OCR GCSE (9-1) Geography A: Geographical Themes (J383) · Spec Fieldwork
Fieldwork: enquiry, methods and evaluation
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- The stages of an enquiry are: a question or hypothesis, methods and a risk assessment, collect data, present it, analyse it, write a conclusion and evaluate.
- A good enquiry question is geographical, can be measured and can be answered at the site. A physical question needs physical fieldwork, such as river width and velocity. A human one needs human fieldwork, such as a pedestrian count.
- Primary data is collected by you. Secondary data is collected by others, such as the census. Quantitative data are numbers. Qualitative data are descriptions such as field sketches.
- Sampling can be random (by chance), systematic (at regular intervals) or stratified. Describe how you carried it out at your site.
- Choose a presentation that fits the data. A scattergraph shows a relationship. A pie chart shows proportions. A dispersion diagram shows spread.
- In analysis, describe patterns with values and compare sites. Link results to a theory such as the Bradshaw model, and look for anomalies.
- A conclusion answers the enquiry question using your data. One survey on one day cannot show change over time.
- To evaluate, weigh a method's strengths and limits, and say how they affect accuracy and reliability. Make improvements specific, such as a larger sample or repeat readings.
Key terms
- Hypothesis
- A statement that can be tested with data.
- Primary data
- Data you collect yourself.
- Secondary data
- Data collected by someone else, such as the census.
- Systematic sampling
- Choosing sites or people at regular intervals.
- Anomaly
- A result that does not fit the pattern.
- Reliable
- Gives a consistent result when repeated.
Common mistakes
- Describing how you collected data when asked to evaluate it. Description only is capped at Level 1.
- Suggesting a vague improvement like 'ask more questions'. Be specific to your own enquiry.
- Answering a physical enquiry question with human fieldwork, or the other way round. A wrong strand is capped at Level 1.
- Writing a conclusion that goes beyond the data, for example saying litter gets worse every summer from one survey in July.
Exam tip
Section B of Paper 3 is worth 30 marks plus 3 for spelling, punctuation and grammar. It has one unfamiliar fieldwork question, with a scenario, and one question on your own fieldwork, in opposite strands. Write your own enquiry title and location on the paper. On an unfamiliar scenario, reread the aim before answering each part.
Free practice questions
8 questions, 15 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Sort into groups[3 marks]
Sort each source into primary or secondary data.
Your own pedestrian count
A questionnaire you handed out
Census 2021 figures
- Question 2 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put the stages of a fieldwork enquiry in order.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1Collect the data
- 2Present and analyse the data
- 3Plan methods and a risk assessment
- 4Write a question or hypothesis
- 5Write a conclusion and evaluate
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
Choosing sites at regular intervals is ___ sampling; choosing them by chance is ___ sampling.
Word bank: stratified · random · systematic
- Question 4 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
A pupil is sampling pebbles along a beach. Which answer DESCRIBES a systematic sample?
- Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which of these is a suitable PHYSICAL geography fieldwork question for a river?
- Question 6 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
A litter survey is done on one day in July. Which conclusion is safe?
- Question 7 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each presentation method to what it is best used to show.
- Question 8 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each fieldwork hazard to a sensible control measure.