Social geography is part of human geography.

Social geography is part of physical geography.

Social geography is when you study geography in your spare time.

The methods and techniques used to collect data.

Interviews provide first hand information.

Which of these sentences is not a reason Esther chose to use interviews in her fieldwork?

Fieldwork is the gathering of information about something in a real environment.

Fieldwork is the gathering of information about something in the classroom.

Fieldwork is the process of researching fields.

Which of these sentences is the correct definition of fieldwork?

To spend time in exciting new environments.

What enquiries are geographers currently doing?

Key Stage 2

Geography

Local Fieldwork

Which of these things is not something that geographers do with data?

Dr Lydia Hamilton is visiting fishing villages in Iceland to study migration.

Dr Phillip Lyndsey in the Amazon rainforest studying biodiversity.

Dr Robert Button is in his office researching data on climate change.

Which of these examples is not an example of fieldwork.

﻿Hello and welcome to lesson two of the geography fieldwork unit. In this lesson, we're going to be looking at what enquiries are geographers currently doing. And I am very excited to announce, that we will actually hear, from a real life geography researcher in this lesson. And so, much of what we're going to be learning about, is going to be based on a conversation I had with this geography researcher. Let's have a look at the agenda together now. So the first thing that we're going to be looking at in this lesson is, what field work research has Esther been conducting. And Esther is the geographer that, I was able to speak with for this lesson. So the second part of the lesson, we'll look at what tools has Esther been using in her field work. Now, for this lesson you'll need three things. So the first thing is, exercise book or paper. Secondly you'll need a pencil or a pen. And then lastly and most importantly, our brains. So pause the video now to make sure you've got those things and then resume when you're ready to get started with the learner. Before we get started with the interview with Esther, I want us to recap a few things from last week. So I've got some rapid fire activities for us to do now. And all you need to do is, when you know the answer, shout at the screen or just whisper it at the screen, you don't need to write these down, okay. But let's go through them nice and quickly. So here's the definition of fieldwork. Fieldwork equals the gathering of information about something in a something environment. What is the missing words that goes there? I'll say it again. The gathering of information about something in a environment. What is the missing word? The missing word is? Nice One. It's a real environment, okay. People aren't sat in their office or just in a classroom researching, they're out there in the wild, not always the wild but, in real environments gathering information. Next question. What does field work always start with? Is it analysis of data, an enquiry question, or making observations. Point to the screen where you think it is. What did you get? It is, an enquiry question. That's what you always start with in field work. It's the question that you're trying to answer through your field work research. Okay and then last one. Why do geographers carry out field work? Is it to discover new ideas and knowledge? Is it to spend time in exciting new environments? Or is it to create enquiry questions? Why do they do field work in the first place? What do you reckon point to the screen or say it to the screen. It is of course, to discover new ideas and knowledge. Now that we've recapped some of the knowledge from the previous lesson, I think we are ready to hear the interview with our real life geographer who is called Esther. Now the interview, I'm going to break into two different parts and you'll have to answer some questions based on each half or each part. So this first part, I want you to keep a very careful ear out for, or listen very carefully for what kind of geographer Esther is because there are many different types of geographers. Listen out for what type of geographer Esther is. Listen very carefully for, what was the enquiry question for her field work. And then lastly, also listen very carefully, for what she has to say about why she thinks that her research is important. Okay, let's get started with the interview. Okay guys, the moment is here. We have a world exclusive interview with a real life geographer. This is Esther everybody, say hello to Esther.

Hi everyone.

Excellent job, so Esther could you tell us a bit about what is your role in geography?

Yeah of course I'm super excited to chat all today. And so my name is obviously Esther Henchen and I am a university researcher. So I am in a university and my role is to research social issues, that are really important to today's society in the UK.

Fantastic right. Question number two. So you've been involved in conducting your own field work. For your field work, what question were you trying to answer?

Thank you that's a really interesting question. So I've been finding out about public libraries. So public libraries in our communities and how they've been affected, by receiving a lot less money from the government over the last 10 years.

Interesting, very interesting. And so, how does that relate to geography then?

Yeah, so geography isn't just about finding out about the earth. It's also, finding out about the people on the earth and the things that affect them and the things that affect their everyday lives. And this is called being a social geographer. So I'm a social geographer and I think libraries are really important. I think they are really important to our communities and I've got a couple of questions actually to get you really thinking about libraries. So, have you used a library before?

Yes

What do you like about libraries? And why is it a problem if libraries disappear in our local communities.

Very interesting stuff. Excellent stuff. And so why do we... Why do you think this topic is so important then?

Yeah so, I'm really passionate about public libraries and the reason I am so passionate about libraries is because they are free for everybody in the local community. You can just go and get yourself a library card for free. And you can borrow books for free. And libraries are spaces where anyone can just hang around, hang out in whenever they want. For examples libraries have computers that you can use for free for example for homework or finding out about things that you're interested in. And I think they are really important spaces for local communities. And I believe that we should keep them.

