Human Fieldwork Flashcards
What demographic characteristic was notable in Swanage?
High percentage of elderly and wealthy population
This demographic was examined for its impact on technology adoption.
Why was Swanage chosen for data collection?
Large population size and area for easy data collection
Allowed for a larger sample size within a limited time.
What is a significant feature of Swanage’s location?
Popular tourist location with a World Heritage Site
This creates potential conflicts with renewable energy installations.
What happened to the proposed offshore wind farm in Swanage?
Did not receive planning permission
Indicates local knowledge about renewable energy pros and cons.
How was Swanage’s safety relevant to the study?
It is a very safe and accessible location
This was beneficial for the researchers’ accommodation and data collection.
Fill in the blank: Swanage has a high percentage of _______.
[elderly and wealthy population]
What was the maximum number of students collecting data simultaneously?
Up to 70 students
This facilitated the data collection process.
Fill in the blank: The study aimed to explore conflicts with the installation of _______.
[renewable energy sources]
What is a risk associated with the activity?
Road traffic accident.
How were students protected from traffic?
Conducted questionnaires in pedestrianised zones.
What safety briefing did students receive?
Briefed on road safety and designated crossings.
How many students conducted questionnaires together?
In groups of at least 3.
Where did students stay during the activity?
In busy areas with public presence.
What does NIMBYism stand for?
NIMBYism stands for ‘Not in my back yard’ and refers to the concept that people naturally reject changes near their homes due to fear of negative impacts.
What is an example of NIMBYism?
Many local residents in Swanage do not support the creation of more wind and solar farms.
This illustrates the resistance to local changes due to perceived negative effects.
What does AONB stand for?
AONB stands for ‘Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, a protection status awarded by the UK Government to preserve certain countryside areas.
What is the significance of the Dorset AONB?
The Dorset AONB covers 40% of the county and includes the Jurassic Coast, the UK’s only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This status restricts development, explaining the lack of onshore or offshore wind farms and limited solar farms.
What is the primary method for collecting data in this study?
The primary method is questionnaires with local residents.
What secondary data method involves satellite images?
The secondary data method involves using satellite images of properties to identify the percentage of solar panel use.
What secondary data method uses thematic maps?
The secondary data method uses thematic maps showing electric vehicle charge points and commercial solar and wind farms.
What types of charts were used to present closed question data?
Bar, pie, and stacked bar charts were used to visually represent the data.
What was the purpose of the data presentation?
To quantify local support for renewable energy.
What limitation did the data presentation approach have?
It did not incorporate open questions effectively due to the difficulty in presenting large quantities of qualitative data.
What percentage of people surveyed had solar panels installed?
14% of people surveyed had solar panels installed.
How did the data presentation allow for gender comparison?
The comparative bar chart plotted data by gender, showing men were slightly less supportive of renewable energy than women.
What trend was noted regarding age groups and support for EVs?
Younger age groups were more actively supporting the switch to electric and hybrid vehicles, while those over 65 were very reluctant.
What advantage did using Excel provide in data presentation?
It significantly reduced the risk of human error when creating the charts.
Why was part of your method unreliable?
Forgetting to check if people were local as the question was slightly hidden.
Data such as ‘50% support for solar and wind’ might be inaccurate and affected by day-visitors.
How was the accuracy of your results affected?
The validity of our conclusion that local people support renewable energy is weaker because of the uncertainty over who was interviewed.
We could ask how far from Swanage centre they live and include the question in the main table of questions.
What was the imbalance in the number of people interviewed?
70% of people interviewed were over 50 years old.
Our data wasn’t truly representative of the Swanage population.
How did the age group imbalance affect your conclusions?
Our conclusion that there was little active support for the switch to renewable energy was weakened because if we’d surveyed a greater proportion of 18-30s we might have found more active support.
We should have insisted on equal proportions of the different age groups to ensure a representative sample.
What specific improvements could be suggested?
We could ask how far from Swanage centre they live and include the question in the main table of questions.
