Geographical Enquiry An Introduction to Geography

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Geographical EnquiryAn Introduction to Geography


Contents

What is geographical enquiry?

General techniques

Presenting data and analysing results

Summary activities

The key concepts covered are: Place, Space and Physical and human processes.



Discuss how geographers conduct enquiries and collect data.

Discuss the implications of fieldwork for health and safety and its impact on the chosen site.

By the end of this section, you will:



Why do we enquire?

We conduct enquiries to find out what is happening in our world, to make sense of what has happened in the past and to make judgements about what might happen in the future.

When conducting enquiries, geographers formulate a hypothesis, research the topic, obtain data and then analyse data to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

What enquiries are geographers conducting today?


Current geographical enquiries

Geographers are investigating many topics. These include:

the impact of climate change

population studies

the impact of industry.

What topics do you think are most relevant today?


Creating a hypothesis

Research is the way geographers gather information to prove or disprove a hypothesis or a set of hypotheses.

A hypothesis is an idea which can be investigated and found to be true or false.

Example hypotheses:

A river gets wider as you move downstream.

The school building produces its own microclimate.

Land use in the town centre is mostly commercial.

What data could you collect to prove or disprove each hypothesis?


Your enquiry title….

• How could we improve the environmental quality of the school site?


Types of research

Secondary research involves collecting and collating data from existing sources.

Secondary research might include:web researchlibrary researchdrawing conclusions from someone else's work.

Primary research is where data is gathered on the front line.

This might include observations, interviews and experiments.

Geographers call this type of research fieldwork.


What is fieldwork?

Geographers do fieldwork in order to gather data for study.

Fieldwork takes place in a specific location where observations are made and measurements taken.

Fieldwork allows us to find out about the human and physical world around us. This world is always changing and fieldwork provides us with information about the changes.

Why is fieldwork important to geographers?


Suggestions for fieldwork


Location, location, location

Planning where to do fieldwork is a central part of investigating a particular hypothesis.

A site must be safe, accessible, and a likely source of relevant data.

In addition to being safe and collecting suitable data, good fieldwork aims to have minimal environmental impact on a site.

How might you make an impact on an environment whilst doing fieldwork?


Map of school site: which 10 locations will you choose?


Fieldwork equipment


Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Average

Fieldwork notebook

A fieldwork notebook is useful to record any measurements.

Location:

Width

Depth

Speed

Weather:

A table with headings can help organize the data collected.


Reading and observing

Make field sketches of interesting features at the site. Label the sketches to draw attention to specific details.

Remember to make a note of details that may influence your data. These might include weather conditions, the time of day or whether it’s a public holiday.

Record your readings, measurements and tallies in neat tables.


Environmental quality survey


Writing a questionnaire

• yes or no answers• Closed (categories)- possibly a few open questions• not too many questions• easy to read lay out• Able to collect all answers on one sheet

Need information on:• People’s opinions of the school

• Areas that are attractive and less attractive

• Ideas about what could be done to improve the area


Clear set out

Boxes to tick or cross

Headings in bold to make it clear

Large title


To much writing to fill in.

Will take too long and people won’t want to fill it in.

Not obvious what questions are asking

To much information to read in the introduction


Drawing a field sketch


Annotating a field sketch


General techniques

Think about ways to set up a field notebook and what notes should be made in it.

Observe how field sketches are produced and practice drawing and annotating them.


General techniques



Be able to present your data inan acceptable format.

Interpret data in order to accept or reject different hypotheses.




Structure of your report• Writing up the results: • Introduction:• Explain what you are trying to find out in your study

• Method:• Explain how you collected your information and why you did it in this way

• Presentation of data:• Include a range of presentation methods e.g. graphs and tables, annotated maps, annotated field

sketches and photos

• Description and explanation of results: • Using the data you have collected explain which areas of the school you and the people you

surveyed think are the best and which areas you and the people surveyed think are the worst and EXPLAIN why you got these results.

• For areas of the school that you think need to be improved explain (and possibly include annotated plans for improvement) of what could be done to improve the areas.


Presenting data

After collecting data, you need to be able to present it in aformat where in can be easily understood, and interpreted to prove or disprove your hypothesis.

Good forms of presenting data include:

tables

charts and graphs

thematic maps (like choropleth maps).

All of the above could be incorporated into a written formal report.


Interpreting your data


Returning to the hypothesis

If the analysis of fieldwork data shows the hypothesis to be true, geographers say they accept the hypothesis.

If the analysis of fieldwork data shows the hypothesis to be untrue, geographers say they reject the hypothesis.

The data collected during fieldwork and presented as results is used to test the hypothesis. It is analysed for patterns and trends that shed light on the subject of the hypothesis.

What do you do with the hypothesis?


Bringing your findings together….


Summary activities

Consolidate knowledge of geographical enquiry.

Revise definitions of key terms.


Summary activities


Summary quiz


Glossary


Anagrams

Documents

Geographical Enquiry An Introduction to Geography