Quantitative & Qualitative skills (AQA AS Geography): Exam Questions

Name one source of quantitative data that you used to study your distant place.

Evaluate the usefulness of that source in helping you to understand the place, by comparing it with the qualitative sources used to study that place.

Explain why some form of sampling is almost always used when students are carrying out fieldwork to collect data for a geographical investigation.

Study Figure 2, an aerial photograph of an area where a geographical investigation is to be undertaken.

Using evidence from the photograph, explain why this area is suitable for a variety of geographical investigations

State, using evidence from Figure 2, two appropriate hypotheses or questions for geographical investigation in this area. One should be based on physical geography. The other should be based on human geography.

You have experienced geography fieldwork as part of your course. Use that experience to answer the following questions.

State the aim of your fieldwork investigation.

Explain how the investigation helped you develop your geographical understanding of the place studied.

Evaluate the success of your data collection methods and explain how you would make use of an opportunity to revisit the location to develop your enquiry further.

A group of students was carrying out an investigation into the effects of globalisation on the small town where they lived. The local chemical factory was closed down 18 months previously and production was transferred to the company’s factory in Hungary. The students’ aim was to discover whether people in different parts of the town felt that the closure had made the town a better or a worse place to live. Their hypothesis was ‘People are more pleased with the factory closure as distance from the old factory site increases’.

They carried out a questionnaire survey in ten places at varying distances from the old factory site. Figure 3 shows one of the tables of data that they produced. It shows responses to the question ‘Has the closure of the ChemMan factory made this town a better place to live?’

Figure 3

The site of their survey is shown on the map, Figure 4.

One of the students tested for a correlation between the two sets of data in Figure 3, using a Spearman’s rank correlation test. Figure 5 shows how she set out the data and started her calculations.

Complete the calculation of Rs (show your working).

Figure 6 shows an extract from the table of critical values for Rs.

Figure 6

Critical values of Rs for Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

How confident can you be that the student’s hypothesis, ‘People are more pleased with the factory closure as distance from the old factory site increases’ is supported by the data?

The student thought that using a scatter graph to show the data would help her analysis. She drew the graph shown in Figure 7.

Draw a best fit line on the graph, Figure 7.

Figure 3 shows one of the tables of data that they produced. It shows responses to the question ‘Has the closure of the ChemMan factory made this town a better place to live?’

Figure 3

The site of their survey is shown on the map, Figure 4.

‘People are more pleased with the factory closure as distance from the old factory site increases.’

To what extent does the evidence in Figures 3, 4 and 7 support this hypothesis?

Figure 1a shows ethnic groups as a percentage of population in rural and urban box areas in England, 2016 and 2020.

Figure 1b shows detail for all minority ethnic group populations in rural and urban areas in England, 2016 and 2020.

Analyse the data shown in Figure 1a and Figure 1b.

Outline one ethical issue that must be considered when collecting data from an interview.

Figure 2 is a transcript of a recent on-line interview between a Geography student and a resident of Forest Gate, East London.

Figure 2

Using Figure 2, suggest how one type of map could be used to prepare for a geographical investigation in this place.

With reference to Figure 2, suggest one aim for a geographical fieldwork investigation and outline one method of primary data collection.

Aim.........................................................................................................................

Primary data collection method.............................................................................

You have experienced geography fieldwork as part of your course. Use that experience to answer the following questions.

State the aim of your fieldwork investigation.

Evaluate the usefulness of secondary data sources in meeting the aim of your enquiry.

Assess how useful the data presentation method(s) you used in your investigation were for data analysis.

A student was planning fieldwork to investigate if there were significant differences in the social and economic characteristics of two similar sized towns in the region of North East England where they lived.

Figure 3 outlines the background to the investigation, relevant theory and secondary data collection.

Figure 3

Figure 4 shows the percentage of owner-occupied housing in each electoral ward.

Figure 4

Calculate the median value for Town A.

Median value =..............

The student decided to present the data on a dispersion diagram to show the spread box of data for each town.

This is shown in Figure 5.

Two values are missing on the dispersion diagram in Figure 5.

Plot the values from the table below onto Figure 5.

To analyse the data the student calculated the mean values for Town A and Town B.

The student then calculated the standard deviation for Town A.

Figure 6 shows how they set out the data and started their calculations.

Complete Figure 6 and calculate the standard deviation to two decimal places.

Show your working in the space provided in Figure 6.

The student then repeated the standard deviation calculation for Town B. The result is shown below.

Using Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, evaluate the usefulness of these statistics for data analysis in this investigation.

In which of the following do both pieces of data show the economic characteristics of a place using quantitative sources?

Figure 1 shows changes to London’s population between 1931 and 2020.

Analyse the data shown in Figure 1.

Suggest why it is good practice to evaluate sources of secondary data used in a geography fieldwork investigation.

Suggest how qualitative data collected from an interview can be analysed.

You have experienced geography fieldwork as part of your course. Use that experience to answer the following questions.

State the aim of your fieldwork investigation.

To what extent did health and safety considerations influence your choice of site(s) for primary data collection?

‘Thorough planning always leads to reliable data collection in the field.’

With reference to your own experience, to what extent do you agree with this statement?

A student has carried out an investigation into changes in urban land use in a medium-sized town in the south of England.

