Guide to IGCSE Coursework
ALTERNATIVE TO COURSEWORK
The last paper of the Geography exam will test your practical geography skills. The paper is one hour 45 minutes in length and will consist of two questions, one based on physical geography and the other based on human geography.
You will need to demonstrate that you have sufficient knowledge to carry out an enquiry or investigation and do the following:
You will need to demonstrate that you have sufficient knowledge to carry out an enquiry or investigation and do the following:
- Plan an enquiry.
- Collect data for an enquiry.
- Present data from an enquiry.
- Evaluate and analyse the data collected and draw conclusions.
An enquiry is often based around a HYPOTHESIS, which is a statement that can be tested e.g. the distribution of facilities for old people in town X does not match demand.
It may be based on a NULL HYPOTHESIS, which suggests there is no relationship between two variables e.g. there is no relationship between building height and distance from the centre of the CBD in town Y.
It may be based on a NULL HYPOTHESIS, which suggests there is no relationship between two variables e.g. there is no relationship between building height and distance from the centre of the CBD in town Y.
COLLECTING DATA
There are two types of data:
- PRIMARY DATA is data collected by the students themselves during an enquiry by measuring or counting etc.
- SECONDARY DATA is data taken from other sources e.g. government statistics, the Internet etc.
SAMPLING
Sampling is the collection of data from a fraction of the population.
There are a variety of reasons why we sample.
There are a variety of reasons why we sample.
- It is quicker than measuring every item.
- It is therefore cheaper.
- Often the population size is too great to measure all of them (e.g. pebbles on a beach).
- It is unnecessary to measure a whole population since a carefully chosen sample can give you an accurate result.
- It is sometimes impossible to gain access to a complete population (i.e. some people may refuse to be interviewed for a questionnaire).
- We may wish to take a snapshot of a population at a certain time (e.g. traffic flow in a city between 8am and 9am).
We must take care how we sample to avoid BIAS e.g. interviewing people by telephone might exclude poorer people who don't have a telephone or interviewing people at a shopping centre on a weekday morning might exclude people who work during the week. Bias can mean that we collect inaccurate or unrepresentative data.
TYPES OF SAMPLING
RANDOM
A random sample has no bias and every member of a population has the same chance of being chosen.
e.g. Use of a Quadrat to select ten pebbles on a beach or recording the first ten people to enter a store.
SYSTEMATIC
The sample is collected in a consistent manner.
e.g. Interviewing every tenth person to enter a store or recording every tenth house.
Often this is done at specific distances such as recording land use every 200m along a transect.
STRATIFIED
This is choosing specific quantities of a population usually based on prior knowledge.
e.g. Interviewing ten men and ten women as they enter a shop or interviewing a proportion of each age group (below 30, 30-50, 50 plus) as they enter a shop. In each case you have selected Quotas of each group that you want to talk to.
A random sample has no bias and every member of a population has the same chance of being chosen.
e.g. Use of a Quadrat to select ten pebbles on a beach or recording the first ten people to enter a store.
SYSTEMATIC
The sample is collected in a consistent manner.
e.g. Interviewing every tenth person to enter a store or recording every tenth house.
Often this is done at specific distances such as recording land use every 200m along a transect.
STRATIFIED
This is choosing specific quantities of a population usually based on prior knowledge.
e.g. Interviewing ten men and ten women as they enter a shop or interviewing a proportion of each age group (below 30, 30-50, 50 plus) as they enter a shop. In each case you have selected Quotas of each group that you want to talk to.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ENQUIRY SKILLS
1) QUESTIONNAIRES
One way to collect data is to use a questionnaire. This could be done by standing on the street and interviewing people. It could be done by going house to house to either interview people or by posting it through their letterboxes to be collected later. It could be given out at the entrance to a shop or leisure centre and then collected later.
Questionnaires can be done orally with students asking the questions and recording the responses of interviewees or may be written with the questionnaires distributed and the respondents having more time to write down their answers.
Consideration must be given to the design of questionnaires including:
One way to collect data is to use a questionnaire. This could be done by standing on the street and interviewing people. It could be done by going house to house to either interview people or by posting it through their letterboxes to be collected later. It could be given out at the entrance to a shop or leisure centre and then collected later.
