THE IMPORTANCE OF SPACE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

All social science data are spatial data. The behaviors, processes, and events we seek to explain occur at specific geographic locations. As discussed in Chapter 1, these geographic locations are often central to our understanding of these phenomena. Consider, for example, research on behavioral interactions between units in shared networks (see, e.g., Huckfeldt and Sprague 1987, 1988). Research has shown that spatial proximity affects the nature of interactions between actors in these networks (Baybeck and Huckfeldt 2002). This mirrors a long line of research in international relations that has found that spatial proximity between countries promotes interactions between countries (Most and Starr 1980; Starr 2002). This spatial proximity in turn affects a variety of behaviors and processes of interest to scholars and observers alike, including democratization (Gleditsch andWard 2006), civil wars (Salehyan and Gleditsch 2006; Gleditsch 2007), and war (Gleditsch and Ward 2000).

Similarly, consider the interest of both observers and scholars in the causes and consequences of poverty (see, e.g., Wilson 1987). Here, both researchers and pundits have recognized that geographic locations marked by deep poverty are increasingly segregated from economic opportunity and the opportunity for the residents in these locations to participate fully in American society. Inherent here again is the recognition that geography matters and that understanding the factors that produce poverty at the local level is a critical first step in producing policy options that can alleviate this poverty and produce positive outcomes for both the residents of these locations and for society as a whole.

These are but two of many prominent examples that reflect a growing interest in spatial concerns within the social sciences. It's easy to think of a myriad of additional examples that highlight how we are increasingly becoming attuned to the importance of geography in our lives.