Evaluating the Geographic in GIS

Abstract

Despite several decades of discussion and debate around the role of in the discipline of Geography, it would be a stretch to argue that has not irreversibly altered the discipline, both in the scope of research and teaching as well as in the wider imagination of a general public. However, it remains a challenge to incorporate the range of geographic knowledge, born of a diversity of modalities, into operational insights and analytical pre‐conditions in a . To be certain, some irreconcilability between and geographical inquiry is to be expected, epistemologically speaking. In what follows, we consider what might be meant by a shift to geographic analysis as scholars from disciplines in the humanities and social sciences turn to as a method of observation, interpretation, analysis, and representation. In this context, we engage in a thought experiment and offer some commentary, fixing the notion of information system, while opening the geographic in to more variable understanding. The point is to pursue greater development of theory and method, encompassing, while not reducing, scientific, social scientific, and humanities research.

Key words:

• GIS
• GIScience
• geographic
• geography

The authors wish to thank David Kaplan and Stacy Warren for their helpful guidance, and Peter Bol and Jeff Howarth for their helpful comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

The authors wish to thank David Kaplan and Stacy Warren for their helpful guidance, and Peter Bol and Jeff Howarth for their helpful comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

Notes

The authors wish to thank David Kaplan and Stacy Warren for their helpful guidance, and Peter Bol and Jeff Howarth for their helpful comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Weihe W. Guan

Weihe Wendy Guan, Executive Director, Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Suite K00A, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA; [[email protected]].

Matthew W. Wilson

Matthew W. Wilson, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, 817 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506 USA; [[email protected]].

Anne K. Knowles

Anne Kelly Knowles, Professor, Department of History, University of Maine, 5774 Stevens Hall, Orono, ME 04469‐5774 USA; [[email protected]].