Fieldwork

Question 1

Pros of choropleth maps

Answer 1

Give a clear, visual indication of how deprivation varies across a city

Question 2

Cons of choropleth maps

Answer 2

Only shows data for wards as a whole, ignores variation of deprivation within wards. Seems as though there are drastic and sudden changes at ward borders, ignores gradual changes across borders

Question 3

Ward def

Answer 3

A division or district of a town/city for administrative or political purposes

Question 4

First impression of Merrow

Answer 4

From census data and index of multiple deprivation data. I thought it was more developed than Park Barn. I thought that it would be filled with more young people and have more services and better looking buildings with less environmental damage.

Question 5

Merrow statistics

Answer 5

Yoga. Pilates. Golf. Ballet. Fencing. (More physical activities, better equipment and specialist instructors). 12.8 over 16s with no formal qualifications. Higher total crime rate. 98% better overall. 98% education affluence. 97% income deprivation

Question 6

First impression of Park Barn

Answer 6

From census data and index of multiple deprivation data. More older adults living there. Quieter. More residential homes. Less services

Question 7

Park Barn statistics

Answer 7

Word searches. Bingo. Arts and crafts. Low total crime rate. 21.5% over 16s with no formal qualification. 15% income deprivation. 5% education. 61% living environment. 37% barriers to services

Question 8

Evaluate the secondary sources e.g. Census data and IMD data

Answer 8

Useful because it meant that we didn’t need to go out and investigate each aspect of deprivation ourselves. Saved time. It would have been difficult to gather the information ourselves.
Limitations include that it might be outdated. Things could have changed now. It might be better to research and see things first hand to get a better understanding and opinion of the different wards.

Question 9

Hypothesis of the urban studies

Answer 9

Park Barn would have a lower quality of life (more deprived)

Merrow would have a better quality of life (less deprived)

Question 10

Sampling data for urban studies

Answer 10

Stratified then picked random points - each area subdivided into 5 areas, each group given one specific area to investigate with four representative points

Question 11

Urban fieldwork techniques

Answer 11

Questionnaires, litter count, noise levels, traffic count, environmental quality survey

Question 12

Qualitative data from urban studies

Answer 12

Questionnaires

Question 13

Quantitative data from urban studies

Answer 13

Environmental quality survey, litter count, noise levels, traffic count

Question 14

Describe and evaluate noise levels

Answer 14

We used a decibel app to measure how loud (the amplitude) each point and our given area was. This told us the level of noise, taking into account background noise, cars, any construction nearby, people, animals.
Useful: get an idea of what life is like living in that area in terms of tranquility and peace from noise disturbances.
Limitations: only measured at a certain time of day - some loud trucks and bin trucks were there when they usually wouldn’t be present.

Question 15

Describe and evaluate environmental quality survey

Answer 15

This included graffiti and vandalism, safety, open spaces, greenery and gardens, street furniture, street cleanliness, exterior appearance of buildings and parking. We ranked each out of five (being really good) at our four representative points.
Useful: this was good as it combined many important factors in determining the quality of the surrounding environment of different points of the area. It also meant that we could personally see first hand and make judgements on how good or poor the environment was.
Limitations: subjective, some disagreements, generalised, some houses were better than others, opinionated

Question 16

Describe and evaluate litter count

Answer 16

We went to each representative point in our given area and counted every piece of litter we could visibly see around us. We then noted this number down to compare with the other points and the other ward.
Useful: This was a simple and easy way for us to measure the cleanliness of the area.
Limitations: there might have been a rubbish collection that day. More litter as some rubbish might have fallen out the truck.

Question 17

Describe and evaluate questionnaire

Answer 17

We asked around 10 different people, either on the street or knocked on their houses, at each point of the area different questions about the area. My group only asked people in Park Barn and the other groups asked people in Merrow. The questions we asked included their opinion of the area, how they would describe it, what they liked about it and how they would want it to be improved.
Useful: it was good as we could get an understanding of how the people in the area felt about the place. We got opinions and points of view of people who have experienced first hand what the area is like.
Limitations: subjective, different opinions, some people were too busy to answer our questions, because of this we were only able to ask a few people, not as varied, we asked mostly young college people as they were willing and more approachable.

