Rural Fieldwork

​Lesson Objectives

​To identify a rural fieldwork enquiry

To understand how we collect rural fieldwork data.

To evaluate our data collection

​Coming up with a question?

​Coming up with a question about rural areas is the first stage of our fieldwork.

What have we learned about and how can we measure that in real life?

Think about who lives in rural areas, the environment, tourism, farming, sustainability, decline and growth

Open Ended

What investigation could we do on this area?

​Aims and hypothesis

​The aim of your fieldwork is what you are trying to find out. E.g

• What impact on the rural environment does the building of a new housing estate estate have?

• An investigation into the environmental impact of the new housing estate.

​Hypothesis

​The hypothesis is what you think you are going to find.

E.g The building of the new housing estate has had a negative impact on the environment.

Our rural area: Castleton (Peak District)

​Watch this short clip and note why people might want to visit the Peak District.

​Castleton

​Castleton is a small village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. As of the 2011 census, the population was around 649 people.

Castleton is a popular tourist destination, known for its picturesque surroundings and historical attractions. Some notable points of interest include Peveril Castle.
Tourism is a significant part of the local economy, with shops, cafes, and other businesses catering to the needs of visitors.

Open Ended

What hypothesis would you set for the following investigation.

"An investigation into the impact of tourism in a rural village in the Peak District"

(Think about what you expect to find...will it impact the environment, the shops, the people, the economy)

​Our investigation: Castleton

​Aims:
An Investigation into the impacts of tourism in rural Castleton.

Hypothesis:
1: Tourism has a negative impact on the environment in Castleton.

2: Tourism has a negative impact on the economy in Castleton

Open Ended

What risks might we face if we all went to Castleton?

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

​How can we measure this?

​Fieldwork involves the collection of information or data. Quantitative data usually consists of factual information that can be counted and used in fieldwork. Qualitative data is more opinion-based, but is still useful for geographical investigations.

Open Ended

What quantitative data could we collect to measure the impact of tourism on Castleton

Environmental Quality Survey

​

An environmental quality survey uses an observer’s judgements to assess environmental quality against a range of indicators. Often they work on a sliding scale of quality (like 1 to 5) to represent less good to good. Alternatively you can use a Bi-polar scale (like -5 to +5) to indicate a negative assessment through to a positive assessment, with 0 representing neither good or bad.

Open Ended

Do you think Environmental Quality Survey is a good measure? What are some of its limitations?

​Environmental Quality Survey

​As it is based on personal judgements the data collected using environmental quality surveys is subjective.

Open Ended

How could the Environmental Quality Survey be improved?

​Pedestrian and Traffic counts

​Pedestrian survey to consider the type of person, where they are, what they are doing within different parts of the rural settlement. This could be conducted at differing times of the day or year.

​Traffic Count

​

 This might include determining the noise level, measuring the speed of the traffic, as well as count different types of transport and the numbers of people using it. This count could also be conducted at differing times of the day.

Open Ended

What does this traffic co

Open Ended

What could some limitations of pedestrian counts and traffic counts be?

​Qualitative Data Collection

​Data does not have to be in numeric form - it can also be in words and descriptions

Open Ended

What qualitative data could we collect in Castleton?

​Field sketches and photographs

​- this is when a snapshot of a landscape is taken, either with a camera or by drawing. Field sketches and photographs provide a good reminder of what a place is like.

​Limitations

​The sketch may be inaccurate or not to the correct scale.
Important details may be missed.

The sketch may contain inaccuracies which affect the analysis for example more litter than there actually was at the site

​these can be either hand-drawn or sourced from somewhere like the internet. Maps give spatial information about places. Satellite images and GIS maps are types of map that can be used for fieldwork.

​Maps

​Questionnaires

​This is when people are asked what they think. Questionnaires are good at finding out opinions, but they may be less accurate when looking for facts.

Open Ended

What problems are there with this questionnaire?

Multiple Choice

Identify one type of quantitative data used in a rural environment land use change enquiry

• Population count

• traffic count

• environmental quality survey

• field sketch

​Lesson Objectives

​To identify a rural fieldwork enquiry

To understand how we collect rural fieldwork data.

To evaluate our data collection

​Homework

​ In this case, you are aiming to investigate consumer awareness of, and people’s opinions of sustainable shopping. In other words, you want to know what customers know and think about things like packaging, recycling, eco-friendly and Fairtrade products etc., and whether it affects where / how they shop.