What the heck is geography and what does it all mean? The literal definition of the word, from Greek, means “to write about the earth”. This does not necessarily mean memorizing the names of countries or their capitals, it in fact goes beyond the simple definitions of both places and cultures. Geography is a way of life for some people: it might be a steady job for a college professor or a daily routine for a surveyor or mapmaker. For others it is an unnoticed aspect of their daily lives, the landscape and cultural ways of life as one travels through, in route to another place. They don't necessarily take the time to absorb what is happening outside their traveling box, what cultures or landscape they may be passing by. How did this landscape come to be, how does it influence the people that live within it? Geography is comprised of many different varied ideological elements and methods of evaluation, but the study itself will always remain focused on cultures and the landscape or place for which they exist.

People who study geography place themselves in many different and unique categories. These include but are not limited to: Positivists, Structuralists, Radical Geographers, Post Colonialists, Post Modernists and Humanists. Each category is different from one another in how they view geography as a whole.

Positivism or logical positivism in geography is basically described as “making law like statements about phenomena that can be empirically observed (1994)”. This means using the scientific method and deductive reasoning to create an explanation of phenomena. Structuralists are not necessarily a complete break from positivists; rather they simply do not want to resort to science as usual. They are considered radical geographers, who concern themselves with not only the facts, but also social factors. Radical geographers like to think poverty, racism and the general human condition can be improved though the study of geography. Post colonialists focus on the beginnings of societies and the differences across space. They discourage theory and tend to reconstruct concepts to find the short comings, or what wasn't said. Post modernists, like post colonialists can be described as those who “seek out what is not being said (1994)”, they originate from structuralists but prefer an even less sterile approach to geography. They embrace diversity and multiple points of view. Humanistic geographers claim we have to look at a structure, such as a place, in a humanistic way. They create space and place concepts, where space describes the physical characteristics or facts, and where place describes the emotional or ideological meaning.

Aside from all of the various ways and means that geography is viewed and interpreted, there still remains the unanswered question, what is geography, and what does it all mean? There are many ways of looking at it, as stated above, but the basic idea suggests that geography is all around you. It encompasses our everyday lives: the languages we speak, the style of homes for which we live, the topography we travel through and the means be which we travel, these are all perfect examples of our own geography.

People who work in geographic careers use tools and methods to interpret the geography of specific places. These tools and methods include research through both written work and field work using air photos, GIS (geographic information systems), GPS (global positioning system). They collect data and create an output of maps, charts and tables to satisfy a specific clients needs. Alexander Von Humboldt, a German geographer who helped start the study of geography said it best, “synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the spatial through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis (R.J. Johnston, 1994)”.

References:

R.J. Johnston, D. Gregory, and D. M. Smith, (1994). The Dictionary of Human Geography, (3rd edition)., USA: Blackwell.

Cloke, Paul, Chris Philo and David Sadler, (1991). Approaching Human Geography: An Introduction to Contemporary Theoretical Debates., New York: Guilford Press.
Livingstone, David N, (1993). The Geographical Tradition., Oxford: Blackwell.