Empirical Methods
In this essay the concepts of empiricism and empirical methods and their use in geography will be critically discussed. The main points that will be discussed include the origins of empiricism, what empiricism means, why empiricism might be useful, what empirical methods are, the advantages and disadvantages of empirical methods, how they are applied in geography including examples and the benefits of applying these in geography.
Starting with the origins of empiricism, Aristotle was the first person to introduce the theory of the ‘tabula rasa’ which means ‘blank slate’. He believed that we are born without mental content and that all of our knowledge comes from experience through our five senses. About a thousand years later in the 11th century came ‘Avicenna’ and he emphasised the importance of observation in making universal laws. The most famous of all was probably Francis Bacon he was even known as the ‘father’ of the empiricist tradition. Around his time philosophy used ‘deductive reasoning’ to understand the natural world but Bacon introduced the idea of ‘inductive reasoning’. Inductive reasoning involves repeated observation to determine facts. Empiricism in Britain involved three very influential men and they included John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume. John Locke, the originator of British empiricism, strongly believed in the concept of ‘tabula rasa’.
The next two points made will discuss the definition of empiricism and why it might be useful. There are a few definitions for empiricism and some of them are, ‘‘empiricism refers to a restrictive methodological doctrine which claims that researchers may only use empirical methods’’ (Mende, 2005), empiricism is a theory that all of our knowledge comes from the five senses and we are basically a ‘blank slate’ at birth and according to Bowen ( 2009) ‘‘an essential characteristic of empiricism which takes its name from the Greek word for experience (empeiria), is its commitment to the position that
Starting with the origins of empiricism, Aristotle was the first person to introduce the theory of the ‘tabula rasa’ which means ‘blank slate’. He believed that we are born without mental content and that all of our knowledge comes from experience through our five senses. About a thousand years later in the 11th century came ‘Avicenna’ and he emphasised the importance of observation in making universal laws. The most famous of all was probably Francis Bacon he was even known as the ‘father’ of the empiricist tradition. Around his time philosophy used ‘deductive reasoning’ to understand the natural world but Bacon introduced the idea of ‘inductive reasoning’. Inductive reasoning involves repeated observation to determine facts. Empiricism in Britain involved three very influential men and they included John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume. John Locke, the originator of British empiricism, strongly believed in the concept of ‘tabula rasa’.
The next two points made will discuss the definition of empiricism and why it might be useful. There are a few definitions for empiricism and some of them are, ‘‘empiricism refers to a restrictive methodological doctrine which claims that researchers may only use empirical methods’’ (Mende, 2005), empiricism is a theory that all of our knowledge comes from the five senses and we are basically a ‘blank slate’ at birth and according to Bowen ( 2009) ‘‘an essential characteristic of empiricism which takes its name from the Greek word for experience (empeiria), is its commitment to the position that