Abstract

Mapping People's Forest Places: Linking Qualitative Research Data and GIS
Track: Conservation
Authors: Walter Aikman

Qualitative research of conservation settings through participant observation, case studies, and interviews produces descriptive data summarized in data displays. Scholars and agencies can reveal relationships, patterns of social behavior, and links between individuals, land, wildlife, and society, and present robust findings in real time. Linking spatial attributes arising from qualitative research to geographic information systems yields interactive maps that enhance conservation research and programs. This paper will show how qualitative data from participant observation, case studies, and interviews is linked to a GIS managed with ESRI's ArcView© and ArcGIS©. Three studies will be used to illustrate the potential of this method: a participant observation study of forest protection policy development, a case study of old and new social expectations in a suburbanizing landscape known for wildlands and wildfires, and an interview study of rural residents, new and old, impacted by the location and operation of a new toxic waste landfill.