After the Second World War there had been a considerable shift in the conceptual framework of geography in the USA. The Americans also realized that in order to develop geography as a research discipline or to obtain recognition as being scientifically respectable among other scientists, geographers must drop the all round synthetic approach of regional geography. It was argued that geographers should develop 'systematic field' in which one can acquire a competence that can be applied to any area.
Now the American geographers have shifted emphasize on 'systematic specialization' which means the study of a particular phenomenon over the earth and the process that lies behind their spatial arrangement. Thus they are focusing attention on 'man-environment system' with an ecosystem approach.
The period of 1960's witnessed an enthusiastic swing by the younger generation towards the use of the language of mathematics, because it could be made to express ideas more precisely than the language of literature. Thus the Americans have stressed more on the application of statistical tools, in the last thirty years, to investigate the geographical distributions and arrangements. The statistical tools are applied both in the physical and the social phenomena. Mathematical concepts, even laws of astrophysics are used to measure and explain the functions, size and spacing of urban centers, and crops distribution.
The new trends besides being quantitative or statistical in approach are concerned with the analysis of spatial systems' which reveal two other important facets. First, there is a shift of emphasis towards group behavior in the assessment of the relations between man and environment, currently, referred to as 'spatial perception'. Second, there is concern with current social problems and the utility of research in coping with them. Moreover, with' the help of quantitative techniques, the geographers are developing 'regional science'.
Inter-disciplinary approach to explain the man-environment system has been adopted by the American geographers. Emphasis is also being laid on cultural geography, which deals the material and the non-material phenomena relevant to an understanding of the spatial distributions and space relation of human cultures. Cultural geographers are concerned with the earth as the home of man who, by means of culture, has become the earth's ecological dominant. The usual approach of a cultural geographer is that of studying spatial distribution of the elements or traits of a culture.
Political geography is also an area in which the American geographers are increasingly contributing. The study of political geography is concerned with the interaction of geographical area and political processes; it is the study of the spatial distribution and space relations of political processes. Its attention centers on the part of the earth occupied by a given political system, sub-system or systems. The general political problem areas are identified.
Locational Theory Studies is also an area in which the American geographers are pursuing work. Locational theory studies emphasize on the study of the static aspects of spatial pattern, like location, spread, density, and geometry; flow linkages between places; temporal dynamics and spatial structure and spatial systems; and normative models leading, efficiency solutions. Apart from computer technology, areal photography, the American geographers are making the use of remote sensing technology for the interpretation of geographical phenomena.
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