Rural Practical Skills (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)
Revision Note
Written by: Bridgette Barrett
Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn
Aims, Sampling, Equipment & Risk Assessment
Rural Environment Fieldwork Enquiry
To undertake the rural fieldwork enquiry there are a range of practical skills and methods will be used
These can apply to any rural fieldwork
The fieldwork enquiry should be linked to geographical theory
In the rural fieldwork enquiry, the theories of counter-urbanisation can be linked to rural environment change
Aims and Hypothesis
The aims and hypothesis come from the questions asked about the change in rural environments such as:
What impact on the rural environment does the building of a new housing estate/road/industrial estate have?
How has the land use in [specified location] changed?
Examples of an aim would be:
An investigation into the environmental impact of a new road/housing estate/business park in [specified location]
An investigation into changes in land use in [specified location]
Examples of hypotheses would be:
The building of [specified location] housing estate has had a negative impact on the environment
The changing land use in [specified location] has negatively impacted the local environment
After the aims and hypothesis have been established the next steps include:
Selecting the sites - this will involve sampling
Deciding on the equipment to be used
Considering any health and safety issues - completing a risk assessment
Deciding on data collection methods
Worked Example
Study Figure 1 which shows a map extract of a farm
Suggest two possible geographical aims for an investigation of this rural area
(2 Marks)
Answer:
Changing land use on the farm (1)
The impact of changing land use on the environment (1)
Site Selection and Sampling
It is not practical to take measurements or look at changes in all parts of the rural environment
To select sites sampling should be used. 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 a rural environment enquiry are:
Systematic - sampling of sites/people at regular intervals along a transect line
Random - all sites have an equal chance of being selected. A grid is placed across the rural area to be sampled
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
Worked Example
You have studied rural environments as part of your own geographical enquiry
State one type of sampling you used in your geographical enquiry
(1 Mark)
Answer:
Systematic (1)
Stratified (1)
Random (1)
Opportunistic (1)
Explain one way that this method helped you to collect reliable data or information
(2 Marks)
Answer:
Systematic sampling was used at regular intervals (1) so that we knew that we would get good spatial coverage to minimise bias (1)
Stratified sampling was used as we had census data about the village population (1) so we could design a fair sampling frame for the questionnaire about the impact on the environment that we were using (1)
Random sampling was used as all sites have an equal chance of being selected (1) this minimises bias (1)
Opportunistic sampling was used as some of the sample sites could not be accessed (1) this meant the nearest accessible sites had to be used for data collection (1)
Equipment
To complete the rural 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 rural environment fieldwork may include:
Weather conditions
Uneven ground
Working in an unfamiliar place
Traffic
Livestock
Worked Example
Explain one way you managed a risk associated with your primary data collection
(2 Marks)
Answer: 1 mark will be awarded for identifying the risk and a second mark for developing the answer to explain how the risk was managed
In the rural area, there was a lot of farm traffic so risk the was being struck by a vehicle (1) this was managed by only walking on pavements and using designated crossings (1)
Fieldwork was carried out in summer so there was a slight chance of sunburn and heatstroke (1) Appropriate clothing was worn, suncream applied and water drunk regularly (1)
The uneven ground in rural areas poses a risk of slipping or falling (1) appropriate footwear was worn with good treads (1)
Livestock in fields poses a risk to people entering the fields (1) only entered fields where there was no livestock (1)
Using Equipment in the Field
The data collection methods depend on the aims/hypothesis of the fieldwork
In rural environment fieldwork the only equipment which may be used is a digital decibel meter
Other data collection may include questionnaires, traffic counts and environmental quality surveys
Data collection should include both quantitative and qualitative methods
Questionnaires
Questionnaires can be used to gather the opinions of local people on changes in the rural environment
An example of a statement question would be:
'The building of the new housing estate has increased traffic.' Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree?
An example of a closed question would be:
'How long have you lived in this area?'
An example of an open question would be:
'What are your views on the new housing development in ............?'
These can be used to gather a large data sample
Environmental Quality Surveys
Environmental Quality Surveys (EQS) can be used to compare different sites within the rural area
A survey would be completed for each site
Care needs to be taken to be as objective as possible
Feature | Negative | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Positive |
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Pavements | Pavements damaged and cracked in a poor state of repair |
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| Good quality pavements in excellent state of repair |
Buildings | Buildings look derelict and uncared for |
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| Buildings look well cared for |
Litter | Lots of litter |
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| No litter |
Traffic | Lots of traffic and congestion |
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| No traffic |
Green space | No green space, trees or vegetation |
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| Lots of green space, trees and other vegetation |
Graffiti | Lots of graffiti |
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| No graffiti |
Traffic and Pedestrian Flow Surveys
Traffic and pedestrian flow surveys can be used to compare the traffic and pedestrian levels at different sample sites
They can be completed on a tally chart at different sites and different times of the day
Vehicle | 9am | 11am | 1pm | 3pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Car |
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Bus |
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Lorry |
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Motorbike |
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Bicycle |
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Worked Example
Identify one type of quantitative data used in a rural environment land use change enquiry
(1 mark)
Answer:
Photos and sketches (1)
Information from newspapers/websites (1)
Open-ended questions from questionnaires (1)
Interview answers (1)
Photographs and Field Sketches
Photographs and field sketches are qualitative data
Just as with any data collection and presentation they have their strengths and weaknesses
In a rural environment enquiry photographs and field sketches can be used to show changes in land use and impact on the environment at sample site locations
Photographs are also useful for illustrating the data collection methods used
Worked Example
Explain why field sketches are a useful form of primary data
(2 Marks)
Answer:
Can capture lots of detail (1) which means they can be examined properly after the field trip has ended (1)
Highlights specific features which relate to the other data collected (1) so can be used to support other forms of data collection (1)
Easy to annotate to show details (1) so can help with analysis (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Annotations and labels are not the same. A label is a simple descriptive point. For example, 'litter'. Whereas an annotation is a label with a more detailed description or explanatory point. For example, 'Large amounts of litter near to a playground where there are no bins available.
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