Notes

To answer a geographical question or prove a hypothesis a geographer needs to collect data and choose how you will collect that data. There are two types of data; primary and secondary. Primary data is data that has been collected by the researcher themselves. Secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone other than the researcher.

However, before we collect any data we must complete a risk assessment. A risk assessment involves assessing potential hazards and managing the risk to ensure everyone is safe. First, you must identify the risk. If we are walking, there is a risk of trips and falls. After you have identified the risk, you must come up with a way to reduce it. For instance, wearing appropriate footwear will reduce the risk of trips and falls.

We will be using secondary data to complete our investigation into the urban regeneration of Salford Quays. We will collect the following data:
Photographs - to compare the conditions before and after the urban regeneration.
Environmental quality surveys - to show the changes in the environment from the regenerated area to the neighbouring area.
Housing statistics - to see if the housing is affordable for the local people.

This will give us a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data that we can analyse. Qualitative data involves images such as photographs and words such as responses to a questionnaire or newspaper articles. Quantitative data involves numbers. We have chosen not to do land use maps because most of the buildings are high rise and it is difficult to record different uses. For instance, a high rise building can contain retail, office, residential and recreation (gym).