OBJECTIVES IN A GEOGRAPHIC FIELD STUDY OF A COMMUNITY

Abstract

DEFINING THE FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY.-Both American and European geographers have given much consideration to the delimitation of a definite field of geographic inquiry and the formulation of a systematic method of attacking geographic problems. In this country, various presidential addresses before the Association of American Geographers have presented viewpoints which represent the trend of geographic thought in the United States.' More recently, 0. 0. Sauer, after re-examining the field and taking into consideration current views abroad as well as in this country, concludes that modern geography is the modern expression of the most ancient geography, and that the readjustment which is involved in our return to our permanent task is responsible for the current activity of inquiry as to the content of our field.2 From these inquiries, a rather definite concept of the nature of the subject has evolved, so that although divergent views still exist as to the character of the treatment which should be accorded to the material within the undebated portion of the field, geographers in general agree that only facts of habitat significance lie within the province of a geographic study. THE CHANGING VIEWPOINT.-For many years geography in this country labored under the handicap of generalizations based upon superficial observations, with few or no quantitative studies; The gathering of exact data and the establishment of correlations based thereon were replaced by the advancement of hypotheses and the interpretation of phenomena in terms of the preconceived causation. Recently American geographers have more fully appreciated the necessity for placing geographic studies upon a quantitative basis. As i result, considerable attention has been focussed upon the technique of gathering and recording facts of habitat significance. The recent