PAPER 4

6/12/2019
ENQUIRY/INVESTIGATION

• Identification of problems/ issues

• Testing hypothesis. It is a statement or an idea about something to be proved from your
fieldwork
AN ENQUIRY IS AN INVESTIGATION

• To investigate,

1. Ask questions
2. Collect data/ information
3. Present the evidence
4. Draw conclusion
ASKING QUESTIONS WOULD HELP
TO IDENTIFY
AIMS AND HYPOTHESIS
WHAT IS A HYPOTHESIS

• A hypothesis is a statement about your

topic of study that can be proved or
disproved by testing.
VARIABLES
AR E CHAR ACTER IS TICS OR NU M BER S CA N BE UNDER THE INF LUENCES OF CHANGES

• There are three main types of variables in a scientific experiment:

• Independent variables, which can be controlled or manipulated;
It is called independent because its value does not depend on and is not affected by the state of
any other variable in the experiment
• Dependent variables, which (we hope) are affected by our changes to the
independent variables;
• Control variables, which must be held constant to ensure that we know that it's our
ONCE YOU FORMULATE A HYPOTHESIS,
YOU SHOULD START TO PROVE THE
HYPOTHESIS
• Therefore, You need
– Collection of data
– Presentation
– Analysis
– Conclusion
– Evaluation

09/01/2023 by- Sharmele Ramesh 8

DATA COLLECTION
• It is important to be as objective as possible
this means that there is no bias and your personal opinions do not affect the outcome.

Data collection can be two different ways

1. Primary data collection that is collected by you personally.
2. Secondary data collection that has been collected by someone else.

Data can either be:

•human - information about people, eg cities and tourism
•physical - information about natural landscapes, eg rivers and
coasts
DATA COLLECTION CAN BE
CATEGORIZED INTO ANOTHER TWO
1.Quantitative data is that which involves figures/ numerical, making it easier to present
and analyse.

2. Qualitative data is that which is written information or photographs, so it tends to be

more personal but difficult to present and analyse
WHEN COLLECTING DATA, THERE ARE THREE
APPROACHES CAN BE TAKEN - SAMPLING
 Sampling is a process of measuring a small number of sites or people in
order to obtain a perspective on all sites and people.

Why do geographers use sampling?

-Sampling is quicker
-Sampling is cheaper
-Often it is impossible to access whole population
WHAT IS OBJECTIVE DATA?

• Information about the objects found in a survey

• Data that does not rely on a personal opinion

• Data that is obtained from a survey where people are protesting about something

• Data that is incorrect

WHAT IS A SAMPLE?

• A sample is a group selected from a larger population.

• A sample will represent the whole population.
• It must be determined without bias
• Sample of 30 is usually considered for an investigation.
METHODS OF SAMPLING

• When you apply sampling in the field ( primary data collection) / on a map ( secondary data
collection) the following types will be considered.

1. Point sampling: sampling an area by selecting points in it.

2. Area sampling:  sampling when there is no complete frame of reference is available. The
total area under investigation is divided into small sub-areas.
3. Line sampling: sampling an area by drawing lines to cover most of the population
EXAMPLES

• Point sample: pedestrian count, area investigation/ locational analysis such as to take
observations at individual points, like separate houses on a street.

• Area sampling: use square quadrat for vegetation cover. Collect all the information on selected
area such as place a quadrat on the beach and measure pebble shape and size within that area.

• Line sampling: see the changes/ pattern on a line, how pebble sizes are changing along the
beach
 3 TYPES OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
. 1.Systematic sampling- using a regular interval or pattern.
Example,: Asking a questionnaire to every 7th person who passes
Sampling at every 10 meters along a line

2. Random sampling - selecting sample points or people by using random numbers

to avoid bias.
For Example: get all the people in an area on a list from 1-99 and then use the
random number table to select which people you would give a questionnaire to

3. Stratified sampling– to ensure different groups or types are represented in your

sample at the same proportions as they exist in real life.
For example in a town 30% is young, 40% are working age and 30% elderly you
could sample 3 young, 4 working age and 3 elderly people.
 3 TYPES OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
. 1.Systematic sampling- using a regular interval or pattern.
Example,: Asking a questionnaire to every 7th person who passes after each interview.
Sampling pebbles in every 5 metes along a line.

