Students were studying patterns of urban structure in MEDCs. They decided to do some fieldwork about different types of housing area in order to investigate a textbook model of land use. This model is shown in [Figure 13] (Insert). The students selected three different types of housing areas based on the land use model. These housing areas are labelled A, B and C in [Figure 14] (Insert). The students investigated the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The environment of housing areas improves as distance from the town centre increases. Hypothesis 2: The nearer people live to the CBD the better their access to services.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2012). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] (a) Historic growth from centre outwards/built at different times; Influence of physical features such as river valley; Influence of human features such as railways, roads/accessibility; Value/cost of land (for different uses)/price of land varies; Availability of space/land
2. [2] (b)(i) Circle location; Made a decision about the score for each category/what they thought was the score; Put a tick in the appropriate column/filled in the chart/sheet
3. [2] (b)(ii) Opportunity to test features/grading to see if they are suitable how features are graded; Gives a known standard/control to compare against; Check on methodology consistency/check for any errors/mistakes/improve survey; Practice survey/get used to sheet; Improves ability to work as a team
4. [3] (c)(i) Completion of bi-polar graph for area B; 2 marks for plots (4 correct = 2 marks, 2/3 correct = 1 mark); 1 mark for line
5. [4] (c)(ii) Area C/furthest from town centre has positive/highest score or total or index/area A is nearest to town centre has negative lowest score or total or index/score or total or index increases as move away from town centre; A= −7, B = 0, C= +13, (any 2); Area C has +2 for six features but areas A/B has +2 for no feature; Area A has -2 for 4 features but area C has no minus scores; Area C has highest score for every feature; Area C has all neutral or positive scores but area A has some negative scores; Increase in feature scores from A to B to C; Except for open space/vandalism/litter
6. [2] (c)(iii) One road may not be representative of the area/only three roads surveyed; Scores may vary if done at different times/different days; Scores are subjective/biased; Could be other features which are not included in survey e.g. education, crime
7. [3] (d)(i) Stratified sampling/reflect population; Appropriate gender balance/male – female balance; Appropriate age balance/different ages; 1 max for Systematic or Random sampling
8. [1] (d)(ii) Circling Surgery 5 – 30 and Cinema more than 30
9. [2] (d)(iii) Many people will not walk to services/go by car/bus/transport; People may not go to the nearest service/more than one service to go to; People walk at different speeds/people walk faster on one day or another; People walk by different routes; Estimated times may be inaccurate/vague/people don't know/guess; Take them longer when it's busy; Don't use specific services
10. [2] (d)(iv) Complete score for local store = 3; Calculate accessibility index score = 20
11. [1] (d)(v) Plot answer to (d)(iv) – should be 20 above resident 1 on Area B of dispersion graph
12. [1] (d)(vi) Circle median value of area C = 22
13. [3] (d)(vii) Hypothesis is not true/false/disagree; Accessibility index values have a similar range in all three areas/similar pattern in all three areas/no clear pattern; Median value is higher in area C/very similar; Comparison of A = 20 and C = 22 (allow score or index, don't need median); More index values over 25 in area C than area A; Hypothesis is true = 0; No reference for credit to area B
14. [2] (e) Accessibility to different services depends where people live in an area/some houses are/people live further away from services than others; Variable access to paths/people walk by different routes; People may not go to the nearest service/more than one service to go to