Topics and Titles for 2016
Spec .No
THEME
G3.2.1
Geography of Crime
The perception of crime
G3.2.2
Deprivation
Contrasts in deprivation
G3.2.3
Geography of Disease
Factors affecting disease
G3.2.4
Environmental Psychology
Gender and environmental perception
G3.2.5
Leisure & Recreation
Changing patterns of leisure and recreation
G3.2.6
Microclimates
Factors affecting microclimate
G3.2.7
Atmospheric & Water Pollution
Impacts of pollution
G3.2.8
Geography of Retailing
Changing retail patterns
G3.2.9
Rivers
Flood management
G3.2.10
Small-scale Ecosystems
Management of a small-scale ecosystem
Spec.
No.
G3.2.1
THEME
Geography of Crime:
The perception of crime
Potential aims/suggested titles for investigation

Do insurance premiums reflect the incidence of crime
in different postcode areas?
Do people living in different areas have different
perceptions of crime?
To what extent do perceptions of crime match the
reported incidence?
To what extent is people’s perception of crime
changing?
Do levels of deprivation change from city centre to the
suburbs?
To what extent do perceptions of deprivation vary
within a given area?
Is deprivation in rural areas different from urban
areas?
Is deprivation always worse in inner city areas?
To what extent is the incidence of disease X affected
by climatic variations?
Is globalisation a major factor affecting the spread of
disease?
Are different diseases affected by differing factors?
Is improved education a major factor in controlling a
disease such as TB?



G3.2.2
Deprivation: Contrasts
in deprivation



G3.2.3
Geography of Disease:
Factors affecting
disease





1
G3.2.4
Environmental
Psychology: Gender
and environmental
perception

How does gender influence how an area is
perceived?
Do females perceive inner city areas differently at
different times of day?
Do males perceive an area differently from females?
How differently is a neighbourhood defined by a
woman at work, from a woman at home?
For area X, what are the factors that influence
changing patterns of leisure and recreation?
What impact does social mobility have on changing
patterns of leisure and recreation?
Do patterns of leisure and recreation vary between
urban and rural areas?
To what extent is age a factor affecting changing
patterns of leisure and recreation?
How does microclimate vary between urban and rural
areas?
What influence do factors such as altitude and aspect
have upon microclimate?
What are the factors that influence differences in
microclimate?
To what extent does microclimate vary along a
transect?
How might the impacts of a pollution incident be
better managed?
For pollution incident X how successful were its
impacts management?
How might the impacts of pollution on river X be
better managed?
What are the long and short-term management issues
associated with the impacts of atmospheric pollution?
Do changing retail patterns reflect changes in the
working life of people?
What impacts have the growth of retail ‘giants’ had on
central shopping areas?
How has the growth of out-of-town shopping impacted
on town X?
To what extent has Internet shopping impacted on
retail areas?
Should urban and rural areas along a river be given
equal protection?
Should rivers be managed despite the human and
economic costs?
What effect does the management of the upper
catchment have on a river’s regime?
How effective are management schemes on river X?
What impact has management had on the biodiversity
of ecosystem X?
What conflicts arise through the management of an
ecosystem?
Can human impacts on ecosystem X be sustainably
managed?



G3.2.5
Leisure and
Recreation: Changing
patterns of leisure and
recreation




G3.2.6
Microclimates: Factors
affecting microclimate




G3.2.7
Atmospheric and Water
Pollution: Impacts of
pollution




G3.2.8
Geography of retailing:
Changing retail
patterns




G3.2.9
Rivers: Flood
management



G3.2.10 Small Scale
Ecosystems:
Management of a small
scale ecosystem




2

Is managed retreat beneficial for a coastal
ecosystem?
ENQUIRY APPROACH WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TO G1, G2 AND G3B
The following provides a framework for students to follow as they undertake
investigations in preparation for Question 3 on both papers G1, G2 and paper G3B.
They will benefit from being involved as much as possible in planning and decision
making at each stage, in order to increase their understanding and recall of the
enquiry process. One approach that might be adopted is to provide candidates with a
template based on the stages in this framework on which they can keep a record of
the discussions that took place and the decisions that were made.
1.
Planning Stages of the Investigation











2.
Data Collection







3.
Develop your knowledge of the topic by consulting geographical literature
or searching the Internet.
Decide on issue to be investigated and develop your knowledge of the
places being studied.
Decide on the location for the investigation and develop your knowledge
of the place(s) being studied.
Visit your chosen location for a pilot survey.
Undertake a risk assessment.
Obtain any equipment (if required) checking availability and how to
operate it.
Prepare recording sheets/ design questionnaire surveys.
Decide on sampling strategy/ies.
Check weather conditions if relevant.
Decide on day, date and time of survey.
Arrange appointments if your investigation involves interviews/visits.
Identify a clear question, hypothesis or issue. Developing sub questions
may help to bring greater clarity to complex investigations.
Justify the reasons for selecting the location and the data set(s) you plan
to collect.
Briefly outline the geographical context of your investigation.
Describe your field area with words and an annotated base map; you
could also give some background information about the area.
Describe how you collected the data for your study. Include recording
sheets and/or sample questionnaires.
Explain the sampling technique(s) used and justify your choice(s).
Briefly discuss any difficulties/ factors affecting your enquiry (e.g. bad
weather) and possible bias when collecting information.
Data Refinement and Display


Refine the data into tables.
Use a range of appropriate graphical techniques (given on pages 15 and
3



4.
Description, Analysis and Interpretation



5.
16 of the specification) to present the data accurately and clearly. Justify
your choices.
Include field sketches and annotated photographs.
Include any cartographical (mapping) techniques (given on pages 15 and
16 of the specification). Justify your choices.
Evaluate your methods of presentation – how effective are they in
showing the data you collected. Would alternative methods have been
better?
Describe and analyse each set of data. Summarise the data using
measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode) and dispersion
(standard deviation). Use other refining activities that may be relevant
such as scaling, ranking and weighting.
Look for relationships between the data shown on the graphs and where
appropriate use correlation
Discuss your findings using your geographical understanding of the topic,
answering each sub-question in turn.
Conclusion and Evaluation




Summarise the conclusions you have been able to reach about each of
your sub-questions. Your conclusions must be effective and acceptable,
linking directly back to the questions.
Evaluate the methods of data collection and sampling techniques used.
Comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the study as a whole and
the importance of obtaining accurate and reliable data.
Suggest further research that could be carried out and/or questions to be
answered.
SJ/HT – W20(14)
4