The delimitation of, or setting boundaries to, an enquiry. Massey (1999) TIBG 24 lists the methods of closure commonly used by geographers: oversimplification; bounding a region by process, rather than space; and limiting an enquiry to a specified time period. ‘The process of closing research must address the motives behind research topics and questions; the reasons for preferring a particular methodology in addressing a given set of research questions, including the theoretical and practical issues raised by closure; and the importance of place in shaping our understandings of reality’ (Brown (2004) TIBG 29, 3). The choice of time–space model is also significant in closure; see Lane (2001) TIBG 26, 2.