GEOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
• Students may be asked to test a given hypothesis or formulate a hypothesis for a given
situation.
• A hypothesis is a statement about a topic that can be proved or disproved e.g. “the
size of shops decreases as the distance from the centre of the CBD increases.‟‟
PROCESSES IN GEOGRAPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS
• Refer to Complete Geography page 335 fig 13.1
Formulate a hypothesis
Plan the field work
Collect the data
Present data
Analyse and interpret the data
Make conclusions based on your results
Evaluate your investigation
1. PLANNING INVESTIGATIONS
• On planning the investigation, the following, the following should be considered:
a) Determine the sampling method to be used.
b) Consider any health and safety precautions to be taken.
c) Check if there is any permission to be requested to be requested for the visit.
d) Consider the equipment to be used.
e) Determine the minimum of students/ investigators needed.
f) Consider if a pilot study is needed.
a) Sampling techniques
• A sample is a group selected from a larger population for the purposes of an
investigation.
• Population means a whole of whatever is being sampled.
• When sampling decide whether to sample at points, areas or along lines/ transect.
Point sampling... Appropriate for pedestrian count.
Area sampling ... A quadrat can be used to investigate vegetation cover.
Line sampling... Taking samples along a line/transact.
Types of sampling
i) Random sampling
• When data is collected without following a regular pattern or order.
• Can be done by pulling names out of a hat, by using a random number table or a
random number generator on a calculator.
Advantages
• Every person/location has an equal chance of being selected.
• It is quick and simple
Disadvantages
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Results may be random and not representative e.g. selecting names out of hat and only
pick females.
ii) Systematic sampling
• When data is collected in a regular pattern. e.g. asking every 10th person or collecting
physical data after every 5 meters.
Advantages
• Better coverage of area/sample group.
• No bias in who is selected.
• Very simple to understand and carry out.
Disadvantages
• Bias because the investigator will be selecting technique & deciding e.g. 10th person
to ask.
• May end up with an unrepresentative sample e.g. If every 10th person is female.
iii) Stratified sampling
• This is when different groups or types are represented in the same proportions/
percentage as they exist in the total population.
Advantages
• All parts of the population are included.
• It allows significant differences between subgroups to be noticed.
• It can be both systematic or random.
b) Health/safety considerations
• Dangers vary according to location.
Precautions in rivers
• Banks and rocks are slippery.
• Discharge and velocity of the river can change anytime.
• Outer banks of a meander are deeper and fast flowing, so it‟s wiser to sample a
straight stretch.
• Wear a life vest.
• Beware of dangerous animals in rivers.
• Water borne diseases are also common.
Precautions on a beach
• Avoid areas at the foot of weak cliffs.
• Find out when high tide is due and make sure to complete work at low tide.
Other precautions
• Wear insect repellent and not work alone.
• Keep away from military areas.
• Some areas are sacred so there is need to seek assistance from religious leaders.
• Take contact numbers for home and school.
c) Equipment and number of students needed
• This depends with the investigation.
d) Pilot study/ survey
• The methods used in the full investigation are tested beforehand.
2. COLLECTING DATA
a) TYPES OF DATA
i) Primary data
• Any data that is personally collected by the investigator in the field
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• E.g. Traffic count, environmental indexes, questionnaires or land use surveys.
ii) Secondary data:
• Any data that has been collected and published by someone else.
• Sources of secondary data include books, internet, in academic journals, etc.
iii) Objective data
• It is when data collection is not influenced by people's personal opinion.
iv) Subjective data
• It is when personal opinion has an influence on the outcome of the data collection.
vi) Quantitative data
• It is any data that involves figures. Is very easy to present and analyse.
vii) Qualitative data
• It is written data or photographs. Tends to be individual/personal, and can be hard to
present and analyse. Often comes as a result of interviews with open questions.
b) DESIGNING A RECORDING SHEET
• At the top put a title e.g. Traffic recording sheet
• Followed by: Date, Time, Location, Name of recorder, weather.
NB. If a question asks you to design a recording sheet, leave blank all the spaces or boxes for
recording the data that you would collect from the field. Do not enter example recordings.
• Always carry a plastic bag and clipboard for support whenever you are writing.
c) MEASURING ACCURATELY
• To reduce errors:
i) Know how to correctly read each instrument.
ii) If working alone, take several readings and average.
iii) When working as a group, more students should take the readings then average.
