O-LevelGeographyPopulation and settlement2217/21 · Oct/Nov 2011 · Q730 Marks

Students in a class in Beijing, China, were learning about the sphere of influence of settlements and services.

(a)(i)Which one of the following is the correct definition of 'sphere of influence'? Tick your choice in the table below. Definition Tick ✓ area around a town or shop area where people have migrated from area where people go to work in a town area served by a settlement or service area next to a particular service[1]
(a)(ii)Why does the sphere of influence vary between different sized settlements?[3]
(b)(i)Some of the students decided to investigate the sphere of influence of their school. They agreed to test the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: The number of students coming to our school decreases as distance from the school increases. Hypothesis 2: Students travel to school in different ways but most travel by car. To collect data to test these hypotheses the students produced a questionnaire which they showed to their teacher. This is shown in Fig. 10 (Insert 2). Their teacher did not give a positive response about the questionnaire. Suggest one weakness of each question. Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 [Figure 10][3]
(b)(ii)The students changed the questionnaire on the advice of their teacher. Their amended version is shown in Fig. 11 (Insert 2). The students decided to ask 10% of all the students in the school to complete their questionnaire. This would result in 125 questionnaires being completed. Do you think that this is an appropriate sample size? Explain your answer. [Figure 11][2]
(b)(iii)Describe a suitable method of selecting the students to complete the questionnaire in order to get a fair, representative sample.[2]
(c)(i)Having completed their survey the students tabulated the results of the questionnaire. The results for Question 1 (In which municipality of Beijing do you live?) are shown in Table 2 below. Seven students live in Feng Tai municipality. Insert this information to complete Table 2. [Table 2][1]
(c)(ii)The students displayed the results for Question 1 in two different types of map. These are shown in Fig. 12 (below) and Fig. 13 (on page 18). Complete Fig. 12 by inserting the number of students who live in Tong Zhou municipality. [Figure 12] [Figure 13][1]
(c)(iii)Complete Fig. 13 by shading the municipality of Xi Cheng.[1]
(c)(iv)Give two advantages of each type of map for showing data. Pictogram: Advantage 1: Advantage 2: Choropleth map: Advantage 1: Advantage 2:[4]
(c)(v)Do you agree with Hypothesis 1: The number of students coming to our school decreases as distance from the school increases? Explain your conclusion and support your answer with data from Figs 12 and 13.[4]
(d)(i)Table 3, below, shows the results of Question 2 (How do you usually travel to school?) in the questionnaire. Complete the table by calculating the percentage of students who travel to school by train. [Table 3][1]
(d)(ii)Use the results from Table 3 to complete the pie graph, Fig. 14 below. [Figure 14][2]
(d)(iii)The students decided that Hypothesis 2: Students travel to school in different ways but most travel by car was incorrect. Give three pieces of evidence to support this conclusion.[3]
(d)(iv)Suggest two ways that the fieldwork investigation could have been extended to find out more about the students' journeys to school.[2]

This question uses a diagram from the original paper, which isn't shown here. Open the full paper from the past papers archive to see it.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[1] (a)(i) Area served by a settlement or service
[3] (a)(ii) High / low order of services provided
[3] (a)(ii) Number / variety of services provided / more services
[3] (a)(ii) Specialised services available
[3] (a)(ii) Specific functions of different settlements
[3] (a)(ii) Ease of access to settlements / transport links
[3] (a)(ii) Smaller centres means more competition
[3] (a)(ii) Comparative examples of services with different sphere of influence
[3] (b)(i) Q1: Should only be asking students at school so superfluous question / obvious answer / waste of time
[3] (b)(i) Q2: Too vague to get specific and consistent answers / too personal / should give options
[3] (b)(i) Q3: Closed question, very specific answer / give options of methods of travel / ask about how travel to school / sometimes
[2] (b)(ii) Credit explanation. No mark for 'Yes'
[2] (b)(ii) Enough responses to be able to test the hypotheses / to compare / reliable
[2] (b)(ii) 10% of population is a representative sample
[2] (b)(ii) Waste of time / no time to do more
[2] (b)(iii) Use registers / school data base to sample every tenth students
[2] (b)(iii) Select students from different class / year group / ages
[2] (b)(iii) Select equal numbers of male / female students
[2] (b)(iii) 1 mark for naming sampling method – random, systematic, stratified – must link to description
[1] (c)(i) Insert data (7) for Feng Tai into table – both tally and total for mark
[1] (c)(ii) Insert seven symbols into Tong Zhou
[1] (c)(iii) Shade Xi Cheng (15 – 19 category)
[4] (c)(iv) Pictogram: Shows individual detail of numbers / exact number
[4] (c)(iv) Pictogram: Easy to read off individual numbers / easy to count / identify exact number
[4] (c)(iv) Pictogram: Can see overall pattern of distribution
[4] (c)(iv) Pictogram: Easy to compare numbers
[4] (c)(iv) Pictogram: Easy to understand / clear / simple / detailed / visual
[4] (c)(iv) Choropleth map: Shows overall pattern of distribution / compare areas
[4] (c)(iv) Choropleth map: Links similar areas within a category / groups
[4] (c)(iv) Choropleth map: Can be used to compare large numbers
[4] (c)(iv) Choropleth map: Clear visual impact / shading categories in key
[4] (c)(v) No / disagree / no clear pattern / true to some extent that numbers decrease with distance – reserve
[4] (c)(v) Some areas away from school are in high category
[4] (c)(v) Some areas near to school are in low categories
[4] (c)(v) General pattern is more students come from north & east, and less come from south & west, rather than distance away from school
[4] (c)(v) e.g. Ping Gu (district 12) has 15 students / e.g. Chao Yang (district 7) has 8 students
[4] (c)(v) Data to 1 mark max – reserve
[1] (d)(i) Completion of table – 30%
[2] (d)(ii) Pie graph completion – bus and car
[2] (d)(ii) 1 mark for dividing line
[2] (d)(ii) 1 mark for shading
[3] (d)(iii) Larger percentage / most students travel to school by bus / 5% more travel by bus
[3] (d)(iii) Only 31% travel by car / 39 out of 125 travel by car / 69% don't travel by car / more travel by other methods than car
[3] (d)(iii) Almost as many (30%) travel by train
[3] (d)(iii) First part of hypothesis is correct – there are 5 ways that students travel to school
[3] (d)(iii) No credit just for percentage or figures without interpretation
[2] (d)(iv) Additional questions in questionnaire such as:
[2] (d)(iv) How far is your home from school? / how far do you travel to school?
[2] (d)(iv) How long does it usually take you to travel to school? / average time to travel to school
[2] (d)(iv) Why do you use your named method of travel?
[2] (d)(iv) Do you always use the same method of travel? / more than one method of travel
[2] (d)(iv) Which route do you take to school?
[2] (d)(iv) Do students travel alone or with others
[2] (d)(iv) Could investigate if there is any relationship between where students live and their method of travel
[2] (d)(iv) Possibly linked to bus / train services
[2] (d)(iv) Could investigate links between gender / age & methods of travel