Mapping Mental Representations of Industrial Risk: Illustrated with the Populations of the Estuary of the Seine River, France

Abstract

This article uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to study the representations of risk produced by the inhabitants of an area exposed to industrial risk. The methodologies used are intended to bring to light perceptions, thoughts, opinions, and sensitivities, whether conscious or subconscious, and thus are subject to the normal precautions of the human and social sciences. If interviews give the researcher information on respondents' knowledge of risk or degree of worry, other media can provide complementary and sometimes even contradictory information. Mental maps are a part of the methodological arsenal that goes beyond the medium of language and allows a spatial approach to the study of representations of risk. Using mental maps in association with geographic information systems allows us to understand the spatial differentiation of the representations of risk.