Explanation for anomalous result
• Failure to read the instrument.
• Student error in measuring.
How can the study/ results be improved?
• Using digital instruments.
• Use of more advanced method of doing the study.
MEASURING STREAM VELOCITY
Apparatus
• Poles
• Floats
• Tape measure
• Heavy rope
• Stop watch
How to measure stream velocity?
• Refer to Complete Geography p Table 13.4
• There are 2 methods presented there.
(Stick handout)
Where to measure stream velocity
• Choose a straight stretch.
• Water flow should be parallel to the banks.
• Channel free from boulders.
• Velocity should be taken at regular intervals across the channel.
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INVESTIGATING RIVER DISCHARGE
= Area x velocity
(For details refer to notes on Rivers)
MEASURING THE CROSS PROFILE (SECTION) OF THE BED OF A STREAM
CHANNEL AND FINDING THE AREA OF THE CROSS SECTION
(Refer to Complete Geography p Fig 13.6)
d) Counting methods
 Counting methods are normally required during investigation
 When investigating variations in pedestrian or traffic flows which involve counting,
the best way to record this is by using tally chart or by clicking an automatic counter
as each individual person or vehicle passes by.
 If doing a traffic survey at a busy road or time, it is best to have one student recording
data while each type of transport passing by is called out by the observer or else
different students could count and record the average the results.
INVESTIGATING TRAFFIC FLOWS – PLANNING AND DATA COLLECTION
Hypothesis-Traffic flows in and out of town centre vary at different main roads.
i)
Preliminary work in the classroom
 Choosing site/ sampling sites for the investigation (subjectively so as to cover all
roads).
 Allocation of sites to each group of students beforehand.
 Agreeing on time to start counting and how long will it last.
 Check-list of the equipment needed should be done in the classroom.
 Agree on how to classify traffic for easy analysis.
NB. Count should be long enough to give a representative sample for reliable data to be
collected but not so long because students will lose concentration.
ii)
During the investigation
 Two students stand on either side of the road-one counting the traffic moving into the
town centre and the other the moving traffic out.
 Each student needs a stop watch- which will be started and stopped at pre-agreed
times.
 Counts should be done a minimum of 3 times spaced throughout the day to include
range of flows.
iii)
Follow-up in the classroom
 Average the results if more than one group surveyed the same stretch of the road.
 Enter each group‟s results on a results sheet (Fig 13.9 page 344 Complete Geo) and
give each student a copy.
 Note any special circumstances that could have affected the results e.g. a concert, a
football match.
 Each student then will present, analyse and make reasoned conclusions.
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DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
 A questionnaire is a carefully designed sheet with a set of questions for the interview.
Advantages
 Can be conducted quickly.
 It takes little time for the interview.
 More people will agree to be interviewed because it is easy to complete.
Difficulties in using a questionnaire
 Language barrier.
 People might be illiterate.
 If there are open questions, the responses given by the people might be too long.
 People might not be willing to answer questions.
 Interviewees might be unwilling to give precise details.
 Inaccessibility of some areas.
 It may take long to cover an area.
 People maybe too busy to respond.
Qualities of a good questionnaire
 Short
 Simply worded
 Unambiguous
 numbered
Layout of a questionnaire
 Put the title on top.
 Put the date, time, location and name of student.
 Write a reminder of what to say before approaching a person.
 Write aims of the enquiry.
 Write a polite request to ask a few questions.
 Emphasize that you will not ask about the person‟s identity and that the answers will
be anonymous.
 Use headings and include boxes to tick.
 Include closed questions- those which lead to definite answers.
 You can end the questionnaire with open questions which require free response.
 However, the responses might be too long or difficult to record.
 End the questionnaire with „Thank you for your help and time‟
LAND USE
 This is normally done by using systematic sampling along one or more transects
starting at town centre to the edge of the town.
 Transects can be along roads.
 It‟s important to decide about land use categories beforehand (Fig 13.11 page 346
Complete Geography).
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Examples of Hypothesis about land use
 Comparison shops will be located near to shops selling similar goods.
 The height of buildings will increase towards the centre of the CBD.
 Different land use zones will be found at different distances from the centre of the
CBD.
 Suburban shopping malls have similar types of shops and services.
PLANNING AND CONDUCTING A LAND USE SURVEY OF A CBD
 Obtain a map of studied area or draw it.
