent high-profile applications, they differ in the way in which play is used as a tool of intrapreneurship. The Googleplex purports to embed play in the work environment, understanding that it is an activity that is germane to effective work by promoting work–life balance in the workplace, achieving this through the seamless creation of multiple play spaces alongside work spaces. More than this, play in the Googleplex is presented as reflective of the wider company’s values and orientation, that is, as much a company philosophy, as an activity in company time and space. This wider resonance of play to the company’s unique selling point also applies to Lego’s Serious Play, although here the application is a product and process that enables other companies to reenvisage themselves. The tensions between the productive visions of play that underpin these examples are explored with regard to rhetoric and conjunction of imaginative play as a frivolous activity. The blurring of ‘work and play’ in business events is explored in At work and play, with a view to better understanding the role of play in the creation of entrepreneurial outcomes, the characteristic of a playful event environment and how physical space can shape playfulness. Having reviewed the emergent literature on play as an event design tactic, an exploratory case design approach is adopted to appraise the different ways in which play is used to realize entrepreneurial goals in three very different types of business event, that is, a gathering of a diverse group of creative thinkers to inform the work of a global floor textile company, a gathering of senior managers within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom to reflect on workplace design and a participatory event convened by a charity (Cathedral Archer Project in Sheffield, United Kingdom) to afford staff the opportunity to experience a night in the life of a homeless person in the city. Reflection on the purposeful creation of playful circumstances is used to propose four emergent event design principles. Grass-roots movements in the entrepreneurial city is more directly concerned with the wider impact and possibilities of play space, addressing the central question of how city governments and municipalities can stimulate grass-roots initiatives towards an entrepreneurial city in a play way. Identifying the Neubad of Lucerne (Switzerland) as a case that potentially comprised the three enablers for initiatives towards an entrepreneurial city (playful approaches as planning, brokering of new connections as a grass-roots network and temporary use of iconic buildings), the early development of the redevelopment of the city’s public swimming pool is appraised. The strong focus