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All fieldwork requires data to be collected. It is important to design a clear data collection sheet.

Different data types

Data can either be:

• human - information about people, eg cities and tourism
• physical - information about natural landscapes, eg rivers and coasts

Data can also be either:

• primary - information that is collected first-hand, eg tallies, measurements and photographs
• secondary - information that someone else has previously collected and made available, eg on the internet

Finally, data will also either be:

• quantitative - information that can be measured and written down with numbers
• qualitative - information that describes but does not measure

Collect any information that will be useful, even from alternative methods, eg counts, scoring systems and bipolar surveys.

Data collection sheets should have a simple design so that the results are clear to read. The collection of data should also avoid bias and this is done through sampling techniques.

There data sampling methods

1. Random sampling - selecting a person to interview or site to measure, at random. Random sampling is unbiased as particular people or places are not specifically selected.
2. Systematic sampling - collecting data in an ordered or regular way, eg every 5 metres or every fifth person.
3. Stratified sampling - dividing sampling into groups, eg three sites from each section of coastline, or five people from each age range. It is possible to combine stratified sampling with random and systematic sampling.
   • Stratified random sampling - random samples are taken from within certain categories.
   • Stratified systematic sampling - regular samples are taken from within certain categories.