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Coastal fieldwork Flashcards

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1
Q

Route to geographical enquiry

A
  1. Identify suitable research question(s) for the enquiry
  2. Select, measure and record appropriate data
  3. Select appropriate ways of presenting fieldwork data
  4. Describe, analyse and explain data
  5. Reach conclusions
  6. Evaluate the geographical enquiry
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2
Q

Fieldwork question

A

What are the coastal processes and forms (shapes) occurring at Pett Level

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3
Q

Why is Pett Level a suitable location?

A
  • It is a measurable stretch of beach
  • Away from any known hazards
  • Suitable access points
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4
Q

Hypothesis

A

A testable statement, NOT a question

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5
Q

What are our hypotheses?

A
  1. The waves at Pett Level are constructive
  2. Longshore drift occurs from southwest to northeast along the coast at Pett Level/as distance northeast increases, cross-sectional area of the beach will increase
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6
Q

What primary data did we use?

A
  • Beach profiles
  • Sediment sampling
  • Wave counts
  • Field sketch
  • Photographs
  • Interviews
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7
Q

What secondary data did we use?

A
  • Geology - rates of erosion
  • Recent weather - storm action could change wave energy
  • Tide timings - safety, explaining our data due to change in beach size
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8
Q

Quantitative data

A

Can be counted, measured and expressed using numbers

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9
Q

Qualitative data

A

Descriptive and conceptual

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10
Q

What are the benefits of primary data?

A
  • Collected yourself
  • Know how it is collected
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11
Q

What are the benefits of secondary data?

A
  • Bigger scope
  • Easier to get
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12
Q

What are the negatives of primary data?

A
  • Budget equipment
  • Low accuracy
  • Spend time collecting it
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13
Q

What are the negatives of secondary data?

A
  • Unaware of reliability
  • Bias
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14
Q

What is random sampling?

A

A sampling technique in which each sample has an equal probability of being chosen

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15
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A

Chosen data is evenly distributed. A space or interval between samples is chosen by the researcher

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16
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A

A sampling technique in which each aspect of the “population” is proportionally represented

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17
Q

What are the advantages of random sampling?

A
  • Removes any human bias from the process/will be fair
  • No knowledge needed of area being sampled
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18
Q

What are the advantages of systematic sampling?

A
  • No knowledge needed of area being sampled
  • No bias/will be fair
  • Don’t need random numbers
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19
Q

What are the advantages of stratified sampling?

A
  • Gives an accurate representation of the whole population
  • Removes bias
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20
Q

What are the disadvantages of random sampling?

A

Can lead to poor representation of the overall area

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21
Q

What are the disadvantages of systematic sampling?

A

May lead to misrepresentation of the area

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22
Q

What are the disadvantages of stratified sampling?

A
  • Must have detailed prior knowledge
  • May not have access to each category
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23
Q

What sampling strategies did we use?

A
  • Systematic sampling along the beach at 20m intervals
  • Stratified sampling up the beach, sampling at every gradient change spotted by eye
  • Random sampling for sediment samples
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24
Q

