Fieldwork - Section C (P3)

Question 1

what is the title of your PHYSICAL geography fieldwork inquiry?

Answer 1

Exploring downstream changes along the River Holford

Question 2

what is the title of your HUMAN geography fieldwork inquiry?

Answer 2

Exploring the success of regeneration in Taunton Town Centre​

Question 3

what was your hypothesis for the Taunton regeneration scheme?

Answer 3

the Taunton re-think regeneration scheme has been successful because the brownfield sites have been converted into housing areas, shopping centres or open urban greening

Question 4

what was your hypothesis for the river holford?

Answer 4

Discharge will increase with distance downstream on the river Holford. this is because the size of the drainage basin will increase meaning more tributaries and confluences join on to the river.

velocity will increase with distance downstream on the river Holford. this is because sediment size will decrease and the channel will widen. more sediment leads to an increase in weight meaning more force from gravity downstream.

Question 5

why was your human fieldwork suitable?

Answer 5

• it has a compact urban layout - allows for multiple data collection sites
• it was pedestrian safe and easily accessible
• Taunton has recently undergone regeneration (castle green & somerset square) and some areas are also expected to undergo regeneration (fire pool lock and station boulevard)

Question 6

why was your physical fieldwork suitable?

Answer 6

• the river is only 7 kms long and so is achievable to obtain data in 1 day
• there are footpaths and roads near by making it easily accessible
• shallow and narrow river making it safe
• the river supports the idea of the Bradshaw model

Question 7

define primary data

Answer 7

data that the individual has collected themselves

Question 8

define secondary data

Answer 8

data taken from another source that someone else has collected

Question 9

define Quantitative data

Answer 9

numerical data which can be easily categorized

Question 10

define Qualitative data

Answer 10

Subjective information which involves judgement, values or opinions of individuals.

Question 11

why is Quantitative data easier to analyse than qualitative data?

Answer 11

• it easier to see comparisons in data
• it is easier to draw conclusions from your data
• it removes any bias

Question 12

name the 3 sampling strategies

Answer 12

stratified - category based (each course) - evenly split
random - random number generator to pick areas
systematic - collecting data at same regular intervals (every 10metres)

Question 13

what sampling method have you used for your human fieldwork and why?

Answer 13

stratified - each location was picked for their variation in different categories such as urban greening, opportunity for development and level of regeneration.

Question 14

what sampling method have you used for your physical fieldwork and why?

Answer 14

stratified
allows us to select specific areas to find the change in the different courses

systematic would provide us with too much data and wouldn’t show the variation between the courses
random is not as effective but does show no bias

Question 15

what risk assessment did you carry out for your human fieldwork?

Answer 15

getting lost - to prevent this we stayed as a group and moved with out supervisor
sun burn - wore sun cream, trousers and long sleeved clothing
blisters and rolled ankles - wore the correct footwear

Question 16

what risk assessment did you carry out for your physical fieldwork?

Answer 16

getting lost - to prevent this we stayed as a group and moved with out supervisor
falling over - stayed together, walked carefully and wore the correct footwear
tick bites - trousers and long sleeved clothing

Question 17

what was your Quantitative collection method for your human fieldwork?

Answer 17

EQA (environmental quality assessment)

• easy to plot the data on a graph to draw conclusions and make easy comparisons
• the negative - required my own bias opinion which may affect the accuracy.
• to remove this bias, I could take an average of data from my peers.

Question 18

what were your Qualitative collection methods for your human fieldwork?

Answer 18

epitome words - is a good simplistic way to analyse an area and data can be pooled into word clouds to draw conclusions. However, it is heavily based on biased opinions.
success criteria - is a good method to highlight regeneration however it would be more accurate if the same criteria applied for each area to allow comparisons.

Question 19

how did you measure the velocity of the river Holford?

Answer 19

measured the velocity using an impeller
- easy to compare the data in different sampling locations.

