ANALYSIS IN YOUR GEOGRAPHY NEA

1 ANALYSIS IN YOUR GEOGRAPHY NEA ANDY OWEN 20201 NEA 2021 WHAT IS ANALYSIS ? ANALYSIS is a process an activity that helps us make sense of the facts. We have all seen crime dramas on TV where the detective consults a forensic scientist. The scientist runs various tests on fingerprints, the weapon, or the body. As a result of analysing the results of these tests, the detective is able to piece together the story that is told by the data reconstructing the last moments of the victim. That is ANALYSIS . It means to: Drill down through the evidence Make connections between data Make inferences if this .. then that. ANDY OWEN 202021. CHOOSE APPROPRIATE TECHNIQUES ANALYSIS is about identifying patterns, trends, significance, connections and/or meaning in the data. Data collected in geographical investigations is often varied images, text, and numbers all play a part. There are a wide range of analytical methods you can use to break this evidence down to find the hidden meaning.

2 Some of these analytical methods are easy and you will have been using them throughout your geographical education, such as finding a mean or the range, or adding an annotation to an image. Other techniques, such as coding or the Mann Whitney test, are more specialised so you may not be so familiar with them. A great NEA will have various types of data, so you may need to use more than one method of ANALYSIS . The next slide lists a few of the more common methods but this list is not exhaustive. ANDY OWEN 20203 TIP Do some research. Analytical methods, including statistical techniques, are described in lots of fieldwork books. Make sure that:a)The methods you select are appropriate for the data you have collectedb)You know how to conduct the ANALYSIS by reading up about them in at least one dataQuantitative dataPatterns and trends in speech an interviewPatterns and trends in written text from a blogAscribing meaning to significant features of an image or the landscapeNumerical patterns/trendsSpatial patternsSediment shapeStatistical testsText (or discourse) analysisCodingAnnotationImage elicitationMeasures of central tendencyMeasures of dispersionNearest neighbour analysisField sketching & annotationZingg ANALYSIS or Cailleux IndexMean, median & modeRange, inter-quartile rangeLocation quotientChi square testMann Whitney testSpearman s RankAnalytical methods that are availableType of data ANDY OWEN 202042.

3 LINK ANALYSIS TO RESEARCH QUESTIONSA good NEA breaks down the overall aim of the investigation into manageable chunks using a small number of research ANALYSIS links back to these research questions. ANDY OWEN 20205 Source: Andy Owen (2019) A Level GEOGRAPHY Independent Investigation TIP Try to use a variety of analytical methods. This graphic shows how each research question could be investigated using two different methods of data presentation and one appropriate method of analysis3. USE EVIDENCE TO MAKE INFERENCESGood ANALYSIS goes beyond describing the data. ANALYSIS should ascribe meaning to the data or make simple terms, if ANALYSIS was an exam question, the command word would be suggestnot at the image. It shows a traffic calming measure. Part of the road has been pedestrianised leaving a narrow, single carriageway on the left of the photo. ANDY OWEN 20206 Suggest ways in which traffic calming has impacted people.

4 Photo: Andy OwenGeo-location: USE EVIDENCE TO MAKE INFERENCESThe first set of labels describe the image. There is no real ANALYSIS second set of labels (in orange) turn the labels into annotation which is a form of ANALYSIS . It is clear to see that the student has made inferences about the impact of traffic calming measures. ANDY OWEN 20207 Delivery van parked partly on the pavement Trees have been so space is restricted for pedestrians. This means that partially sighted pedestrians or people in wheelchairs may find the pavement so some particulates from vehicles will be absorbed by the vegetation. This means that local residents will benefit from better air Use connectives like so , this means that and therefore to make inferences 4. LINK ANALYSIS TO YOUR LITERATURE REVIEWG iving your NEA a clear theoretical context means that you must link your proposed investigation to: a key idea, process, or concept that is described in the specification something you've read in the geographical literature this is probably an explanation of the process or concept that you have found in a textbook, an academic article, or a source on the internet.

5 The specification does not tell you how many pieces of literature you need to read but a rule-of-thumb would be to use a textbook plus at least two more sources so three pieces of literature is ANALYSIS refers to the theoretical GEOGRAPHY that lies at the heart of your investigation and great ANALYSIS links what you can see in your data to something you have read in the literature ANDY OWEN 20208 TIP Use the ANALYSIS section of your report to link the data you have collected (actual data collected in a specific place) to the generalised ideas you have read in the geographical DISCUSS SIGNIFICANCEIf your investigation relies on quantitative data then you really ought to consider using a statistical your research read up about probability so you know why you are doing a statistical test and what the result of the test actually sure you know about Spearman s Rank, Chi squared, and Mann Whitney before you start your own ANALYSIS .

6 Then choose a test that is most appropriate for the data you have number crunching is one thing but knowing what the result means is something else. Always complete the test by checking the significance of the result. ANDY OWEN 20209 TIP Make sure you understand the tests before you start to analyse your own data. Use statistical tests on data that has got nothing to do with your own NEA. In that way you can discuss the test with your teacher to make sure you fully understand what you are doing before you analyse the data in your own REVISIONWhat does this graph show?If the Spearman s rank correlation co-efficient for this data was what would this mean? ANDY OWEN SUPPORT FOR YOUR INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONA Level GEOGRAPHY Independent Investigation by Andy Owen includes advice on all aspects of GEOGRAPHY NEA. For further advice on ideas in this presentation see: ANALYSIS of quantitative data, pages 177-80 ANALYSIS of images, pages 189-92 Coding and text ANALYSIS , pages 184-88 Probability, pages 181-84 Statistical tests, pages 205-18 Writing up your ANALYSIS , pages 219-21 There are resources on the online curriculum such as the RGS guide and OCR guide ANDY OWEN 202011