Figure 4 outlines the aim, the background theory, the hypothesis and the method used for the investigation.

Figure 5 is a sketch diagram of the urban transect the student drew using his local knowledge and Ordnance Survey maps. He added his sampling points.

Suggest why the student decided to collect data using a systematic sample.

The student tested for a correlation between the two sets of data in Figure 6, using a Spearman’s rank correlation test.

Figure 7 shows how he set out the data and started his calculations.

Figure 8 shows critical values of R_s for Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Complete the calculation of Rs in Figure 7 to two decimal places and use Figure 8 to interpret these findings.

Figure 1a is an OS map of Great Chesterford, a village in north west Essex in 1950.

Figure 1b is an OS map of Great Chesterford in 2021.

Analyse the continuity and change over time shown between Figure 1a and Figure 1b.

Suggest one reason why background reading is useful preparation for any fieldwork investigation.

Figure 2 is an aerial photograph of Diss, a small town in Norfolk.

Suggest how Figure 2 could be used to help devise a sampling strategy for a human geography fieldwork investigation.

Suggest how geo-located data collected by a student could be presented on Figure 2.

A student was planning fieldwork to investigate whether a housing development had altered the place character of a village.

Figure 3 outlines the background to the investigation, the aim, relevant theory and hypothesis for primary data collection.

Figure 3

Figure 4 is the student’s sketch map of the fieldwork site.

The student decided to use secondary data to show the number of houses sold and the number of crimes reported between 2010 and 2019. He wanted to compare the data to see whether there were any significant differences in the mobility of the population and the safety of the two areas, which both have a similar number of houses.

Figure 5 shows the secondary data the student used in the investigation.

Figure 5

Sources

Houses sold – accessed from a property website which uses the government’s Land Registry to source information about houses sold.

Crimes reported – accessed from a police website which records all crimes reported in a local area.

The student decided to compare the number of houses sold by calculating the median, a measure of central tendency.

Explain why he chose to calculate the median number of houses sold and not the mean.

Suggest how the student could present this secondary data to aid his analysis.

Suggest why the student’s secondary data on crime may be more reliable than the house sale data.

The student decided to write a plan for how he would collect his primary data.

Figure 6 shows his plan for primary data collection.

Figure 6

Plan for Primary Data Collection

Method to collect data on place character
A survey tool was designed by the student. It included five key characteristics of place character with four words to describe possible aspects of each of these. At each site surveyed a decision would be made about which of the four words for each place characteristic is a ‘best fit’ based on the student’s observations.

Sampling strategy
The data collection sites will be situated 200 m apart along a line transect that follows the main access road through each of the areas of the village. Six sites would be surveyed for ‘place character’ in each area on one day in September.

Risk assessment
The data collection will be done in daylight and a first-aid kit carried at all times in the event of slips and trips. A mobile phone will be carried in case of an emergency.

Figure 7 shows his sketch map of planned sampling points.

Figure 8 shows the survey tool that the student designed to collect primary data. He would complete this survey at each site.

Figure 8

Site 1 Circle the word in each category that best describes this place

Using Figures 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, evaluate the student’s plan for primary data collection.

In which of the following lists are two pieces of qualitative secondary data that would show change over time in a place being studied?

With reference to a place you have studied, evaluate the usefulness of quantitative data sources such as statistics and maps in representing the lived experience of a place.

Outline an example of when qualitative data collection may be suitable for a human geography fieldwork enquiry.

Figure 2 shows the index of multiple deprivation across selected districts of Manchester, England in 2015.

Using Figure 2, suggest how this GIS map could be useful for planning primary data collection in a local human geography fieldwork enquiry.

Using Figure 2, suggest limitations of this map for planning fieldwork.

You have experienced geography fieldwork as part of your course. Use that experience to answer the following questions.

State the aim of your fieldwork investigation.

Outline how data processing or presentation helped with the analysis of primary data.

Evaluate the usefulness of background reading in developing the aim of your investigation.

A student was planning a fieldwork investigation into place satisfaction in her local town.

Figure 3 outlines the background to this investigation and the secondary data she collected.

Figure 3

Referring to Figure 3, plot and label the data for Site A and Site B onto the triangular graph in Figure 4 (opposite).

Figure 5 outlines how the student carried out the investigation.

Figure 5

Complete Figure 6 (opposite) by calculating the mean and the inter-quartile range (IQR) for Site A.

Interpret the findings from Figure 6.

Using Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, evaluate how far the data collected and the way it was processed would be useful for proving her hypothesis:

‘The residents of the housing estate on the greenfield site will have greater place satisfaction than those living on the brownfield housing estate.’

Which would be the best type of map to show cultural and social differences within a place that you have studied?

Outline one ethical consideration you should think about when collecting geographical data.

Using Figure 2, suggest how the map could be a useful starting point for fieldwork investigations into both the physical and human geography in this area.

Using Figure 2, suggest two limitations of using this map as a planning tool for fieldwork.

You have experienced geography fieldwork as part of your course. Use that experience to answer the following questions.

State the aim of your fieldwork investigation.

Justify how you analysed your data in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the enquiry.

To what extent did the use of secondary sources of data in your investigation contribute to the conclusions you reached?