Questionnaires can be done orally with students asking the questions and recording the responses of interviewees or may be written with the questionnaires distributed and the respondents having more time to write down their answers.
Consideration must be given to the design of questionnaires including:
- Wording of questions (must be grammatically correct).
- Length of questions (not too long).
- Number of questions (not too many).
Questions can be either OPEN or CLOSED.
Open questions are those that a respondent can answer in any way.
e.g. How long did it take you to travel to the shopping centre?
Closed questions offer a limited number of responses. It is often easier to analyse data collected from closed questions.
e.g. How long did it take you to travel to the shopping centre?
Open questions are those that a respondent can answer in any way.
e.g. How long did it take you to travel to the shopping centre?
Closed questions offer a limited number of responses. It is often easier to analyse data collected from closed questions.
e.g. How long did it take you to travel to the shopping centre?
- 0-10 minutes
- 11-20 minutes
- 21-30 minutes
- More than 30 minutes
When taking part in a survey using a questionnaire, students should be:
- Polite and charming (even if someone refuses to answer your questions).
- Have a document from your school explaining who you are and what you are doing.
- Smartly dressed.
- Working in pairs and never alone.
Before a questionnaire is given out it should be tested with a PILOT SURVEY. It should be tested on a small number of people to find out if any questions are unclear and need to be changed.
Questionnaires can be used to find out about:
- Spheres of influence.
- The use of services.
- Shopping Habits.
- Leisure activities.
- Tourism.
Attitudes of the public to new developments.
An example of a good questionnaire with closed questions and a bad questionnaire with open questions. The open questions will give a wide variety of answers and this data will be much more difficult to process.
An example of a written questionnaire that might be left at a recyling point,.
2) OBSERVATION
A second way to collect data is by simple observation. Here information can be collected in a variety of ways.
FIELD SKETCHES can be made and labelled appropriately to show key features. These could be used in both human and physical geography.
LAND USE SURVEYS these could be done in both rural and urban areas where the use of land could be determined as one of a number of clearly defined functions. This type of survey is often done in a city to delimit or define the area of a CBD.
Some of the categories that could be noted in a survey of land use are listed below.
Residential
Industrial
Commercial
Entertainment
Public Buildings
Transport
Services
Open space
Vacant buildings can also be recognised
Land use surveys are often done along a TRANSECT or line. These are routes frequently leading out of the CBD or cutting through the CBD, which allow changes to be seen in an urban area. Surveys along a transect could include:
An example of a good questionnaire with closed questions and a bad questionnaire with open questions. The open questions will give a wide variety of answers and this data will be much more difficult to process.
An example of a written questionnaire that might be left at a recyling point,.
2) OBSERVATION
A second way to collect data is by simple observation. Here information can be collected in a variety of ways.
FIELD SKETCHES can be made and labelled appropriately to show key features. These could be used in both human and physical geography.
LAND USE SURVEYS these could be done in both rural and urban areas where the use of land could be determined as one of a number of clearly defined functions. This type of survey is often done in a city to delimit or define the area of a CBD.
Some of the categories that could be noted in a survey of land use are listed below.
Residential
Industrial
Commercial
Entertainment
Public Buildings
Transport
Services
Open space
Vacant buildings can also be recognised
Land use surveys are often done along a TRANSECT or line. These are routes frequently leading out of the CBD or cutting through the CBD, which allow changes to be seen in an urban area. Surveys along a transect could include:
- Function.
- Building height.
- Building age.
- Building condition.
The same transect techniques could be used to plot information on noise or pollution levels as ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS or temperature variations in urban and rural areas.
Data collected during these surveys would be noted on recording sheets or plotted directly onto maps.
In all surveys the type of sampling to be done must be considered very carefully. Often along transects systematic sampling is carried out with sample locations chosen for example every 200m along a transect of several kilometres. However, with more information about an urban area a stratified sample technique for example 70% of the samples taken in residential areas might give better results.
The results of these surveys would often be plotted on base maps and ISOLINE MAPS of the surveys results constructed. Isoline Maps are constructed by plotting the data as a series of points on a map. Then constructing lines of equal value around them.
