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The presentation of human geography as that component of the social sciences which focuses on the role of space as a fundamental variable influencing both society\'s organization and operation and the behaviour of its individual members (e.g. Cox, 1976). It was formulated during the quantitative revolution and is usually closely associated with the philosophy of positivism (cf. locational analysis).
Berry and Marble (1968) expressed the goal of spatial science as \'building accurate generalizations with predictive power by precise quantitative description of spatial distributions, spatial structure and organization, and spatial relationships\': Nystuen (1968) claimed that such generalizations could be based on just three fundamental spatial concepts — directional orientation, distance and connectedness (or relative position).
Criticisms of spatial science focused on its attempt to construct human geography as an autonomous science of the spatial — on its spatial fetishism and spatial separatism — and emphasized the importance of incorporating social relations and processes into spatial analysis. Many have also called for a recognition of human geography\'s links to the humanities as well as the social sciences. (RJJ)
References Berry, B.J.L. and Marble, D.F. 1968: Introduction. In B.J.L. Berry and D.F. Marble, eds, Spatial analysis: a reader in statistical geography. Englewood Cliffs, NJ and London: Prentice-Hall, 1-9. Cox, K.R. 1976: American geography: social science emergent. Social Science Quarterly 57: 182-207. Nystuen, J.D. 1968: Identification of some fundamental spatial concepts. In B.J.L. Berry and D.F. Marble, eds, Spatial analysis: a reader in statistical geography. Englewood Cliffs, NJ and London: Prentice-Hall, 35-41.
Suggested Reading Haggett, P. 1980: The geographer\'s art. Oxford: Blackwell. Sack, R.D. 1981: Conceptions of space in social thought. London and New York: Macmillan. |
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