The hypothesis The task will always be a broad statement like this:

The regeneration of the inner city has been successfu l.

:our challenge is to see whether the statement can be proven right or not. It

IS more accurate to speak of this statement as a hypothesis.

From this broad hypothesis, your teacher will devise a focus for your work

usually in a particular place, for example: '

The regenerat ion of Londo n's Docklands has been successfu l.

Your fieldwork will then be about proving, or disproving, the hypothesis.

+ A hypothesis is a statement intended as a prediction for an investigation. After the investigation, it can either be accepted (proved) or rejected (disproved).

The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been very successful.

Hypothesis proved.

The regeneration of London's Docklands has

not been at all successful.

Hypothesis disproved.

The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been successful in some ways but not others.

Hypothesis only partly proved.

How will I know what to do? Don't worry - you're not on your own! Your

teacher will make sure that you know what to

do at all stages. You will have all the fieldwork

organised for you and you will be helped

closely in the early stages. Until you start

doing the presentation of your data, you'll be

allowed to work in a group, and to ask your

teacher for direct advice.

After the fieldwork, you'll spend several weeks

putting the results together, presenting them using

various methods e.g. graphs, maps and photos.

You'll analyse these, and then draw conclusions

from them.

You then carry out a final evaluation of your

investigation.

This chapter will take you through an investigation

so that you • know what to do at each stage

• get ideas about how to present data • know what to do when it comes to writing your

analysis, conclusions, and evaluation.

Later, especially during the write-up, you

will have to work alone, but even then your

teacher can talk generally about what makes

good data presentation or analysis. What

you have to do is to make the decision about

which styles you'll actually use.

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+ In this section you will learn how to develop an introduction to your study, and how to write your aims.

Step 1 There are 5 steps to your invest igat ion. Each is covered in the next few

pages. Each stage requires a different amount of supervision by your

teacher, or different level of 'control' . Take a look at this table to see what's

involved in step 1.

Step 1 What do I do? Level of supervision

Listen to the focus of your task, and make sure you understand what you are investigating, and where.

Find out about the area where you'llbe doing your fieldwork. Research .. ",, ;. ,,~ ,.•.•.,~.

around the issue you are looking at. ~~~t~&'0.]~~~~W~=,

Start writingup your aims, with close guidance from your teacher. You'll find that your aims look verysimilar to everyone else's.

Research and p'lanning

The introduction Your teacher may have pictures or video material of the area you are going

to study, and you will probably have been taught a bit about the theme

already e.g. about inner cities or about coastal processes.

You need to write up a short introduction (perhaps 300 words) which could

answer some of these questions.

• Where is the area located? Locally? Within which part of the UK? Outside of the UK?

• What is the area like? (Try using descriptions and photos, and look at

dig ital maps from sources like Goog le Earth.)

• What issues are affecting the area, and why?

• What processes are affecting the area, and with what effects?

'"I ,.~~"......

. Resee,rching geography

The aim and hypotheses Remember that your teacher can help you in th is

section. You can also write this part before you do

the fieldwork. Writing the aim is very simple. Look

at the example hypothesis:

The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been successful.

Your aim can be as simple as:

The aim of this investigation is to prove the

hypothesis that 'The regeneration of London's

Docklands has been successful.'

However, a broad hypothesis like this is

usually better when split up. The success of

the regeneration being investigated could be

measured in different ways.

• Economically - is it creating jobs? Are they

well-paid jobs? Does it offer economic

opportunity to areas with high unemployment?

Is there prosperity e.g. high numbers of car

owners, home owners?

• Socially - does everyone gain? Do the poor gain as much as the wealthy? Does

regeneration provide better housing, education

(improved schools) or leisure facilities (e.g.

parks)? Is public transport provided to help

people who do not own cars?

• Environmental- is there an improvement in the

environment? Are buildings well maintained,

or streets free of litter? Is it safe and well lit at

night?

You cou ld now write : I have split my main hypothesis into three smaller

... Large office blocks overlook the old doc ks in London.

... New homes in east London close to Docklands . These are be ing

built on the sites of old council housing built for low income groups.

Many of these will be for private sale. Successful regeneration or not? ones. a) The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been successful economically. By this I mean...

b) The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been successful socially. By this I mean...

c) The regeneration of London's Docklands has

been successful environmentally. By this I

mean ...

Add some colour

You could add photographs with captions

designed to make the reader think. If you use

other people's photos - e.g. from the internet ­

make sure you always give the source. Never

try to pass something off as your own if it isn't.

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In this section you will learn some basic Ordnance Survey map skills, and ideas for using GIS in your Controlled Assessment.

Using OS Maps A good way of demonstrating geographical skill in

your Controlled Assessment is to make use of an

Ordnance Survey (OS) map to locate your area of

study, to show a route, or to identify key features.

Combining this with the use of GIS (global

information systems) could be a strong feature of

your planning and research.

Finding places

Every OS map is divided into a grid, and each grid line has a number. You can use these numbers, the grid reference, to give the location of a particular place. To locate a grid square, use a 4-figure grid reference.

• Find the eastings gridlines first (the numbers along the top and bottom) e.g. Tower Bridge is between eastings 33 and 34. Take the lower value (33).

• Next, find the northings (the numbers running top to bottom) - Tower Bridge is between north ings 80 and 81. Again take the lower value (80).

• So Tower Bridge lies in grid square 3380.

To pinpoint more specific locations, use 6-figure grid references.

• Again take the eastings first. Look at the square containing Tower Bridge (33 to 34). Imagine the square is divided into tenths. The bridge (not just its name!) lies about seven tenths across. So write down 337.

