C OUNTERURBANISATION S CENE I NVESTIGATION Apparently people across the UK have been leaving towns and cities to live in more rural areas! eh? It’s a phenomenon that YOU must investigate! I want to know who, when, where and why!

AIM OF INVESTIGATION It’s important that you remember this aim when you visit the scene and when you compile your report! AIM:To find out if Moira has experienced counterurbanisation

SUSPECT PROFILE : age? Too Old! Too Young! Profile Age: Married Couples With Children In some cases old people do counterurbaise when they retire, but this is not what has been reported in Moira

SUSPECT PROFILE : Socio-economic group Lower Socio-economic Groups Cannot Afford Expensive Housing or Commuting Cost Migrants are likely to be professional or managerial!

MORPHOLOGY In other cases our boys in the Lab, I mean Lib, have even been able to date the changes in morphology to the last few decades. We believe this is because of an increase in personal mobility - that means people could afford their own get-away cars allowing them to commute more easily! eh? Morphology refers to the size and shape of a settlement, it can most easily be seen from maps! MOIRA Arrival of migrants to a village such as Moira will obviously cause it to increase in size!

SCENE There are two main types of residential areas in Moira Older Areas New Developments Larger Smaller Big Gardens Less Parking More Expensive Garages & Large Driveways Small or No Garden Less Expensive Where do you suspect the migrants might have moved to?

LOCATION: Moira Moira is a prime target for counterurbanisation! Due to its excellent transport links into Belfast and other large settlements! M1 Rail

MOTIVE But Transport isn’t the only pull factor Moira has for migrants! As well as good transport… Moria is an attractive scenic village Basic goods and services available Quiet, Safe, Spacious Housing

MOTIVE It is not only the attractions of Moira that might encourage people to counterurbanise there. They choose to leave the city due to a number of Push Factors.

GETTING EVIDENCE You will want to dip into the map archives to analyse morphology, using maps of different ages. Then it’s a matter of hitting the beat to gather some primary data from the people on the ground. You will want to ask questions about residents’ employment and age to determine if they fit our migrant profile. Obviously you will also need to interrogate them about where they previously lived to see if it was an urban or rural area. What age are the residents? Roughly where did you live before moving to Moira What is the occupation of the main breadwinner? Finally open your eyes and ears! They are the two best tools an investigator has, along with his trusty notebook of course. Survey the environment and make notes to help explain the results of your questioning! Photographic evidence of the scene is also useful to back up your case!

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN Some advice on questioning. Firstly, be polite - you are much more likely to get helpful answers. Only if they are really awkward can you punk them up a bit! Next, keep your questions short, clear and simple! Don’t ask extremely long complicated questions or really general questions, be specific! Leading questions are also bad, aren’t they? Decide whether you want to use open or closed questions. Open questions are good because allow a wide range of answers to be given. Whereas closed questions allow the person to choose from certain categories which makes them easier to analyse.