Latitude Geography
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          • The variety or urban environments
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Geography Research Skills

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1. Forming enquiry topics

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Your topic of inquiry will be determined by a number of things:
  • What are the parameters of your task?
  • What interests you?
  • What will you be able to investigate practically? 

Students should also read widely when starting a topic as this will build a vocabulary and raise your awareness of different perspectives within the topic.

Good geographical focus questions will usually investigate differences over space, changes over time  or human impacts on the feature.

2. Designing and collecting primary research

There are many ways to collect primary research and the methods selected will depend on the topic selected. Students should also conduct secondary research prior to designing their primary research. 
  • ​Questionnaires
  • Interviews
  • Counting methods
  • Observation methods
  • Biophysical testing
  • Transect sampling
  • Quadrat sampling

Google forms and survey monkey now make primary research very easy.

3. Collecting secondary research

It is vital that you learn to visit a range of information sources and recognise reliable sources.
  • Government departments
  • NGO research 
  • Journal articles
  • Newspaper articles
  • Interest group websites

Students need to ensure they find relevant and useful sources that are on the topic of the focus question, rather than trying to find information and make it relate to the topic.

​Using boolean operators ("and", "not", "exactly") helps in finding appropriate and relevant articles.

4. Presenting your research

Research can be presented in a variety of ways. However, whether the researcher is using a report, a video, an extended response or even a blog there are some common expectations for presentation. 
  1. A bibliography
  2. In-text referencing that supports your key points
  3. Maps, figures, tables, graphs and pictures are referred to within text and have a labelling system with captions. 
  4. B.O.L.T.S.S. conventions are utilised for all maps.
  5. Creative presentation of information in diagrams, tables, word clouds, concept maps and so on.
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  • Home
    • Preliminary Geography >
      • Biophysical Interactions
      • Senior Geography Project
      • Global Challenges >
        • Population Geography
    • HSC Geography >
      • Ecosystems at Risk >
        • Kosciuszko Alpine Ecosystem
        • Great Barrier Reef
      • People and Economic Activity
      • Urban Places
    • IB Geography >
      • IB Core Topics >
        • Changing Populations
        • Global climate
        • Resources
      • Optional Themes >
        • Oceans and their coastal margins
        • Extreme environments
        • Leisure, sport and tourism
        • Food and health
        • Urban Environments >
          • The variety or urban environments
          • Changing Urban Systems
          • Urban Environmental Stresses
          • Sustainable Urban Systems
      • HL Extension Topics >
        • Power, places and networks
        • Human development and diversity
  • Links
    • Geo Researching Skills
    • HSC Geo Skills
    • SGP/Internal Assessment Projects
  • News
    • National Geo Comp
    • GTA NSW/ACT Fieldwork Awards
  • Contact
    • Latitude Geography authors