Development of a strategy

This is the section where planning needs to take place:

1. Deciding which primary and secondary data is required and how it is to be collected.
2. Which sampling strategies will be adopted;
3. The exact location of the data collection;
4. The timing of the data collection;
5. The assessment of any risks when collecting the data.

Primary and secondary data

Do you know the difference between primary and secondary data?

The following data is to be used to help investigate your hypothesis. Is it primary or secondary data:

• Unprocessed soil moisture content data collected through fieldwork investigation;
• Tide data;
• Unprocessed weather data from a local weather station;
• Weather data presented in graph form.

A list of the primary fieldwork data to be collected is set out below. What does each variable mean? Which variables are relevant to your hypothesis? Explain your decisions.

Follow these two links to the sources of two types of data not collected through fieldwork.

Are they primary or secondary data?

Why might the data be useful in an investigation into sand dunes? Assess the validity of the data?

 The Climbers Club - Tide Times - Appledore is the closest location to Braunton Burrows

 West Buckland School Weather Station - The closest available weather data to Braunton Burrows

The exact location of the data collection

Braunton Burrows covers a large area of land. It is difficult to collect data from the whole area. At the planning stage, the exact location of the investigation needs to be decided upon.

Study the map of Braunton Burrows. Suggest a suitable location for the investigation. Justify your choice of location.

The actual location chosen is shown on the map below. This location was chosen because:

• it is accessible on foot from the car park;
• it is also further away from the human activities which affect the sand dune to the north at Saunton and the south at Airy Point;
• the sand dunes at this location are about 2km wide, which is enough to see the changes in succession one might expect;
• The location also avoids the nearby danger areas (the Ministry of Defence still use the dunes for training for ten days per year)

Sampling strategies

There are several sampling techniques that can be used in geographical investigations:

• Areal - such as a pre-defined area like a quadrat;
• Linear - along a line like a transect;
• Point - separate points or individuals are chosen;
• Pragmatic - samples that are safe or easy are chosen;
• Random - everything has am equal chance of being sampled;
• Stratified - sampling which is proportional to the share of the whole;
• Systematic - sampling is set at intervals from the starting point.

For a more detail description and evaluation of sampling strategies, go to:

Geography Teaching Today - Sampling Techniques

Study the map of Braunton Burrows. With your hypothesis in mind, suggest and justify a sampling strategy for your investigation.

The actual sampling strategy chosen in the end for the investigation was a combination of nearly all the above methods.

A linear transect was followed from west to east. Each point was chosen using a stratified method which took account of the alternative ridges and slacks that occur in sand dune systems. At 90° to the transect, a 20m tape measure was laid out and a random number table was used to locate sampling points along it. The data was collected at these specific points, although the data on vegetation cover used an areal method (a quadrat). Two measurements for each variable were taken at each site. A mean figure was then calculated.

Why were two measurements taken for each variable at each site? Given more time, why might it be a good idea to take more measurements?

The timing of the data collection

Time is an essential part of the planning process. Time of year, time of day, length of data collection, time at each site and time to walk between the sites are all considerations.

What would be your plan? Justify your plan.

This investigation was actually carried out in June? Why is this an ideal month to visit Braunton Burrows?

The timetable for the day was:

The assessment of any risks when collecting the data

This is important for any fieldwork. Good risk assessments identify risks, assess the levels of risk and show they the risks can be reduced.

Download the risk assessment form and complete the missing boxes.

Braunton Burrows is a hazardous location, so steps need to be taken to reduce the risks of any unfortunate accidents.