• Next, look at the northings and imagine the square to be in tenths between 80 and 81. The bridge is two tenths across. So write down 802.

• So the full 6-figure grid reference for Tower Bridge is 337802.

Measuring Distance

The scale of this map is 1:50008 so 2 em equals

1 km. Measure the distance between two places

on the map with your ruler. Divide this number by

2, and that is the distance in km. Use one decimal

place for part-kilometres. The distance on the map

between Tower Bridge and Liverpool Street station

is about 3cm. Divide this by 2, and we know the real

distance is approximately 1.5 km, in a straight line.

Using Directions

On OS maps, north is always at the top of the map.

To find the direction of Liverpool Street station from

Tower Bridge, work from Tower Bridge. Move an

imaginary line (or your ruler)

like the hand of a clock

around Tower Bridge, until

it meets the station. Then

look at the angle of this line W compared to the compass.

Liverpool Street station is

NNW of Tower Bridge.

N

E

S

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

Several GIS are available on the web. You have

almost certainly used Google Maps or Google

Earth. You should try to use GIS in your Controlled Assessment.

• Match an OS extract like this. Photos bring places alive.

• Update recent developments. GIS can be ahead

of printed maps e.g. in showing new roads or housing.

• Provide screenshots of areas of your stUdy to

give more detail. An OS map can't show age or

density of housing - but a digital image can.

5 Use Google Maps to find the area shown in this OS 1 Give 4-figure grid references for Canary Wharf. and

Liverpool Street station. 2 Give 6-figure grid references for Canary Wharf, and

Liverpool Street station. the Straight line distance a from Canary

3 Measure . Wh rf Wharf to Liverpool Street station b from Canary a

to Tower Bridge. , I . dl ctlIon a from Canary Wharf to Liverpoo

4 Give the Ire Wh rf tlon b from Tower Bridge to Canary a,tStreet s a I

map. Take a screenshot, and paste it into a Word

document. 6 Identify five things on the photo that can't be

identified on the OS map. 7 Take screen shots of close-ups of a Canary WI"larf

b Shadwell c Victoria Park. a Describe what you can see about land use from

these three areas,

In this section you will find out about the fieldwork activity, what

you have to do, and how to get the best out of it.

Step 2 This is the second step in your investigation. Take a look at this table to

understand what level of control is required by your teacher.

" , . .. Take a full part in the fieldtrip! Go out and collectdata. Follow carefully all the instructions about what to do.

Fieldwork activity

Remember you are essential to successful data collection as everyone else is depending on you, and you on them.

Yourteacherwill decide most of the fieldworkdata collection methods e.g. land use maps or questionnaires.

You can show initiative by collecting some of your own data. For example, take photos and collect information that maybe freely available e.g. from tourist offices, or estateagents.

Fieldwork tips Fieldwork methods depend upon the focus.

You'll have very different tasks to do if you're

studying a river compared to an inner city area.

Whatever your focus, you need to make sure

that you

• collect a range of data

• make sure you are clear about how every

piece of data collected fits into what you are

trying to investigate

• get experience in collecting all data

• remember that you're part of a team - the

data that you collect could be important to

everyone in your year group.

;. . . .-Low. You do this ingroups. Your teacherdoes not have to be watching you all the time.

Low. You can shareyour results with the classto get a better set of results.

Low. Yourteacher can helpyou to makesure you have collected data in the rightways.

Low.Your teacher- will encourage you to do this anyway. But make sureany data you collect is relevant - don't just collect anything - and ask your teacher if you are unsure.

... Students collecting data in groups. Like these students, you're allowed to use each other's data and work together.

Collecting data Look again at the earlier hypothesis: The regeneration of London 's Docklands has

been successful. The table below shows some possible data collection methods.

You could use these ideas to suggest methods for your own investigation.

Method Purpose I

Land use map for your stucv'area

I

Show what kinds of land use exist now, and how they mayhave changed - can 'lOUfind a historic map from before the regeneration?

Age-ot-uulldfngs map for your stuaY.,area

Identify the most recent buildingswhichhave resutted from the regeneration.

Envi(onmental Quality SUliVey (EQS) at differeot places

Compare environmental qwality (building quality, noise, open space) in areas that have been regenerated with areasthat haven't.

Ouestionnaire to find out people"s ideas about the success\ofi~eneration

Find out whether people thinkthey have benefited from regeneration or not, and to seewhether their ideas vary with ageor gender.

Field sketches Give your own impressions of the areas you visit- the annotationsare more im20rtant than artistic Quality!

Photographs Take photoqraphsofdifferentareas to be used alongside the ECilS, to g i v~ ~ visual reference.

V An Environmental Quality Survey (EQS),

Qualities being assessed

Good

+2

Fairly good

+1

Av.

0

Fairly poor

-1

Poor

-2

1. Well designed / Poorly designed / pleasing to the eye ugly

~ 2. In good condition In poor condition ro ::::l 0" C)

3. Evidence of maintenance / improvement

Poorly maintained / no improvement

l: "C 4. Outside -land, gardens Outside - no gardens, ::::l

I:C or open space are in good condition

or land /open space in poor condition

L-----­5. No vandalism evident

"' ­ ~ -Extensive vandalism

~ - -

Collecting secondary data Your own data may not be the only source that will help you. You can use

secondary data - that is, data which has been collected by other people or

organisations. • Census data - although it may be out of date by a few years, it is still a valid,

complete sample of everyone living in the area that you are studying.

• Data on house prices - either from estate agent publicity, or from

upmystreet.co.uk, which will give you an idea of how much house prices

have changed.