Spatial Science and the Quantitative Revolution

Summaries
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Summaries
Spatial Science and the Quantitative Revolution
Spatial science is a discipline that deals with the study of regional geography and its relationship to human and regional geography. Positivism is a philosophical belief that true knowledge is constituted by the things that are only experienced through the human senses. It is the foundation of spatial science and quantitative revolution. The search for truth is normally based on the positive science as it results in observable reality. Quantification on the other hand is the use of mathematical language to justify a geographical fact. Between 1960 and 1980, many geographical theorists rejected the existence of spatial science altogether by arguing that it had no theoretical directions that could be support the discipline of geography. However, the introduction of spatial science led to the development of quantitative methods that were specific to geography. It was necessary for the human and physical geography to be backed by mathematical concepts rather than just focusing on literary theory. The impact of positivism and quantitative social science is what has helped in the shaping of institutions so that they expand their knowledge in spatial science. Despite constant attacks on spatial science from human geographers, the discipline has become central in the contemporary geography. The approached used in spatial science have proven to be influential to the governments and policy makers.
Exceptionalism in Geography
Geography as a field has its own methodology that helps in the refinement of the concepts, discarding of unproven ideas, confirmation of the hypotheses and laws, among other functions. Methodology challenges the fundamental ideas that have been held for decades until they erroneously became facts. Until recently, geographers stated writing on the methodology of geography with respect to its scope and nature. Geography is a study of space. This means that it is a subject that seeks to describe and explain the manner in which things, including man, are distributed in the space. Thus, it focuses on the spatial arrangements of the phenomena in the space.
Spatial relations among phenomena must be studies from different locations on the earth’s surface for one to create a general law that applies to all situations of that particular class...