This new section of the site promotes the original research conducted by students each year.
Thanks to the A level students who contributed the following extracts of their work. More contributions are expected soon!

Factors influencing house prices in Barnet
Imran Iqbal assessed the degree to which factors such as environmental quality and school examination results influence house prices.

To what extent can a settlement pattern be observed on the Noordoostpolder?
Bowden Granville's exceptional project offers a fascinating insight into the theories of Reilly and Christaller in one of the few places in the world to approach the ideals of the 'isotropic plain'.

Heathland management practices and the effect on ecology
Drawing on her Biology A level knowledge, Sally Ann contrasted two heathlands with a view to understanding the best way to encourage species diversity.

Is there a link between the nature of informal sector work and the economic status of an Asian city
An extraordinary project! Irfan convinced the moderator to accept his proposal to conduct research in three different South East Asian cities. Overcoming the natural reluctance of informal workers to discuss their work he conducted questionnaires in Indonesian Malay and Cantonese!

Does the O2 centre exist to serve the wealthier sector of society whilst employing poorer people from the surrounding areas?
Leon investigated one of the new breed of 'micro malls' appearing in London with a superb critical goegraphy project exposing the reality of the "McJob" described by Naomi Klein in the book 'No Logo'

To what extent do factors such as the quality of the environment and GCSE results affect house prices in the London borough of Barnet?

This type of question is one that has always interested me personally, having just about come to the end of my secondary school career. I can remember the questions and considerations my parents took into account before deciding which school to send me too, and I remember the exam results, and local environment in which the school is situated in being prime factors in the decision. House prices are always different from area to area across the country, which made me want to see if there were any relationship between the house prices around certain secondary schools in London. To carry out this investigation I collected a series of primary data and secondary data. The primary data focused on environmental surveys and questionnaires given to students and parents about their perceptions of the school their child went to. The secondary data concentrated on examination results and the price of properties within a 1km radius around each school. I looked at five schools and carried out a statistical test using Spearman's Rank to see if there was a relationship between the quality of the environment and house prices. There proved to be a strong relationship between the two.

I found that GCSE examination results have no significant effect on house prices. Inevitably it seems that the world of house prices is a very complicated one. It is quite clear that the quality of the housing and the environment are primary factors. Secondary factors such as the availability of public transport and social amenities also seem to play a vitally key role in dictating prices in the housing markets of today.

Imran Iqbal

A link between environmental quality and house prices was shown, but exam results were more complex to explain!

To what extent can a settlement pattern be observed on the Noordoostpolder?

What was I testing?
Two geographical theories both written in the 1930s: Christaller's Theory of Central Places and Reilly's Law of Retail Gravitation. I attempted to see if any elements exist in real life.

Where is the Noordoostpolder?
The Noordoostpolder (North-East Polder) is a 400km2 area of reclaimed land 70 miles from Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

What did I find?
I did find elements of a settlement relationship but not enough from my study to conclude that Christaller's or Reilly models work perfectly, rather there are elements that are true, these tend to be the more flexible elements of the theories.

Why did I choose this topic?
I knew I was going to the Netherlands in the summer of 2000 and I really I wanted something to fit with that trip. The theories I tested we are taught about in class and I think it has greatly helped me to put some of them into practice.

Bowden Granville

A comparison of the ecology of two heathlands with different management practices

Many heathlands in Britain are currently being managed to conserve the diverse habitats present and to prevent a climax community from forming. There are different types of management including burning, mowing, coppicing, grazing etc. The purpose of my study was to compare the effects of two different types of management on plant abundance and diversity. I compared the effects of mowing with those of burning. To do this I visited two heathlands in England, one in Calshot, Hampshire and one in Hampstead Heath, London. I used quadrats to measure the plant abundance and diversity at each site and tested various abiotic factors also to see if they were having an effect on the plant communities.

My findings suggest that the style of management does have an effect on the plant diversity and abundance. I found that the heathland managed by mowing (Hampstead Heath) had a higher plant diversity with a low abundance of each species and the heathland managed by burning (Calshot) had a low plant diversity with a high abundance of the plants that were present.

Sally Ann de Souza

Is there a link between the nature of informal sector work and the economic status of an Asian city?

Working in 3 different south east Asian cities and having located the central bus/train station within a 100 metre radius I examined the nature of the informal sector of employment.

The streets of Jakarta

My main aims were to assess the informal sector for the types of goods and services provided. I also looked at the age and sex structure of the workers and compared and contrasted the economic status of the cities.

The main things that I had found out were that the informal sector in Indonesia and Singapore was composed of a much younger workforce than in Malaysia. The workforce was within 5 - 25 years old section whereas in Malaysia the workforce was from 35 - 55 years old. There were a lot of women working in the Indonesian informal sector, more than in the other countries, this was partly to do with the needs of everybody having to work to gain a higher income for their family. In Malaysia and Singapore the workforce was more male dominated. The services in Singapore were higher order, as more electronic products were being sold. Indonesia and Malaysia provided a lot of food based products. This just goes to show that Singapore is drifting more away from the informal sector as it develops.

Overall I had an excellent time out there and discovered many things that I hadn't learnt before.

Irfan al Rashid

Does the O2 centre exist to serve the wealthier sector of society whilst employing less wealthy people from the surrounding areas?

By combining a variety of primary questionnaire data and secondary 1991 census data, I managed to obtain a wide variety of results, which helped me to answer the question posed by the title of my project.

Leon inspecting one measure of affluence before being threatened with arrest!

Having analysed my results I was able to conclude that the O2 centre does exist to serve the wealthier sector of society and, generally speaking, employs people from the less wealthy surrounding areas.

Leon Nelson

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