Welsh Baccalaureate Individual Investigation

Aims of today’s tutorial In two hours time I will Know what the individual investigation is, what it needs to relate to, how long it should be. Know the 4 stages of the investigation and how each stage is assessed. Have looked at different types of primary evidence collection and will have picked some which will benefit my investigation.

Spend 5 minutes answering these questions with the person beside you Quick questions Spend 5 minutes answering these questions with the person beside you What does your investigation have to be based upon? What are the 4 stages of the investigation? Of the four stages which is the most important part? Does the investigation have to be a comparison between two examples e.g. How does the regeneration scheme in Cardiff compare to that of the one in Melbourne? Does the investigation have to be a written presentation?

What does your investigation have to be based upon? It can come from any part of your core subjects Wales, Europe and the world Work-related Education Personal and social education Or from your options ( your subjects/courses). Or it can relate to a combination of both your core and options ( killing two birds with the one stone) e.g. What are the effects of flooding on people? A comparison of the effects of flooding on the people of Wales, the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Studying Geography at AS Wales, Europe And the world (The impact of economic and technological change)

Steps Develop a plan strategy for carrying out the investigation. 2. Identify sources, collect and record data appropriate to the question. 3. Present the data collected in appropriate forms 4.Evaluate and draw conclusions based on the finings of the investigation

1. Plan your investigation At this stage you should consider how you will present your final piece of work. Simple – a single question or hypothesis Don’t make it complicated as this will make it harder to answer. Measurable – can it be measured? Will you be able to go out and collect primary data to help you answer the question Achievable – in the time given Will you be able to collect, present, analyse, draw conclusions and evaluate the investigation chosen ion the time given? Realistic - can it be done? Avoid what if questions Ensure there is secondary information available on your investigation and if your investigation requires something to help you answer the question ensure it is realistic to carry out e.g. Interviews from Assembly Ministers in Wales and members of the Amsterdam Government??? Time – how long will it take Ensure you have enough time to collect information especially primary data – if you need to do surveys, questionnaires, interviews make sure you do them early on in the investigation. If you fail to plan – you plan to fail! Choose something that interests you or relates to what you might do in the future. It will make it more enjoyable and you may be able to use it again or refer to it in an interview or personal statement or even use it as part of a portfolio ! Remember be SMART!!!

Breakdown into sections Using sub- questions /sections, makes answering the main question a lot easier as it gives you guidance on what to include in each part in a logical order Breakdown into sections Extent of the problem Causes of homelessness HOMELESSNESS Effects of homelessness on those involved/ society generally What is being done/could be done about homelessness

Any type of investigation can be broken down into the following 4 sub-questions What exactly is the issue? What are the causes? What are the effects? What are the solutions?

Task on planning In pairs or threes (no more) read through the planning of each of the 3 investigations and answer these 3 questions. What do all of these plans have in common? Out of the three which doesn’t empahasise the planning stage as well as the other 2? Out of the 3 which one does your group think will get the highest mark for the planning stage? Note: This investigation passed but only barely. Use it only as a guidelines on how you can do an improved version of your own. Now use the assessment criteria (on page 2 of your note pages) to assess the planning part of the investigation ‘What can be done to reduce the rates of childhood obesity’

Sample 1 Comparative This candidate therefore got a Good pass Relates to her option course of health and social care. It also relates to the core as it has a theme of PSE. How they went about deciding on the issue. (This pupil shows that s/he researched the topic and then decided on the question). How these sources will be analysed is not mentioned here but is shown in the next part under Analysis so the candidate will not Have lost any marks. Sub-questions shows thorough planning Shows the range of primary and secondary sources that will be used. This candidate therefore got a Good pass

interests the candidate Sample 2 Anorexia Wales Thematic How s/he went about deciding the Investigation S/he hasn’t identified the range of primary and secondary sources s/he planned to use and how these sources would be analysed. Therefore this candidate only got a bare pass in the planning stage. This is something you really need to avoid as there is a thin line between a bare pass and fail!!! Relates to option subject – Psychology and core subject of PSE Shows thoruogh planning. S/he researched another topic But realised it wasn’t achievable or realistic in the time given for the investigation. Shows it is a topic that interests the candidate

Sample 3 All criteria of the planning stage has been met therefore this candidate received a Good pass. Sample 3 How s/he went about deciding on the issue and title of the Investigation. Shows thorough planning Outlines the primary and secondary resources s/he plans to collect Says how these sources will be analysed

2. Identify sources Primary data Secondary data (which has been analysed by someone else) Books/Journals Newspapers/Magazines Internet Any surveys, questionnaires carried out by someone else. You will need a combination of Primary data (You will analyse yourself) Questionnaires Surveys Sketches Diagrams Photographs Ensure you only use information that will help you answer the question you are investigating. Take into consideration who has wrote/carried out/analysed the Secondary data (esp data from the internet) and why they have done so. Even statistics can be biased (unfair).

