Fieldwork

Question 1

Rivers enquiry question

Answer 1

How do the river valley and channel characteristics vary along the River Tillingbourne?

Question 2

Why is the enquiry question good?

Answer 2

It is measurable, it has context, it is focused and it can be easily tested.

Question 3

Quantitative data

Answer 3

Numerical data or data that records quantities.

Question 4

Qualitative data

Answer 4

Data that is more subjective such as interviews or field sketches.

Question 5

Primary data

Answer 5

Data collected first hand.

Question 6

Secondary data

Answer 6

Data collected by someone else.

Question 7

Systematic sampling

Answer 7

Collecting data at regular intervals.

Question 8

Random sampling

Answer 8

Selecting a person to interview or a site to measure, at random.

Question 9

Stratified sampling

Answer 9

The study area is divided into groups based on specific characteristics.

Question 10

Rivers - Advantages of systematic sampling

Answer 10

Gives a good representation of a whole river profile / river width.

Points are spread out.

Question 11

Rivers - Disadvantages of systematic sampling

Answer 11

More biased as not all places have an equal chance of being picked out.

The point could be somewhere not accessible (e.g. private land or somewhere dangerous).

Variations can be missed if intervals are too far apart.

Question 12

Rivers - Advantages of random sampling

Answer 12

Use of a random sampling calculator can remove human bias.

No subjectivity.

Question 13

Rivers - Disadvantages of random sampling

Answer 13

Some places may be unsafe or some people may choose not to be interviewed.

Some points may be clustered together leaving some areas that are not sampled at all.

Question 14

Rivers - Advantages of stratified sampling

Answer 14

Good representation of the long profile.

Safer because we have prior knowledge of the sites and we can avoid unsafe areas.

Question 15

Rivers - Disadvantages of stratified sampling

Answer 15

Missing out sections of the river due to safety / accessibility.

Prior knowledge of an area is needed to choose this type of sampling.

Question 16

Channel width - measurements

Answer 16

Using a tape measure, we measured the distance from one bank, directly across the river to the other bank to give us the channel width in metres.

Question 17

Channel width - positives

Answer 17

Quick and easy to measure the width of the channel and relatively accurate.

Question 18

Channel width - negatives

Answer 18

Width measured on a meander at Crossways Farm but width measured on a straight section at the other sites.

Only one measurement was taken at each site so this may not be representative.

The flow of the river made it difficult to hold the measuring tape still.

Question 19

Channel width - improvements

Answer 19

Could have measured the width at straight stretches of the river at each site.

We could have taken three readings at each site and got the average.

Question 20

Channel depth - measurements

Answer 20

We found the deepest part of the river at each site and measured the depth by using a metre stick and inserting it into the river at 10 cm intervals across the width of the river. We recorded the measurements in metres.

Question 21

Channel depth - positives

Answer 21

It was a relatively accurate way of measuring the depth as we got an average from measuring the depth at intervals.

Question 22

Channel depth - negatives

Answer 22

It wasn’t always possible to go into the deepest part of the river for safety reasons.

We may not have measured at exactly 10 cm intervals.

Sometimes bedload in the river made it difficult to keep the metre stick flush with the river bed.

Question 23

Channel depth - improvements

Answer 23

Could have been more precise with our 10 cm intervals.

Could have cleared the rocks away so that the metre stick sat flush with the river bed.

Question 24

Velocity - measurements

Answer 24

Two people stood in the river 5 metres apart. The person standing upstream put a plastic ball in the middle of the river and, using a stopwatch, measured the time that it took to travel 5 metres towards the person downstream. We did this three times and took an average at each site.

Question 25

Velocity - positives

Answer 25

Quick and easy method because we used a distance of only 5 metres so we could take at least 3 readings and get an average.

Question 26

Velocity - negatives

Answer 26

Sometimes the plastic ball flowed too fast down the river and we were unable to stop it in time, which affected the accuracy. At other times the tennis ball got lodged in reeds or the river bank.

Question 27

Velocity - improvements

Answer 27

We could have used a flow meter. We could have used a longer stretch of river, which could have given us more accurate results.

Question 28

Bedload shape - measurements

Answer 28

We collected 10-15 rocks from the river's bedload and used the Power's Roundness Index to categorise the shape of each rock according to a 6-point scale: well-rounded, rounded, sub-rounded, sub-angular, angular and very angular.B

Question 29

Bedload shape - positives

Answer 29

We used the Powers Roundness Index and our own judgement which was very quick and convenient.

Question 30

Bedload shape - negatives

Answer 30

Sometimes it was difficult to judge the correct angularity or the roundness of a rock. Sometimes we could not find enough rocks and could not collect a large enough sample.

Question 31

Bedload shape - improvements

Answer 31

We could have collected more samples from each site.

Question 32

Bedload size - measurements

Answer 32

We used a ruler in order to measure the length of rocks in cm. We measured them along their length (their longest axis).

