Geography A Level NEA

Your NEA should be one of the best bits of your Geography A Level! It's your chance to pick a topic that really interests you, apply your understanding of Geography to a real place that is familiar to you and collect and analyse your own data. Let's get started!

Let's start by getting a few ideas of possible topics. Make a copy of the table below. Use the link to the AQA Specification to make a list of the topics that you find more interesting. You can choose any topics from the specification, even if we have chosen not to teach that options unit. If it's in the Specification its a legitimate topic for investigation!

Now you have a potential list of interesting topics, tackle the second column. Hot deserts might be fascinating but you'll struggle getting primary data on them! So looking at your list of interesting topics can you identify possible sites you could visit to investigate this topic? Finally, pick your top 3 ideas in the third column. This is not finalised, don't worry, but hopefully its given you a bit of a starting point for development.

Start an NEA folder now where you keep all your notes and documents for this process. You'll probably need a digital folder and a hard copy folder for different types of documents. I'd also recommend starting a references word document from now. Any book, journal or website you use for any stage of the NEA process should be put in the bibliography at the end of your finished project. You'll save yourself a lot of time if you note these down as you go along in the proper Harvard referencing format (see pages 17-19 in the RGS Guide linked below).

The Royal Geographical Society has produced a very thorough guide to carrying out the NEA. We will come back to this document regularly during this process. Read the 'Before you start' section up to page 9. You might also want to complete the 'Thinking through your research before you start' questions for the topics you have already identified. This might help you reject any unsuitable ideas or push you more towards other ideas.

The Field Studies Council have produced this concise guide to the enquiry process. It would be a useful document for you to read now so you can see the process of the different stages of conducting an investigation. It might also be useful to download a copy to your NEA folder.

Hopefully you have a few ideas floating around by now. Watch these FSC NEA Skills videos to get you thinking about which topics are most suitable how you'd actually go about investigating them. Note down any methods, models or theories they mention that might tie in with your ideas. Also note down any practical concerns to do with data collection, sampling or access to sites. We might be able to find solutions to these concerns but we need to be realistic from the beginning.

I hope you're spoilt for choice with interesting opportunities for investigation titles! Now we need to narrow it down to one main focus. You need to do a little background reading into the last couple of ideas you are considering. Check your textbooks and do some online reading to establish if you have a good foundation to pursue the study. This might include a model or theory related to your topic that features in A Level Geography textbooks. This might include secondary data that you intend to compare to, contrast with or update. This might include published journal articles by authors investigating similar topics to you. If you come across lots of material don't forget to note it in your bibliography so you can find it again later. If you can't find anything it might be time to consider rejecting this topic as an idea!

I think this is also a good time to get you using GIS! Geographic Information Systems is the name given to digital maps showing data. They can be incredibly useful in identifying if you actually have a topic to investigate or not based on data collected form a wide range of sources. GIS can, and should, form a part of ALL stages of your NEA right from now in the planning stage, through to your data collection, into your data presentation and finally helping you draw solid conclusions.

I have set up ArcGIS accounts linked to the school account from your school email. Please log into your school email account and verify your ArcGIS account. Now work through these two step by step training sessions on how to effectively use ArcGIS. You might also want to use Survey123 as a means of collecting and analysing your data. Look at the guide below.

Once you have completed the training sessions you can use these new skills to investigate your potential topic using ArcGIS map layers. Is there any evidence within the ArcGIS layers that you are onto something interesting? Perhaps the maps help you identify good locations within the local area to investigate your topic. Save any maps you create in your account with titles stating the layers you have used.

So you have an interesting idea you want to investigate... but what are you actually going to DO to collect data? The FSC live sessions we did together back in April and May contained introductions to lots of different methods, as do the FSC videos above. The resources for the FSC live sessions are available from the first link below.

The NEA Methods Menu available from the second link below is very useful too. I'd recommend downloading a copy to your NEA folder now. It's the fourth link down on the page. Obviously not all methods will be suitable for your study. Choosing appropriate methods is part of the skill of conducting an investigation; and one you will be marked on! You must gather some primary data which is data you collect yourself. This might be number based quantitative data or it might be more subjective, opinion based qualitative data. Both are equally as valid and often can be very compatible when analysed together. Furthermore, you will probably want to back your own research up with secondary data that you obtain from existing published studies.

By this point you should have a topic that interests you, a few ideas for potential sites you will investigate, a few methods you could use for data collection and bit of background reading you can link all your research to.

