Methodology Essay Example Essay Example

Methodology Essay Example Paper Methodology Essay Introduction In class we have been researching tourism and national parks. We have studied how tourism, due to national parks, has affected small market towns. Ashbourne, a small market town in the Peak District, is an example of this.As the Peak District is the most popular national park in the country we decided to visit Ashbourne, to see how tourism has affected the town.The aim of our visit to Ashbourne was to see how the town has changed and to find out the reasons behind this.To help me gain this information I have created four key questions: How much does the popularity of the Peak District effect Ashbourne? How do the local people feel about the situation? Who is benefiting from tourism in Ashbourne? Is Ashbourne more suitable for tourists or local people?I have asked these questions because they will enable me to establish how Ashbourne has changed and what effects the changes have made.To find out how Ashbourne has changed we used a number of methods. To help us get our information more accurate, we labelled different areas of Ashbourne sites 1-6.We firstly filled in a land-use map, which was a blank outline street map and filled in all the shops and businesses. We did this because it helped us to find out who the target audience were for each shop or business.By knowing the target audience we could then decide if the establishment was there for tourists or local people.A limitation with our land-use map was that it only included the shops at ground floor level also it was confusing because the map was numbered and not all of the buildings were.Another method we used was taking car registration numbers. To do this we wrote down a lot of registration numbers from cars parked in Ashbourne. We did this to help us locate where people may have travelled from. With the new style registration plates, E.g. KK04 VMW. The first two letters indicate where the car was registered; in this example it would be the Luton area. The old style registration plates, E.g. Y205 PJW. The last two letters tell us where the vehicle was registered; in this example it would be from Birmingham.The third method we used was a Pedestrian count. To do this we went to each of the sites, and for fifteen minutes we counted the number of pedestrians we could see. This was useful because it helped us to find which part of Ashbourne was the most popular. A problem with this method was that we were short of time.The fourth method we used was similar to the Pedestrian count, except it was a Traffic count. To do this we went to each of the sites, and for fifteen minutes we counted the number of vehicles that passed us. This was useful because it helped us to find which part of Ashbourne was the busiest. Again a problem with this method was that time was limited.Another method we used was an Environmental survey. This was done by observing how well maintained each site was. We rated the site from the condition it was in. This was useful because it also helped us decide which site was the busiest, and which site was the best looked after.We also did a questionnaire. We did this to give us an idea of the local peoples opinions. We stopped willing locals, and asked them a number of questions to find out how Ashbourne had changed and what they thought about the changes. A problem with this was that there was a limited age group because the younger members of the community were at school during our visit. Another limitation was that some of the answers were just opinions and not actual facts.The final method was our initiative task. For this task we chose to do another questionnaire, but different questions. We asked the local shopkeepers how and how much tourism had benefited their business. We asked this to give us an idea of how tourism had affected Ashbourne. Our initiative task could have been better by asking more questions and making the questions we had asked more detailed.Data InterpretationAppendix AWhen we arrived in Ashbourne the first thing we did was t he pedestrian count. We found out that in site one there were approximately 224 people in this area. In site two there were around 250 people in this area, this was the busiest site overall. In site three there were 200 people, in site four 145 people and in site five 132 people. In site six there were 168 people. I think that site two was the busiest because it was at the main point of Ashbourne. I think site five was the least busiest because it was the furthest away from site two and also on the outside of Ashbourne.Appendix BAfter doing our pedestrian count, we then took the registration numbers. We found out that out of each region 21-25 people had travelled from the South East and the East Midlands, 1-20 people had travelled from the West Midlands and Yorkshire, 11-15 people had travelled from the North West and 0-5 people had travelled from all the other regions. I think the most cars had travelled from the South East and the East Midlands because they are the nearest to Ashb ourne, and people travelling from these regions would pass through Ashbourne on their way to The Peak District.Appendix CAfter taking the registration numbers, we did our initiative task, which was a questionnaire for local shopkeepers. We asked 10 shopkeepers the 7 questions.The first question was ‘How long have you owned this shop?’ 1 person answered ‘Less than 5 Years’, 3 answered ‘5-10 years’, 3 answered ’11-15 years’ and 3 answers ’16+ years’. This shows that most shops in Ashbourne are more than five years old. The second question I asked was ‘Do you rely mainly on local shoppers or tourists and visitors?’ 