The Urban Fieldwork Task
How pleasant is a neighbourhood to live in? Take a quality-of-life question into the city: score the environment, survey the residents, read the ONS statistics, and follow the six-stage enquiry from question to conclusion.
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Investigating the city 🏙️
Geographers do not just read about cities, they go out and **investigate** them. You might ask how the **quality of life** varies between two neighbourhoods, or why one area feels more pleasant than another. This module follows the **six-stage enquiry process** and the **methods** used to answer a real urban question about quality of life.
The language of fieldwork 🔑
Four ideas shape every enquiry:
The six stages of an enquiry 🪜
An interactive activity.
Two kinds of data ⚖️
A strong urban enquiry uses BOTH kinds of data. The exam expects at least one of each.
Match each method to what it does 🔗
- Environmental quality survey
- Questionnaire
- Pedestrian count
- ONS Neighbourhood Statistics
- Scores features like litter and greenery against set criteria
- Gathers residents' opinions on their quality of life
- Counts how many people pass a point in a set time
- Provides official data such as income and health for an area
Spot the quantitative method 📏
Which of these is a QUANTITATIVE fieldwork method?
- Scoring the environmental quality of a street from 1 to 5
- Asking residents how safe they feel in their area
- Writing down opinions about the local park
- Sketching the view down a high street
Which are secondary sources? 📚
Select the TWO SECONDARY sources an urban enquiry could use.
- ONS Neighbourhood Statistics for the area
- Census data published by the government
- Environmental quality scores you measured yourself
- A questionnaire you handed out on the day
Primary, secondary and ONS statistics 📊
Fieldwork combines **primary data** that you collect with **secondary sources** collected by others. Edexcel requires **ONS Neighbourhood Statistics**, plus **one other** source such as census data, the Indices of Deprivation, or a local crime map. **Grade-9 tip:** the exam asks about **your own** investigation, so learn your specific enquiry question, your named methods, and your named secondary sources precisely. Vague answers lose marks.
Complete the summary 🧩
An urban enquiry begins with an enquiry _____, then collects data. Scores from an environmental quality survey are _____ data, while opinions from a questionnaire are _____ data. Official information collected by others, such as _____ Neighbourhood Statistics, is a secondary source. Finally the geographer draws evidenced _____ that answer the question.
Plan the investigation 🧭
An interactive activity.
Why use both kinds of data? 🎯
Why should an urban enquiry use BOTH quantitative and qualitative methods?
- Numbers show what conditions are like, while opinions show how people feel about them
- It is a rule with no real purpose
- Qualitative data is always more accurate than numbers
- Using two methods lets you skip drawing conclusions
Spot good enquiry practice 🖍️
An interactive activity.
Justify your methods ✍️
An interactive activity.