environmental behavior assignment

UPDATED 10 April, 7:00pm (revisions in red)-

The goal of this assignment is to use the research methods we have discussed to explore an urban space of your interest with an eye toward what you might want to research in Amsterdam. In other words, choose a setting in Seattle that will help you understand how to approach a similar setting in Amsterdam.

We expect that this exercise will help you 1) sensitize yourselves to the kinds of things you can learn from an urban environment, 2) understand the ways you can approach urban places in Amsterdam, and 3) give you practical experience formulating social research questions.

There are two parts to this assignment, the field research part and the analysis part. Here's what you need to do between now and next Monday:

Field research:

- find a partner or partners (3 per group max)

- choose a place in the city to study; a building, a public space, a neighborhood, an historical site, a piece of public art, etc.

- explore, observe, inquire, and document (take notes, photographs, etc.)

Analysis:

- from your observations develop a research question. select and justify a couple of methods that will help you answer that question. choose among the methodological approaches we have read about and discussed in class: Burstein's close reading, b) Lynch's walk around the block, c) Zeisel's physical traces and environmental behavior, and d) Jacobs' looking at cities.

- in your blog describe your field site (use images if possible), post the results of your analysis (the research question and methods justification), and use references from the readings.

- reflect on your Amsterdam research interests/preliminary questions(s).

NOTE: blog posts are due before class on Monday

walk around the blog assignment

a couple of points to think about for monday's blog assignment. the Lynch & Rivkin article was meant to both introduced you to urban studies methods and begin to sensitize you to using your skills of observation.
in class we discussed the notion of space. as noted by Lynch & Rivkin, people either perceive order in space or they try to create order in the absence it:

"the individual must perceive his environment as an ordered pattern, and is constantly trying to inject order into his surroundings, so that all the relevant perceptions are jointed one to the other." --Lynch & Rivkin (1959) A Walk Around the Block

we also discussed the social construction of space, the idea that both the built environment and our conception of it are constructed through social interaction. As noted by Henri Lefebvre:

"Social space is a social product - the space produced in a certain manner serves as a tool of thought and action. It is not only a means of production but also a means of control, and hence of domination/power." -- Lefebvre (1991) The Production of Space

In your blog posts of 3-500 words max, consider the following:

1) observation skills: trust your skills of observation to inform what you see in the blog content.

2) ordered patterns: what sense of order is present and/or imposed? you dont want to spend too much time discussing the blogger.com structure per se. instead your comments should focus on indications of the blogger's reaction to or interaction with the structure.

3) social construction of space: in the blog you select, look for indications of socially constructed norms, particularly with respect to space.

UPDATE: slides from class