fieldwork

what is the route to enquiry?

1. Suitable question for geographical enquiry

2. Selecting, measuring and recording data appropriate to the chosen enquiry

3. Selecting appropriate ways of processing and presenting fieldwork data

4. Describing, analysing and explaining fieldwork data

5. Reaching conclusions

6. Evaluation of geographical enquiry

what are the titles of the enquiries?

Human: to what extent has urban regeneration schemes had an impact on Leatherhead, Surrey

Physical: to investigate downstream river change on the River Tillingbourne

why did we pick Leatherhead for our human enquiry and river Tillingbourne for our physical enquiry?

Leatherhead: had undergone urban regeneration and the areas were easy to access and safe

Tillingbourne: the river had a small drainage basin which was good as we could collect data in a shorter time due to it having a shorter length. It was also shallow making it safe to study in. It was also very close to the A25 making the river easily accessible and more efficient travelling

what were the risks and hazards of both enquiries?

Leatherhead hazards:

Traffic- being hit by a car

separation- getting lost

rain - slipping

River Tillingbourne hazards

water- drowning or water diseases

electric fences- getting electrocuted

long tall grass- slipping

what were the control measures for the risks?

leatherhead:

Traffic- look left and right and don't walk in the middle of the street

separation- use a map and stay with group

rain- don't run and be careful of your surroundings

River Tillingbourne:

water- step back from river

electric fence- don't touch it

grass- don't run and wear wellies

what is the difference between primary and secondary data?

Data collected by the student within their fieldwork is primary data

Data collected by someone else but used by the student in their enquiry is secondary data

what are the pros of each of the 3 sampling methods?

systematic- equal intervals between each point

- simple and easy to follow method

- shows change over space and time

random- every point has an equal chance of being picked

- unbiased strategy

-works well in homogenous areas

stratified- divide into different areas and take a proportional number of measurements in each area

- valid data from accessible locations

- can be combined with random and systematic sampling

what are the cons of each of the 3 sampling methods?

systematic

- bias

- inaccessible locations

- may miss smaller patterns

random

- clustering of results

- can give inaccessible locations

stratified

- biased

- can be time consuming

what is the justification of using stratified sampling in our human enquiry?

we are collecting data from areas that have been or will be regenerated to see the impact of regeneration

what are the different methods used in the human enquiry?

environmental quality assessment, questionnaire and annotated photo

how are each of the methods of our human enquiry justified?

EQA- it was measured to identify how the areas changed over time after regeneration. Quantitatively to see if regeneration has improved the environmental quality. It was accurate as multiple groups collected data so it a mean could be found. We also used same categories and same scoring system for each area making it more reliable

questionnaire- This is justified as we hadn't lived there before so we need opinions of those who had seen the before and after.

annotated photo- it allows us to qualitatively identify the impacts of regeneration on buildings, green spaces and social areas. A photo accurately captures what a place looks like

what were the different methods used in the physical enquiry?

velocity method using a cork and hydro prop, width method and depth method

why are each of the physical methods justified?

velocity- it is quantitative data and velocity is used to calculate discharge making it valid. It was accurate as we placed the cork and let it catch up to speed of river. It was also accurate because we placed hydro prop in direction of river flow

width- it is quantitative data and is needed to calculate CSA and hence river discharge making it valid. We held the tape measure 5cm above above river to make results accurate

depth- it is quantitative data and is needed to calculate CSA and hence river discharge making it valid. We did not place ruler onto the bed making our results accurate. We kept tape measure across the channel to ensure measurements taken at correct places making it reliable

what does accurate, valid, reliable, precise and representative mean?

accurate- how close a measurement is to the true value

precise- related to the smallest scale of division on the equipment used

representative- your sample should be typical of the whole area

reliable- the data is consistent and results will be similar when repeating the same thing

valid- your method is measuring the right thing and is relevant to the study

what are the methods for the human enquiry?

EQA:

-using stratified sampling, we assessed the environmental quality in 4 areas of Leatherhead. This being Church street, swan centre and high street, bull hill park and Riverside quarter

- Using a scale from one to five, we assessed the quality of each area in 6 categories: building upkeep, traffic, greenery, parking, litter and vandalism

- data collection was completed in groups at each of the 4 sites

QUESTIONAIRRE:

- we first created 2 questions : 'how do you think church streets has changed by the scheme Transform leatherhead' and 'how much more likely are you to use this high street now'

- we used a scale from ' a lot less to a lot more'

- we approached people on the street and asked the 2 questions and tallied the results

- this used opportunistic sampling

ANNOTATED PHOTO:

- we analysed the photo of future or old area

- it was an annotated photo on : regeneration, building upkeep, crime, economic, social, traffic, QoL, deprivation

- also we used SNOTT, scale, notes, orientation, title, time

what were the limitations and improvements for each of the methods of the human enquiry?

EQA:

Limitations- the scores are based on opinions which means they are subjective and unreliable

- the scores are influenced by times of day and weather and day of week

Improvements- more data collection and create mean values and give definitions for each score 1-5

- repeat data collection multiple times at different times of the day, week

QUESTIONAIRRE:

Limitations- many people may have moved to Leatherhead recently and hence may have not had a good idea of the old church street

improvement- show people a picture of the before and after regeneration to give them a clear understanding of the differences in the street even if they hadn't lived there before

ANNOTATED PHOTO:

Limitations- annotations were subjective

- the view we get can show us different effects and understandings of the area

Improvements- get multiple people to carry out the annotations

- use multiple photos from different perspectives and times of the year

what are the methods for the physical enquiry?