So we'll pause the interview there just for now. There's another part coming but I just want to recap a few of the key points that we've heard so far. So first of all, do you know what kind of geographer is Esther? She is a social geographer, which is a type of human geography. So rather than studying like the physical features of planet earth, they are studying human activity, human behaviour and things like that. Her focus of her research is on libraries. And in particular her enquiry question is all about, how have libraries been impacted by receiving much less money from the government over the past 10 years. And Esther thinks that this is really important research because libraries have a really important role in the community. Communities are very reliant upon libraries in order because they get free books. But also because it's a space where people can use computers, come and find jobs and also go there to have somewhere quiet to study. So very interesting first half. Here's what I'd like you to do now. I'd like you to answer the following questions, in nice, neat, full sentences. So what kind of geographer is Esther? What was the enquiry question for Esther's fieldwork study? And why does Esther think this research is important? So when you're ready, pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished. Okay, let's go through those nice and quickly. Hopefully not too challenging. So question number one. What kind of geographer is Esther? What's that you say? Nice one yes. Esther is a social geographer. And what part of geography is social geography part of? Is it physical or is it human? It's part of human geography. Good one, right. Question two. What was the enquiry question for Esther's fieldwork study? Well, we know it was about libraries, but what particularly about libraries was it all about? Here's the answer. The enquiry question for Esther's research, was how have libraries been affected by receiving a lot less money from the government. Okay, you may have worded it slightly differently but as long as it's clear that it's about how libraries are being impacted by not having as much money from the government. And then question three, why does Esther think this research is important? Here's what I wrote. Esther thinks this research is important because libraries have an important role in the community because they provide free books and a place for people to work and study. So again, your answer might look slightly different to mine in terms of how you worded it but as long as you are talking about Esther things, her research is important because libraries have an important role in the community. Okay. It's time to move on, to the second half of the interview. In a moment we're going to hear the second part of the interview with Esther, where we'll be discussing, what tools has Esther been using in her field work. And by tools, we don't mean physical tools like a hammer or a spanner but we're referring to field work tools and field work tools are the methods and techniques used to collect data. So what you are going to do to get the data, that's going to answer your inquiry question. And there are many different kinds of field work tools. Remember that Esther's inquiry question was how have libraries been affected by receiving a lot less money from the government over the last 10 years? So how is Esther or how do you think Esther was able to gather the data that told her, how libraries have been affected? What would you do in that situation? Well, as we will discover Esther's main fieldwork tool that she used or technique was an interview or interviews. So an interview is a meeting in which someone is asked questions. So as we're about to listen to, Esther used lots of interviews to answer her enquiry question. What I'd like you to listen out very carefully for now, is how she used interviews and why she used interviews. Let's listen, now. So let's move on now cause I'm very fascinated about what kind of field work tools that you used for your research.

Yeah, so because I'm a social geographer, to do my research, I spent a long time in local libraries. And so I spent around a year and a half conducting field work so a long time and I talked to lots of different people who use the libraries. And I talked to a lot of people who work in the library, so library staff. And to do this as well, I interviewed them, which essentially is a bit like a survey but you are talking to someone face to face for a long period of time. So you're able to get a lot more information than you would if you were just using a survey. So essential what I was asking here is, important questions around why people use the library, how they use the library and how libraries have changed and being affected by receiving a lot less money from the government over these last 10 years.

Very interesting stuff. So interviews were the main field work tool that you used.

Yeah.

Why did you choose to use interviews then?

Yeah, I think that's a really important question. And I think the answer I would give here is that interviews provide a lot more depth of information and importantly as well, that information is coming from the experiences of people in local communities. So that means from my perspective the knowledge that I'm gaining from my research is coming from the people who are important, the people in local communities and it's not coming from kind of people at the top it's coming from people who are everyday people, and I think that's really important for us to have that kind of knowledge.

Excellent. So interviews are an excellent way of getting firsthand information and to in-depth information as well.

Yeah, I think that's a really good way of summarising it firsthand information and in-depth information and that's the role of a social geographer is to get that kind of information.

Okay. Well, thank you very much for answering all these questions and well done on the fantastic research that you've done.

Thank you and thank you for letting me share this my research with you and I hope it's got you thinking about public libraries.

Definitely. Thank you very much. So another very interesting interview about field work, I just wanted to recap some of the points that were made there, particularly as we were listening very carefully about how and why did Esther use interviews. So you may recall that well obviously interviews were the main way she collected or gathered her data. And the people she interviewed were people who use libraries and also the people who work in the libraries themselves. The reason why she did that is that when you interview actual people, who are experiencing an issue, then you get very in-depth information, more information than if you were just reading it based on a report or something like that. When you're talking to someone, you're asking them questions, you get excellent in-depth information. The other good thing about interviewing people who are actually using the libraries or working in libraries, is you get that you get that firsthand information. So you're not hearing someone else's story via someone else, you are hearing the direct experiences from someone in that real environment. So, how she used interviews, well, she interviewed people who worked in libraries and use libraries. And the reason why is because it provided in-depth information and firsthand information that enabled her to answer her enquiry question. So based on the interview and the little knowledge recap I've done there, you are going to answer the following question. How and why did Esther use interviews in her field work study? And to help you, I've got some sentence starters. So Esther used interviews by speaking with, and then another sentence starter, Esther used interviews because. To further assist you with this, there's a word bank underneath my head here that you can use, try and use all those different phrases in your own. So when you're ready, pause the video to complete your task and then resume once you're finished. Okay, let's go through that together now. Hopefully you've found that an interesting, maybe it's slightly challenging task but that's okay. So here's what I wrote. Esther used interviews by speaking with libraries staff in local communities. Esther used interviews because they provide more in-depth information than a survey and because they are an excellent way of getting firsthand information from the people that work in libraries. Okay, so you can see how I've used all those different phrases there. And the key thing is having that firsthand information, having in-depth information and speaking with the library staff directly were all very important features of how and why Esther used interviews in her field work study. That brings us to the end of this lesson. Well done on all the fantastic learning that you've been doing. Before we finish though there are just two things that you need to do. First of all, please remember to write down three key things that you will remember from this lesson. And then lastly, don't forget to complete the exit quiz at the end. That's can be a really great way of seeing the progress that you're making in this unit. I look forward to teaching you again soon and have a fantastic rest of your day.

What enquiries are geographers currently doing?

What enquiries are geographers currently doing?

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Lesson appears in

UnitGeography / Local Fieldwork

Geography