• Limitation - in the upper course, the river is shallower so it was harder to obtain valid results as the impeller would get stuck easily.
• improvement -instead we could use a flowmeter to measure the velocity of the river instead.

Question 20

how did you measure the cross sectional area of the river Holford?

Answer 20

for this investigation we carried out two different tests:

width using a tape measure - to measure the distance between the two river banks. however further down the stream, the velocity increased and caused the tape to move slightly meaning the measurements may not have been accurate.
to improve this next time, we can use a laser measuring tool.
depth using a ruler - good method, however the river is constantly moving so its depth fluctuates making it difficult to accurately measure the depth.
if we wanted more accurate results we could use sonar echo sounding but this requires specialist knowledge

Question 21

outline the advantages and disadvantages of using radar graphs to present your human field work data

Answer 21

Advantages
* shows a clear outline of where a place has either a lower or higher score
* easy to compare different sites
* easy to draw conclusions

Disadvantages
* isn’t very descriptive
* hard to understand at first
* limited amount of data can be plotted

Question 22

outline the advantages and disadvantages of using a word cloud to present your human field work data

Answer 22

epitome words
Advantages
* easily summarises the description of the area
* easy to pool collective opinions together to gain a general consensus of peoples opinions
* easy to draw conclusions

Disadvantages
* isn’t very descriptive
* only depicts qualitative data
* it does use bias data

Question 23

what conclusions can you draw from the data collected about your huma field work?

Answer 23

the regeneration was successful
I know this because brownfield sites have successfully been converted into urban green spaces and shopping centres
and clear planning has been put in place to regenerate to other two locations in the near future

Question 24

outline the advantages and disadvantages of using a cross profiles to present your physical field work data

Answer 24

Advantages
* Easy to compare the changes between each site.
* Easy to identify anomalies.
* Gives visual image - shows general trend/correlation.

Disadvantages
* Creating a hand draw line graph is open to human error and information could be plotted down wrong.
* Does not take into account vegetation and boulders in the river.
* Can be difficult to read accurately.
* Can often require additional information in order to be useful.

Question 25

outline the advantages and disadvantages of using a scatter graph to present your physical field work data

Answer 25

**Advantages** * line of best fit can be used to outline anomalies **Disadvantages** * If data points are widely spread, it can be hard to determine a clear trend * scatter plots don’t provide exact numerical comparisons

Question 26

outline the advantages and disadvantages of using a GIS data to present your physical field work data

Answer 26

**Advantages** * easy to visualise to difference between points * shows the gradual change downstream * easy to draw conclusions **Disadvantages** * you can't see exact data such as numerical values * makes it harder to draw comparisons * uses inequalities so it is less accurate * requires advanced technology to plot the data

Question 27

what conclusions can be drawn from you physical field work data?

Answer 27

my fieldwork data does support the hypothesis that discharge and river velocity will increase downstream on the river Holford I know this because on a scatter graph discharge and distance as well as velocity and distance, both have a positive correlation. most of the graphs of all 5 sites follow the pattern of the Bradshaw model

Question 28

what is the Bradshaw model?

Answer 28

The Bradshaw Model is a method of showing changes between the upper and lower course of a river. Going from left to right, the diagram represents moving downstream. The green triangles represent a different, named characteristic of the river channel or flow. If a triangle starts small and gets wider going right, it means it increases as you go downstream. For example, this applies to width and depth.

Question 29

what improvements could you have made to your physical fieldwork?

Answer 29

* We could have used a larger sample size by measuring more sites, to increase reliability.​ * We could have used a different technique to measure velocity at lower flow, to increase accuracy.​ * We could have gone back at different times of the year, to assess how the seasons impact fluvial processes. ​ * We could have ensured our ruler was facing thin end upstream when measuring depth, to increase accuracy.

Question 30

what improvements could you have made to your human fieldwork?

Answer 30

* The EQA score is quite subjective, so ensuring one person from each group does the assessing each time, this reduces the bias as peoples opinions may greatly vary. ​ * Returning at different times of da and year will increase reliability.