Crossing the great divide - using multi-method analysis to understand opposition to windfarms

This paper demonstrates the possibilities for the complementary use of regression analysis and discourse analysis to further understand issues in public administration. To do so, an empirical study of opposition to wind energy planning applications is used. The application of logistical regression to analyse the factors which may influence windfarm planning applications is discussed, factors including the attitudes of local people. Discourse analytical techniques are then used to consider how anti-windfarm campaigners manage accusations of 'Not In My Back Yard' (NIMBYism). This is done partly by linking their cause with wider environmental objectives. Although discourses and logistical regression models have very different ontologies, the paper demonstrates that there is no inevitable conflict between the epistemologies used in these two different methods, despite differences in the type of data being analysed.