GEG 3303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Reductionism, Post-Structuralism
20 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Explaining Geographies of Health
Tuesday January 22nd 2019
1. Positivist Approach (objective and power implicit)
− It emphasizes on what is observable and measurable
− It seeks to establish testable hypotheses and to uncover causes
o Statistical relation between variables
− It’s interested in the location (space) but not the place
− It uses quantitative methods to collect or analysis data
o Primary or secondary data
o Population or random sample
− Criticisms of positivism:
o It’s a reductionist approach
o There’s no understanding of the “whys”
o It offers simple answers to often complex problems
2. Social Interactionist Approach (subjective and power implicit)
− It’s interested in the meanings that people give to their health
o The researcher has the task to uncover these meanings
▪ Ex.: understanding why someone doesn’t want to be vaccinated
− Its ultimate goal is empathetic understanding/explanation
− It uses qualitative methods
− Criticisms of social interactionism:
o It’s hard to verify or generalize the results (positivists)
o It neglects wider structural factors (structuralists)
3. Structuralist Approach (objective and power explicit)
− It views the cause of problems as being social, economic or political
− It looks for explanations for differences in health, quality and access to care
− It’s interested in structure and power relations in society
− It uses quantitative and qualitative methods
− Criticisms of structuralism:
o It minimizes the role of personal choice (agency)
o It’s too deterministic
4. Structurationist Approach
− It recognizes the duality of structure and personal choice (agency)
o Structures shape social practices and actions
o Actions and practices can transform structures
− Health care decisions can be based on different factors:
o Geographic, economic, social or individual
Document Summary
Tuesday january 22nd 2019: positivist approach (objective and power implicit) It emphasizes on what is observable and measurable. It seeks to establish testable hypotheses and to uncover causes: statistical relation between variables. It"s interested in the location (space) but not the place. It uses quantitative methods to collect or analysis data: primary or secondary data, population or random sample. It"s a reductionist approach: there"s no understanding of the whys . It offers simple answers to often complex problems: social interactionist approach (subjective and power implicit) It"s interested in the meanings that people give to their health: the researcher has the task to uncover these meanings, ex. : understanding why someone doesn"t want to be vaccinated. It"s hard to verify or generalize the results (positivists) It neglects wider structural factors (structuralists: structuralist approach (objective and power explicit) It views the cause of problems as being social, economic or political.
