Diffusion Research in the Context of the Naturalism Debate in Twentieth-Century Geographic Thought
Abstract
The variety of diffusionist traditions found in geography is best understood in terms of the broad conceptual shifts that have occurred in human geography during the twentieth century. Diffusion research can be seen as having passed through four stages: environmentalism, regional synthesis, spatial analysis and postspatial analysis. The description of each stage in terms of the naturalism debate illustrates the manner in which basic beliefs concerning the nature of geographical science infuse questions of significance. theory and method in the study of diffusion.References
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