2. Random sampling - selecting sample points or people by using random numbers to

avoid bias.
For Example: get all the people in an area on a list from 1-99 and then use the random
number table to select which people you would give a questionnaire to

3. Stratified sampling– to ensure different groups or types are represented in your

sample at the same proportions as they exist in real life.
For example in a town 30% is young, 40% are working age and 30% elderly you could
sample 3 young, 4 working age and 3 elderly people.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF RANDOM SAMPLINGS
• Can be used with large sample
populations.
• Can lead to poor representation of the
overall parent population or area if large
areas are not hit by the random numbers
generated
• .
RANDOM SAMPLING

A DVA N TA G E S D I S A D VA N TA G E S

• Can be used with large sample • Can lead to poor representation of the
populations. overall parent population or area if large
• Avoids bias areas are not hit by the random numbers
generated.

• There may be practical constraints in

terms of time available and access to
certain parts of the study area
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING

A DVA N TA G E S D I S A D VA N TA G E S

• it is more straight-forward than random • It is more biased, as not all members or

sampling points have an equal chance of being
• A grid doesn't necessarily have to be used, selected
sampling just has to be at uniform • It may therefore lead to over or under
intervals representation of a particular pattern
• A good coverage of the study area can be
more easily achieved than using random
sampling
METHODS OF COLLECTING PRIMARY
DATA
• Survey and counts, E.g.
Land use survey, Environmental quality survey, Traffic count,
• Observation , E.g. differences between features / similarities, ( it’s subjective)
• Measuring, E,g. time, weather features, angles….
• Sketching
• Taking Photographs
• Interviews using questionnaire
• Focused group discussion
WHAT IS SAMPLING?

• Gathering data from books

• Counting every plant of different species in a field
• Generating random pairs of co-ordinates
• A short-cut method of investigating a large population or area
WHEN COLLECTING DATA, THERE ARE THREE
APPROACHES CAN BE TAKEN - SAMPLING
 Sampling is a process of measuring a small number of sites or people in
order to obtain a perspective on all sites and people.

Why do geographers use sampling?

-Sampling is quicker
-Sampling is cheaper
-Often it is impossible to access whole population
STRATIFIED SAMPLING
A DVA N TA G E S
• It can be used with random or systematic
sampling, and with point, line or area techniques
• If the proportions of the sub-sets are known, it
can generate results which are more
representative of the whole population
• It is very flexible and applicable to many
geographical enquiries
• Correlations and comparisons can be made
between sub-sets
D I S A D VA N TA G E S
• The proportions of the sub-sets must be
known and accurate if it is to work
properly
• It can be hard to stratify questionnaire data
collection, accurate up to date population
data may not be available and it may be
hard to identify people's age or social
background effectively
QUESTIONNAIRES

•How to design a questionnaire

•How to carry out a questionnaire

2 IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE
CONSIDERED
• 1. Questions should relate closely to your hypothesis
• 2 Questions should be easily understood by your
respondents.
NOTE DOWN

• Questionnaire interviews can be done in two different ways

1. Live
Whether in person or by video conference, phone, or text chat, a live interview allows you to
adapt questions and lines of inquiry as you go.

2. Correspondence
An interview by mail or email is less spontaneous than a live interview, but it provides a record of
questions and answers.
SOME IMPORTANT FEATURES OF A
GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE
• Start with the Date, Place, Weather, …………. ( think about some other relevant info)
• Include a brief intro to say the purpose of asking the questions.
• Begin with an easy opening questions , E.g Is this your first visit? ( depends on the context)
• Consider the types of questions that you need to ask. E.g. closed question/ open ended questions.
• Time saving questions- giving them options to tick/ circle/ other
• Decide whether questionnaire is verbal or written
• Opinion based questions that should lead to clear , precise answers
• No ‘out of box ‘ questions. Questions should focus your hypothesis.
• Plenty of space for answers
• No sensitive questions age, income, Gender issue
• Remember to Thank the person for their time
QUESTIONS-TASK 4 ON PG 247
YOUR CHOICE
SURVEY/ CLASS TEST

• survey
Hypothesis:
To measure or understand British school students’ idea of
‘ ZERO WASTE CONCEPT’

( please modify according to your perception)

E.g, Lunch habits survey, how to reduce a single use plastic
TO CARRY OUT THE SURVEY

• Work in pairs
• Design a questionnaire
• Think about samplings
• Include relevant questions.
• Produce your own set of questions to do a small survey among students, teachers, admin staff,
housekeeping, canteen staff…..