Question 33

Bedload size - positives

Answer 33

Our system of measuring along the longest length of each rock using a ruler meant that we were consistent in our methods and we were able to do so quickly and conveniently.

Question 34

Bedload size - negatives

Answer 34

In some cases, it was too difficult to measure the longest length because the rock was too angular.

Question 35

Bedload size - improvements

Answer 35

We could have used callipers rather than a ruler, which would have been more accurate. We could have collected more samples from each site.

Question 36

Landforms - measurements

Answer 36

We drew the landforms of the river valley at each of the three sites (field sketches).

Question 37

Landforms - positives

Answer 37

Making field sketches enabled us to record changes in the river valley as we went downstream.

Question 38

Landforms - negatives

Answer 38

We did not have the necessary skill to draw the landforms accurately or to capture the river valley accurately in our field sketches.

Question 39

Landforms - improvements

Answer 39

We could have spent a little bit more time drawing a more accurate sketch of the river valley.

Question 40

Presentation of discharge at each site - positives

Answer 40

Bar chart - easy to read and analyse results at a glance and shows data clearly and visually allowing us to see that the discharge increases downstream.

Question 41

Presentation of discharge at each site - negatives

Answer 41

Bar chart - this method doesn't show details about how the discharge is calculated and it doesn't reflect the fact that engineering such as widening and straightening of the river may have helped to increase the discharge.

Question 42

Presentation of bedload shape at each site - positives

Answer 42

Compound bar chart - Easy to see that the bedload became more rounded downstream. We could also see anomalies, such as more angular bedload at Site 3 than at Site 2.

Question 43

Presentation of bedload shape at each site - negatives

Answer 43

Compound bar chart - We cannot see how many rock were in the data sample and possible errors with judgement would be reflected in the graph.

Question 44

Cross section of channel at each site - positives

Answer 44

Plotted the width and depth on a graph - allowed us to compare the cross sections for the river at each site and allows us to see if our findings are consistent with the Bradshaw model.

Question 45

Cross section of channel at each site - negatives

Answer 45

Plotted the width and depth on a graph - any errors in our measurement of data (e.g. depth and width) will be reflected in the graph and will affect our analysis.

Question 46

Crossways Farm - analysis of secondary data

Answer 46

The river has created a beautiful landscape and has brought in income from tourism. The river flows naturally and flooding is allowed to occur which reduces discharge and risks of flooding downstream, which is more urbanised.

Question 47

Abinger Hammer - analysis of secondary data

Answer 47

The river has been straightened and widened to increase velocity and reduce the risk of flooding. The cricket pitch functions as a washlands (deliberately allowed to flood).

Question 48

Gomshall - analysis of secondary data

Answer 48

The river has been deepened and straightened to increase velocity and reduce the risk of flooding, as this is a very built up area. The river has caused a lot of damage to property due to flooding.

Question 49

Interpretation of results

Answer 49

The width increased downstream as expected due to increased lateral erosion. The depth increased overall but Site 2 was deeper than Site 3 due to human error or hard engineering. The discharge increased downstream. The bedload got rounder downstream due to increased abrasion and attrition. The landforms did not change much apart from varying amounts of urbanisation.

Question 50

Conclusion

Answer 50

All findings were consistent with the Bradshaw model apart from the depth and velocity between Sites 2 and 3. The depth and velocity decreased slightly between Sites 2 and 3 which could have been due to human error in measurements or hard engineering.

Question 51

Urban enquiry question

Answer 51

To what extent do the land use functions and quality of urban environments differ between West Hill and Epsom Town Centre?

Question 52

Urban sub-questions

Answer 52

How does land use differ between West Hill and Epsom Town Centre? How does the quality of the urban environment differ between West Hill and Epsom Town Centre? Is there a link between land use and quality of urban environment?

Question 53

Environmental Quality Survey - measurements

Answer 53

We measured 5 environmental qualities: pollution, amount of concrete, rubbish, noise and graffiti. We scored each out of 10 (1 being not a lot and 10 being a lot). We did this four times each at West Hill and Epsom Town Centre.

Question 54

Environmental Quality Survey - positives

Answer 54

It helped us answer our second research question about the quality of the urban environment. It was straight forward to measure and it gave us numerical values that are easy to compare.

Question 55

Environmental Quality Survey - negatives

Answer 55

It is subjective so people may disagree. We only did this at one point on one day so we would need to compare the quality at different times of day and year for more reliable results.

Question 56

Environmental Quality Survey - improvements

Answer 56

Repeat on different days and at different times of the day to get an overall average which would increase the accuracy of conclusions as data would be more representative.

Question 57

Questionnaire - measurements

Answer 57

At each site, we asked as many people as possible a questionnaire about their perception of the quality of the urban environment. People were asked to score their opinion on 5 questions out of 5 (1 = disagree, 5 = agree) and we tallied the results.

