The Area Prize for New Research in Geography 2014, honorable mention

In April 2015, Research Fellow Hannah Chiswell was delighted to receive honourable mention in The Area Prize for New Research in Geography 2014, an annual competition run by the international journal, to reward excellent research by postgraduate students and early career academics.  More details about the prize can be found here.

Hannah’s paper  ‘The value of the 1941–1943 National Farm Survey as a method for engagement with farmers in contemporary research’ (Area 46 426–434) proposed the use of National Farm Survey (NFS) data and maps as a resource to support interviews with farmers and their families, across a wide range of geographical topics. Drawing directly on her own research into family farm succession, the paper details the methodology, including the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) and the integration of the NFS data and maps into interview questions, as prompts and starting points. The paper demonstrates the benefits of deploying the NFS as a resource, including improving response rate, establishment of rapport, capturing of participant interest, facilitation of detailed responses and the stimulation of new trajectories and topics during the interview. The paper is available online here.

Hannah said “It’s great to have my paper recognised in this way, I’m really pleased”. Hannah got the idea for the paper during her doctoral research, having utilised the National Farm Survey for interviews with farm families. She said “I couldn’t believe the positive impact the historical maps and documents had on my interviews. People were so enthusiastic about them and it sparked so much conversation. I felt it was important to share this method with others in the field who may also find it useful, and that’s when I thought about writing a paper”.  

12 May 2015