3. Methodology

The methodology section is where you set out the ways in which you will collect the data required to complete your investigation.

As such it serves to help...

• ...plan your field data collection
• ...demonstrate organisation and planning
• ...have a clear understanding of how you will gather the field data and why the methods being used have been chosen.

Furthermore it ensures the examiner...

• ... knows what you did to gather your data
• ...that you have used appropriate methods
• ...that you fully understand the work that you have done
• ...that you have followed a logical sequence for your investigation
• ...that you can justify the methods employed
• ...that you have collected sufficient quantity of data to be able to draw meaningful and reliable conclusions.

If you are able to satisfy the examiner that all the above have been achieved, you will get full marks for the section!

This is the Second Section of your Report. Here you will:

• Set out your hypotheses.
• Describe the data you will collect and why it is needed to investigate the key question/hypotheses.
• Describe your sampling system (including the locations, quantity and times that your data will be collected).
• How it will be collected (details!).
• Why the method adopted to collect the data has been chosen

Example/ideas and guidance:

Hypotheses.
An hypothesis is a statement that is phrased in such a manner that it is testable and can eventually be stated as true or false. Hypotheses are, thus useful to help give clear direction to investigations and to help in the drawing of clear conclusions at the end of a study.


The hypothesis/hypotheses being investigated in this study is/are: (list the hypotheses you have chosen).


Data.
In order to test the hypotheses (above), the following data is required (outline the date to be collected. Link each data to its relevant hypothesis/es.)

Sampling.
Although the data to answer our question is to be collected in the "field", it would  be impracticable to interview every tourist in Windsor or to survey every part of the town. Instead we will take a smaller sample that we will try to ensure is representative of the whole town and the tourists visiting. 

Sampling means... (complete by defining in your own words "sampling". Note that there are several definitions in dictionaries, so choose an appropriate one for your investigation).

There are two sampling methods that will be employed for this investigation. One for carrying out questionnaire surveys and the other for collecting data by direct measurement/observation.

a) Questionnaire data will be collected as follows... develop the following points:

• Locations to interview people.
• Number of tourists to interview.
• Random selection of respondents/avoiding bias.
• What to do if someone refuses to answer and how to ensure appropriate number of completed questionnaires is completed.
• Questions that will be asked - Copy of questionnaire can be found HERE

b) Observation/measurement data will be collected by... develop the following points

• Location is important i.e. need to know where each piece of data was actually collected.
• Point sampling and continuous sampling.
• Sample Transects and Sample Points.
• Use of maps to plan and record data collection points.
• Data that will be collected at points and data that will be collected continuously along transects.
• Number and spacing of sample points. 

To improve the chances that the data we collect is accurate and represents the entire population visiting Windsor we will... (explain how you will ensure e.g. sample size, avoidance of bias etc).

Data Collection Methods and Justification
In this sub-section, describe how each piece of data will be collected in detail and explain why the method described has been employed (every method needs to be justified to meet the criteria for top marks). 

You are recommended to arrange the description and justification into tables as this does bot contribute to your word limit (tables count as graphics/illustrations). An example is provided below...

Data to be collected	Hypothesis linked
Favourite flavour ice cream	Most people prefere chocolat ice cream
Key Concept/s addressed	Modern tastes favour sweet and cocoa based flavours
Description of how the data is to be collected	A survey of 100 students will be conducted by questionnaire at EPHS. Equal numbers of students will be selected at random from each year group (stratified sample). Each student will be offered a list of flavours and asked to pick their top three (not in order). Their choices, gender and year group will be recorded on a tally sheet for later collation and tabulation.
Justification (Why has this method been adopted?)	A questionnair has been used as it is a quick and direct way to find out information about people's preferences. Respondents are asked to offer their top three flavours to avoid delay and difficulty of choosing just one. Thier choice is not in priority order as the collation of the data will be used to assess the most commonly chosen flavour and this will be taken as the most popular. The use of a tally list is quick and easy to record and also reduces the range of flavours although an additional option of "other" could be added if respondents felt strongly about a flavour that was not listed). Information about gender and age are also being collected so that further analysis can be undertaken to see if these factors influence choices and to be able to check that the sample is equally representative of all year groups in EPHS.

This layout can be accessed - HERE along with copies of the questionnaire and the environmental assessment record sheet (Use the menu of sheets at the bottom to find - "Sample Methodology Table"

The methodology section of you report is a considerable portion of your write-up, but really supports you in developing an understanding of what you are going to do on the data collection field trip and why... make sure that you DO know what to do and how to do it prior to departure.

A sampling/recording booklet will be produced for you to use (Extract available - HERE). This will mean that everyone is collecting the same information in the same way which has a number of advantages. However, there is one part for which you will need to design a data collection method of your own for...

Attractions of Windsor - Aim: To identify the specific attractions of Windsor as a tourist honeypot.

For this part of your investigation, you have the opportunity to decide what data would help you answer this question and to design a method for the collection of this data. 

Note: It is the method design that gives you access to top marks in this section of the marking criteria.