Project Maps

The Culture and Communities Mapping Project

This book describes three years of work by the Culture and Communities Mapping Project, a research project based in Edinburgh that uses maps as an object of study and also a means to facilitate research. Taking a self-reflexive approach, the book draws on a variety of iterative mapping procedures and visual methodologies, from online virtual tours to photo elicitation, to capture the voices of inhabitants and their distinctive perspectives on the city. The book argues that practices of cultural mapping consist of a research field in and of itself, and it situates this work in relation to other areas of research and practice, including critical cartography, cultural geography, critical GIS, activist mapping and artist maps. The book also offers a range of practical approaches towards using print and web-based maps to give visibility to spaces traditionally left out of city representations but that are important to the local communities that use them. Throughout, the authors reflect critically on how, through the processes of mapping, we create knowledge about space, place, community and culture.

Situational Analysis

The Second Edition of Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory After the Interpretive Turn offers an innovative extension of grounded theory useful in qualitative research projects that draws on interviews, observations, and visual, narrative, and historical discourse materials. To engage the dense complexities of real world situations, Situational Analysis (SA) braids together Strauss′s ecological social worlds/arenas theory, Foucault’s discourse analysis, and Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizomes and assemblages. In SA, the situation itself becomes the fundamental unit of analysis. Using extensive examples, the authors discuss getting started, how to create three kinds of maps emphasizing differences and relationality (situational maps, social world/arena maps, and positional maps), the kinds of analytic work they accomplish, and how to write up the results centered on the distinctive strengths of the method. The book will serve as an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level students, as well as professional researchers and consultants from diverse backgrounds pursuing qualitative projects.

Mapping and Compilation