5 people answers ‘Locals’, 2 said ‘Tourists/Visitors’ and 3 said ‘Both equally’. This shows that local people are more important to cater for than tourists and visitors. The third question asked ‘As tourism has increased do you believe crime has?â€⠄¢ 1 person answer ‘Yes’ and 9 answered ‘No’.This shows that crime is not high, even with an increase of tourism. The fourth question asked ‘From a business point, did you prefer living in Ashbourne before the increase in tourism?’ 1 person answered ‘Yes’, 7 people answered ‘No’ and 2 people said they ‘Live out of Ashbourne’. This shows that the majority of shopkeepers in Ashbourne are grateful for tourism and prefer having visitors. The fifth question asked ‘Due to the increase of tourism, do you believe your target audience has changed?’ 4 people answered ‘Yes’ and 6 answered ‘No’.This shows that the shopkeepers are more concerned about keeping the local people happy, rather than mainly tourists. The Sixth question asks ‘In which months do you have the most customers?’ 1 person answered ‘Jan-Mar’, 2 answered ‘Apr-Jun’, 6 answer ed ‘July-Sep’ and 1 answered ‘Oct-Dec’. This shows that the most customers are in the summer holidays, which is the time when there are going to be lots of tourists. The final question we asked, question seven, asked ‘On average how many customers do you have daily?’ 0 shopkeepers answered ‘5-10 customers’, 3 answered ’11-19 customers’ and 7 answered ’20+ customers’. This shows that there are normally quite a few customers, on a daily basis, all year round.Appendix DAfter doing our initiative task, we did a pedestrian count. In site one there were 55 pedestrians, in Site two 70 pedestrians, Site three 50, Site four 38 pedestrians, Site five 32 pedestrians and in Site six there were 42 pedestrians. This shows that site two is the busiest and site five is the least busy.Appendix EAfter doing the pedestrian count, we did a questionnaire for visitors of Ashbourne. The first question asked ‘What is the purpose of your visit here today?’ 32 people answered ‘Business’, 57 answered ‘Shop’, 45 people answered ‘Work’ and 28 answered ‘Other’. Most people had to come to Ashbourne to shop; this shows that it is a tourist town. Question two asked ‘How have you travelled here today? 116 people had travelled to Ashbourne by ‘Car’, 35 people had travelled by ‘Bus/Coach’, 42 people had ‘Walked’ and 13 had travelled by an ‘Other’ choice.The most popular use of travel was by car. This shows that lots of people must go to Ashbourne. Question three asked ‘How far have you travelled to get here?’ 107 people answered ‘0-10 miles’, 82 answered ’11-50 miles’ and 17 answered ’50+ miles’. This shows that the majority of people do not travel very far to Ashbourne. Question four asked ‘How often do you visit Ashbourne?’ 85 p eople answered ‘More than once a week’, 35 answered ‘Once a week’, 29 answered ‘Once a month’, 41 answered ‘Rarely’ and 16 answered ‘First visit’. Most people chose ‘Once a week’, this shows Ashbourne is popular. Question five asked ‘Do you think parking is a problem?’ 111 people answered ‘Yes’ and 95 answered ‘No’.The amount of answers from each question are quite similar, this shows that there is a mixed opinion. Question six asked ‘Do you think Ashbourne is mainly a tourist town, for local people or both?’ 55 answered ‘Tourists’, 36 answered ‘Local people’ and 115 answered ‘Serves both equally’. The majority believe that Ashbourne is a tourist town but just as much for local people. Question seven asked ‘Are there any changes you feel are needed in Ashbourne?’ 124 people answered ‘Yes’ an d 82 people answered ‘No’. This shows that there are some changes needed in Ashbourne. The final question, number 8 asked ‘What age group do you come into?’ 13 answered ‘0-16†², 27 answered ’17-30†², 48 answered ’31-50†², 49 answered ’51-65†² and 69 people answered ’65+’. This shows that the majority of people that come to Ashbourne are 65 and over.Appendix FAfter doing the questionnaire, we did the environment survey. In site one there wasn’t any litter, the roads and pavements were okay, there was lots of foliage, there was a few pieces of street furniture, a lot of traffic, not a lot of noise and lots of road signs. In site two there wasn’t any litter, the roads and pavements were okay, there was lots of foliage, there was no street furniture, a lot of traffic, not a lot of noise and lots of road signs. In site three there wasn’t any litter, the roads and pavements were oka y, there wasn’t any foliage, there was a few pieces of street furniture, a bit of traffic, lots of noise and lots of road signs.In site four there was a bit of litter, the roads and pavements were okay, there wasn’t any foliage, there was a few pieces of street furniture, a little bit of traffic, not a lot of noise and a few road signs. In site five there wasn’t any litter, the roads and pavements were okay, there wasn’t any foliage, there wasn’t any street furniture, a lot of traffic, lots of noise and a few road signs. In site six there wasn’t any litter, the roads and pavements were okay, there was a bit of foliage, there was a lot of street furniture, a lot of traffic, not a lot of noise and lots of road signs. Site 1 and site 6 were the best-kept sites.Appendix GFinally we did the vehicle count. Site 2 had the most vehicles, with a total of 147, then site 5 with 140, and then site 1 with 139 vehicles, then site 4 with 134 and finally wi th the smallest number of vehicle was site 3 with only 96. Site 2 had the most vehicles because it was the nearest to the busiest point of the biggest road, from all the sites. Methodology Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!