Physical Fieldwork Invesitigation Flashcards
Where was the investigation carried out
Highcliffe
What is the Question
How effective is the coastal management at Highcliffe
What are the sub questions
- Why does Highcliffe need defending
- What techniques are used?
- Do these techniques work
How do you identify a suitable geographical question or hypothesis
S imple
M easurable
A chievable (given constraints of place, time and resources)
R ealistic (can it be answered)
T rend
How do you structure your paragraphs
Point
Explain
Evidence
Evaluate
Link back to question
What were the wider geographical theories, ideas, concepts and models
- Geomorphic processes —> erosion, transportation, deposition, mass movement, weathering
- Management interacts with processes, LSD, Cost benefit analysis
What is spatial and why was the question spatially good?
- Spatial = Geographical area
- It was good because it wasn’t to far away (only 60 miles)
- It was also an appropriate place to collect data for a GCSE class
What does temporal mean and why was the question good in terms of temporal
- Temporal = time
- it could be done in 1 day
- we had enough time to get it done in the allowed time off school for the subject
What is primary data
Unprocessed information through fieldwork investigation
What was our primary data
- beach transect
- wind direction/wind speed
- LSD
- Land use survey:
- Sketch:
- Management mapping:
What is secondary data
Already published documentary sources that has been analysed and/or interpreted
What was the secondary data
- Erosion rates
- Uniform Geology
- House prices
- Fetch
- Wind/wave/tidal
Define Population
The total number of items under consideration (shops in a retail centre, pebbles on a beach…etc)
Define sample
A proportion of the population for which data has been collected
Define Observation
An individual piece of data (measured or researched value)
Define accuracy
The level at which data is exact and free from error
Define anomaly
Data that does not fit into the common pattern or trend
Define Reliability
The extent to which sample data reflects the greater whole
Define Quantitive data
Measurable in number-form, objective
Define qualitative data
Opinion, subjective
Explain area sampling
In a specified area, e.g. land use survey
Explain linear sampling
It is continuous, e.g. beach transect
Explain point sampling
Specified point, e.g. wind speed
What is random sampling
- Use random number tables to select sample points
- Adv: statistically sound so opens up further analysis
-DAdv: - same item could be picked more than once, - easy to miss something
What is stratified sampling
This takes account of underlying patterns in the data and ensures all are sampled (usually in proportion
- Adv: Ensures no significant aspect is missed
-DAdv: - data collection is biased, - can’t make valid statistical inferences
What is systematic sampling
- Item is selected at a regular interval, e.g. every tenth person
- Adv: Easy and quick to do
- DAdv: - Intervals may coincide with one in the data or location, - Can’t make valid statistical inferences
What is Pragmatic sampling
- Sampling based on practicality, how easily accessible it is, e.g. troughs and crests in a dune system
- Adv: - safe, - realistic
- DAdv: - not a fair sample - Can’t make valid statistical inferences
WHat is a questionnaire
- A set of pre-arranged questions designed to obtain information from people about themselves and their views.
- good for collecting information about current local issues
- useful for finding out how local, regional or national issues effect people
What are closed questions
Provided with a choice of answers (e.g. boxes, scoring, ranking items) according to their personal preference
What are open questions
- ‘Interview style’ questions which tend to be longer
- They don’t have to make forced choices in their answer
What are the Adv and DAdv of Face to face questionnaires
- Adv: you get your results on that day
- DAdv: some people feel put on the spot, can’t get round many people (limits people you talk to), Only short answers
What are the Adv and DAdv of Drop and collect (postal) questionnaires
- Adv: You can get through more people, gives them time to think of good quality answers
- DAdv: you have to wait until the next day to get results
What must you consider when doing a questionnaire
- Avoid questions that require a lot of thinking
- avoid too many questions
- use simple language
- avoid offensive questions
- don’t assume people supply accurate detail
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Cloropleth maps
- It is shaded according to a key to show different values
- Adv: very clear to spatial patterns
- DAdv:
.No variations within areas
. Suggests figures change abruptly at the edge of each boundary line, whereas irl this is likely to be gradual
. If there are a large number of classes, it’s difficult to achieve a number of shades within one overall colour if only one colour is used
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Isoline maps
- A line which is drawn to link different places that are of equal value. Contours are isolines that join points of the same height above ground
- Adv: useful to interpret general trends in distribution
- DAdv:
. To join up the lines between individual values you may have to guess where the isolines should be positioned, so these can be subjective depending on how many individual values you have
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Flow line maps
- Flow lines show movement between places. The thickness of the line reflects the value given to it
- Adv: shows direction and size of movement in a visual way
- DAdv: can lack precise info unless specific values are given as well
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Pie chart
- circle cut into different coloured segments to compare data
- Adv:
.Good when showing percentages
. Good visual way of representing data
. Easy to construct and interpret - DAdv:
. Too many segments can make the chart difficult to read and interpret
. No specifically numerical data unless labled
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for bar graphs
- length of bar is proportional to the values they represent, 3 types: horizontal, vertical, or divided
- Adv:
. Good visual representation of data
. easy to construct and interpret
-DAdv:
. Can only use with discrete data
. Not much space to label categories
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Histograms
- type of bar graph where categories are ranges of numbers. There’s no gap between bars because there’s no gap between numbers
- Adv:
. Good visual representation
. Easy to construct and interpret - DAdv:
. Not much space to label categories
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for line graphs
- used to show points that can be joined in a line
- Adv:
. Easy to compare than one set of data
. Lines drawn can help suggest data between specific values - DAdv: Can only use with continuous data
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Scatter graphs
- Plot 2 sets of data and draw a line of best fit to see if there’s any correlation. This then shows positive, negative or no correlation between data.