VELOCITY:

-stretch out a tape measure for a distance of 3m in line with the water flow

- let a cork go and time its journey

- drop it slightly before starting stopwatch to allow it to catch up to river's speed

WIDTH:

- draw a tape measure from one point of the tape measure so that it is on the sides of the channel and is therefore perpendicular to the flow of river

DEPTH:

- place the ruler onto the river bed and measure how far up the river water goes up

- measure the depth across 5 equal intervals across the width

- use the narrow end of the ruler to measure

what are the limitations and improvements for each physical method?

VELOCITY:

Limitation- cork can be affected by vegetation and weather

improvement-.Choose a straight, uniform section of river and repeat measurements at multiple points.

Limitation: Timing the cork's travel by hand introduces human reaction error.

Improvement: Use video recording to analyse frame-by-frame or use automated timing systems.

WIDTH:

Limitation: Changes in Riverbanks Over Time

Improvement: Take multiple measurements over the year

Limitation: River width can vary greatly depending on recent rainfall, tides, or seasonal changes.

Improvement: Record water level at the time of measurement and, if possible, measure multiple times across seasons for an average.

DEPTH:

Limitation: Fast-moving water may push against the ruler, making it hard to hold steady.

Improvement: Use a ruler attached to a firm pole or clamp for more stability, or take measurements from the downstream side.

Limitation: Pushing the ruler into soft sediment can give inaccurate depth readings (too deep).

Improvement: Lower the ruler gently until it just touches the riverbed — don't force it into the sediment. Practice a consistent technique.

what data presentation technique was used for velocity, CSA, discharge and hydraulic radius ? What were the limitations?

- Line graphs were used

- Y axis was the continuous data ( velocity, CSA, discharge, hydraulic radius)

- plot point 1 - 15

- upwards line shows values rising and vice versa

- the gradient showed the rate of change

- distance downstream on x

- it was good as it was mathematically correct because the site plots were accurately positioned allowing consideration of rates of change downstream

Limitation: Joining data between lines makes an assumption between sites on the data changes

what data presentation was used for sediment roundness? Limitations?

Dispersion diagram

- mathematically valid as it shows visually the spread of data

- practical to identify the spread of data because it allows easy identification of the range ( highest and lowest plots), also allows identification of median which is the middle plot of the 5

- plotting of data for sites 1-15 on x axis

Limitations: can be difficult to read individual plots if close together

what data presentation methods were used for width and depth? Limitations?

- channel cross graphs

- allow to see the cross section of river channel size and shapes at sites along river to make comparisons between different courses' shapes

- each site was drawn with same x and y axis allowing comparison between different sites

- width on x and depth on y

limitations: can't show a temporal change and only shows the river shape at a specific point in time

what were the conclusions from the line graphs?

CSA line graph

The cross-sectional area generally increases downstream, especially after the 10,000-meter mark.

There are significant increases at around 12,500 m and 15,000 m, suggesting the river becomes wider and/or deeper. This is true as downstream, river erosion becomes more lateral which increases width and increased discharge leads to higher depth

velocity line graph

Velocity generally increases downstream, but with notable fluctuations.

The sharp rise near 22,000 m indicates a possible steep gradient or less friction (e.g., smoother channel or fewer obstructions).

This trend aligns with river theory, where water flows faster in the lower course.

discharge line graph

River discharge increases downstream, with some dramatic increases around 13,000-15,000 m and again near 22,000 m.

This supports the Bradshaw Model, where discharge increases as tributaries join the main river and volume grows and hence follows hypothesis

hydraulic radius line graph

Hydraulic radius (cross-sectional area ÷ wetted perimeter) increases downstream, particularly after 10,000 m.

A higher hydraulic radius indicates more efficient flow (less friction), consistent with the velocity and discharge trends.

what are the conclusions from the dispersion diagram?

sediment roundness

-Pebble roundness generally increases downstream.

Site 1 (near the source) shows low roundness scores, with many values clustered below 300, indicating more angular pebbles.

As you move to higher site numbers (i.e., farther downstream), the roundness scores increase, with more values clustering above 600-800, indicating smoother, rounder pebbles.

-As distance downstream increases, pebbles become more rounded, which supports the process of attrition (where rocks knock against each other and become smoother over time).

what are the conclusions from the channel cross graphs?

width against depth

-Site 1 (Upper Course)

Very shallow (less than 0.2 m depth).

Very narrow (about 1.5 m wide).

-Site 5

Slightly deeper (up to ~0.5 m) and wider (around 3.5 m).

-Site 10

Deeper (up to ~1.4 m) and wider (~5.5 m).

-Site 15 (Lower Course)

Deepest and widest (~1.6 m deep, ~6 m wide).

-As the river flows downstream, the channel widens and deepens.

This reflects increased discharge, velocity, and erosional power, particularly lateral erosion.

what are the different types of conclusions?

partial- if data is biased in some way such as picking a particular rock to see how round it is

tentative- if doubt still exists in conclusion because more research is needed at a different time or place

incomplete- if full conclusion is not possible as only a small aspect of a topic is being investigated