Mixing Methods in the Search for Mobile Complexity

Abstract

The world is moving. People are on the move. To many people auto-mobility is the cement of everyday life, and without the car, everyday life cannot be coherent (Freudendal-Pedersen, 2009; Freudendal-Pedersen & Hartmann-Petersen, 2006; Drewes Nielsen, 2005). Mobility and modernity are merged (Urry, 2000; Urry, 2007; Canzler et al., 2008). Late modern changes in everyday life spheres are complex, with our understanding of these transformations in a constant state of flux (Bauman, 2000). As this affects the way we perceive and analyse the world around us, it calls for new methodological approaches and new ways of collecting empirical data. Also important here is the role we, as researchers, play in the research process between research design, data collection and analysis.