Applied Fieldwork Enquiry

Asking and answering a geographical question

Fieldwork is not just a day out with a clipboard. It is a whole way of answering a geographical question with evidence, from the first idea to an honest conclusion. This module follows the enquiry process: - The question: setting a focused enquiry question or a testable hypothesis.\n- The method: planning how to collect data and choosing a sampling approach.\n- The data: gathering primary and secondary data, then presenting and analysing it.\n- The verdict: drawing a conclusion and evaluating how reliable it really is. The maps, graphs and statistics themselves belong to another module. Here the focus is the thinking behind an enquiry: what to ask, how to find out, and how far to trust the answer.

Words for fieldwork enquiry

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match each fieldwork method to what it means

Primary data against secondary data

Every enquiry uses two kinds of data, and a good answer knows which is which and why each is useful.

Which is primary data?

For your enquiry you stand at a school gate and count the cars passing for yourself. What kind of data is this?

• Primary data, since you gathered it yourself during the fieldwork
• Secondary data, because it is about traffic
• A hypothesis, because it predicts a result
• A conclusion, because it ends the enquiry

Tap the two marks of a good enquiry question

Tap the TWO things that make an enquiry question a good one.

• It is focused enough to answer with fieldwork
• It can be tested with data you can actually collect
• It is so broad that no data could ever answer it
• It is already fully answered and needs no data

Judging your enquiry honestly

The best fieldwork answers do not pretend the enquiry was perfect. They judge it honestly, and that honesty earns marks. Ask how reliable the data really is. A small number of readings, taken on a single day, in unusual weather, gives a much weaker picture than a large set gathered over time. Then name the limitations plainly and say how you would improve the enquiry next time, by gathering more data, on more days, at more places. A conclusion that admits what the evidence cannot show is stronger, not weaker, than one that claims to prove everything.

Pick the true fieldwork facts

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• A larger, well-chosen sample usually makes results more reliable
• A conclusion should answer the original enquiry question
• Collecting data on one wet afternoon gives perfectly reliable results
• Secondary data is always better than primary data

Order the stages of a fieldwork enquiry

Put the stages of a geographical fieldwork enquiry in the order you would work through them.

• Set an enquiry question or a hypothesis
• Plan the method and choose a sampling approach
• Collect the primary and secondary data
• Present and analyse the data
• Draw a conclusion and evaluate the enquiry

One question, followed to a conclusion

Follow one student enquiry from start to finish. The question was simple: does the high street get busier towards midday? Planning: she expected that the number of people would rise through the morning, and decided to count passers-by at three points along the street once every hour. Collecting: she counted the people herself at each point, and also looked up the shop opening hours from the council website to help explain what she found. Making sense of it: her counts rose steadily until noon, matching what she had expected, though one quiet corner did not fit the pattern. Judging it: she noted that a single dry morning was thin evidence, and that counting on several days would have made the result far stronger. The value was not the numbers alone. It was following one clear question all the way to an honest conclusion.

Complete the fieldwork enquiry facts

Data you collect yourself in the field is _____ data. Data collected by other people that you make use of is _____ data. Choosing which points to study when you cannot study them all is _____. A testable statement predicting what the fieldwork might show is a _____.

Build a fieldwork point

Choose the words that complete this statement about a strong enquiry.

The fieldwork enquiry run

Five questions on the fieldwork enquiry process. Three lives.

Plan the enquiry

Read each fieldwork decision and choose the best response, then think about why.

• You want to find out whether a park is used more by families or by teenagers. What data should you collect?
• You can only survey some of the shoppers on a busy street, not all of them. What is the fairest way to choose whom to ask?
• Your results all came from one rainy afternoon. What should your evaluation say?

Explain how to carry out a fieldwork enquiry

A student in the year below has to plan their first geographical fieldwork enquiry. Explain how to carry it out using what this module has covered.

• Explain how to set a good enquiry question or hypothesis
• Explain the difference between primary and secondary data
• Explain why a sampling method is needed and name one type
• Explain how to reach a conclusion from the data
• Finish by explaining how to evaluate the enquiry honestly