Mobile Methodologies

Abstract

In sociology, geography, urban studies and elsewhere there is heightened awareness of the importance of better understandings of a world characterized as being on the move. Recent academic interest in mobilities suggest interesting methodological questions: how do we research and represent mobile experiences: of being in place momentarily, of passing through, of being ‘in-between’? Can existing social scientific research methods that slow down and freeze experiences (the interview, the focus group, the survey) adequately capture mobile experiences, practices where the context of movement itself may be crucial to understanding the significance of the event to the participant, rather than being simply ‘read off’ from destination points and origins? This book examines the foundations of this perceived limitation and considers methodological responses, technologies and representational strategies designed to more fully inform our understanding of people's experience of movement through space.