Geography - Paper 3 FIELDWORK!

Physical fieldwork question?

To what extent has coastal management been successful at Swanage?

Why was Swanage a suitable topic?

It allowed us to determine how human activity impacts physical processes.

Swanage as a location - pros and cons?

Pros:

• Very accessible (able to safely access beach from road)

• Abundance of secondary data available (eg sediment maps, data from previous year groups)

Cons:

• Quite far away from school (2hours)

Risk assessment?

Tides - risk of drowning, so we were mindful when collecting data.

Worn groynes - Risk of tripping/falling.

The primary methods of collecting data

Groyne height?

• Groyne drop is a clear indicator of successfulness as there is a notable height difference between the left and right sides.

  • So, it indicates how effective groynes are at trapping sediment.

• Method: systematic sampling: measured 3 groynes, each groyne 5 times, using a meter ruler.

Annotated photographs

• Took photos at each groyne

• Used to document height difference between right hand and left hand sides.

2 methods of data PRESENTATION

Bar graphs!

• Easy to construct

• Easy to understand

• Good visual representation of data

• Shows trends.

• Good for discrete data.

HOWEVER:

• Not ideal for continuous data (doesn’t show distribution within intervals so doesn’t show range.)

• Less precise

• Cluttered if too many categories.

Annotated photographs

• Quick way of gaining information.

• Anomalies in results can be explained in the photo.

• More accurate than a sketch.

Results of fieldwork? (+ any anomalies?)

LH side average: 73 cm.

RH side average: 7.5cm.

No anomalies! Similar to sediment transfer graphs and data collected from previous years.

Wider geographical significance?

• Coastal management is required in certain locations, owing to a difference in geology.

• Can have positive social- economic impacts, such as for business owners/tourism

Definitions of Validity, Accuracy, and Reliability

V - Whether the experiment measures what it is supposed to measure.

A - How close the measurements are to the true/accepted value.

R - Whether you get consistent results when repeating the experiment.

VAR for swanage (improvements)

To improve Validity?

• Could have sampled a greater range of coastal management strategies if time allowed.

To improve accuracy?

• If groyne height is over 1 metre, result would have been inaccurate as the ruler was a metre ruler so had to be moved. Needed metal tape measure/a longer ruler??

To improve reliability?

• More groynes could have been sampled across a wider range of the beach.

• Could have made sure it was the same person doing the measurements, could have ensured meter ruler remains on top of the sand.

Human fieldwork question?

Has the regeneration of Bristol city centre had a positive impact on environmental quality?

Why was this a suitable topic? (Bristol)

This question links to the theory of urban regeneration. Data to answer this question could be realistically collected in the time available.

Advantages and disadvantages of Bristol as a location

Pros:

• Accessibility. Cabot Circus and Broadmead were 15 mins away by foot.

• Bristol was an hour away from school.

• There were variation between the two locations that could be measured.

Cons:

• Only two locations investigated due to time constraints

Primary data collection methods for Bristol?

EQS (Environmental quality survey)

• By conducting this in a regenerated location and a non-regenerated location, we can establish whether the regeneration has improve the environmental quality.

• Method: 500 meter transect selected in contrasting residential areas.

  • Contrasting areas were selected using IMD explorer, and transects were selected using an OS map.

  • Survery was completed every 50m along the transect - systematic sampling - by assessing 10 variables on a scale of 0 to 5.

Photographs.

• Used to document the changes between the contrasting areas, using systematic sampling.

Methods of data presentation (Bristol)

Radial diagrams!

• All data in one place, however is confusing to draw/interpret and time-consuming. Also cannot show trends.

• Patterns are easily spotted

• Space-saving

• Useful for ranking places (can easily compare)

Annotated photos

• Anomalies can be easily spotted

• Easier than a sketch

• Quick

• Range is limited (only a section of area is photographed)

Results? (Bristol) (+any anomalies)

The data supported that environmental quality is higher in the regenerated area.

Primary data: The average total EQS in Cabot Circus was 4, and Broadmead was 2.

Secondary data: IMD explorer - Cabot Circus ranked 13,000 out of the 32,000 LSOAs in England, and Broadmead ranked 5000

THERE WERE ANOMALIES.

• The variable ‘noise pollution’ depended on the time.

  • EG: in rush hour more noise, so lower rating on the EQS

Wider geographical significance? (Bristol)

• Urban regeneration has a positive impact on environmental quality and lifestyle.

How could the data colellection process be improved (Bristol)

EQS scores were subjective, so bias was there.

Accuracy of the survey could be improved, with a larger range on the EQUS (-5 to 5)

Reliability could have been improved with increasing the amount of data collected in each location would create reliable results.