The wording of your title is important to consider. It can be a question... "To what extent...?" or it can be a statement "An Investigation into...". Most importantly it should be focused in terms of topic and location. By this I mean it should not be too broad; trying to cover too many geographical concepts or topics can lead to a confusing and weak investigation. Also the scale of the study area should be small, specific and realistic. You are much more likely to be able to collect reliable data and draw valid conclusions if you follow this advice. For example "To what extent do coastal processes affect South Devon?" is far too broad in both concept and scale. Narrow it down... which specific processes are you going to investigate? Name the local site(s) that you are going to visit. Now... "To what extent does longshore drift affect the size of sediment at Torcross beach compared to Strete Gate?" is a much more manageable title.

Your hypotheses should be one, two but no more than three, sentences stating what you think you might find when investigating the title you have decided on. Don't worry if you are not sure what your data will find yet. Excellent investigations can have conclusions that prove their hypotheses, but I have also seen top marks being awarded for finding them wrong. You are not expected to know this at this stage. See page 23 in the RGS Guidance for more help with hypotheses.

Let's get these plans down on paper. Print out the Student Planning Form on pages 10-13 from the RGS NEA Guidance and read page 14 before filling it out. This is not a contract! You will not be penalised if your ideas evolve as your investigation develops but it should be clear from reading it what you intend to do at this stage.

The next steps are partly theoretical, planning and writing up your report and partly practical, data collection out in the field (this doesn't literally mean a field... it's what we call any site for any investigation!). These stages might have some flexibility in terms of which order you do them in but trying to stick to this plan will hopefully make the process a bit clearer for you.

The first section of your project is the Introduction. It is a good idea to have made a start on this before you head out data collecting as your research might influence your plans for your own investigation. The introduction shows the reader that you understand the background to your topic in your literature review. If you have followed this guidance step by step you should have already done lots of the hard work here. Go back to your notes about books, journals and secondary data you have already found related to your topic. You should also read the RGS Guidance on pages 15 and 16 about how to compile a good literature review. Ideally your literature review will have five or six sources. These should be a range from textbooks containing relevant theories or models, journal articles looking at similar investigations or study areas and reliable websites from authorities related to your topic. The purpose of the literature review is to justify your investigation... Why is it interesting? What is the geographical context for it? What value will have?

You do have to pay for access to some journals but many you do not. We do not expect you to pay for access to journals! You will often be able to see the 'abstract' of some restricted articles. This is a very short summary of what they did and what they found. Many of these full articles are very long and very technical! Start with the abstract, sometimes this might be enough if you only mentioning the study. If you are going to rely on the study as one of your main sources because you think it is very relevant and useful, then you will probably need to read more deeply. Try searching some of the sites below for articles relevant to your topic and / or location. Don't forget to put every source you look at in your references list, even if you don't think you'll use it... you might change your mind and it'll save you lots of time later!

The final part of your introduction should come back to your own study and clearly explain the location and hypotheses. The written location description can contain elements of 'location' as well as 'locale' and should be accompanied by a range of well labeled, appropriate maps at different scales. You can make maps using your ArcGIS account exactly to your requirements. Pages 20 - 22 in the RGS Guide are about how to write an introduction. Use the checklist below to review your introduction when you have completed it.

Your methodology section is all about your data collection. It should include:

• Exactly what you did in your data collection methods
• Why you chose the methods you did
• How it helps you answer your investigation question
• How you decided on your sampling
• How your methods might impact on people and the environment you come into contact with

A large portion of the RGS Guidance is dedicated to getting this part right as it is so important. Read through pages 24 - 49 of the booklet.

Before going out and conducting your data analysis you should have a solid plan of what you intend to do for each method. This should include exact locations (GPS data?), equipment you will use, timings etc. You should also have a plan for how you are going to decide on sampling for each method. You must aim to foresee any risks to yourself, other people and the environment before you go. This will give you a chance to plan for, avoid and react to these potential issues. See the risk assessment guidance below. You should discuss all your plans with an adult at home who should know where you are going, what time you expect to be back and a contact number for you while you are out. It would also be sensible to conduct your research in pairs with another student if at all possible. You can return the favour for their investigation! Make a copy of the methodology table below and note down a few ideas before data collection. You can always add to it later.

As soon as you get back from your data collection you need to write your methodology... while its all still fresh in your head. Go back to your draft methodology table. You can base your final methodology on these notes but it should now be in past tense (as you have actually done it now!) and you will have extra details or changes you needed to make to your plans in reality.

