Geographical Investigation

Fieldwork questions can test on any of the following aspects of the inquiry approach to fieldwork which require candidates to:

a. Formulate aims and hypotheses to investigate geographical concepts or guiding questions to solve a problem or answer questions;

The hypotheses may investigate a geographical concept e.g.

"The higher the temperature, the lower the relative humidity."

“The impact of tourism on an attraction is more positive than negative”.

Guiding questions like

"Does temperature differ with different types of ground surface?"

“Why are the tourist activities more sustainable at X than at Y?” may focus candidates to answer a question or solve a problem.

Steps to testing hypotheses or answering guiding questions include data collection, data analysis, data presentation and drawing conclusions from data.

b. Use the following inquiry skills and techniques to collect data:

• Observation of physical features and human activities and record observation in the form of field sketches, annotated photographs, recording sheets and maps;

• Measurement with due consideration to the location of instruments and the sampling methods adopted to provide reliable data. For example, in physical geography topics, candidates need to know the equipment (e.g. sling psychrometer) and techniques used.

• Questionnaires design (e.g. layout, format and wording of questions and the number of questions) and the conduct of the questionnaires (e.g., the sampling methods – random, systematic, stratified, line, point and area sampling, pilot survey, and location of survey).

• Conduct of interviews to collect in-depth information from a specific person or group of people. The interviewer should be reflective and take into consideration issues such as gender, experience and socio-economic status and also interview etiquette.

c. Make analyses of data through description and analysis of the patterns and trends in data collected and suggest relationships and explanations; Apply relevant geographical knowledge and understanding when interpreting and analysing the data.

d. Use presentation techniques to display data appropriate to the type of geographical investigation undertaken. These include graphs, maps with proportional symbols (e.g. volume of tourist arrivals to Singapore), graphs (e.g. relationships between variables or across time), field sketches, cross sections and transects.

e. Form conclusions through commenting on the reliability of the data collected and evaluate the data collection methods used as well as making judgements on the validity of the original hypothesis or reach a conclusion to answer the guiding question.