E-GeO @ Everything is Geography.

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Geography
Alternative to Coursework
(Paper 4)
Paper code : 42
Efforts : Naresh Rathod
Enquiry skills for Paper 4

1. Formulating aims and hypotheses

- example, ‘A CBD has the highest concentration of comparison shops.’
2. Collection of data - Methods
- Questionnaires, maps, recording sheets, field sketches, photographs, Counts, Measurement.
3. Data presentation - Techniques
- Line graphs, bar graphs, divided bar graphs, histograms, low diagrams, wind-rose graphs,
isoline maps, scatter graphs, pie graphs, triangular graphs, radial graphs, dispersion graphs,
choropleth maps, kite diagrams, pictograms.
4. Analysis & Interpretation
- Describe the pattern.
5. Making conclusions
- Critical evaluation of hypothesis and judgement.
[Link]
A hypothesis is a prediction or statement that you make before your data collection. A hypothesis is
normally based on theory. During your investigation you attempt to prove or disprove your
hypothesis. A piece of coursework may have more than one hypothesis and it does not matter if you
prove or disprove it.
A hypothesis should always be SMART.
SMART hypotheses may include:
● The width of a river will increase as you move from the source to the mouth
● The amount of tra fic will increase as you move from the rural urban fringe to the CBD
● The amount of vegetation will increase as you move inland from the sea (distance = 200 m.)
2-3 Collection & compilation of data..
- Questionnaires, maps, recording sheets, field
sketches, photographs, Counts, Measurement.

Recording sheet
 Primary data Secondary data

● It is up to date (current). ● You can study temporal changes e.g. how

● You know how the data has been collected population has changed over a number of
i.e. what technique. years.
● It only includes data that is relevant to ● It can be quicker, especially if the data is on
Advantages your coursework. the internet.
● It only covers your study area. ● You can study a larger area.
● It is collected in the format that you want ● It may include data that you can not obtain
personally e.g. salaries.

● The data may include some personal bias. ● It is out of date, especially if it has been
● Data collection can be time consuming. printed in a book.
● It can be expensive to travel to places to ● There might more information than you
collect data. need.
● It is hard to study temporal changes. ● The information may include a larger area
Disadvantages ● Some data might be unavailable or too than your study area.
dangerous to collect. ● You may not know how the data was
● Only possible to cover a small area. collected and who collected the data.
● The data might be in the wrong format e.g.
in a graph and not raw figures
Pilot Survey: This is basically a test that you carry out before your data collection. It is very important that you test
your data collection forms to ensure that you ask all the right questions and your collection forms contain all the right
categories. It is too expensive and too time consuming to going and collect data a second time, if you missed it the first
time.

Sampling: As a Geography student you will only have a limited amount of time and money to carry out your
coursework. Therefore it will probably be necessary to only investigate a sample. A sample is simply a section or part of the
entire study area or study population.
Systematic Sampling Random Sampling Stratified Sampling

This is when you collect data in a This is when every area or person in Because both systematic and random
regular pattern. For example you may your study area has an equal chance of sampling can give you a
ask a questionnaire to every 10th being selected or asked. Random unrepresentative sample, if
person that passes you, or you might sampling can be done by pulling you have some secondary data that
only record the land use every 50 names out of a hat, by using a random allows you to rank your sample group
metres or every 5th building. When number table or a random number you can then carry out stratified
recording changes in river depth, generator on a calculator. sampling.
beach profile or changes in vegetation
you may only take a sample every 5
metres.
Open ended questions: These are questions that have infinite numbers of answers. The
respondent has no restriction on how they might answer e.g. What have you enjoyed about El
Salvador?
Closed questions: These are when there is a limited number of responses. These questions are
o ten multiple choice in style e.g. What have you enjoyed about El Salvador? A: The people B:
The weather C: The beaches D: The Colonial Villages E: Other

