1. Week 2 – literature review and methodology planning
w/b 10/6
DEVELOPING A FOCUS - look at examples and ideas from AQA
- Consider possible titles and study areas - complete questionnaire and formulate initial idea
SUBMIT INITIAL IDEAS BY FRI 14th
Week 2
w/b 17/6
PLANNING AND LITERATURE REVIEW
- You will be allocated a teacher as an NEA supervisor - Reading around topic/theory and link to course - identify study area - Identify suitable sub aims and hypotheses that can be tested. Ensure clear theory link. - Research data collection methods and appropriate equipment/techniques (including sampling strategies)
Complete A3 summary sheet
You must meet with your NEA supervisor at some point in this fortnight to discuss project.
Week 3
w/b 24/6
PROPOSAL WRITING - finish research and complete proposal form - Complete risk assessment (signed by parents) and ethical dimensions sheet - prepare data collection sheets SUBMIT PROPOSAL BY FRI 28th
Week 4
w/b 1/7
BEGIN WRITE-UP - start to write up introduction and methodology. - Proposals will be returned to you this week with feedback and guidance
Week 5
w/b 7/7
FINAL PREPARATIONS - Sign-out equipment required to conduct fieldwork.
- Make changes to proposal if necessary - Meet with supervisor – they will: Check data collection sheets, Check proposal changes are OK. If all OK you will be signed off ready to collect data. - Complete write up of methodology and introduction

2. NEA supervisor
We will come round today and let you know who your supervisor is.
You must meet with your supervisor (for mins) during the next two weeks to discuss your project in detail. Make sure you bring all of the work you have done so far.

3. Questions and sub-questions
At the beginning of this week you should be finalising you research aim/ question and devising clear sub-questions/hypotheses.
Ensure clear link to the specification – find part of spec that your investigation is linked to and note it down (this is important for your meeting with your supervisor)
You should justify each of your sub-questions and explicitly make sure they are relevant to your aim.
Make sure you have a clear and testable theory/concept. E.g. longshore drift/ gentrification
COMPLETE THE A3 SUMMARY SHEET TO ENSURE YOU HAVE THOUGHT THROUGH EVERY ASPECT OF THE INVESTIGATION

4. A3 summary sheet
This should help you to structure your ideas and encourage you to think logically
Due in at the end of this week

5. e.g.

6. The Markscheme

7. Researching relevant literature/ understanding the theory
A Literature Review should aim to:
Show what is already known about your topic by geographers
Show any models or theories in relation to your topic
Show where gaps in the existing geographical knowledge occur (and how your study aims to fill them)
Suggest why it is important to study this particular topic
Starting point - review your class notes
Geofactsheets – LOADS OF STUFF
AGS article library – LOADS OF STUFF
National geographic/ other magazines/ journals
New and historic text books – Waugh etc.
Do I know my theory/concept inside out? Have you got the most up to date info on it?

8. LITERATURE REVIEW What should I read?
Geofactsheets – hundreds of useful documents
Books are a good starting point for background reading. They will often give a broad overview of a topic and give you an idea of which areas of your investigation to look into next. Avoid using just your school textbook at any stage of your background reading – it not only shows a lack of real research endeavour, but as a text it is unlikely to be designed for the depth needed for your Independent Investigation.
What should I read?
Journals are academic magazines that contain a collection of recently written research from researchers working in universities. They will contain highly specific details about a certain topic, often quoting real life examples from around the world.
Newspapers can provide easy access to relevant and up-to-date information on a range of contemporary geographical topics. However, like the internet, they should be used with caution. Most newspapers subscribe to a particular political viewpoint and so may only present one side of a particular argument. Local newspapers may be a good starting point for finding out about issues that are affecting your local area.
The ease with which you can use an internet search engine to find information makes websites common sources of information. However, this ease comes with a catch and the internet can be notorious for being a source of wrong and misleading ‘facts’. It is important to consider authorship:

10. You must become the expert on your chosen concept/theory!
How do I read effectively?
You should record what you read onto your reading log, Useful things to note down include:
• Who wrote the article
• The year of writing
• The name of the book / journal / newspaper / website etc.
• The name of the article under which the information appears
• Who published the article and the place of publication
• The page numbers where the article appears
• Other specific information such as a web address
You will need this information to correctly reference in your write-up
Make notes on your reading and the theory of what you are studying
Ensure you record your reading on the reading log. This will be useful for your discussion with your supervisor.

11. Use the reading log This will help you to focus on your chosen theory
Remember your lit review is all about your chosen theory not your study area
Highlight 5 key words that you will use repeatedly in every section of your investigation
Essential for achieving highest level.