Question 58

Questionnaire - positives

Answer 58

This gave us a wider data set that helped us to consider the environmental quality from locals who know the region better than use, so it should increase the accuracy of our results. It helped us to answer our 3rd sub-question about the link between land use and quality of urban environment. We only had a few questions so people were more inclined to stop.

Question 59

Questionnaire - negatives

Answer 59

In West Hill there were very few people around to ask, especially early in the morning. People have different views on what a 1/5 should be as it was subjective. We only completed this over a short period of time.

Question 60

Questionnaire - improvements

Answer 60

Repeat at different times in the day and throughout the week to gather more data. Ask more people to get a bigger sample size for more reliable conclusions.

Question 61

Traffic count - measurements

Answer 61

At each site, we chose a fixed spot and counted how many vehicles passed in 5 minutes. We further split that down into types of vehicles. We repeated this 4 times at each location and took an average.

Question 62

Traffic count - positives

Answer 62

We gathered data about the quality of the urban environment. The more congestion there is, the greater the noise and air pollution. It was straight forward to measure and gave us numerical data which was easy to compare/

Question 63

Traffic count - negatives

Answer 63

5 minutes was not long enough to get reliable results. Cars in Epsom were moving too fast to track accurately.

Question 64

Traffic count - improvements

Answer 64

Repeat at different times in the day and collect data over a longer period. Bigger sample size would increase accuracy and reliability.

Question 65

Annotated photos - measurements

Answer 65

We took photos at each location and we then printed and annotated them to show the building types, open space, level of crime, amount of transport, infrastructure etc.

Question 66

Annotated photos - positives

Answer 66

This helped to give us information about land use as we could document the building types in each region. Photos were easy to take and they gave us an accurate visual representation of these areas.

Question 67

Annotated photos - negatives

Answer 67

They lack quantitative data - it is only a snapshot of an area and it doesn't give information outside of the image.

Question 68

Annotated photos - improvements

Answer 68

Take several photos from several angles to get a more accurate representation of the land use at each site.

Question 69

Land use map - measurements

Answer 69

We annotated an OS map with the following: Houses - height, storeys, gardens, garages, detached, semi-detached, terraced, old or new. Commercial area - type of building, size, purpose. Open spaces, parks, cark parks etc.

Question 70

Land use map - positives

Answer 70

This method gave use reliable information about building type because we used a small-scale OS map which has an up-to-date layout of the land use so we could clearly see the types of buildings, housing, roads and green spaces. We could easily tell whether the function of land was residential or commercial.

Question 71

Land use map - negatives

Answer 71

While you can tell the relative sizes of buildings, you cannot often tell whether they are used for retail or for office space.

Question 72

Land height - measurements

Answer 72

At each location, we turned around slowly in a 360 degree circle and counted the number of floors/storeys of each building. We then completed the tally chart to show our findings.

Question 73

Land height - positives

Answer 73

This was a quick and convenient way to measure the land height and it gave us quantitative data which was easy to compare and analyse.

Question 74

Land height - negatives

Answer 74

It was sometimes hard to tell the height of some buildings as some of the windows were very small and it was difficult to identify whether they belonged to a different storey or the same one.

Question 75

Land Height - data presentation

Answer 75

Comparative bar chart - We can easily compare the differences in the number of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 storey buildings, which gives us data on the differences in land use between the CBD and suburbs. However, any measurement errors will be reflected in the graph and affect our analysis, such as human error.

Question 76

Environmental Quality Survey - data presentation

Answer 76

Radial graph - We can easily compare the different aspects of the environmental quality such as the rubbish, noise and graffiti. However, we used our subjective judgement to rate the different aspects of environmental quality so the analysis should reflect that this is subjective data.

Question 77

Traffic count - data presentation

Answer 77

Bar graph - we can easily compare the differences in traffic congestion between the CBD and the suburbs using this bar chart. A limitation of this method is that it doesn't break down the traffic by types of transport, which would provide us with more detailed analysis. Furthermore, human error in counting the correct number of cars at each site will be reflected in the graph and will affect our analysis.

Question 78

Urban - analysis of secondary data

Answer 78

Population pyramids show that young working adults make up most of the population in the CBD. They live near offices and businesses. The CBD is densely populated which may put off families from living there. West Hill has more families - parents are a bit older and can afford to live in a nicer, more expensive area as they have earned money for longer. Children live with them but young adults cannot afford to live there. Crime statistics show that more crimes are committed in the CBD as it is very densely populated and there are lots of shops and bars so there is more potential for anti-social behaviour and theft from shops.

Question 79

Urban - conclusion

Answer 79

Land use in West Hill is mainly residential for relatively affluent families with young children. Epsom Town Centre has mainly a commercial and business function as demonstrated by the large number of shops and offices. The population density is high and the largest age range was young working adults who would live close to offices for work. The quality of the urban environment is better in West Hill than Epsom Town Centre because there is less pollution, rubbish, litter, graffiti and crime. The region with a residential function had a significantly higher quality of urban environment than the region with the commercial and business function because people take more pride in the urban environment in which they live in.