Topic 6: Fieldwork enquiry stage 1 - Understanding of questions and enquiry processes — Edexcel GCSE Geography B
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Topic 6: Fieldwork enquiry stage 1 - Understanding of questions and enquiry processes explained
This criterion asks you to recognise which questions can be investigated through fieldwork and which enquiry processes suit them.
Read the full explanation
A fieldwork question must be geographical, linked to a place or process you can visit, and answerable with data gathered in the time available. How does footfall change with distance from a town centre? is investigable; Why do distant governments hold certain opinions? is not. Once chosen, the enquiry runs in sequence: hypothesis or aim, data-collection plan, collection, presentation, analysis of patterns, conclusion and evaluation. A question about change across a city needs a transect with a sampling plan, not one site visit. Justified links between question and process earn credit, not memorised stage lists.
Your focus
- Identify fieldwork questions that are geographical and investigable on site.
- Sequence the stages of a geographical enquiry for a given question.
- Justify the choice of enquiry process for a named question.
Topic 6: Fieldwork enquiry stage 1 - Understanding of questions and enquiry processes exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies a question that is geographical and can be answered with data collected on site.
- Explains why a chosen question suits a named fieldwork location or process.
- Sequences enquiry stages so that each one follows logically from the question.
- Matches a sampling plan, such as a transect, to a question about spatial change.
- Rejects questions that require opinions from distant places or data beyond the visit.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Test each candidate question by asking whether you could collect data about it during one visit.
- 💡Write the enquiry steps in order and check that each one links back to your question.
- 💡Name a specific location or sampling method when you justify a process.
Common Mistakes
- Treats a question about global politics as investigable through fieldwork; correct it by checking the question can be answered with data collected on site.
- Places conclusion before analysis in the enquiry sequence; correct it so conclusions follow analysis of the collected data.
- Selects a single site visit for a question about change across an area; correct it by planning transect or multiple-site sampling.