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Changing perspectives on place: Investigating Place Attachment and Place Identity in non-local undergraduates living in Newcastle Upon Tyne
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Orla Thompson
Changing perspectives on place: Investigating Place Attachment and Place Identity in non-local undergraduates living in Newcastle Upon Tyne
Introduction
An Introduction
There has been an emergence of literature on the geographies of higher-level education students, specifically with reference to the patterns within their movement and distribution between cities.
This dissertation aims to examine the transition from the home into a new socio-cultural environment and the issues and themes emerging from this transition.
Justification
Justification of topic
Newcastle Upon Tyne has a large transient population: in 2014/15 there were 40,181 students enrolled in both Northumbria University and Newcastle University ; 41 per cent at Newcastle University and 59 per cent at Northumbria. (Mcdonald, 2017)
-Pull towards studying in Newcastle Upon Tyne by the council, as it is regarded as a 'student city'.
(Newcastle City Council, 2019)
Newcastle upon Tyne?
Figure 1: Origin cities of those students who moved to Newcastle for university (2014/15)
Why Newcastle?
HESA admissions data (2015)
Figure 2: Origin of students at Newcastle University, 2014/15
Why Newcastle?
Figure 3: Origin of students at Northumbria University, 2014/15
HESA admissions data (2015)
Literature review
Geographies of Place
The concept of 'place' is contested within literature across the academic discourse.
Prior to humanistic geographers views on place, the literature defined place as being stable, where definitions of place are authentic, its definition is singular and fixed and unproblematic in its identity. (Dovey 2009)
Massey (1994) discusses place as being defined by multiple identities and histories, its character assembles from connections and interactions rather than from placing boundaries around it. "The identities of place are always unfixed, contested and multiple"
Place Identity
Relph (1976) expresses place through focusing on people’s identity with and of place. He refers to place identity as having a persistent identity in terms of the places physical setting, its activities, situations and events as well as the individual and group meanings created through human experiences and intentions within that place.
Theoretical background
Further literature
Further literature
Place Attachment
Place attachment is often linked with sense of place in literature, it focuses on concepts of 'rootedness' suggesting that it is influenced by close, long lasting relationships become dependent on intimate and emotional connections with place. (Holloway and Hubbard, 2001; Anderson 2010)
Pretty et al. (2003) states that sense of place cannot be solely created based on location, it becomes emergent through involvement between people and between people and place.
Scannell and Gifford (2013) multidimensional framework expresses place attachment as an outcome of the relationship amongst people, place and process. The notion suggests that "sense of place is heterogeneous and contains specific characteristics that indicate individual identifications of place"(Holton, 2014, pg 22)
Even further
literature
Even Further literature
Sense of place, place attachment and place identity in undergraduate students.
Chatterton (1999) discusses the ways in which social behaviors of university undergraduate students are adjusting the urban space through their unique uses of social spaces in their term time location.
Since then a diverse amount of literature has emerged on the geographies of higher education students. Suggesting that students experience the university in different ways. (Holton, 2014)
Butcher (2010) stresses the connections between place attachment and mobility, suggesting that the connections are important for those "who are in a state of flux as the stability gained from re-placing the 'home' assists in the attachment to a new unfamiliar location"
Collins (2010) discusses South Korean HE students in New Zealand, suggesting that they attach themselves to previous legacies of immigrant areas of cities to quickly create their own sense of place, where they connect with their own cultural heritage.
Study
Research Questions
Is place interpreted differently between the home and term-time location? If so how and why?
Is there a changing relationship with place?
What factors influence place identity and place attachment?
How does understandings of place identity influence place attachment?
Methodology
Methodology
Through a humanistic approach, the methodology chosen is mixed method.
In order to allow the dissertation research to fully answer the proposed research questions in the most appropriate way.
The dissertation will also use secondary sources to give background on the research, through local statistics.
Mixed Methods
Mixed Methods
Quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to obtain a mixed method approach. Through:
Online questionnaires have been chosen to develop statistical explanations and trends behind place attachment and place identity in non-local students.
This will then assist the design of the interviews, which will express the meanings, and personal perspectives behind place attachment and place identity for non-local students.
According to Creswell (2003) using a mixed method approach allows for a stronger understanding of the problem rather than solely using either method alone.
Sampling Strategy
Sampling
The recruitment of participants will be done in two steps.
1. Participants for the online questionnaire on google forms will be recruited through random sampling.
The questionnaire will be distributed on social media channels and participants will be gained as well through participant referrals.
2.For the interviews the participants will be recruited through availability sampling.
Once participants have completed the questionnaire they will be asked if they want to participate in the semi-structured interviews.
