Fieldwork (Paper 3) Flashcards
Identify the 6 stages in a geographical enquiry
- Question / hypothesis
- Data collection
- Data presentation
- Analysis of data
- Concluding
- Evaluating
What are the features of a good enquiry question?
It should be closely linked to your chosen topic of study
The question is not too broad or too specific
The question may have a series of sub-questions that will focus your data collection
What is a hypothesis?
A statement of what you think you will find
Name the two different types of data that you can collect to help you answer your enquiry question?
Primary data
Secondary data
What is primary data?
Data you have collected yourself or as a group
What is secondary data?
Information that someone else has collected, that helps you answer your question
What is a risk assessment?
An assessment of the potential hazards and risks that you may be exposed to when carrying out your data collection
Give an example of how you might minimise some risks when carrying out fieldwork
- Always stay in groups
- Carry a map to ensure you do not get lost
- Wearing sensible footwear
- Using relevant safety equipment
What is meant by ‘data collection’?
Gathering information that will help you answer your enquiry question. This can be in number form or a verbal (written) format.
What is meant by ‘sample size’?
The amount of data sets you will be collecting
How does sample size affect the reliability of your data?
A bigger or more regular sample will improve reliability as you will be able to see if any data stands out / has happened by chance (anomalies)
How can you ensure that the data you collect is accurate?
- Take more than one reading and take an average
- Check equipment before it is used to make sure it works
- Get more than one student to record the information
What is quantitative data?
Data in numerical form (numbers)
What is qualitative data?
Data in word form
What are the advantages of collecting quantitative data?
It can be manipulated and turned into averages / percentages to make analysis easier
More objective than qualitative
What are the disadvantages of collecting qualitative data?
Time consuming to collect Information gathered can be subjective (opinion based)
What is a random sample?
Randomly choosing a person to take part in a survey, or picking up a random pebble on the beach
What is a systematic sample?
Coming up with a system that will help you pick your data e.g. choosing every 10th person to take part in a survey or choosing pebbles from the beach at 5m intervals
What is a stratified sample?
Creating a sample that is representative of a population. e.g. finding out the proportion of each age group of people that visit a shop, then asking the same proportion of ages in your survey
How should you choose your fieldwork location?
- Somewhere that is safe
- A nearby / easy to reach area for each of access
- A site / location where you can investigate your chosen topic e.g. a beach that has groynes will be suitable for coastal management fieldwork
How can you record data collected?
- In a tally chart
- In a table
- Using a camera to take photographs
- Field sketches
Identify some qualitative data collection methods
- Survey / questionnaire
- Interview
- Photographing the area
Identify some quantitative fieldwork data collection
- Traffic count
- Pedestrian count
- Timing velocity
- Measuring distances
Identify some methods of data presentation
- Graphs/ charts (line, pie, bar, scatter)
- Maps (proportional symbols, located pie/bar charts, choropleth)
- Tables (tally, raw data)
- Aerial photos
- Annotated photos
- GIS
- Field sketches
