Limitations of the Enquiry
- A key focus in the fieldwork questions in the exam is the evaluation of data collection
- Enquiry evaluation should:
- Identify any problems with and limitations of, data collection methods
- Suggest other data which would have been useful in the study or improvements which could be made
- Evaluate how reliable the conclusions were
- Suggesting how the scope of the study could be extended
Data Collection Problems and Limitations
- There are always issues and limitations associated with data collection they may include:
- Accessibility of sample sites - could all sample sites be accessed?
- Size of sample - was the sample size large enough?
- Duration of the data collection - was the enquiry time long enough to collect the data needed?
- Methods - were the questions on questionnaires appropriate to meet the aim and test the hypothesis?
- Equipment - were there any issues with the equipment?
- Human error - were there any mistakes in recording data or reading the equipment?
- Time of the data collection - did the weather or time impact the results collected?
- Unforeseen issues - were there any problems on the day such as road works, and river flow which affected the results?
Other Data and Improvements
- There are always improvements which could be made to data collection these may include:
- Increasing the sample size
- Taking more measurements
- Looking at a wider range of secondary sources
- Could other equipment have been used - a flow meter would be more accurate for measuring river velocity than a float
Evaluating the Conclusions
- To evaluate the conclusion students should examine whether:
- The conclusions reflect the aims and hypothesis set out at the start of the enquiry
- The aim and hypothesis were appropriate - could the hypothesis be easily assessed
- The location was appropriate
- The accuracy of results could be improved if the data collection were to be repeated