 Decide whether to record all buildings or do systematic sampling.
 Decide land use categories.
 Decide whether to record just ground floor or all floors.
 Mark the uses on the base map.
 Devise shadings for each category and plot the land uses on another copy of the map.
 Remember to add the key.
VEGETATION
 To investigate changes in vegetation species, area sampling along a transect is done
using a quadrat.
 A quadrat can be a 0,5 or a 1m square placed on the ground at each sample point
which is selected systematically.
INVESTIGATING VEGETATION CHANGE ACROSS SAND DUNES USING
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
 Investigate along a transect line.
 Place ranging poles at high water mark then layout a transect from it at right angles to
the shore by extending a tape measure.
 Then mark the end with another pole at right angles to the shore.
 At regular intervals, place the quadrat beside the tape and count number of different
species.
 You can also measure the highest specie using a ruler.
 Record the results on the recording sheet.
 Move to the next sand dune.
NB: Use “along”, “across”, “up” and down correctly when you are describing beach
surveys. Along is parallel to the shore, while across is at right angles to it. Up the
beach is away from the high water mark, while down is towards it.
INVESTIGATING PEBBLE LAND SIZE CHANGES ALONG A RIVER BED BY
SYSTEMATIC POINT SAMPLING
 The sampling is done along a transect using systematic sampling.
 Stretch tape measure from one river bank to the other.
 Record on recording sheet whether you are starting from right bank or left bank
(facing down-stream).
 Place the ruler down to the river bed and pick a number of pebbles not more than
thirty.
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Place them in a bag labelled with the identity of the sample point from which they
were taken.
Measure the pebbles using callipers or pebble meter.
Average the pebble size at each point.
SURVEYING A
PRESENTATION
SLOPE
PROFILE-
DATA
COLLECTION
AND
DATA
Equipment
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a. Ranging poles
b. Clinometer
c. Prepared recording sheet
d. Pencil
e. Clipboard
f. Tape measure
Two students hold ranging poles one at the end of the slope and another at the
noticeable break of the slope.
Keep ranging poles vertical and that they rest on the surface but do not sink into the
ground.
One student holds the clinometer against the first ranging people and sights the same
height on the second ranging pole.
The second student reads and records the angle in the prepared table.
Distance between two poles is measured and recorded.
The slope can be drawn on a graph paper by measuring each angle from the starting
point and drawing a line at that angle for the distance recorded.
N.B. Examiners require detail so, if a question asks you to explain how to do a survey
like this, it‟s important to state which equipment, what you would measure with it,
and where the measurement would be taken.
BIPOLAR SURVEYS
 This is useful for assessing environmental quality using a range of scores.
 Scales can be used with positive and negative figures on either sides of zero.
 Negative figures show the extent of undesirable aspects.
 Positive figures show the extent of good aspects.
 Zero represents an average situation.
NB: When analysing individual criteria, be careful how you interpret a score of 0 for litter or
noise. It does not mean there is no litter or noise.
INVESTIGATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
DIFFERENT RESIDENTIAL AREAS–PLANNING AND
BIPOLAR SURVEY.
Planning the survey
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OF A TOWN’S
CONDUCTING A
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Choose appropriate number of survey sites.
Decide where survey sites should be located e.g. along a transect.
Select which characteristics of the environment to measure as indicators of
environmental quality e.g. noise, litter, pavements, roads, quality of housing exteriors.
Decide on a range of scores to use.
Prepare a recording sheet for use in the field and leave space to write the site number.
Decide the time of the survey and how many students will go each site.
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Conducting the survey
 Each student should record then average the results for accuracy.
 Then total to have environmental quality score that can be compared with other areas
 Rank the survey sites according to their scores
 Highest score is equal to highest quality of environment.
INVESTIGATING LONG SHORE DRIFT
 Paint some pebbles in a variety of bright, easy to see colours.
 Choose a time when long shore drift is occurring (onshore wind and oblique wave
crests).
 One student puts one pebble in the water and stays at that point.
 Another student watches the pebble for ten swashes and marks where it moved to.
 Measure the distance from the start and end point with a tape.
 Repeat. This could be combined with measuring wave frequency, or wind speed to
see how they affect long shore drift. Varied pebble sizes would be used to see their
effect.
RECORDING OBSERVATIONS IN THE FIELD
 This can be done by a field sketch or taking a photograph.
Field sketches
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This is a sketch diagram drawn to show the features.