Previous studies
Previous studies
Chow and Healey (2010)
Place Attachment and place identity: First-year undergraduates making the transition from home to university
- Their paper examines the issues created from a transition into a new social and cultural environment away from the home- the home to university.
- The study takes place over 5 months, using data gained from semi-structured interviews and participant observation of ten first-year students who moved to study at the University of Gloucestershire.
- It explores the variables that impact place attachment and place identity and the ensuing problems and challenges in the move.
- It conclude that meanings of place are constantly being evaluated and reshaped in the context of evolving social and physical relationships with place and between people and place.
further studies
Mark Holton (2014)
Adapting relationships with place: Investigating the evolving place attachment and 'sense of place' of UK higher education students during a period of intense transition
- The study obtained its data using 'walking interviews' at University of Portsmouth as a "method to unpack how 'non-local' students might go about interpreting their sense of place within their term-time location"
- It looked to unpack the experiences of undergraduate students who moved away from the family home in order to understand how students may establish their sense of place at university.
- It uses walking interviews as a method of understanding how undergraduates at this university interpreted the city, which influences their place attachment and sense of place.
further studies
Next Steps
Table 1: Gantt Chart
Next steps and potential issues
Potential Issues
Potential Issues
1
2
Might not get enough responses in questionnaire, will need to focus more on data from interviews
Need to ensure I have enough time to analyze data i do collect in detail
Critical evaluation
Critical
evaluation
- Very precise topic, there is not much generalisability to it.
- Possibly should have thought about doing "walking interviews" as it might depict the undergraduates understandings of the city's place identity better.
Summary of presentation
Summary
Guided through the literature on Geographies of Place, Place Identity, Place Attachment, and discourse surrounding 'sense of place' for undergraduate students:
- The dissertation aims to research the "Changing perspectives on place: Investigating Place Attachment and Place Identity in non-local undergraduates living in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
- This will be done through using mixed-methods(qualitative and quantitative research methods) for the questionnaires and interviews through a humanistic approach in order to gain a holistic understanding of the research, and to provide answers to the research questions.
References
1. Anderson, J. , (2010). Understanding Cultural Geography: Places and Traces. Routeledge, London.
2. Chatterton, P., (1999) University students and city centres: the formation of exclusive geographies. The case of Bristol, UK. Geoforum 30 (2), pp. 117-133.
3. Chow, K. and Healey, M. (2008). Place attachment and place identity: First-year undergraduates making the transition from home to university. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28(4), pp.362-372.
4. Creswell, J. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. California: Sage Publications, p.215.
5. Dovey, K. (2009). Becoming places. London: Routledge, pp.1-33.
6. Higher Education Statistics Agency (2015). Origin cities of those students who moved to Newcastle for university (2014/15). [image] Available at: https://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain-analysis-migration-newcastle/detailed-look-movement-students-graduates/ [Accessed 18 Nov. 2019].
7. Higher Education Statistics Agency (2015). Origin of students at Newcastle University, 2014/15. [image] Available at: https://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain-analysis-migration-newcastle/detailed-look-movement-students-graduates/ [Accessed 18 Nov. 2019].
8. Higher Education Statistics Agency (2015). Origin of students at Northumbria University, 2014/15. [image] Available at: https://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain-analysis-migration-newcastle/detailed-look-movement-students-graduates/ [Accessed 18 Nov. 2019].
9. Holloway, L., Hubbard, P., (2001). People and Place: the Extraordinary Geographies of Everyday
Life. Pearson, Harlow.
10. Holton, M. (2014). Adapting relationships with place: Investigating the evolving place attachment and ‘sense of place’ of UK higher education students during a period of intense transition. Geoforum, 59, pp.21-29.
11. Massey, D. (1994). Space, Place and Gender. Cornwall: Polity Press, pp.19-24
12.McDonald, R. (2019). A more detailed look at the movement of students and graduates. [online] Centre for Cities. Available at: https://www.centreforcities.org/reader/great-british-brain-drain-analysis-migration-newcastle/detailed-look-movement-students-graduates/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2019]..
13. Newcastle.gov.uk. (2019). Study Newcastle City Council. [online] Available at: https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/study [Accessed 19 Nov. 2019].
14. Pretty, G.H., Chipuer, H.M., Bramston, P., (2003). Sense of place amongst adolescents and adults in teo rural Australian towns: the discriminating features of place attachment, sense of community and place dependence in relation to place identity. J. Environ. Psychol. 23. pp(273-287).
15. Relph, E. (1976). Place and placelessness. London: Sage.
16.Scannell, L., Gifford, R., (2013) Comparing the theories of interpersonal and place attachment in: Manzo, L.C., Devine-Wright, P. (Eds). Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications. Routeledge, London, pp.23-36.