What you'll learn
How to plan, carry out and evaluate a geographical enquiry.
The enquiry process
- Hypothesis/aim: a clear, testable statement.
- Data collection: primary (fieldwork you do) and secondary (existing sources); choose a sampling method (random, systematic, stratified).
- Presentation: suitable graphs, maps and diagrams.
- Analysis and conclusion: describe patterns, refer to data, answer the hypothesis.
- Evaluation: limitations and improvements.
Fieldwork techniques
- Examples: river measurements (width, depth, velocity), pedestrian/traffic counts, land-use surveys, questionnaires and environmental quality surveys.
Exam tips
- Justify why a technique or sampling method suits the enquiry.
- Always evaluate reliability and suggest improvements.
Common mistakes
- Vague hypotheses that cannot be tested.
- Choosing an unsuitable graph for the data.