IB Geography IA primary data requirements

IB Geography IA Fieldwork Source Checker

Geography IA must be built around local fieldwork and primary data collected through observation or measurement. Secondary sources can support context, but they should not replace the student-collected fieldwork base.

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AI source auditor

Geography IA source check

Marksy reads the links or source notes you provide, applies the selected IB assessment profile, and only stops for clarification when the score depends on it.

Profile
2Sources
3Clarify
4Score

Selected profile

Geography IA

Source rules

What usually works for Geography IA

Usually strong

  • Transect measurements, environmental quality surveys, traffic counts, questionnaires, land-use mapping, and observations.
  • Government maps, census data, planning documents, and GIS layers for context.
  • Class-collected field data where individual analysis is independent.

Needs review

  • A report built mainly from national statistics with little local fieldwork.
  • Surveys with unclear sampling or no record of when/where they were collected.
  • Generic websites used as substitutes for place-specific evidence.

Avoid or replace

  • Pure literature-review or secondary-data IAs.
  • AI-generated descriptions of a location.
  • Untraceable maps or copied fieldwork tables from another student.

Examples: strong, risky, weak

Strong

Student-collected pedestrian counts, land-use mapping, environmental quality scores, and a local planning document.

Review

Government census data used to contextualize a fieldwork pattern.

Weak

A tourism website describing the city.

Where to find better Geography IA sources

If your current source gets a warning, do not just add more websites. Use searches that match the assessment rule and replace weak evidence with sources that can actually carry analysis.

Replacement moves

Replace pure literature-review or secondary-data ias. with transect measurements, environmental quality surveys, traffic counts, questionnaires, land-use mapping, and observations..

Use a report built mainly from national statistics with little local fieldwork. only as context unless your teacher confirms they can carry evidence.

Add at least one student-collected fieldwork, survey, observation, interview, or experiment source before relying on secondary data.

Strong places to look

Transect measurements, environmental quality surveys, traffic counts, questionnaires, land-use mapping, and observations
Government maps, census data, planning documents, and GIS layers for context
Class-collected field data where individual analysis is independent