You can present this section however you want but a table makes sure you tackle all the points needed. Similar to your draft methodology table, the information you need to discuss for each primary data collection method is as follows:

• Name of method
• Detailed description of method - exactly what you did; timings, locations, equipment
• Choice of sampling strategy
• Justification of sampling strategy - why is this sampling suitable, reliable and valid?
• Justification of method - why does this data help you tackle your investigation title?
• Risk assessment -what risks did you face and what did you do to reduce these risks?
• Ethical considerations - How did you plan for and reduce risk to others / environment?

You also need to make some notes on how each method went. What were the strengths and weaknesses? What worked well? What didn't? What would you do differently if you had the chance to do it again? You will use these notes for your evaluation later on... keep them safe in your folder.

You will also need to include your secondary data in your methodology. Obviously you will not need to fill in every column in the table but you can give a detailed description of how you found it and why you are using it.

Once you have completed your methodology section use the checklist below to make sure you are happy you have covered everything.

The next stage of the investigation is thinking of interesting ways to present your primary data. This will vary depending on your topic and data. Don't forget to include your secondary data too!

If you have quantitative data you will probably want to use a mixture of graphs and maps to present it. If you are going to use graphical skills to present your findings you must make sure you are choosing the right type of graph for your data set. The RGS Guide goes through graphs and charts in detail in pages 50 -74. You can produce graphs by hand or using a computer program such as Excel. The best way to maximise your marks for this section is with variety (at least 4 or 5 different methods) and appropriate choice (the graph suits the data).

You may decide your data would benefit from being located spatially on a map. In which case you will be using cartographic skills. There is an explanation of Isoline maps and Choropleth maps in the RGS Guide in pages 75 -78. There is also a detailed downloadable explanation of the uses, advantages and disadvantages of different types of map from the TeachIt website link below. Again, you are allowed to produce maps by hand or by using suitable computer programmes such as GIS.

If you have planned your investigation using ArcGIS and / or Survey123 you will be able to use GIS to present your data. Whilst much of the work is done for you using GIS, your choice of appropriate presentation techniques including colours, symbols, legends, titles etc. is still just as important for you to access top marks. Refresh your memory of the opportunities for data presentation you learnt about earlier in the GIS training sessions.

If you have qualitative data you must be just as selective about the best ways to present it. Read through pages 79 - 83 in the RGS Guide which covers techniques such as annotated photographs, field sketches, flow diagrams, word clouds and quotation banks.

Now you have presented you data you must describe it. This means putting your data into words and summarising your results. This is also the right time to identify any anomalies in your results and deciding what to do about them. Be careful not to stray into drawing conclusions, that comes later. Look at the examples using the link below. The RGS Guide presents various different data analysis techniques in pages 84 - 118.

This stage will probably require you use statistical skills. Depending on your data set you might find it useful to work out:

• measures of central tendency - mean, mode, median
• measures of dispersion - range, interquartile range, standard deviation
• inferential and relational statistical techniques - Spearman's rank, Chi Squared, Mann Whitney, T- Test

Whichever techniques you choose you must be sure they are suitable and be able to justify their use for your investigation. Don't forget to include your secondary data too!

If you use any of the statistical methods above make sure you use the proper structure for reporting on the statistical significance of the result.

You can organise your report into separate data presentation and data analysis sections or you can combine them, with individual pieces of data presentation analysed one by one. Make sure that you have presented data for all the methods you have included in your methodology. If there are any methods you carried out that you have decided to leave out, go back and remove them from your methodology. When you think you have presented and analysed your data, use the checklist below to check the quality of your work.

This is where you draw together your findings from individual methods. You should spot connections and patterns between data sets and use them to answer your main investigation question. Try to explain your findings by referring back to the geographical theory you included in your introduction. Do your findings support or contradict the theory? What about your secondary data? How does this help you to draw your conclusions? You must also reflect on your hypotheses and decide if you have enough evidence to accept them. If you have found they are incorrect or you are not confident you have sufficient evidence you must reject your hypotheses.

Pages 119 and 120 in the RGS Guide are about drawing valid conclusions and avoiding common pitfalls.

This final section is a reflection on how well your whole investigation has gone. You need to consider every stage.... from the very first ideas and planning, through to the data collection, through to data presentation and analysis and ending with your conclusions. You will need to consider:

• strengths
• limitations
• possible improvements
• risks to you
• ethical considerations for the public
• ethical considerations for the environment

Don't forget you should already have done some evaluation of your methods during and immediately after your data collection. Look back at these notes to refresh your memory. The Field Studies Council have produced a useful glossary of terms you should be using to evaluate your methods and conclusions in the links below. The RGS Guide also makes some suggestions in pages 121 and 122.