How do interviews help geographers study people’s mental maps and behavior?

In the field of human geography, interviews serve as a primary qualitative procedure for understanding how individuals perceive the world and how those perceptions influence their actions.1

Geographers use interviews to elicit information from individuals and groups regarding their "mental maps"—the internal representations of space and environment that people construct. By engaging in interpersonal interaction, researchers can identify these perceived worlds and the processes involved in their creation. This approach is based on the premise that human behavior is often driven by these subjective, imagined worlds rather than an objective, external reality alone.1

By rigorously gathering this information, geographers gain insight into how mental maps underpin and explain human behavior within specific environments. This qualitative method allows researchers to move beyond mere observation, enabling them to interpret the meanings that people attach to their surroundings and how those meanings guide their decision-making processes.12