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This site is created by Mrs Lily Lee (teo_lily@moe.edu.sg)

1.1         Introduction

Background Information

Singapore is known as a multicultural city and one of the reasons as to why people visit Singapore is to experience its culture. Historic district such as Chinatown which used to house the Chinese community has been preserved to enable people to have a better understanding of the Chinese community. New infrastructures have been developed and improved on over the years for various reasons.

1.2         What are the tasks to be completed?

In groups of 4-5, you are to address the Geographical Inquiry question “What makes Chinatown a tourist destination?” Below is a checklist to guide you in answering this question.

Checklist

My group has completed...

Remember the 5 components of GI!

(a) Formulating aims and hypotheses/guiding questions: 

Hypotheses/guiding questions as statements form the basis of fieldwork. 

The hypotheses may investigate a geographical concept e.g. ‘The impact of tourism on an attraction is more positive than negative’. 

Guiding questions like ‘Why are 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) Data collection: 

Types of skills in fieldwork: 

(i) Observation – This is an inquiry skill to collect and record data through observation of physical features and human activities. Field sketches, annotated photographs, recording sheets, landuse surveys and maps may all be used to record observations. 

(ii) Questionnaires – For example, in human geography, consideration should be given to factors influencing the successful design of questionnaires (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). 

 (c) Data analysis: 

Describe and analyse the patterns and trends in data collected and suggest relationships. 

Apply relevant geographical knowledge and understanding when interpreting and analysing the data.

(d) Data presentation techniques: 

Present data using illustrations appropriate to the type of geographical investigation undertaken. 

These include maps with proportional symbols (e.g. volume of tourist arrivals to Singapore), flow-line maps, graphs (e.g. relationships between variables or across time), field sketches, annotated photographs, landuse survey with key/legend, bi-polar graphs.

(e) Forming conclusions: 

Using evidence from the data, candidates should be able to make judgments on the validity of the original hypothesis or reach a conclusion to answer the guiding question. 

Comment on the reliability of the data collected and evaluate the data collection methods used.