Abstract

Choosing the right methods is a decisive factor for the success of research. After all, suitable methods lend legitimacy to research and enable scientifically sound results. The choice of appropriate methods is particularly challenging when complex socio-ecological-spatial systems such as those found in urban regions are studied. In research on cities and their surrounding areas, both qualitative methods and quantitative spatial analyses have a long tradition. Anna M. Hersperger will explore in this seminar how the integration of these two methods in mixed-method approaches can lead to new insights. Specifically, using current studies from her research group on spatial plans, she will show how such mixed-method approaches can help us in the evaluation of spatial planning and in land systems research. The seminar will conclude with a presentation and discussion of future research questions.

This is the fourth research seminar in the series on discourse analysis that the Urban Development and Mobility department at LISER is organizing as part of a collective interest in developing qualitative and mixed methods approaches at LISER. This initiative of UDM contributes to the centre of competences in Experimental and Participatory Research. The four scholars invited are working in the field of political science, land change science or linguistics and are recognized experts in discourse or content analysis. They will present different facets of these methodologies and show how they can be used to address issues of interest to researchers at UDM and LISER.