Fieldwork and the geographical enquiry
Geography · GCSE · The School
The enquiry sequence
Question → hypothesis → method → data collection → presentation → analysis → conclusion → evaluation. The exam examines your OWN fieldwork, so know your site, your date, and why you chose both. 'We measured river velocity at three sites on the River X in June' beats any general description.
Sampling
RANDOM removes bias but can miss a feature. SYSTEMATIC (every tenth house, every 50 metres) gives even coverage and can align with a hidden pattern. STRATIFIED samples each group in proportion, which matters when the population is mixed. Whichever you used, the mark is for saying WHY it suited your question.
Evaluating honestly
Name the real limitations: a single day's weather, a small sample, an instrument's precision, questionnaire responses skewed by who was willing to stop. Then say what you would change. Examiners reward a candidate who can see the weaknesses in their own data far more than one who claims none.
RANDOM: number every shop and pick 20 with a random number generator — unbiased, but may miss a whole type. SYSTEMATIC: every fifth shop along the street — even coverage, but could align with a repeating pattern. STRATIFIED: split into independents and chains, then sample each in proportion — best when you already know the groups matter. Naming the method AND why you chose it is what earns the marks.