Advantages Disadvantages

● You are getting the respondents ● Some responses might not be relevant
personal opinion. to your research
Open ended questions ● They are not limited in their response. ● Respondents may not understand the
question and give you an irrelevant
response

● All answers will be relevant to your ● The results lack personal opinion.
research They can be very generalised
Closed questions ● The results are easy to analyse using ● You are nearly always forced to have
graphs and tables an "other" box meaning you don't
know what the respondent thinks
STEVENSON SCREEN

A stevenson screen is basically a white

louvered wooden box. The box is designed to
contain some weather equipment like
thermometers and barometers. The
stevenson screen is white to re lect sunlight
and has slats to allow air to circulate easily.
The stevenson should be placed above the
ground and away from the buildings. The idea
is for the weather instruments to take
accurate readings of the air, rather than
direct sunlight or heat from the ground or
from buildings.
BAROMETER

Barometers are used to measure air pressure.

Air pressure is normally measured in
millibars. Barometers are normally kept
inside stevenson screens to keep them safe. A
barometer has a movable needle (pointer).
The pointer can be moved to the current
reading so that you can then make a
comparison with the reading from the
following day
MAXIMUM & MINIMUM THERMOMETERS
A maximum and minimum thermometer records the
maximum temperature of the day and the minimum
temperature of the day (diurnal range). A
maximum/minimum thermometer contains a
mixture of mercury and alcohol. The mercury sits in
the u bend of the thermometer. The bulb at the top of
the tube reading the minimum temperature contains
alcohol and the bulb at the top of the tube reading the
maximum temperature contains a vacuum. On the
minimum side the expansion of the mercury is
restricted by the contracting alcohol, on the
maximum side the expanding mercury can expand
more freely into the vacuum. At any given time both
thermometers should record the same temperature.
However, during the day they would have recorded
the maximum and minimum temperature a steel
marker should indicate these temperatures
WET & DRY BULB THERMOMETERS/HYGROMETER

A hygrometer measures the humidity of the

air. Humidity is the amount of moisture
(water vapour) in the air. A hygrometer has
two thermometers, a dry one and a wet.
Humidity is measured by using a table that
looks at the di ference between the wet bulb
and the dry bulb. A hygrometer can also be
used to find dew point. There is a di ference
between the dry and wet bulb thermometers
because of latent heat created during the
process of evaporation.
RAIN GAUGE

Rain gauges are used to measure rainfall.

Rainfall is normally measured in millimetres.
Rain gauges should be placed on grass,
because if they are placed on concrete, extra
water can splash in. Rain gauges should also
be checked regularly to avoid evaporation.
WIND VANE

Wind vanes are used to check the direction of

the wind. Compass points are used to give
wind direction. Wind is measured in the
direction that the wind is coming from. Wind
vanes are o ten placed on top of buildings so
that they are fully exposed to the wind. When
using a wind vane you need to use a compass
to make sure that it is properly aligned.
ANEMOMETER

Anemometers measure wind speed. Wind

speed is normally measured in mph or kph,
but can also be measured in m/s (metres a
second). Digital anemometers are very
accurate, but the more basic plastic ones that
many schools have aren't very good or
accurate at recording light winds.
CLOUD COVER

It is also possible to count daylight hours,

sunshine hours or cloud cover. To Calculate
daylight hours you need to record the time
between sunrise and sunset. To Calculate
sunshine hours is a lot harder, because you have
to time every time the sun comes out
(stopwatch). To calculate cloud cover a mirror is
o ten used. You divide the mirror into squares
and then place the mirror on the ground. The
mirror will re lect the clouds and you can count
the number of squares covered or partially
covered by cloud. You can do this as a percentage
or convert to oktas which is the normal
measurement of cloud cover. You have to take
several readings to avoid anomalous results.
QUADRAT

