Changing City Environments: Formulating Enquiry Questions (Edexcel GCSE Geography A): Revision Note

Formulating Urban Enquiry Questions

Urban environment fieldwork enquiry

• To undertake the urban fieldwork enquiry, a range of practical skills and methods will be used

• These can apply to any urban fieldwork

Stages of the enquiry process

• The enquiry process is made up of six stages

  • Identification of a question and context

  • Selecting and using data collection methods

  • Processing and presenting your data

  • Analysing your data and reaching conclusions

  • Evaluation of the fieldwork

Geographical theory and urban environments

• The fieldwork enquiry should be linked to geographical theory

  • In the urban fieldwork enquiry, the theories of the changes in urban land use and sustainability can be used

  • Using a model or case studies helps to explain why certain processes occur or trends/patterns can be seen

  • They enable the identification of where the data collected is not as expected

Aims and hypothesis

• The aims and hypothesis come from the questions asked about change in urban environments such as:

  • How does the quality of the urban environment vary along a transect?

  • What impact on the urban environment does the building of a new housing estate/road/industrial estate have?

  • How has the land use on the urban fringe changed?

• Examples of an aim would be:

  • An investigation into the environmental impact of a new road/housing estate/business park in the city of Y

  • An investigation into changing in land use on the urban-rural fringe of the city of X

  • An investigation into environmental quality from the CBD to urban fringe in the city of W

• Hypotheses are statements that are tested through fieldwork

• An example of a hypothesis would be:

  • Environmental quality improves with distance from the CBD

• A null hypothesis is a statement that is opposite to a hypothesis 

  • This ensures there is no bias when collecting the evidence

    • You are not ignoring evidence because it doesn't prove the statement

  • If you cannot prove the statement then the opposite must be true

  • Examples of a null hypothesis would be:

    • Environmental quality does not improve with distance from the CBD

• After the aims and hypothesis have been established the next steps are to:

  • Select the sites: this will involve sampling

  • Decide on the equipment to be used

  • Consider health and safety issues: complete a risk assessment

  • Data collection methods to be used

Site selection and sampling

• It is not practical to take measurements or look at changes in all parts of the urban environment 

• To select sites, sampling should be used

•  True sampling will:

  • Reduce bias

  • Provide an overview of the whole

• There may be situations where access to the sample site may be limited, meaning an opportunistic approach may need to be taken

• However, this should be as close as possible to the site selected using sampling

• The most commonly used sampling strategies for urban environment enquiries are:

  • Systematic: a sampling of sites/people at regular intervals along a transect line

  • Random: all sites have an equal chance of being selected

  • Stratified: sampling sites which represent the whole

    • If 10% of the population is over 65, then 10% of a questionnaire sample should be over 65

• Site location can be recorded using GPS to give an accurate location using latitude and longitude

• Grid reference and compass points can also be used

Equipment

• To complete the urban environments enquiry a range of equipment is needed

• The equipment needed may include the following:

  • Record sheets

  • Interview Sheets

  • Pencil for completing recording sheets

  • Camera to take photographs of land use

  • Digital noise meter

  • Environmental Quality Surveys

  • Maps

Risk Assessment

• Any fieldwork will involve consideration of health and safety using a risk assessment

• Risks specifically associated with urban environment fieldwork may include:

  • Weather conditions

  • Working in an unfamiliar place

  • Traffic

  • Getting lost

  • Speaking to strangers

  • Pollution

  • Cars