COUNTS
Counts could be used to collect data on pedestrians or traffic flow. Counts could also possibly be used to collect information on tourists or visitors to a leisure facility.
One very important factor with a count is the design of an appropriate recording sheet. See the example on the next page for an example of a well laid out recording sheet. Note the headings and appropriate notes for recorders.
The numbers recorded on a recording sheet should be written down using the TALLY SYSTEM. You may be asked to show the tally on the recording sheet and the tally should be arranged in orderly columns.
Counts can be made as either STATIC or MOVING counts. In a static count the recorders are stationary and pedestrians walk past them. A problem with this is that an individual may walk past more than once and be recorded twice or more. With a moving count the recorder walks along a street and records how many people he or she passes. This method gives an impression of how many people there are in an area at any given time.
Points to remember about counts:
Data collected during these surveys would be noted on recording sheets or plotted directly onto maps.
In all surveys the type of sampling to be done must be considered very carefully. Often along transects systematic sampling is carried out with sample locations chosen for example every 200m along a transect of several kilometres. However, with more information about an urban area a stratified sample technique for example 70% of the samples taken in residential areas might give better results.
The results of these surveys would often be plotted on base maps and ISOLINE MAPS of the surveys results constructed. Isoline Maps are constructed by plotting the data as a series of points on a map. Then constructing lines of equal value around them.
COUNTS
Counts could be used to collect data on pedestrians or traffic flow. Counts could also possibly be used to collect information on tourists or visitors to a leisure facility.
One very important factor with a count is the design of an appropriate recording sheet. See the example on the next page for an example of a well laid out recording sheet. Note the headings and appropriate notes for recorders.
The numbers recorded on a recording sheet should be written down using the TALLY SYSTEM. You may be asked to show the tally on the recording sheet and the tally should be arranged in orderly columns.
Counts can be made as either STATIC or MOVING counts. In a static count the recorders are stationary and pedestrians walk past them. A problem with this is that an individual may walk past more than once and be recorded twice or more. With a moving count the recorder walks along a street and records how many people he or she passes. This method gives an impression of how many people there are in an area at any given time.
Points to remember about counts:
- Flows may differ in the mornings and afternoons with the movement of office workers.
- Flows will vary through the week with differences at weekends or on weekdays.
- In busy areas you will need two counters.
- You should stand with your back to a wall or shop so that people cannot pass behind you as you are counting.
- In very busy areas recorders can stand back to back to count people moving in both directions.
- Counts should be started at the same time so that many recorders in different locations can be coordinated.
Data from counts will often be presented in the form of flow diagrams.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
In this section you will need to understand the methods and techniques required to carry out the following:
- River Studies
- Beach Studies
- Meteorology
- RIVER STUDIES
- HOW TO MEASURE A RIVER'S SPEED
- Measure a 10m length of the river.
- Measure the time it takes for a float (e.g. a tennis ball) to travel the distance.
- Do this several times at various points across the river.
- Calculate an average speed. This is the speed of your float at the water's surface.
- Multiply your result by 0.8 to give the river's true speed.
- HOW TO MEASURE A RIVER'S WIDTH AND DEPTH
- HOW TO MEASURE A RIVER'S SPEED
Run a tape along the waterline from bank to bank. This will give you the river's width.
Along this length you can measure the depth of the water in the river at regular points (e.g. every 50cm). You can then transfer this information on to graph paper to show the cross section. Such a diagram will allow you to calculate the cross sectional area of the channel. As shown below.
Along this length you can measure the depth of the water in the river at regular points (e.g. every 50cm). You can then transfer this information on to graph paper to show the cross section. Such a diagram will allow you to calculate the cross sectional area of the channel. As shown below.
- HOW TO CALCULATE A RIVER'S DISCHARGE
You have found the river's speed in (in metres per second) and the cross sectional (in square metres). Multiply these two figures together to give the discharge (in cubic metres per second or cumecs).
- HOW TO MEASURE THE GRADIENT OF A SLOPE
Use a CLINOMETER as shown in the diagram on the next page. This method could be used to measure the slope of a river's banks or its gradient downstream. This is a common exam question, so pay careful attention to the diagram below.
