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Investigative Geography.

What is this unit about?

• This is a separate unit in Geography.• It will test the application of the knowledge,

understanding and skills acquired in the other units we have looked at.

• There will be a 1 hour and 30 minute exam in early May after we have gone on the residential fieldtrip.

• The exam paper will test your ability to analyse data from both Physical and Human geographical investigations.

What will I be assessed on?

• There will be structured exam questions in the following areas.

1. Establishing effective sequences of enquiry. 2. Acquiring appropriate evidence.3. Organising, recording and presenting evidence in

cartographic and diagramatic form making use of ICT.

4. Describing, analysing and interpreting evidence to draw conclusions.

5. Evaluating in relation to geographical knowledge and understanding.

What we are looking at today.

• We are going to be looking at the first section of any investigation- establishing an effective sequence of enquiry.

• First task- Define the following words for me.– Question.– Hypothesis.

Putting this into practice.

• I am going to investigate how building heights change from the outer suburbs to the CBD.

1. Write a suitable question for me to answer.

2. Now write a suitable hypothesis for me to prove true or untrue.

• Can we spot the difference?

Building height changes.

• We have established a question and an hypothesis to answer, what should I collect to carry out this investigation.

What information do I need?

Organising the data.

• What is primary and secondary data.PrimaryData that you collect in the field yourself. SecondaryData that is re-used by the researcher but

collected by somebody else.Label the information you said I needed to

get with a P or an S to show what kind of data it is.

Important!

• Within each type of data (Primary/Secondary) we can subdivide this further still by calling it either Quantitative of Qualitative.

• Quantitative data is numerical i.e that building is X metres high.

• Qualitative data is in the form of words, pictures or objects i.e this photograph shows that this building is taller than that building.

Qualitative

"All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding"

- Donald Campbell

The aim is a complete, detailed description.

Researcher may only know roughly in advance what he/she is looking for.

Recommended during earlier phases of research projects.

The design emerges as the study unfolds.

Researcher is the data gathering instrument.

Data is in the form of words, pictures or objects.

Subjective - individuals’ interpretation of events is important ,e.g., uses participant observation, in-depth interviews etc.

Qualitative data is more 'rich', time consuming, and less able to be generalized. 

Researcher tends to become subjectively immersed in the subject matter.

Quantitative

"There's no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0"

- Fred Kerlinger

The aim is to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

Researcher knows clearly in advance what he/she is looking for.

Recommended during latter phases of research projects.

All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.

Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or equipment to collect numerical data.

Data is in the form of numbers and statistics.

Objective – seeks precise measurement & analysis of target concepts, e.g., uses surveys, questionnaires etc.

Quantitative data is more efficient, able to test hypotheses, but may miss contextual detail.

Researcher tends to remain objectively separated from the subject matter.

Organise our data.

• Which elements of our primary and secondary data would you say are Qualitative and which are Quantitative.

How would we collect the data?

• Does it make sense to collect all of our data randomly?

• The best way around this is to design a tracking sheet. – This will allow you to carefully plan how and

when your are going to collect each piece of data and what questions or hypotheses each piece of data will answer.

Recording the Data.

• When carrying out an investigation it is vital to record the data properly and that a recording sheet is designed for example.

Street name

(Related to a map)

Type of building

(linked to photos)

Distance from the CBD

Height of building.

How are we going to present this?

• It is best to have an idea from the start (i.e. before the data collection) which methods of data presentation you wish to use.

• You may discover that the type of data you have spent hours collecting may not be suitable for anything more exciting than the simple pie/bar chart.

Compound Bar Graph

Simple Bar Graph

Histograms

• Histograms are similar to bar charts but a continuous scale divided into groups or "classes" is used (x axis). Vertical axis shows the frequency of each class.

Pie Charts.

• The pie chart is useful to show the total data divided into proportions. It often has good visual impact but it can be difficult to read the data accurately, particularly if there are several categories.

Proportional Pie Chart.

• The diameter of each pie is proportional to the total. This method integrates data together and involves a spatial element when plotted on a suitable base map.

• With some thought "death by pie chart" can be avoided by using this more interesting alternative technique to present data.

• Notice the need for two keys explaining the size and division of the circles.

Scatter Graph.

• Scatter plots are used to show a relationship between two data sets.The dependent data should be placed on the horizontal (x) axis. The points should not be joined up but a line of best fit showing the general trend is useful where there is an obvious correlation.

Line Graph

• Line graphs show changes over time. All the points are joined up and the axes should normally begin at zero. Rates of change are shown well, although careful thought to the scale should be given. Unsuitable if there are only a few data points.

Homework.

• Answer the following questions that could be typical of the type of questions you would get in an exam on graphs.

1. Give 4 features of a well presented and appropriately used bar graph.

2. Give an example of an occasion when you would use a histogram rather than a bar graph, and say how you would construct it.

3. State 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of using bar graphs in a geographical investigation.