- Adv:
. Shows you a correlation
. Easy to construct
. Anomalies easy to spot - DAdv:
. Too few data points can show unreliable correlation
. Too many data points can make graph unreadable
. Can only show relationship between 2 variables
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Dispersion diagrams
- Plot data to see pattern in distribution.
- Adv:
. Easy to see patterns and show the spread from the mean
. Good for making comparisons of data
. Anomalies can be shown
-DAdv:
. Need to use data that can be placed along a number line
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for Proportional symbols (located)
-symbols that are drawn in proportion to the size of what is being represented
- Adv:
. Good visual representation of data
- DAdv:
. Scale needs to be accurate
Outline and give Adv/DAdv for population Pyramids
- shows the number of people in a range of cohorts. It shows the population structure of a country and allows for long-term planning as relative sizes of each cohort will reduce over time, unless there are significant changes in birth/death rate
- Adv:
. Shows how population is composed
. General shape can indicate type of population structure - DAdv:
.Can only use for population structure
. Figures broken down into age categories so some detail may be lost within them.
What is the mean
Average (don’t count anomalies)
What is the median
the middle point in a dataset
What is the mode
The most commonly occurring (can be individual data or set of data)
What is the range
The difference between the maximum and minimum data values
What is the inter-quartile range
the difference between the upper quartile and lower quartile
What is the spread
how far the data differs from the mean
What is interpolation
It is when a value is found inside the set of data
What is extrapolation
It is when the value is found outside of the set of data
What data did we collect from Digimap
-Barton clay is the geology of both areas: therefore it is a uniform geology. It’s the human factors that control the erosion not the geology of the two areas
- Highcliffe and Nash are South facing
What data did we collect from ARC GIS
- the fetch is 5,400km
- the size of the area that we did our land survey was 2.0km
What was the house price data we collected
- Highcliffe av house price = £445,000 avg
- Naish av house price = £413,000 avg
- the area of Highcliffe was mostly housing
- the area of Naish was used for caravan sites and holiday parks
- Highcliffe land is of higher value than Naish
How did we present wind data
- pictogram
- It quickly show wind direction (SW)
- DAdv: you can’t see the direction easily
How did we present longshore drift data
- pictogram on top of a graph
- It’s visual and shows direction and amount of travel
- The overall direction is east moving 152m per 5 minutes
- DAdv: It’s confusing and you need a key
How did we present our Beach profile
- Line graph
- it showed and increase on both graphs however Highcliffe’s transect was higher than Naish’s, suggesting more sediment at Highcliffe
How did we present the land use survey
- pie chart and coloured squares on a map
- RD2 is the most frequent land use type, then R44. This shows it is mainly residential
How did we present our role of geology data
- Annotated photo
- erosion is occurring in intertidal zone, there’s sub-aerial erosion at cliff face
- lots of reading to understand, but it is easy
How did we show our data on the various techniques
- A base map with labels
- shows all types of management strategies and where they are
- complex and a lot to read, but it does show the data it needs to show
Answer your title
- Coastal management is almost fully successful. By comparing it to Naish (which has the same geology, LSD, Wind speed/direction as HIghcliffe, but no defences) we are able to see how effective coastal management has been. An example of this is in the beach profile where we saw that Highcliffe had a higher transect than Nash. This suggests that there is more sediment at Highcliffe than at Naish (and because the only difference between the two is that Highcliffe has defences) we can assume that the management is therefore effective and keeping the sediment trapped.
- We can also see How it is defended from the various techniques used. By recording all of the techniques we could show the extent of defences in Highcliffe. We found seven various defences in the Highcliffe area. This suggests that Highcliffe is well managed and this is evidence that Highcliffe is therefore being effectively managed.
- However it isn’t fully effective. We used digimaps to collect our secondary data it showed how the coastline has changed since 1890. We saw that Highcliffe had lost 56.8m of sediment since 1980. Suggesting that there must still be some erosion that has occurred despite the defences. This means that Management can’t have been fully successful. Although It hasn’t lost as much as Naish (158.3), which suggests that the defences are partially working.
Was the location appropriate
Yes- not too far away, measurable in a day, uniform geology allowed a comparison of management effectiveness
Was the sampling strategies appropriate
- Beach transect: stratified line- allowed comparison either side of groyne and at Nash
- Land use survey: Systematic area- valid sample to represent land use at Highcliffe, but hid some elements of land use
Was the data collection techniques appropriate
- Wind speed/direction: accurate and reliable for the day, > but it doesn’t show long term patterns and trends
- Beach transect: demonstrates shape of beach, > limited accuracy but valid
- Satsuma toss: sediment moves far slower irl, but it does demonstrate how it is effected by waves and surface wind
Was the data relevant, accurate, and reliable
- Relevant: yes
- Accurate: not necessarily, e.g. beach transect and land use survey
- reliable: yes, it gave a representation of the whole, if repeated again we might get similar results depending on the weather.
How could I improve my study
- Go back at a different time (however, only allowed 1 day per subject)
- Pilot study to refine data collection techniques
- Better ICT skills might allow to present data at higher quality
- use the data from previous years to create a comparison
