The Dictionary of Human Geography

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such a case, a methodology might be about

holding tensions that show these gaps and

differences to offer a ‘transgressive validity’

that problematizes or crystallizes the issues of

reliability and truthfulness between methods,

rather than integrating them or using one to

corroborate the other (Guba and Lincoln,

2005). An exemplary account ingeography

is Nightingale (2003) on forest cover in Nepal,

illustrating the partiality of and contradictions

between both villagers’ oral histories and aerial

photography.

Methodology is thus about organizing

research practices in relation to concepts.

There is no singular way of doing this;

nor is methodology simply the application

of methods. It involves thinking through

the connections relating concepts, topics,

information-gathering and representation,

which will inevitably vary from project to

project. mc

Suggested reading

Hoggart, Lees and Davies (2002); Limb and

Dwyer (2001); Pryke, Rose and Whatmore

(2003); Sharp (2005).

metropolitan area A general term for large

urban settlements. Metropolitan districts were

first defined by the US Bureau of thecensus

in 1910, by grouping together large central

cities (i.e. administrative districts) with their

contiguoussuburbsinto a single built-up area

to be used for reporting data. Over time, with

continuedurbanizationand urbansprawl,

definitions changed and there is now a hier-

archy of areas:

 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) –

groups of counties (or similar administra-

tive units) with total populations exceeding

100,000, comprising a central city (with

50,000þresidents) and surrounding sub-

urbs;

 Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas

(CMSAs)– larger units with populations

exceeding 1,000,000; and

 Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas

(PMSAs)– separate components within

CMSAs: the Detroit/Ann Arbor CMSA

comprises the separate Detroit and Ann

Arbor PMSAs, and the New York/New

Jersey/Long Island CMSA contains ten

separate PMSAs.

Analysts have also defined Metropolitan

Labor Areas, which extend beyond the built-

up areas to incorporate places from which at

least 5 per cent of the workforcecommutesto

a metropolitan area.

Similar schemes (with terminological vari-

ations) have been defined by the census

authorities to represent and report data for

the urbanized areas in a large number of

other countries. rj

Suggested reading

See http://www.census.gov/population/www/

estimates/metrodef.html.

micropolis A term introduced by Thomas

(1989) and adopted by the US Bureau of the

censusin 2003, referring to urban agglomer-

ations with total populations between 10,000

and 49,999. Each micropolis comprises a

number of separate but socially and econom-

ically integrated settlements (as measured by

commutingpatterns), one of which (the ‘core

centre’) has a population of at least 10,000; for

example, the separate settlements of Lebanon

(CT), Hanover and Enfield (NH) and

Norwich and Hartford (VT) in the Upper Con-

necticut Valley comprise a micropolis based

on Hartford. Using 2001 census data, 578

separate micropoli were identified, containing

about 10 per cent of the total US population.

(See alsometropolitan area.) rj

Suggested reading

Heubusch (1997).

microsimulation Microsimulation operates

at the ‘micro’ (not aggregate)scale,where

the ‘units’ include the individual,household,

firm or vehicles (International Microsimulation

Association, http://www.microsimulation.org). These

units and their socio-economic trajectories are

modelled by assigning them data attributes that

are altered over (simulated) time by a set of rules

governing the system in which they exist.

Changes may be deterministic (theymusthap-

pen, given certain characteristics) or stochastic

(seestochastic process: there is a probability

that theymighthappen). In this way the impacts

of, for example, government policies and eco-

nomic decision-making can be modelled.

There are links between microsimulation and

geocomputation, especiallycellular autom-

ataandagent-based modelling. rh

Suggested reading

Ballas, Rossiter, Thomas, Clarke and Dorling

(2005).

Middle East, idea of The term has its ori-

gins in European and eventually American

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_M Final Proof page 459 1.4.2009 3:19pm

MIDDLE EAST, IDEA OF