The disciplines of the social sciences have turned to models to identify and define relationships between critical variables. The dynamism of these variables can render models inadequate. The expansion method provides a means of reintroducing the complexities of the real world without destroying the models in the process. As such, the expansion method is geography's response to the theories of social sciences. As a technique, it provides a systematic methodology appropriate for the investigation of contextual variability in virtually any empirical research setting. As a research paradigm, the...