Physical Fieldwork Flashcards
Key Question/Title for Physical fieldwork?
Are the coastal management strategies at Hornsea effective?
What is primary data?
Data that is collected by the researcher first-hand, usually at a field research site
What is secondary data?
Data that is from other sources which the researcher uses?
What is quantitative data?
Data that records quantities eg, numbers, sizes or frequencies
What is qualitative data?
Data that records subjective qualities eg. opinions attitudes and beliefs
What physical processes are occurring at Hornsea?
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
What sampling strategy did we use?
What is it?
Why?
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.
What coastal defences are in place at Hornsea?
Recurved Sea Wall
Concrete Revetment
Wooden Groynes
Rock Armour
Beach Nourishment
Where is Hornsea?
East Yorkshire
Holderness Coast
Small coastal town located between Bridlington and Withernsea that stretches 2.9km down the coast
4 possible risks when doing coastal fieldwork?
Risk?
How can they be reduced
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
Why was Hornsea a suitable location for the fieldwork? x3
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
What was the primary data collection method for physical fieldwork?
Bipolar Analysis
Why did we use a camera for our coastal data collection? x3
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
Equipment used for coastal defences and how did we carry out our data collection?
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.
Advantages of BiPolar analysis
Total value gives quantitative data that can be easily compared with another location.
Total score given makes data presentation very simple eg. radar graph
Disadvantages of bipolar analysis? x3
How can we improve it?
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
What 8 things went on our bipolar analysis?
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
Highest and lowest total score for physical bipolar analysis?
Highest: Concrete Revetment (6)
Lowest: Wooden Groynes (-9)
What is a measurement error?
Mistakes made when collecting data
What is an operator error?
Differences in the results collected by different people
What is an anomaly?
Values in a set of results which are judged not to be part of the variation caused by random uncertainty
Difference between reliability and validity?
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
How may anomalies of negatively impacted the conclusion? x3
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
What is a radar graph?
Multi-axis graphs that show a number of similar ideas in one graphical presentation
Why do people use radar graphs?
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
What can the researcher conclude from the shape of their radar graph?
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
Advantages of radar graphs as a presentation method?
Multiple data and variables can be compared
Great for visualising between multiple data
Disadvantages of radar graphs as a presentation method?
Doesn’t show total score
Complicated to read if there’s too much data
Only works of quantitative data
Hard to plot
OVERALL CONCLUSION PHYSICAL - MEMORISE
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
Anomalous result for fieldwork?
Wooden Groynes
Average score of -2 however risk to public safety has a score of 2
