The concept of scale and the human dimensions of global change: a survey

Issues related to the scale of ecological phenomena are of fundamental importance to their study. The causes and consequences of environmental change can, of course, be measured at different levels and along multiple scales. While the natural sciences have long understood the importance of scale, re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological economics 2000-02, Vol.32 (2), p.217-239
Main Authors: Gibson, Clark C., Ostrom, Elinor, Ahn, T.K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ecology
Environmental change
Environmental economics
Globalization
Human dimensions
Level
Natural sciences
Phenomenology
Scale
Social science
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Summary:Issues related to the scale of ecological phenomena are of fundamental importance to their study. The causes and consequences of environmental change can, of course, be measured at different levels and along multiple scales. While the natural sciences have long understood the importance of scale, research regarding scale in the social sciences has been less explicit, less precise, and more variable. The growing need for interdisciplinary work across the natural/social science divide, however, demands that each achieve some common understandings about scaling issues. This survey seeks to facilitate the dialogue between natural and social scientists by reviewing some of the more important aspects of the concept of scale employed in the social sciences, especially as they relate to the human dimensions of global environmental change. The survey presents the fundamentals of scale, examines four general scaling issues typical of social science, and explores how different social science disciplines have used scale in their research.
ISSN:0921-8009
1873-6106
DOI:10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00092-0