The horizon and foreground are drawn in first.
Then the important features are added in and labelled.
Advantages

It highlights the main features.
Disadvantages
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It takes longer to draw.
It is difficult to draw in very cold, very wet or extremely windy conditions.
It does not show the detail of features.
Photographs
 A quicker way would be to take a photograph that can be annotated later from a rough
labelled sketch.
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Advantages
 It is quick to take.
 It can be taken in adverse weather.
 It shows all the detail.
Disadvantages
 The field of view might be too small to show all the desired features.
 An undesirable foreground (e.g. a line of trees), might obscure a desired feature.
PRESENTING THE DATA
 Introduce your investigation by stating the aim and hypothesis.
 This should be followed by a brief description of the studied area. Present numerical
data in data tables.
 Draw diagrams and graphs that will give the best visual impression of the data you
have collected
NB: Choose sensible, easy to work scales to avoid mistakes. Plan the scale before drawing it
to check that the range of data will fit on the paper. Be accurate when plotting graphs.
ANALYSING AND INTERPRETING THE DATA
Simple statistical analysis
NB: When making comparisons, either link a statement about each subject with „whereas‟ or
make a relative comment about them, using words ending in „er‟ or „est‟ such as „larger‟,
„smallest‟ or using „more‟ or „less‟. For example „the examiner is older than you‟ is not as
informative as „the examiner is 45, whereas you are 16.
*Mode- number appearing the most.
*Range- difference between the biggest lake and the lowest value.
*Mean- add all the figures and divide by the number of recording/figures.
LOOK FOR TRENDS
 It‟s usually easy to see trends, such as increases and decreases on graphs.
 Use adjectives such as large and small to describe the trends or quantify the changes
e.g. using halved or tripled.
NB. When describing trends, use detail, such as slight decline, large increase etc. Support
your description by quoting the amount of increase/decrease and the period of time over
which it occurred. Always refer to both axes of a graph. Never simply list figures, they must
be interpreted and used, not simply copied or listed.
LOOK FOR PATTERNS, RELATIONSHIPS AND ANOMALIES
 Patterns can be recognised from data expressed in both tabular and graphical form,
and then patterns are used to deduce relationships.
NB: When describing patterns, do not describe individuals but describe common themes
shown by the data e.g. most shoppers at an out-of-town shopping centre shopped less
frequently, travelled more by car and bought more high-order goods than those shopping in a
suburban shopping centre.
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Scatter graphs are valuable for recognising whether or not a relationship exists
between two variables and whether it is positive or negative (inverse).
The closer the points are to the best-fit line, the stronger the relationship.
SUGGEST EXPLANATIONS FOR YOUR FINDINGS
 Use knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts to explain distributions,
trends, patterns, relationships or anomalies you have found or to suggest why none
were found if that was the case.
MAKE CONCLUSIONS BASED ON YOUR DATA
CAN A HYPOTHESIS BE ACCEPTED?
 State a conclusion whether or not the evidence allows you to accept or reject the
hypothesis.
 Quote the data to support your decision.
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS IT ACCURATE?
 Some investigations may review several anomalies which suggest that the Hypothesis
is partly true.
 Support this conclusion by referring to one of the anomalies or a number of them.
NB: Do not simply state „it was a fair test‟ always explain, justify or support this statement
EVALUATE THE INVESTIGATION-TO WHAT EXTENT WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?
 If your hypothesis was sensible, the investigation was well planned, and unexpected
difficulties did not occur, it should have been generally successful.
HOW COULD IT BE IMPROVED?
 Anomalous results may suggest student error.
WAYS TO IMPROVE
 The use of digital measuring equipment would eliminate reading errors.
 Doing more measurement should improve the reliability especially if the average is
used.
 Taking an average of the results of several groups doing the same counting or
measuring task will minimise errors.
 Thorough research before investigation should remove problems.
 Reliability can be improved by doing more surveys.
HOW THE INVESTIGATION CAN BE EXTENDED
 Students can suggest other hypothesis about the subject which could be used to widen
the research.
NB: Don‟t be vague. The suggestion to „do more studies‟ will not gain credit unless the type
and or location of the extra study is stated. Try to practice all the data collection techniques at
least once, so that you have the experience to answer the Alternative to course work paper.
When answering questions, imagine being in that situation so that you can think of the
difficulties, problems and good points.
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