BASIC CONCEPT OF GEOGRAPHY

What is

Geography

?

Geography is…

the systematic study of all spatial

patterns of all phenomena on or near

Earth’s surface.

Geography is…

Interaction between people and

environment.

A . THEMES OF

GEOGRAPHY

THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

• The study of geography includes

specific topic such as landforms,

climates, population and culture.

Geography also entails a number of

unifying interrelated concepts.

Among the most important concepts

are the five themes of geography.

• As the historians organize time the

geographers organize space in much. To

help organize space, geographers are

concerned with asking three important

questions about things in world.

Where is it?

Why is there?

What are the consequences of its being

there?

THE F IVE

THEMES OF

GEOGRAPHY

• No one theme can be

understood with the

others. The themes are

connected with one

another, as are all

components of our

world. No part of our

world can be understood

in isolation

1. Location

2. Place

3.Human-

Environmenta

l interaction

4. Movement

5. Region

1. LOCATION

• Where something can be found on the

Earth.

• Geographers want to know where things

are located, both by themselves and in

relation to other things

• Location has also 2 types the ABSOLUTE

& RELATIVE Location

A. ABSOLUTE LOCATION

• Shows the exact point on the Earth’s surface where something is located.

• It is identified as a grid coordinate as the surface of the Earth.

A. Address

B. Longitude/ Latitude

B. RELATIVE LOCATION

• Explains where something is in relation

to another.

A. Cardinal direction (North, South, East

& West)

B. Next to, Down from

2. PLACE

• This theme considers the

characteristics that make one place

different from all places on Earth.

• It describes what a location looks like.

• Place is describe according to

PHYSICAL & HUMAN Characteristic.

A. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC

• Include anything that is native made from geological, hydrological, atmospheric and biological process.

A. Landforms

B. Bodies of water

C. Trees, shrubs

D. Rocks

B. HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC

• Include anything that is human made.

• It comes from human ideas and actions

1. Building, roads, cars

2. Human culture, language, customs

3. HUMAN/ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION

• How people interact with the

environment.

• People interact in three ways: MODIFY,

ADAPT & DEPEND.

MODIFY

• Means that human change the

environment.

• Humans modify the natural environment

to meet their needs

1. Build house

2. Dam, cut trees

ADAPT

• Means humans change their life to live/

survive in the environment.

1. Air-conditioning, heat

2. Sunglasses

DEPEND

• Human rely on the environment for their

basic needs

1. fishing, crops

2. oxygen

4. MOVEMENT

• How people, goods and ideas move

between places.

• Movement has 3 spatial interaction:

Movements of GOODS, PEOPLE &

IDEAS.

• Movement of Goods

1. truck, ship

2. plane, train

• Movement of People

1. bus, car

2. walking, bike

• Movement of Ideas

1. internet, e-mail

2. phone, letters

5. REGION

• The basic unit of geographic study.

• It is defined as an area that has unifying

characteristics (two or more places)

• There are 2 types of region: PHYSICAL

& POLITICAL Regions

• Physical Region

1. Desserts

2. Mountains

3. Lakes

4. Rivers

• Political Region

1. States

2. Countries

B. BRANCHES OF

GEOGRAPHY

Branches of

Geography

Human Geography Physical Geography

Economic

Geography

Population

Geography

Medical

Geography

Geomorphology

Hydrology, etc.

Geography is divided

into two main

branches: HUMAN

GEOGRAPHY and

PHYSICAL

GEOGRAPHY.

A. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

• This is a main branch in geography

and it mainly covers studies of the

human race. This normally involves

their backgrounds, how they

interact and the perceptions that

they have for various ideologies

affecting them.

A. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

• Geographers under this branch

normally study the manner in which

products are usually produced and

consequently distributed in their

respective niche markets. In addition to

this, they also study the way in which

wealth is distributed in various regions

over the planet.

B. POPULATION GEOGRAPHY

• In most cases, scholars usually equate

population geography to demography

even though this is usually not the case.