Beach profile methodology

A
  1. Measure a distance of 2m from the shoreline and place a ranging pole
  2. Place the second ranging pole at the first obvious change in gradient
  3. Place the clinometer against the ranging pole, where the bottom of the top red meets the top of the white
  4. Point it to the same level on the second ranging pole higher up the beach
  5. Record the angle
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25
Sediment sampling methodology
1. At our second ranging pole place a quadrat 2. Use a random number generator to select 10 squares within the grid 3. For each square select one piece of sediment in that square 4. Compare it to Power's index of roundness chart and record its roundness 5. Using callipers measure along its longest axis and record its length
26
Wave count methodology
1. Time 2 minutes using a stopwatch 2. Count each individually, don't compare or count out loud 3. Average amongst the group 4. Divide count by 2 to achieve waves/min
27
Wave frequency
The number of waves reaching the beach in 5 minutes
28
Wave period
The average time between wave crests
29
Swash time
The time between a wave breaking and the time of reaching its highest point of swash
30
Why is a risk assessment completed?
- To identify hazards - Assess who may be harmed and how - To manage the hazards through safe systems of work
31
What are the main sources of error?
- Measuring - mistakes made when collecting the data - Operating - differences in the results collected by different people - Sampling - where a sample is biased
32
Validity
The suitability of the method to answer the question that is was intended to answer
33
Reliability
The trustworthiness of the data to answer the question
34
Accuracy
The precision of the data
35
What are the strengths of a field sketch?
- Quick - Provides an overview of various processes
36
What are the strengths of a beach profile?
- Simple - Easy - Repeatable - Helps to answer the research question - Large area covered - Quick
37
What are the strengths of pebble sampling?
- Simple - Easy - Repeatable - Helps to answer the research question - Large area covered - Quick
38
What are the strengths of wave counts?
- Simple - Easy - Quick - Helps to answer the research question - No equipment needed (other than the timer) - Repeatable
39
What are the weaknesses of a field sketch?
- Rain weather limitations - No measurable value - Inaccurate - Colours aren't recorded - Only one angle recorded
40
What are the weaknesses of a beach profile?
- Inaccurate - Human error - Methodology differences across groups - Human error with identifying change of gradient - Tidal influences on beach profile overtime
41
What are the weaknesses of pebble sampling?
- Human bias - Subjective index - Human error
42
What are the weaknesses of wave counts?
- Inaccurate - Human error - Value not necessarily the correct side of the constructive/destructive boundary - Visual obstructions - Difficult to identify individual waves - Weather dependent - Losing count
43
What are the solutions for a field sketch?
- Take a photo - Take time to add more detail - Use cover/Do it under a roof - Add colour - Do ones of multiple angles
44
What are the solutions for a beach profile?
- Repeat and average - Same time so no tidal influence - Use a laser clinometer - Use more accurate equipment - Do a beach profile either side
45
What are the solutions for pebble sampling?
- Repeat and average - Use more accurate equipment
46
What are the solutions for wave counts?
- Repeat and average - Take a video and watch it back - View from closer to the beach - Use a clicker
47
Mean
The average of the numbers
48
Median
The "middle" of a sorted listed of numbers
49
Mode
The value that appears most often
50
Measures of dispersion
The spread of data around the average
51
Range
The distance between the highest and lowest values
52
Interquartile range
The range that covers the middle 50% of the data
53
What are the advantages of the mean?
Takes account of all values to calculate the average
54
What are the advantages of the median?
Not affected by very small or very large values
55
What are the advantages of the mode?
Can be used if the data set is not numbers
56
What are the disadvantages of the the mean?
Very small or very large values can affect the mean
57
What are the disadvantages of the median?
If there is an even numbers of values, the median is found by averaging the two middle numbers. This means the median value may not actually be a value in the original data set
58
What are the disadvantages of the mode?
There can be more than one or no mode which means it is not always representative of the data
59
What did we use to present our beach profile data?
Online software to convert it into a Cross-Sectional Area (CSA). With collated CSA data we used a scatter graph or scatterplot
60
What are the advantages of a scatter graph?
Great for overviews, finding anomalies and showing patterns
61
What are the disadvantages of scatter graphs?
Can only compare two sets of data
62
What could we also do with our beach profile data?
Geolocate (put on a map) it using a proportional circle map
63
What are the advantages of a proportional circle map?
Easy to find anomalies
64
What are the disadvantages of a proportional circle map?
Difficult to see exact figures
65
What did we use to present our roundness data?
A stacked bar chart. They are appropriate when data is in descriptive categories, with groups in each category. They are often used to show how quantities have changed over time
66
What are the advantages of stacked bar charts?
Anomalies are obvious
67
What did we used to represent roundness?
Pie charts which we could also geolocate
68
What are the disadvantages of stacked bar charts?
Difficult to judge exact widths or compare widths
69
What are the advantages of pie charts?
- Simple - Easy to understand
70
What are the disadvantages of pie charts?
- Too many variables - Less effective - More confusing
71
What did we use for average pebble length?
A simple bar chart
72
What are the advantages of a simple bar chart?
- Easily compare several data sets - Visually straightforward
73
What are the disadvantages of a simple bar chart?
- Cannot represent data with more than 2 sets of values - Only be used with discreet data (data that takes certain values)
74
What are the advantages of field sketches?
- Help us record key features - Things can be left out if they are not relevant to the enquiry
75
What are the disadvantages of field sketches?
- Important details may be missed - May contain inaccuracies
76
What did we use to represent our wave count data?
A proportional flow line diagram with arrow symbols representing the wind direction and the size of arrows the waves per minute. We could then add a different number of arrows at different parts of the beach
77
What are the advantages of a proportional flow line diagram?
It is only a generic indication, but it can be useful for analysis when considered with additional sources of data

Geography (8 decks)

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