Interacting with place and mapping community needs to context: Comparing and triangulating multiple geospatial-qualitative methods using the Focus–Expand–Compare approach

Abstract

Geospatial-qualitative methods, which combine both observation and interpretative accounts during data collection through extended exposure and movement in place, have been increasingly used to explore “person–place” interactions and assess communities of place. Despite their increased use, there is a lack of reflexive discussion on how they differ in capturing person–place interactions and ways to combine them. Drawing on our experiences using three related methods—Photovoice, Walking through Spaces, and interactive Participatory Learning and Action exercise-led community focus groups—we compared the methodological advantages that each method brings to the construction of “place” and in exploring person–place interactions among the community of older adults living in a neighborhood of Singapore for a neighborhood assessment. We then illustrated how using a Focus–Expand–Compare approach for methodological triangulation can add value in generating greater depth and breadth of perspectives on a topic of interest explored for intervention development.

Real-Time Mapping With Global Positioning Systems Devices in a Mixed Methods Toolkit for Studying Social and Environmental Change

“…The GPS maps generated by handheld devices can become props for novel data collection techniques. The maps in their digital format or as color prints can be used as prompts in interviews with individuals or small groups (Aw et al 2021). The maps created by the GPS devices are layered with satellite imagery and can be viewed at a range of resolutions.…”

“…Ethnobiologists can do this by collecting and analyzing information using geospatial tools. Indeed, walking interviews (Botfield et al 2019; Evans and Jones 2011; Jones et al 2008) are well-suited to ethnobiological research—having been referred to by ethnobiologists as “plant walks” (Balik and O’Brien 2004; Martin 1995) and “plant trail interviews” (Zarger and Stepp 2004). Environmental anthropologists (Kearney 2004) and medical anthropologists (King and Woodroffe 2019) have also effectively used walking interviews in their research.…”

“…Researchers have used global positioning systems (GPS) tracking with interlocutors who narrate their experiences as they move together through landscapes in combination with interpretive techniques to evaluate multiple questions related to space, movement, perception, community well-being, and additional concerns (Hand et al 2017). Among the labels associated with these mixed-methods projects are walking through spaces, go-along interviews, and walking interviews (Aw et al 2021; Botfield et al 2019; Carpiano 2009; Castrodale 2018; Clark and Emmel 2010; Garcia et al 2012; Jones et al 2008; Kusenbach 2003; Springgay and Truman 2018). Methodological approaches that blend qualitative spatial analytical techniques with ethnography (e.g., Hearn 2021) and ethnobiology (e.g., Gilmore and Young 2012) have been used by researchers to document culturally valuable assets, to empower communities, and to conserve biocultural diversity.…”

“…Methodological approaches that blend qualitative spatial analytical techniques with ethnography (e.g., Hearn 2021) and ethnobiology (e.g., Gilmore and Young 2012) have been used by researchers to document culturally valuable assets, to empower communities, and to conserve biocultural diversity. In reviewing the results from “walking through spaces” and allied methods in previous research projects, Aw et al (2021, 4) found they are “most effective [for researchers who seek] to inspire and verify perceptions in context through exploring and directly confronting the environment.”…”

Acquisition and Retention of Skilled Employees: A Study of International Companies in Rural Giles County, Tennessee

“…Data were gathered from both a focus group and interviews to accomplish methodological triangulation. Methodological triangulation was selected because it elucidates corresponding aspects of the phenomenon (Aw et al, 2021;Natow, 2020;Valencia, 2022).…”