This is mainly owing to the reason that

population geography is deeper than

the study of the patterns of a group of

people with regards to birth, marriage &

death as is the case with demography.

Dot Map Isoline Map

Choropleth MapDensity Map

C. MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY

• In this branch, geographers normally

study the patterns in which particular

diseases spread. This means that

pandemics & epidemics are usually

studied here as well as common

illnesses, general health care and death

as well.

B. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• is the branch of natural science which

deals with the study of processes and

patterns in the natural environment.

• is one of the two primary branches of

geography. Listed here are sub-

branches or sub-fields of physical

geography. These sub-fields of

physical geography study processes

and patterns in the natural environment.

EXAMPLES OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• Geomorphology- is the field concerned with

understanding the surface of the Earth and the

processes by which it is shaped, both at the present

as well as in the past.

DESER

T

• Hydrology- is predominantly concerned with

the amounts and quality of water moving and

accumulating on the land surface and in the

soils and rocks near the surface and is

typified by the hydrological cycle.

OCEAN

• Glaciology- is the study of glacier and ice

sheets, or more commonly

the cryospehere or ice and phenomena that

involve ice.

GLACIER

S

• Climatology- is the study of

the climate, scientifically defined as

weather conditions averaged over a

long period of time.

CLIMATE

CHANGE

• Meteorology- is the interdisciplinary

scientific study of the atmosphere that

focuses on weather processes and

short term forecasting.

STORM

• Pedology- is the study of soils in

their natural environment.

SOIL

C. COMMON METHOD OF GEOGRAPHY

Common Method of

Geography

1. Quantitative

Method

2. Qualitative

Method

Data

CollectionAnalysis

Presentation,

etc.

Case Study

Conclusion, etc.

1. QUANTITATIVE METHOD

• can be used to verify which of such

hypotheses are true

• Geographers use quantitative

approaches to describe, understand,

and assess geographic phenomena

DATA COLLECTION

• is the process of gathering and

measuring information on targeted

variables in an established systematic

fashion, which then enables one to

answer relevant questions and evaluate

outcomes.

ANALYSIS

• a detailed examination of anything

complex in order to understand its

nature or to determine its essential

features

PRESENTATION

• Symbol or image that represents

something.

• Something offered or given

VISUALIZATION

• the act or process of interpreting in

visual terms or of putting into visible

form.

MAPPING

• is the creation of maps, a graphic

symbolic representation of the

significant features of a part of the

surface of the Earth.

CARTOGRAPHY

• the science or practice of drawing maps

STATISTICS

• the practice or science of collecting and

analyzing numerical data in large

quantities geographic information

system.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (OR GIS)

• is a system designed to capture, store,

manipulate, analyze, manage, and

present spatial or geographic data.

2. QUALITATIVE METHOD

• produce information only on the particular

cases studied, and any more general

conclusions are only hypotheses.

• Qualitative research is often used to gain a

general sense of phenomena and to form

theories that can be tested using further

quantitative research.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHOD

Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods

Methods include focus groups,

in-depth interviews, and

reviews of documents for types

of themes

Surveys, structured interviews &

observations, and reviews of

records or documents for numeric

information

Primarily inductive process

used to formulate theory or

hypotheses

Primarily deductive process used

to test pre-specified concepts,

constructs, and hypotheses that

make up a theory

More subjective: describes a

problem or condition from the

point of view of those

experiencing it

More objective: provides

observed effects (interpreted by

researchers) of a program on a

problem or condition

Text-based Number-based

More in-depth information on a few

cases

Less in-depth but more breadth of

information across a large number of

cases

Unstructured or semi-structured

response options

Fixed response options

No statistical tests Statistical tests are used for analysis

Can be valid and reliable: largely

depends on skill and rigor of the

researcher

Can be valid and reliable: largely

depends on the measurement device

or instrument used

Time expenditure lighter on the

planning end and heavier during

the analysis phase

Time expenditure heavier on the

planning phase and lighter on the

analysis phase

Less generalizable More generalizable

Thank You & God Bless!