Table 3. Geographical techniques within a model of analytical reasoning adapted from Toulmin, Rieke, and Janik (1979). Unlike many inventories of geographical techniques (Bossler 1992; Nyerges and Chrisman 1989; Walsh 1992), this outline attempts to set specific analytical skills in the context of principles of analytical reasoning.

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1. CLAIMS: Framing the Research Problem

• A. Assessment of Context and Significance
  • Goals: 1) assess previous research; 2) identify key issues; 3) place the problem within its broader intellectual and scientific context;
    • Supporting Skills: 1) bibliographic and library research skills with both conventional and electronic sources; 2) critical reading and synthesis of ideas.
• B. Hypotheses and the Research Plan
  • Goals: 1) articulate hypotheses; 2) consider methods needed to address each hypothesis; 3) prepare research plan.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) assessment of research needs and priorities; 2) preparation of detailed plan and schedule for research.

2. GROUNDS: Gathering Evidence

• A. Data Sources and their Limitations
  • Goals: 1) identify primary and secondary sources; 2) assess relevance and reliability of sources; 3) consider special problems associated with use of sources.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) familiarity with major sources of spatial and non- spatial data and their limitations (both paper and electronic); 2) critical map reading skills and awareness of special problems of cartographic representation (projections and coordinate systems); 3) awareness of special sources of geographical data (air photos and satellite imagery); 4) awareness of how and why data sources and maps are created.
• B. Direct Observation and Data Collection
  • Goals: 1) familiarity with commonly employed methods of gathering original data; 2) awareness of limitations of these techniques and of time and cost involved.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) experience with field survey techniques and field mapping for both natural and social phenomena; 2) practice with GPS and other surveying methods; 3) creation and testing of social survey instrument.
• C. Database Abstraction and Representation
  • Goals: 1) understanding of how observations are collated, abstracted, and processed for later analysis; 2) comprehension of how information is organized and stored in digital databases using different database models.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) experience with problems of data collation and preprocessing; 2) understanding of database structures and models used to represent spatial, functional, and logical relationships ; 3) assessment of data quality and reliability; 4) experience matching data processing requirements to appropriate application software.

3. WARRANTS AND BACKING: Reasoning from Evidence

• A. Spatial Reasoning and Analysis
  • Goals: 1) familiarity with identifying and analyzing spatial and geographical patterns; 2) awareness of methods employed to analyze relationships involving distance, area, direction, neighborhood and proximity, movement, and connectivity.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) familiarity with map overlay analysis; 2) ability to use Boolean spatial operators, buffers, and zones; 3) understanding of the concept of topology and the issues of map transformation and modelling; 4) experience with quadrat and nearest-neighbor analysis.
• B. Statistical Reasoning and Analysis
  • Goals: 1) awareness of situations in which geographers employ statistical reasoning; 2) understanding of basic principles of probability; 3) awareness of commonly employed techniques and their limitations.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) ability to judge applicability of standard statistical techniques; 2) experience using difference-of-means and Chi-square tests, one and two- way ANOVA, and simple and multiple regression.
• C. Spatial and Temporal Inference
  • Goals: 1) comprehension of problems in modeling complex spatial and temporal relationships; 2) understanding of the issues involved in arguing for and explaining causal relationships in time and space.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) ability to use database models for inferential reasoning; 2) familiarity with limitations of geographical, temporal, and statistical explanations.

4. QUALIFIERS AND REBUTTALS: Modulating an Argument

• A. The Quality of Evidence and Problems of Error
  • Goals: 1) awareness of the limitations of evidence and arguments; 2) familiarity with limiting effects of error and uncertainty; 3) understanding of the ideas of qualification and falsifiabilty.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) how to assess the accuracy of spatial and non- spatial data; 2) how to perform sensitivity analysis to calibrate and qualify solutions; 3) how to report and argue from inexact data.
• B. Ethical Issues and Professional Responsibilities
  • Goals: 1) awareness of the ethical and professional ramifications of research; 2) familiarity with means of resolving ethical and professional conflicts.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) familiarity with codes of professional conduct; 2) knowledge of legal codes governing the use and misuse of information, ownership of information, privacy, and freedom of information; 3) awareness of emerging conflicts.

5. THE CONCLUSION: Presenting an Argument

• A. Cartographic and Graphic Communication
  • Goals: 1) familiarity with principles of thematic cartography; 2) understanding of the use and misuse of cartographic and graphic communication; 3) comprehension of special problems of visual communication.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) practice with the compilation, design, and production of thematic maps for a variety of audiences; 2) awareness of problems of map generalization and symbolization; 3) knowledge of the principles governing the placement of map elements within a visual hierarchy; 4) awareness of problems of employing coordinate systems and map projections.
• B. Reporting and Writing Skills
  • Goals: 1) familiarity with principles of effective oral and written communication; 2) awareness of the differing demands of various types of report prepared for particular audiences.
    • Supporting Skills: 1) use of a style manual; 2) strategies for organizing large and complex arguments; 3) how to report statistical findings; 4) how to employ tables and figures; 5) effective methods of public speaking with and without audiovisual materials.

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