The Urban Fieldwork Task
Cities never stand still. In the urban fieldwork task you collect your own data about how a city area is changing. Learn the methods, from land-use surveys to the Census.
Use it, the way the marks are given
Free interactive practice at using the material, which is what the marks are for.
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The changing city
Cities never stand still. Shops open and close, areas are rebuilt, and the environment changes. In the urban fieldwork task you collect your own data to investigate how a city area is changing. This module is about the methods you would use.
Urban fieldwork words
Four ideas run through this topic:
What is it about?
What does the urban fieldwork task investigate?
- How a central or inner urban area is changing
- How rocks form deep underground
- The weather forecast for next week
- The discharge of a mountain river
Two kinds of method
Good fieldwork uses both kinds of method.
Method and data
- A land-use survey
- An environmental quality survey
- A questionnaire
- Census and ONS data
- How each building or plot is used
- Scores rating the quality of the area
- The views of local people
- Secondary data on population and housing
Choose the right method
The best enquiry uses a mix. Quantitative methods answer how much or how many, while qualitative methods capture what an area is like. Combine your own primary data with secondary sources such as the Census, and sample fairly across the area rather than from just one spot.
Which are quantitative?
Which THREE of these are quantitative methods?
- A land-use survey
- A pedestrian count
- A traffic count
- A personal opinion about the area
- A field sketch
Average the scores
In an environmental quality survey a student records five scores: 4, 3, 5, 2 and 1. The mean = total / number of scores. What is the mean score? Enter the number only.
Run the enquiry
Put the stages of the urban enquiry in a sensible order.
- Write an enquiry question about the urban area
- Collect primary and secondary data
- Present the data as maps and charts
- Analyse and explain the patterns
- Draw an evidenced conclusion
True or not?
Tap the TWO statements that describe good fieldwork.
- Use both quantitative and qualitative methods for a fuller picture.
- Combine primary data with secondary sources like the Census.
- Collect data from only one spot to save time.
- Ignore all secondary data completely.
- Only opinions matter, so measure nothing.
Complete the idea
The urban fieldwork task investigates _____ in a city. A land-use _____ records how each building is used, and an environmental _____ survey scores the area. Adding _____ data such as the Census gives background. A fair _____ makes the results more reliable.
Whose views?
Which method best records what local people think of the area?
- A questionnaire asking for their views
- Counting the number of cars
- A land-use survey
- Reading an old map
Pick the method
A student plans an urban enquiry. Choose the best method at each step.
- To find out how land use changes across the area, which method?
- To judge the quality of the environment, which method?
- To add background on the population, which source?
Plan it
Plan an urban fieldwork enquiry into how a city area is changing.
- Write a suitable enquiry question
- Describe one quantitative and one qualitative method you would use
- Name a secondary source and what it would add
- Explain how you would present and check your data