Physical Fieldwork

Question 1

Key Question/Title for Physical fieldwork?

Answer 1

Are the coastal management strategies at Hornsea effective?

Question 2

What is primary data?

Answer 2

Data that is collected by the researcher first-hand, usually at a field research site

Question 3

What is secondary data?

Answer 3

Data that is from other sources which the researcher uses?

Question 4

What is quantitative data?

Answer 4

Data that records quantities eg, numbers, sizes or frequencies

Question 5

What is qualitative data?

Answer 5

Data that records subjective qualities eg. opinions attitudes and beliefs

Question 6

What physical processes are occurring at Hornsea?

Answer 6

Fast rates of erosion due to Hydraulic action and abrasion.

Erosion rates occurring at 1.8m per year

Geology - unconsolidated boulder clay/ prone to slumping
Long North Sea fetch

Question 7

What sampling strategy did we use?

What is it?

Why?

Answer 7

We used opportunity sampling

Samples are chosen on what is available to the investigator. First available information is most likely used.

Appropriate as there were multiple different types of coastal defences in one location to sample.

Question 8

What coastal defences are in place at Hornsea?

Answer 8

Recurved Sea Wall

Concrete Revetment

Wooden Groynes

Rock Armour

Beach Nourishment

Question 9

Where is Hornsea?

Answer 9

East Yorkshire
Holderness Coast

Small coastal town located between Bridlington and Withernsea that stretches 2.9km down the coast

Question 10

4 possible risks when doing coastal fieldwork?

Risk?

How can they be reduced

Answer 10

Risk: Getting caught in the waves when measuring the beach profile which could lead to injury or drowning
Level: Low
Reduce? - stay 5m away from the swash line at all times

Risk: Slips, trips and falls
Level: High
Reduce? Wear appropriate footwear

Risk: Dehydration/ Heat stroke
Level: High
Reduce? Plenty of water to stay hydrated

Risk: Lost
Level: Low
Reduce? Stay with group

Question 11

Why was Hornsea a suitable location for the fieldwork? x3

Answer 11

Accessibility: Able to travel here within a day, Site with limited risks allows students to safely collect data. Wide enough tidal range to make the beach accessible for data collection

Safety considerations: away from unstable cliffs and accessible at low tide so there is limited risk of drowning

Availability of data: Site has a range of survey points available with enough variation within locality to show difference in the types of coastal defences

Question 12

What was the primary data collection method for physical fieldwork?

Answer 12

Bipolar Analysis

Question 13

Why did we use a camera for our coastal data collection? x3

Answer 13

Photographs are useful for comparing different sites/ coastal defences

Increased accuracy rather than a sketch

Helpful for reminding yourself about what the coastal defences looked like once you are back from the fieldwork

Question 14

Equipment used for coastal defences and how did we carry out our data collection?

Answer 14

Bipolar evaluation table
Camera

We used opportunity sampling - sampled what was available to us.

1.Create a semi-quantitative bipolar evaluation table
2. Identify all the coastal defences present at Hornsea
3. We then took a photo of the coastal defence and gave a score between -3 and 3 against the set criteria on the table. - Which we agreed on as a group or calculated a mean score
4. We then calculated a total value using a sum of the data we had collected for a site.

Question 15

Advantages of BiPolar analysis

Answer 15

Total value gives quantitative data that can be easily compared with another location.

Total score given makes data presentation very simple eg. radar graph

Question 16

Disadvantages of bipolar analysis? x3
How can we improve it?

Answer 16

Highly subjective to the researcher’s own viewpoint.
Improvement: Share group data and get a group average - closer to a true value

It is possible that a researcher will give the lowest possible score to a site and then move onto the next site only to find that it is dramatically worse.
If grading is inconsistent it can impact the validity of the conclusions
Improvement: Take photos for comparison

All variables are weighted equally however, some may be more important when measuring how effective the coastal defence is.
Eg. Protection against erosion> disturbance during construction
Remove criteria that aren’t relevant to the aim of the investigation

Question 17

What 8 things went on our bipolar analysis?

Answer 17

Protection against erosion

Protection against overtopping

Aesthetic value

Access to beach

Safety risk to the public

Life expectancy of coastal defence

Disturbance during construction

Impact on coastal processes and habitats

Question 18

Highest and lowest total score for physical bipolar analysis?

Answer 18

Highest: Concrete Revetment (6)

Lowest: Wooden Groynes (-9)

Question 19

What is a measurement error?

Answer 19

Mistakes made when collecting data

Question 20

What is an operator error?

Answer 20

Differences in the results collected by different people

Question 21

What is an anomaly?

Answer 21

Values in a set of results which are judged not to be part of the variation caused by random uncertainty

Question 22

Difference between reliability and validity?

Answer 22

Reliability: The extent to which measurements are consistent

Validity: The suitability of the method to answer the question that it was intended to answer

Accuracy: How close the measurement is to the true value

Question 23

How may anomalies of negatively impacted the conclusion? x3

Answer 23

Gives data that doesn’t fit with the rest of the pattern which leads to inaccurate results

Gives irregular data that can impact on the conclusions drawn

Can be difficult to identify in raw data collection methods leading them to be unchanged and affect the reliability of the conclusion

Question 24

What is a radar graph?

Answer 24

Multi-axis graphs that show a number of similar ideas in one graphical presentation

Question 25

Why do people use radar graphs?

Answer 25

To present 5 or more sets of data on a diagram at once. This allows them to compare the relative strengths of the different variables at the same time as the overall strength of the location compared to others

Question 26

What can the researcher conclude from the shape of their radar graph?

Answer 26

Graphs with a prominent point indicates that one variable dominates in one field.

A more circular shape will show that all the variables may hold roughly equal weights

Question 27

Advantages of radar graphs as a presentation method?

Answer 27

Multiple data and variables can be compared

Great for visualising between multiple data

Question 28

Disadvantages of radar graphs as a presentation method?

Answer 28

Doesn’t show total score

Complicated to read if there’s too much data

Only works of quantitative data

Hard to plot

Question 29

OVERALL CONCLUSION PHYSICAL - MEMORISE

Answer 29

Overall, when considering whether the coastal management strategies at Hornsea are effective, I can see that some strategies are more effective then others

The coastal management strategy concrete revetments scored the highest total overall score (6).
It is effective as it is made of strong consolidated concrete which limits the ratee of erosion. It is also tall which limits overtopping. However it can limit access to the beach.
Overall preventing erosion is the main purpose of it and it does this very well.

The least effective strategy was wooden groynes with a score of (-9). They do a reasonable job of limiting erosion due to preventing longshore drift however they’re are easily overtopped and are made of a weak wooden structure and therefore have to be maintained regularly

However when considering which ones were the best at ‘holding the line’ the following coastal management strategies, recurved sea wall and rock armour with scores of 3. However they scored less well on ‘disturbance during installment’ with scores of -3, showing they are less sustainable than soft engineering strategies

All of the coastal management strategies at Hornsea serve a purpose and in combination are very effective at protecting the settlement

Question 30

Anomalous result for fieldwork?

Answer 30

Wooden Groynes

Average score of -2 however risk to public safety has a score of 2