Collaborative Research: Changing Structures of Knowledge and Relevancy: Understanding the Sociology of Geographical Research on Public Space

这项合作研究探讨了思想和知识发展的方式，在社会和学术实践之间移动，并在不同的社会背景下与不同的社会代理人相关。它解决的问题，如“社会科学研究如何反映和影响社会辩论？”社会辩论如何反映和影响社会科学研究？“该项目始于这样一个假设，即学术研究人员和其他社会代理人之间的思想流动不断改变所讨论的知识，使其或多或少相关。 “相关性”被定义为生活经验（学术和其他代理人）与知识的社会，政治和个人使用之间的关系。 PI将1）分析有关公共空间的地理文献（进行内容和引文分析）; 2）采访学术公共空间研究人员，了解学术和社会对他们公共空间研究的影响和目标; 3）研究美国四个城市的具体公共空间争议;（4）采访直接参与公共空间争议的人，了解他们对公共空间的认识，以及地理学研究对公共空间的重要性（或不重要性）。 从这个信息库中，影响力和相关性的内部和之间的学术研究人员和社会代理人的模式将被检查。

This collaborative research examines the ways in which ideas and knowledge develop, move between social and academic practices, and become relevant for different social agents in different social contexts. It addresses questions such as, 'How does social science research reflect and influence social debates?' and 'How do social debates reflect and influence social science research?' The project begins from the assumption that the flow of ideas between academic researchers and other social agents continually transforms the knowledge in question, making it more or less relevant. 'Relevance' is defined as a relationship between lived experience (of both academic and other agents) and the social, political, and individual uses of knowledge. The PIs will 1) analyze the geographical literature on public space (performing both content and citation analyses); 2) interview academic public space researchers about academic and social influences on and goals of their public space research; 3) examine specific public space controversies in four US cities; and 4) interview people directly involved in those controversies about their public space knowledge, the importance (or lack of importance) of geographical research on public space. From this information base, the patterns of influence and relevancy within and between academic researchers and social agents will be examined.