You need to be able to describe the practical steps of each method, why these methods were chosen and the limitations to be able to evaluate how good they are in regards to reliability of the data as the question could take any of those approaches.
Exam questions about this information will refer to it as 'data collection techniques'
Exam questions about this information will refer to it as 'data collection techniques'
Method |
How it works |
Equipment needed |
Sampling |
Justification of the method |
Limitations |
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) |
5 categories are chosen e.g. noise to examine the impact of a development on the local environment. These are scored between -5 (completely negative) and +5 (completely positive). 0 means there is no impact. |
Environmental Impact Assessment form |
Systematic Sample is chosen at each site to study environmental impact. |
Allows us to understand the impact of a new development by examining how it has changed the local area. It is simple to use and as the categories are chosen by the person completing the fieldwork and so can be made specific to the enquiry. Positive scores clearly show a positive impact of rebranding. |
EIAs are subjective so can be different from person to person. It is imprecise as a place that was quiet could be marked as a 0 or 5 or -5 so it is difficult to gather conclusions from certain categories. |
Footfall survey |
The number of people are counted passing a fixed point in each direction for ten minutes. |
Tally counter |
Systematic – every person for ten minutes. |
This allows us to understand flows of people travelling towards and away from developments at key points in the day to examine their popularity and therefore success. It is a very easy method to use. |
Miscounting can occur, espcially if large qaunitties of people are entering at once. The centres we were looking at had multiple entrances so the data is squewed to the entrance we selected. Doesn't take into account that many are using the centres as passageways so aren't entering to spend money. Therefore the results have limitations |
Questionnaire |
Members of the public are asked questions about themselves and their opinions on the facilities in Nottingham |
Survey form |
Random opportunistic – members of the public area approached and asked to participate. |
Asking users of the CBD their opinions allows us to understand how successful the developments are. Asking people how far they have travelled lets us see success as the further people travel indicates greater success of the development. |
The views expressed are subjective. Due to the time of day and the fact this was carried out on a week day our survey results was skewed to those of retirement age and young mums. We didn't collect any views of young people as they were at school at the time of sampling. |