A quadrat is normally used for measuring

vegetation cover. A quadrat is normally
50cm2 and divided into 100 small squares. By
placing the quadrat over an area of vegetation
you can calculate the area covered in
vegetation or calculate the percentages of
di ferent vegetation types. Quadrats are also
sometimes used for randomly selecting river
load or beach material. You can put the
quadrat over the area you want to sample and
then using a random number table or
calculator, select a square to collect the
sample from.
TAPE MEASURE

These are used for measuring medium

distances (commonly they go up to 30 or 50
metres). They are very good for measuring the
width of rivers, where one student can stand
on either bank.
METER RULE

A metre rule is used for measuring short

distances. Commonly they are used for
measuring the depth of rivers. Plastic metre
rules are great for this because they loat if
you drop them.
TRUNDLE WHEEL

These are used for measuring much longer

distances. You walk with a trundle wheel in
front of you, each click represents one metre.
You can sometimes alter trundle wheel so
that they click every 10 centimeters.
CALLIPER

Callipers are used to measure the width,

depth or length of small objects like load. You
place the object to be measured inside the
calliper and then close the calliper and read
o f the measurement (normally centimetres
or millimetres) because the object is small.
Callipers are great for recording changes in a
river's load or changes in beach material.
CLINOMETER

Clinometers are used for measuring slope

angle (gradient). They are normally used in
conjunction with ranging poles. You place
one ranging pole at the top of a slope and one
at the bottom. You then look through the
clinometer measuring the angle from one
ranging pole to another ranging pole. To get
an accurate angle, you normally take an up
reading and a down reading.
RANGING POLE

Ranging poles, look like a javelin and are

normally used for measuring slope angle with
a clinometer. However, they can also be used
for measuring things like the depth of a river
METAL CHAIN

Metal chains are very good at measuring the

wetted perimeter of rivers. The wetted
perimeter is the total length of the bed and
the two banks. Metal chains are good at
measuring this because they sink and adopt
the shape of the wetted perimeter. Once your
chain has adopted the shape you can then pull
the chain out of the river and measure its
length.
FLOWMETER

Flowmeters are used for measuring the velocity

of rivers. They have a small propeller which you
place just under the surface of the water.
Depending on the speed of the propeller a small
digital read out then gives the speed of the river.
If you don't have a lowmeter you can still
measure river velocity by using a loating object
e.g. table tennis ball, a stopwatch and tape
measure. You can measure out a distance e.g. 10
metres and then time how long it takes the table
tennis ball to travel 10 metres. You can then use
the formula speed = distance/time to calculate
velocity. This latter method is not as accurate
because the table tennis ball will be slowed
because of friction with the air.
STOPWATCH

Stopwatches are used in lots of di ferent data

collection techniques e.g. tra fic counts and
measuring river velocity. Stopwatches simply
measure a period of time.
COMPASS

Compasses are very simply used for working

out direction. They might be used for
measuring the direction of a wind vane or the
direction of a river
GRADEOMETER

Gradeometers are great for measuring the

angle of small slopes. You place the
gradeometer on the slope, as the legs adjust
the slope you can simply read the slope angle,
using the protractor in the top corner.
ROUNDNESS INDEX

Roundness index is basically used to measure

the shape of an object. There are a number of
di ferent roundness index, but most go from
a scale of very angular to very rounded.
Roundness index can be used to look at
changes in a river's load or changes in beach
material.
PEBBLEOMETER

A very basic device for measuring the size

and shape of material found on a beach or in
a river.
INFILTROMETER

Infiltrometers are used to measure

infiltration rates of di ferent surfaces. You
basically place the infiltrometer on a surface
(making sure the seal is secure) and then fill
it with water and time how long the water
takes to infiltrate.
Line and Bar graphs
Divided Bar Graph/Proportional Bar Graph
Scattered Graph
Photograph and Field sketch of a cement factory
Bi-Polar Survey
Isoline diagram
Dispersion Graphs
Tally - Pictogram - Choropleth map
Pie Graphs
Kite diagram, Radial Graph and Triangular graph
ank You!