12. Methodology
Once you have settled on your question and sub-questions and read around your topic, you should consider what data you need to collect to answer your questions
You should aim to answer each sub-question with at least 3 different methods of data collection
There are many sources of information on the intranet and in text books to help you with choosing your methods.
RGS guide is very good
AQA initial ideas PDFs have suggested data collection methods on them
A-Z of fieldwork techniques book
Techniques and projects in Geog book
Example data collection sheets can be found in the week 3 folder
Excellent FSC pages here:

14. Equipment available from AGS
Consider what equipment you can manufacture/create yourself…
Metre rulers
Measuring tapes
Clinometers
Quadrats
Flow meter
Compasses (orientation)
Species ID charts
Callipers
Rain gauge
Maps
Range of data recording sheets (you can make your own ones of these though)
Some soil analysis tools
And some others – ask and we can suggest how to get hold of equipment via other departments or externally
Anemometers
Thermometer
Ranging poles

15. Possible secondary sources
Coastal landscapes:
Historic photos/maps e.g. Old coastlines e.g Bing.com/maps
Geograph.org.uk- photos of every OS grid square
Local authority websites
Local newspapers
Natural England
Wildlife group sites
Environment- agency.gov.uk/research/planning/ aspx Shore line management plans
Changing Places:
Planning proposals/private scheme materials/consultation materials
Highways dept
Department for Transport statistics
House/land price data
Local press reports
Before/after photographs
Water cycle:
National River Flow Archive (river level data)
Environment Agency
Met Office archive- monthly summaries
British Geological Survey’s site Geology of Britain (GIS)
Urban fieldwork:
Index of multiple deprivation
Neighbourhood statistic
Zoopla
Statistics.gov.uk
Local.live.com- aerial photos and satellite images- land use/housing type & density
Checkmyfile.com/postcode-check
Apho.org.uk/resource- Health profiles
Police.uk – Crime coverage
Google.com/earth

16.
Sampling
What is sampling and why do we need it?
When completing fieldwork it would be ideal is we could sample the full area / population. However, often there is not time to do this. Therefore, data is gathered on a small part of the whole population or area and use it to inform what the full picture is like.
Stratified Sampling
If it’s known that there are different groups or classes in a population, such as different rock types in an area, or different ethnic groups in a city, it is possible to make sure a representative sample is included in a survey. For example, if different rock types are evidence along a coastal stretch then then the area could be divided up into areas of differing geology. In each of these areas a sample could be taken.
Systematic Sampling
Using random numbers can be very time consuming. Systematic sampling is much easier and simpler. Systematic sampling involves choosing items at regular intervals e.g. completing a beach transect every 20 metres or interviewing every tenth person.
Random Sampling
Least biased of all techniques
Each member of the population has an equal choice of being selected
Can be obtained by random number tables
Excel has a function to produce a random number

17. Consider your data presentation and analysis from the start!
Bar charts and histograms
Pictograms
Pie charts
Scatter and line graphs
Box and whisker graphs
Kite diagrams
Triangular graphs
Rose and radial graphs
Isoline maps
Choropleth maps
Pictorial data presentation
GIS
MANY, MANY MORE

18. GIS
A significant amount of data which you collect can be ‘geolocated’ – i.e. the actual data can be presented on an electronic map in the exact location it was collected.
To do this you will need to log the latitude and longitude coordinates of each data collection point you use.
Finding the latitude and longitude coordinates of your current location (using iPhone)

19. Possible Data Analysis techniques
Central Tendency – mean, median, mode
Proportions
Dispersion – SD, IQR
Cost-benefit analysis
Spearman’s rank
Chi-squared test
Nearest neighbour analysis
Mann-Whitney U test
Qualitative data analysis

20. Study area During the next couple of weeks, it may be useful to:
visit your study area (if possible) to make sure that your proposed methods and questions are appropriate.
ensure you have permissions to access the your study area
at the very least do some further research into your study area, making notes on the locational and geographical characteristics of it.

21. So what do I need to do this week?
Nail down your title and sub questions
LIT REVIEW: Make sure you fully understand the theory of what you are studying – read around and take notes on your reading log (become the expert)
Find the specific part of the spec that your investigation relates to.
Work out what data you need to answer your sub-questions
Begin to plan your methodology (including sampling) – where, when, how, equipment etc. – link this to data pres. and analysis
Meet with your supervisor??
use the A3 summary sheet to justify your questions and plan out investigation.

22. Week 2 – literature review and methodology planning
w/b 10/6
DEVELOPING A FOCUS - look at examples and ideas from AQA
- Consider possible titles and study areas - complete questionnaire and formulate initial idea
SUBMIT INITIAL IDEAS BY FRI 14th
Week 2
w/b 17/6
PLANNING AND LITERATURE REVIEW
- You will be allocated a teacher as an NEA supervisor - Reading around topic/theory and link to course - identify study area - Identify suitable sub aims and hypotheses that can be tested. Ensure clear theory link. - Research data collection methods and appropriate equipment/techniques (including sampling strategies)
Complete A3 summary sheet
You must meet with your NEA supervisor at some point in this fortnight to discuss project.
Week 3
w/b 24/6
PROPOSAL WRITING - finish research and complete proposal form - Complete risk assessment (signed by parents) and ethical dimensions sheet - prepare data collection sheets SUBMIT PROPOSAL BY FRI 28th
Week 4
w/b 1/7
BEGIN WRITE-UP - start to write up introduction and methodology. - Proposals will be returned to you this week with feedback and guidance
Week 5
w/b 7/7
FINAL PREPARATIONS - Sign-out equipment required to conduct fieldwork.
- Make changes to proposal if necessary - Meet with supervisor – they will: Check data collection sheets, Check proposal changes are OK. If all OK you will be signed off ready to collect data. - Complete write up of methodology and introduction

24. Data needed
Kind of data (primary/secondary. qualitative/ quantitative?)
Method of data collection (including equipment, where, who etc)
Justification for method chosen (why? Which sub-question)
Sampling strategy (Systematic, stratified, random) explain how
Data presentation method (Graphical, cartographic? Use of GIS?)
Data analysis (stats test, data manipulation etc)