The Belfast mobility project: Intergroup contact, segregation and the time-geography of sectarian relations in Belfast 2015-2018

The data collection consists of two data sets formatted as SPSS files. The first data set derived from a GPS tracking methodology and records the amount of time that Catholic and Protestant residents of north Belfast spend in different types of spaces at different times of the day. The second data set is derived from a questionnaire survey designed to explore such residents' attitudes towards use of spaces beyond their own communities and to measure some social psychological factors that might impact on such attitudes, including intergroup contact, prejudice, threat and group identity.<p>This research develops a new approach to segregation between groups, taking sectarian relations in Belfast as a case study. In so doing, it proposes a theoretical and methodological framework that can be applied to other historically divided cities. Previous research has focused on (relatively) stable patterns of division entrenched within global institutions of residence, employment or education. We hold that such work may be enriched by research that treats segregation as the dynamic outcome of individuals' routine movements as they travel the city, using its pathways, amenities and activity spaces and coming into contact with certain kinds of people, while avoiding others. Our project entails closely related work of theoretical, methodological and empirical innovation. Theoretically, we will integrate work on the psychology of intergroup contact with work on the time-geography of everyday behaviour. That is, we will show how time-geographic concepts (e.g. 'space-time path') can explain how segregation is reproduced through the day-by-day timing and spacing of individuals' movements and activities and, by implication, through the temporal and spatial 'constraints' to which they are subject. Correspondingly, we will show how such movements and activities express psychological processes. We will focus specifically on the role of different forms of perceived intergroup threat (e.g. symbolic, realistic and environmental threat), exploring how such threats interact with other social and psychological factors in order to sustain or undermine a 'behavioural ecology' of separation. Methodologically, our research will capitalize on new techniques for tracking and analyzing individuals' movements through urban areas. By implementing a novel combination of GPS technology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), interviews, and standard questionnaire techniques, we will show how segregation may arise through the timing and spacing of everyday behaviour and how this process is shaped by social and psychological factors. Empirically, our project will entail the collection of new kinds of data on sectarian divisions in North Belfast. Initially, we will use a combination of 'walking interview' and GIS methods to map how Catholic and Protestant residents use and make sense of everyday activity spaces, exploring how their understanding of those spaces and pathways are territorially organised. Then, we will conduct a questionnaire survey with a representative sample of people living in North Belfast (n = 500), designed to tap their perceptions of intergroup threat along with a range of other social psychological variables. Finally, using a combination of GPS tracking and GIS methods, we will track the mobility patterns and activity space use over time of the same respondents who completed the questionnaire phase. Our analysis will explore the degree to which residents use activity spaces located in areas of varying sectarian compositions and pass along time-space pathways that increase or reduce their exposure to other communities. It will also explore how social, psychological and environmental factors predict resulting practices of segregation and integration. Our research will help to develop a new approach to studying, evidencing and explaining segregation, which can be transferred to other contexts in which the problem of segregation arises. It will also inform interventions to combat sectarian polarization in Belfast at a time when the government is investing heavily in this ideal. Evidence on mobility patterns in the city, for instance, may enrich knowledge about the nature of the real or imagined constraints placed on residents' routine movements and pathways, the accessibility of public facilities, and the use of public transport. As important, it may reveal emerging spaces of integration and help to identify the kinds of people, social practices and environmental factors that are breaking down boundaries to contact.</p>本数据集包含两份SPSS格式的数据文件（SPSS）。第一份数据源自GPS追踪方法（GPS），记录了北贝尔法斯特天主教与新教居民在一日不同时段内，于各类空间中停留的时长。 第二份数据源自一项问卷调查，该问卷旨在探究上述居民对跨社区空间使用的态度，并衡量可能影响此类态度的若干社会心理因素，包括群体间接触（intergroup contact）、偏见、威胁感与群体认同。 本研究以贝尔法斯特的宗派关系为案例，构建了一套群体间隔离研究的全新范式，并提出可推广至其他历史分裂型城市的理论与方法论框架。过往研究多聚焦于扎根于居住、就业或教育等全球制度体系中的（相对）稳定分化模式。本研究认为，若将隔离视为个体日常出行活动的动态产物——即个体穿梭于城市、利用城市路径与公共设施、开展各类活动空间时，与特定群体接触并规避其他群体的过程——则可丰富既有研究的视角。 本项目涵盖理论、方法论与实证创新三大紧密关联的研究方向。理论层面，本研究将整合群体间接触心理学与日常行为时间地理学（time-geography）的相关研究成果。具体而言，本研究将阐释时间地理学概念（如“时空路径”）如何通过个体日常出行与活动的时间安排与空间分布，以及其受到的时空约束，解释隔离模式的再生产机制，并进一步阐明此类出行与活动如何体现心理过程。本研究将重点关注不同类型的感知群体间威胁（如象征性威胁、现实性威胁与环境性威胁）的作用机制，探究此类威胁如何与其他社会心理因素相互作用，进而维持或打破隔离的“行为生态”。 方法论层面，本研究将依托追踪与分析个体城市出行行为的新兴技术。通过创新性融合GPS技术、地理信息系统（GIS）、访谈法与标准化问卷调查方法，本研究将阐明日常行为的时间安排与空间分布如何催生隔离模式，以及社会心理因素如何塑造这一过程。 实证层面，本项目将收集北贝尔法斯特宗派分化的新型数据。首先，本研究将结合“步行访谈法”与GIS方法，绘制天主教与新教居民对日常活动空间的使用与认知图景，探究其对空间与路径的理解如何具有地域组织特征。随后，本研究将针对北贝尔法斯特居民开展代表性样本量为500份的问卷调查，以获取其对群体间威胁的感知及一系列其他社会心理变量数据。最后，本研究将结合GPS追踪与GIS方法，对完成问卷调查的同一批受访者进行长期移动模式与活动空间使用情况的追踪。 本研究的分析环节将探究居民在不同宗派构成区域的活动空间使用程度，以及其行经的时空路径如何提升或降低其与其他社区群体的接触概率；同时还将分析社会、心理与环境因素如何预测居民的隔离或融合行为模式。 本研究将助力构建一套用于研究、证实与解释隔离问题的全新范式，该范式可推广至存在隔离问题的其他场景。当前贝尔法斯特政府正大力投入宗派极化治理工作，本研究将为相关干预措施提供理论与实证支撑。例如，城市移动模式的相关研究结果可丰富我们对居民日常出行与路径所受真实或感知约束、公共设施可达性以及公共交通使用情况的认知。同样重要的是，本研究可揭示新兴的融合空间，并助力识别能够打破群体接触壁垒的人群类型、社会实践与环境因素。