Question 18

Describe and evaluate traffic count

Answer 18

We counted all the vehicles such as bikes, cars and buses that went passed us or travelled the roads of our area for five minutes.
Useful: easy, quick, gave us an idea of traffic congestion in that area, how easy it was to travel
Limitations: time of day, most people were already at work or school, not many people on the road at that time, not very accurate

Question 19

Results for Merrow’s environmental quality

Answer 19

A: 32/45, B: 36/45, C: 24/45, D: 36/45
It was overall above average and fairly good. Not much vandalism, fairly safe, however not much parking spaces or open spaces or street furniture

Question 20

Results for Merrow

Answer 20

Questionnaire: mostly say more parking, better lit street lamps, like the quietness, good people, people of different cultural backgrounds, close to hospital nurseries and university
Litter: quite a lot
Noise: fairly quiet
Traffic: hardly any

Question 21

Results for Park Barn

Answer 21

Questionnaire: no results
Litter: hardly any
Noise: fairly quiet (except some construction and rubbish trucks)
Traffic: hardly any

Question 22

Results for Park Barn’s environmental quality

Answer 22

A: 24/45, B: 31/45, C: 35/45, D: 30/45
Not as good as Merrow
No vandalism, no street furniture, no parking spaces, fairly clean, no noise, hardly any gardens, few open spaces and parks

Question 23

River studied

Answer 23

River Tillingbourne. Source: Wotton Common. Confluence: Ricer Wey.
59km2 drainage basin, 19km long river

Question 24

Justification of river study

Answer 24

Less discharge. Safer compared to Thames. Smaller drainage basin. Accessible areas (not all private land). Smaller river - quicker change.

Question 25

Sampling strategies for river study

Answer 25

Two sites used stratified (primary)

Eight sites of secondary data

Question 26

Other sampling strategies

Answer 26

Stratified, random, systematic

Question 27

Justify stratified sampling for rivers

Answer 27

To use our own knowledge to find representative sites. Quicker and safer as it is accessible. But it could be biased

Question 28

Quantitative data in rivers

Answer 28

Velocity, depth, width. To show downstream changes

Question 29

Describe and evaluate River width

Answer 29

Use a 30m tape measure. Stretch it across the river between the banks. Make sure it is perpendicular to the banks, taut and just above the water surface with zero where the water starts from the land. Record the width in metres to the nearest cm.
It is a key part to finding the cross sectional area which is used to find river discharge which influences flood risk.
Limitations: tape measure catching g in water, not taut, inaccurate width measured, mud and overhanging vegetation made it hard to see the edge of the banks, or completely accurate width measured, should have taken an average, only measured once, not reliable

Question 30

Accuracy vs reliability

Answer 30

A: how close something is to the truth
R: can it be repeated to get the same result

Question 31

Cross sectional area of river

Answer 31

Depth x width

Question 32

River discharge

Answer 32

Velocity x cs area

Question 33

Risk

Answer 33

Likelihood x severity

Question 34

Likelihood

Answer 34

Affected by capacity of river

Question 35

Factors affecting flood severity

Answer 35

Distance from river, height from river, value of land, value of property

Question 36

Systematic measurements in river studies

Answer 36

Depth and velocity

Measured at regular intervals

Question 37

Describe and evaluate depth

Answer 37

Use a metre stick and tape measure to measure the depth at each interval (systematic). Divide the total width by 10 to find out the interval width. There should be 11 measurements in total including the depth at zero. Submerge the metre stick into the river until it reaches the bed. Read off the depth where it touches the surface.
Useful: depth is a key part of finding the cs area which is important to find the river discharge which influences flood risk.
Limitations: measurement of depth taken from the metre rule ignores the gap between the edge of the stick and the 1mm measurement. Might have pressed into the river bed, inaccurate. Only measure once, unreliable.

Question 38

Describe and evaluate velocity

Answer 38

Used a hydro prop flow metre (impeller blades and stand) - measured in m/s.
Divide total width by 4 to find the intervals. Should be 3 measurements (quarter half and three quarters). Submerge hydroprop into river until the blades are deep enough in the river. Time how long it takes for the blades to move from one end to the other and record results.
Useful: key part in finding discharge which influences flood risk.

Question 39

River Tillingbourne likelihood of flooding

Answer 39

Unlikely to flood as it is mainly pastoral grassland which is intergranular and highly permeable meaning rain water would sink rather than run off