What this lesson teaches
I can collect and combine primary, secondary and geospatial data to answer a question.
Syllabus 9173, Fieldwork, 2. Fieldwork stage: Data collection. Students should be able to: collect primary data using appropriate methods; collect secondary data including available data from geospatial technologies.
Make a guess
An online map says a bus stop is 200 m from a block of flats. Is that the walking distance residents face?
- Yes, because straight-line distance is what matters.
- Yes. Digital maps are more accurate than measuring in the field.
- No, not necessarily. Check the real route on the ground.
- No, because maps are not useful in fieldwork.
Show the answer
No, not necessarily. Check the real route on the ground.
Maps can miss stairs, closed paths or busy crossings, and may be out of date. Field checks show what residents actually walk.
Match each source to the question it can answer, then compare sources that measure different parts of the issue.
Primary data are collected by you: interviews, questionnaires, measurements and observations. Use the same definitions and recording sheets everywhere. Note units, dates, times and location codes.
Secondary data already exist, like census tables, rainfall records and images. Check who made them, why, when and how. A district average cannot describe every street.
Geospatial data link information to places. A geographical information system (GIS) can measure routes or compare services. OneMap gives official Singapore maps. Check routes on the ground, and note the map's date and scale.
Check how regions are defined before combining data. The syllabus uses seven World Bank macro-regions. They are East Asia and Pacific (Singapore, Indonesia); Europe and Central Asia (Germany); Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazil); Middle East and North Africa (Morocco); North America (United States); South Asia (India); and Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya). Averages hide differences within regions.
- Primary data
- Collected by you for your study.
- Secondary data
- Already exist; check source, date and definitions.
- Geospatial data
- Information linked to locations, as in GIS.
Step by step
List the evidence
Physical conditions, behaviour and experience.
Collect consistently
Same codes, categories and units everywhere.
Check compatibility
Dates, boundaries and definitions match?
Worked example: One route, three sources
A map shows a made-up clinic route is 300 m. An audit finds two steps and no shade. A resident says these make the walk hard. Each source answers a different question: how far, what barriers, and how it feels.
Watch out for this
A digital map is always more accurate than field observation.
Accuracy depends on date, detail and method. Check both against what you need.
Check your understanding
A 2015 map and a 2026 survey disagree about bus access. What should you check first?
- Which result supports your hypothesis better.
- Which source is newer, so it can replace the other.
- Whether routes or definitions changed in between.
Show the answer
Whether routes or definitions changed in between.
Yes. Eleven years is a long time.