Welcome to Urban Fieldwork!
In this chapter, we step out of the classroom and into the streets! Fieldwork is a vital part of your Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Geography course. For Paper 2, you are required to study Urban environments, and specifically, the "changing use of central/inner urban environments."
Don't worry if fieldwork feels a bit scientific or "mathsy" at first. This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, from planning your investigation to writing your conclusion. Think of it like being a detective—you are looking for clues to see how a city is changing!
1. Planning Your Enquiry
Before you even leave school, you need a plan. Every good enquiry starts with a hypothesis or a key question.
Developing a Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a statement that you can test. For urban fieldwork, your hypothesis might be:
"The environmental quality increases as you move away from the Central Business District (CBD)."
or
"The number of high-street shops decreases as you move into the inner city."
Sampling Techniques
You can't talk to every person or look at every street, so you use sampling. There are three main types you need to know:
1. Random Sampling: Choosing sites or people by complete chance (like pulling names out of a hat). It is fair but might miss important areas.
2. Systematic Sampling: Choosing at regular intervals. For example, doing an environmental survey every \(200\) metres or asking every \(10th\) person you see.
3. Stratified Sampling: Dividing the area or people into groups first. For example, making sure you interview equal numbers of men and women or looking at both "commercial" and "residential" streets.
Risk Assessment
Safety first! Before going out, you must identify potential hazards. Common urban risks include:
- Traffic: Use crossings and stay on pavements.
- Weather: Check the forecast and wear appropriate clothing.
- Getting lost: Work in groups and carry a map or GPS.
2. Collecting Data
The syllabus requires you to use both primary (data you collect yourself) and secondary (data someone else collected) sources. You must use both quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (descriptions/feelings) techniques.
Primary Data Collection
Environmental Quality Survey (EQS): This is quantitative. You give a score (e.g., from \(-2\) to \(+2\)) to different factors like litter, noise, and greenery. Adding these up gives you a total "quality score" for a location.
Structured Questionnaires: These use closed questions (questions with a set choice of answers like "Yes/No" or "Daily/Weekly"). These are easy to turn into percentages later.
Field Sketches and Photographs: These are qualitative. You take a photo or draw a sketch and annotate it (add labels) to explain what it shows about the urban land use or environment.
Secondary Data Collection
You must use at least two different secondary sources. Good examples for urban studies include:
- GIS (Geographic Information Systems): Using digital maps like Google Earth or ArcGIS to see how an area has changed from above.
- Historical Maps: Comparing an old map to a modern one to see how the "use" of the inner city has changed (e.g., from factories to luxury flats).
- Local Reports: Reading news articles or council plans about urban regeneration.
3. Processing and Presenting Data
Once you have your numbers, you need to make them look professional and easy to read. This is where your maths skills come in!
Calculating Statistics
You may be asked to calculate:
- Mean: The average score of your EQS.
- Percentages: For example, \((\frac{number \ of \ people \ who \ liked \ the \ area}{total \ number \ of \ people \ asked}) \times 100\).
- Tally Charts: Useful for counting different types of shops or vehicles.
Graphical Presentation
Choosing the right graph is key:
- Bar Charts: Great for comparing different sites.
- Pie Charts: Best for showing "proportions" (e.g., what percentage of land is used for housing vs. shops).
- Scatter Graphs: Use these to see if there is a link between two things. For example, does environmental quality go down as traffic noise goes up?
- Radial Graphs (Spider Diagrams): Often used for Environmental Quality Surveys to show multiple scores at once.
- Flow Line Maps: Showing the movement of people or traffic into the city centre using arrows of different thicknesses.
Quick Tip: Always remember to give your graphs a title and label your axes!
4. Analysis and Conclusions
Now you look at your graphs and ask: "What does this tell me?"
Analyzing Data
Look for patterns and contrasts. Does the data stay the same, or are there big differences between the city centre and the inner suburbs? Look for anomalies—these are results that don't fit the pattern. For example, you might find a very clean street in a generally "dirty" area because a local business cleans it every morning.
Reaching a Conclusion
Your conclusion should refer back to your original hypothesis. You should state whether your data supported (proved) or rejected (disproved) your hypothesis. Use evidence! Don't just say "it was cleaner," say "Site A had an EQS score of \(+12\) compared to Site B which scored \(-4\)."
5. Evaluation: The Final Reflection
Evaluation is about being honest. No fieldwork is perfect! To get high marks, you need to discuss:
Reliability: If you did the study again tomorrow, would you get the same results? (Maybe it was unusually quiet because it was raining).
Validity: Did your methods actually measure what they were supposed to? Was your sample size big enough? (Asking \(5\) people isn't as good as asking \(50\)).
Key Takeaways for the Exam
1. Know your methods: Be ready to explain how to do an EQS or a questionnaire.
2. Understand Sampling: Know why Systematic or Stratified sampling might be better than Random sampling.
3. Link to Theory: Remember that urban land use usually follows patterns (like the CBD being the most accessible and having the highest land value).
4. Be Critical: Always be ready to suggest one way your fieldwork could have been improved.
Don't worry if this seems tricky at first! The exam questions will often give you data from a "student's investigation" and ask you to interpret it. If you understand the steps above, you'll be able to handle any "unfamiliar" data they throw at you.