Scale and scientific inquiry: An investigation of theoretical, methodological, and practical applications

For centuries scholars from wide-ranging disciplines have been challenged by physical, social, and methodological implications of scale. Wide-ranging spatial scales, for instance, present challenges to researchers examining physical or social processes operating on scales of analysis from the molecular to the planetary. Temporal scales represent a different concern such that the appropriate scale of analysis varies along the continuum of the instantaneous to the geological. Scale also presents methodological challenges as witnessed in the variability of results associated with discrete spatial and/or temporal scales of analysis. The various permutations of scale-related issues therefore underscore the complexity and breadth of research on scale within the scientific community.;This study aimed to contribute to scale research in four ways. The first effort focused on synthesizing existing literature on scale among five dominant research themes in geography. The second way is through the introduction and evaluation of a new framework to analyze physical and social constructions of scale. The third component of this study investigated methodological frameworks for analyzing processes at individual or multiple scales of analysis, and introduced and tested the viability of a new mixed method multi-scale framework. The fourth contribution of this dissertation was a case study which investigated physical and social dimensions of temperature at multiple scales of analysis. Research findings indicate that investigating complex socio-ecological processes via a mixed theoretical framework at multiple scales of analysis provides a new and innovative research perspective. In this study, social perceptions of environmental conditions become increasingly distorted as spatial scale increased.