An honest write-up claims only what was recorded or supplied. This lesson shows how to report findings and limitations in a way that stays inside what you know.
It belongs to designing a small ethical geographical investigation. A parallel skill is covered in explaining limitations without inventing field observations.
What are the two situations?
Situation one: the data are supplied in a question or by your teacher. You did not collect them, so you write “the data show”.
Situation two: you or your class collected the data. You write what you did, in the past tense, and only what actually happened.
In both, the sentence must match the source of the evidence.
Worked example: eight litter counts
The numbers here are made up for illustration. Eight litter counts per 10 m along a fictional path are: 3, 5, 4, 6, 2, 9, 4, 3.
Total = 3 + 5 + 4 + 6 + 2 + 9 + 4 + 3 = 36. Mean = 36 ÷ 8 = 4.5. Ordered: 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 9, so the median is (4 + 4) ÷ 2 = 4. The range is 9 − 2 = 7.
As supplied data: “The data show a mean of 4.5 items per 10 m, a median of 4 and a range of 7. The highest count, 9, is more than twice the median. The data do not say when or how the counts were made, so the pattern on other days cannot be judged.”
As student-recorded data, where the class really counted along eight points of a path on one day: “We counted litter at eight points on one day. The mean was 4.5 items per 10 m and the median was 4. Because we used one day and eight points, the results may not show the usual pattern.”
The mistake that loses marks
The fabricated write-up adds colour that nobody recorded: “I visited at 10 am on a sunny Saturday and noticed a lot of visitors near the highest count.” If the time, the weather and the visitors are not in the evidence, each detail is invented.
| Fabricated | Honest |
|---|---|
| I counted at 10 am in sunny weather. | The time and weather are not stated in the data. |
| Visitors caused the count of 9. | The count of 9 is the highest, and its cause is not recorded. |
| Our sample was perfect. | Eight points on one day is a small sample, so it may not represent the path. |
The honest column is not vague. It still names figures and states what is missing.
How do I write a limitation I can defend?
Base each limitation on something you can see in the design or the data: the number of points, the number of days, the missing detail. Then say what it does to the conclusion.
Useful frames are “The data do not show…”, “Only eight points were used, so…” and “This cannot be tested without…”. Set out the table you are describing using the graph evidence and fair-comparison lab.
Check yourself
Original data: five counts of cyclists per hour at a fictional junction are 12, 15, 9, 14 and 20. No time or weather is given. A student writes: “I counted during the morning rush hour, which is why the 20 is so high.” Correct the sentence and find the mean.
Answer
Mean = (12 + 15 + 9 + 14 + 20) ÷ 5 = 70 ÷ 5 = 14 cyclists per hour.
The original sentence invents the time and the cause. A corrected version: “The data show a mean of 14 cyclists per hour, with a highest count of 20. The time of day is not given, so the reason for the highest count cannot be stated.”
What to study next
Test the four lessons together in the investigation design practice questions.
For a teacher to check each sentence of your write-up against what you actually recorded, see online one-to-one Geography tuition.