Human Fieldwork Techniques

Question 1

What is involved in an Environmental Quality Survey?

Answer 1

these can be taken in any area over time as a way of assessing human impact.

Question 2

What are positives of EQS?

Answer 2

• can be taken in any area
• surveys may highlight areas off the path network/area that are being visited frequently.
• they can be combined with electronic footfall counters to identify visitor numbers - more people, lower EQ.
• can be combined with annotated photographs to show EQ.

Question 3

What are the negatives of EQS?

Answer 3

• considers opinions so is subjective - try to get groups to carry out EQS and then take an average of responses.
• too large a scale allows for too much variation - use a smaller scale to gain more consistent results.

Question 4

What is involved in a bi-polar and detailed bi-polar survey?

Answer 4

this is a survey where a chosen aspect is rated using polar opposite ratings (e.g “on a scale from -5 (completely against) to +5 (completely for) what is your opinion of the new multi-storey car park in your area?”)

Question 5

What are the positives of bi-polar and detailed bi-polar surveys?

Answer 5

• useful for concepts with a bi-polar aspect (i.e that people often feel strongly about and there is a large split in opinion)
• detailed bi-polar surveys are the only surveys where you can incorporate qualitative and quantitative data as comments are added.
• using this survey allows you to go back to compare changes over time.

Question 6

What are the disadvantages of (detailed) bi-polar surveys?

Answer 6

• opinion-based so subjective - use groups and average for reliable readings.
• respondents can struggle to condense feelings down to a number.

Question 7

What is involved in a Perception study?

Answer 7

this is similar to an EQS and bi-polar surveys, however, rather than researchers carrying out the study it can be given to the public using suitable sampling technique to gather opinions.

Question 8

What are the positives of Perception Studies?

Answer 8

• can be carried out over time which allow researchers to compare.
• more representative of a certain area as more opinions than just the researcher are collected.
• they can be distributed online to increase reach and responses and to make data easier to collate and present.

Question 9

What are the negatives of a Perception Study?

Answer 9

• can be difficult to condense emotions down to a number or category.
• usually scales from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” are used, and people may have difficulty differentiating between, for example, “agree” and “strongly agree”.
• respondents may feel uncomfortable giving answers that present themselves unfavourably - to solve, do this anonymously.

Question 10

What is involved in an interview?

Answer 10

Can be conducted after a perception study to gain further insights into peoples’ views about an issue, project, or development.

Question 11

What are the positives of an interview?

Answer 11

• interviews can be more detailed and flexible than other studies as more open responses are allowed.
• interesting points can be explored and additional questions can be asked.
• starting with a few short closed questions can relax the respondent and they may open up during the interview process.
• the interview can be recorded (with permission) which allows researchers to return to the response later.

Question 12

What are the negatives of an interview?

Answer 12

• can be difficult to arrange interviews
• can be time consuming which limits the amount of data which can be collected
• a lot of qualitative rather than quantitative data which cannot be statistically analysed.
• people may refuse to answer certain questions - particularly if they are a controversial or sensitive topic.

Question 13

What is involved in a questionnaire?

Answer 13

very common feature of investigations where the opinions of a group can be gathered - these can be used to obtain information about the people themselves, information about patterns and processes and about opinions themselves.

stratified sampling is normally used.

Question 14

What are the positives of a questionnaire?

Answer 14

• primary data which cannot be sourced anywhere else
• if you ask questions about the people (e.g age, gender) you can compare responses from different groups.
• can be used in conjunction with other primary or secondary data to strengthen a study.
• can now be distributed online to reach a greater audience and make collation easier.

Question 15

What are the negatives of a questionnaire?

Answer 15

• people may not be completely honest, being tempted to say what they think sounds good/what researchers want to hear.
• open questions may illicit limited responses or no response at all.
• face-to-face questionnaires may be time consuming which could deter respondents.
• people may be fed up of being stopped in the street - “questionnaire fatigue”

Question 16

What is involved in a pedestrian flow/footfall study?

Answer 16

this is where researchers count the amount of people in a particular area. you can count in person (using a tally system) over a short period of time and find averages, or use outdoor people counters (electronic).

Question 17

What are positives of Pedestrian Flow/Footfall Studies?

Answer 17

• OPCs are constantly collecting the data, making them accurate.
• OPCs will create a much larger data set than people and can collect over longer periods.
• researchers can create categories (e.g age) to analyse numbers by group.
• OPCs do not create categories, making data easier to analyse.
• an in-person tally can be used in conjunction with a questionnaire or interview to gather additional primary data and ensure the same group of people are being sampled.

Question 18

What are negatives of Pedestrian Flows/Footfall Studies?

Answer 18

• field researchers only collect over short periods meaning data must be extrapolated for long periods making them less accurate.
• OPCs can suffer technical faults, while researchers bring human error.
• OPCs can only collect raw data - no questions can be asked.
• OPCs may be too expensive, particularly if volunteers can be found to collect data manually.

Question 19

What is involved in a Traffic Survey?

Answer 19

These can be a useful supporting technique to add to any rural or urban study which can show connectivity and accessibility to any given area. This is usually take by a counter or tally chart, monitoring the number of vehicles over a period of time in a particular area.

Question 20

What are the positives of a traffic survey?

Answer 20

• different routes to particular destinations can be compared, or various routes into/out of a settlement.
• can be compared to questionnaire information, or have questionnaire incorporated to ask people why they chose a particular route.
• a noise meter can also be used to record decibel readings to combine with an EQS

Question 21

What are the negatives of a traffic study?

Answer 21

• average no. vehicles will vary depending on the time of day- e.g rush hour will have more vehicles
• large scale studies can be time consuming.
• people may lose count of tallies, particularly if traffic is fast moving.
• an electronic counter only calculates numbers and therefore cannot categorise types of vehicle.
• data categorisation is subjective so multiple opinions should be used to make data more representative.

Question 22

What is involved in land use mapping?

Answer 22

An OS map is printed and then colour-coded by land use using a colour-coded key. This allows you to investigate changes in the size, form, function and structure of settlements over time.

Question 23

What are the positives of land use mapping?

Answer 23

• you can compare current land use maps with historical maps to show change over time.
• maps can be redrawn following fieldwork or digitised to make presentation of data clearer.
• field sketches could be drawn to add additional information about the area that is not directly linked to building use.

Question 24

What are the negatives of land use mapping?

Answer 24

• there may be practical considerations for a large area of investigation, which can be time consuming.
• may not be able to classify buildings from the exterior, limiting data.
• care and though must go into developing an appropriate land use key to reduce subjectivity, however a degree of subjectivity will always remain.
• obtaining historical maps can be difficult and costly, meaning comparisons may not be made.
• many maps are street-level only and do not consider different uses for different levels of the buildings.