USING QUESTIONNAIRES

1.What do you want to know? Be clear about the goal of the questionnaire. Write down some questions you want your questionnaire to address/ answer. What do you want to find out? What information do you require - Opinions, Preferences, Ideas, Priorities, etc? On an investigation on the success of redevelopment of an area of Swansea (SA1), in order to design a questionaire I first had to come up with the questions I wanted the questionaire to address. I came up with the following questions by looking closely at The sub-questions of my investigation How successful have recent changes been? 2.What reaction do residents and visitors have to these changes? 3.New jobs have been created, how else has the economic environment changed? 4.SA1 was designed to be a “self sufficent community” – is this the case? Find out about car usage, local services/entertainment. 5.How, if all have perceptions to the area changed?

2. What is the audience? Identify who should be interviewed? What age group or group in society e.g. Children (need parental permission) teenagers, adults, parents, senior citizens. How will you select the sample?  Will it be: Random sampling ( no system) Systematic (every 10th adult) How big should the sample be? How many surveys do you want completed for you to get enough information to help you in your investigation - 20, 40 etc.?

3. Audience + Purpose = Design How should you write the questions?  What will you do with the responses? Have you included one open-ended type question? E.g. Why do you think that teenage pregnancies is so high in Wales? Have you included a copy of the questionnaire in the appendix of the investigation?

4. Gather Information Have you completed the survey? Have you collated responses using tally charts? (see example below) Have you recorded results in a spreadsheet? (Excel) Have you included a copy of the spreadsheet in the appendix of the investigation? Tally sheet Location: Outside Sainsburys in Tenby Date:05/0210 Time: 11am Sample size: 20 Questions: 1. Male ////// Female////////////// 2. Under 18 19-31 32- 45 45-64 65+ // /// /////// ///// /// 3. Yes No /// /////////////////

5. How will this information be used? Have you used the most appropriate chart, graph or table to present the results? Have you used the evidence from the questionnaire to form a conclusion about local/Wales perspective of the Individual Investigation? If you have spent time planning the questionnaire, giving them out and tallying your results ensure you use your results (evidence) in drawing conclusions to your investigation. Don’t just stick in the questionnaire and charts to show the results and not discuss findings.

Types of Questions Two important aspects are structure of the questions and the types of response formats for each question. There are many different types of questions. The most common are closed and open questions.

What are the potential problems in the shopping survey below? To personal To many open ended questions – how would you represent the results?

Closed (or multiple choice) questions Respondent choose an option and are asked to tick or circle the chosen answer. These questions provide data which is easy to present in the form of a chart, graph or table.

Two choices questions This type should be limited to only 1 or 2. Did you watch television at all yesterday? Yes / No Do not present in pie chart or bar chart, just state a fraction or percentage. E.g. Only 13% of the population surveyed new that Wales had the pregnancy in Western Europe

Multiple Choice questions Which of these shops do you prefer? Next / River Island / Top Shop / Primark Present as bar chart if interested in how many for each option but use a pie chart if proportion of the whole is important.

Number scales Make sure categories do not overlap, they must be mutually exclusive. 1. How old are you? Under 20 20 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 50 51 – 60 61 or more 2. How often do you watch TV on a typical day? Less than 1 hour 1 – 3 hours more than 3 hours Present as bar chart if interested in how many for each option but a pie chart if proportion of the whole is important.

Rank order Please indicate, in rank order, your preferred chocolate bar, putting 1 next to your favourite through to 5 for your least favourite. Double Decker …….. Crunchie …….. Wispa …….. Mars Bar …….. Creme Egg …….. Present as a table or component bar chart

Agreement scale 4 options ensure a choice is made, with 5 options many choose the middle. How much do you agree with the following statement? Assessment by coursework is easier than assessment by examination. Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

Rating scale 1. How would you rate this product? Excellent Good Fair Poor 2. On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is not interested at all and 5 is very interested. How interested are you in using this exhibit in an exhibition? 1 2 3 4 5 Present as bar chart if interested in how many for each option but a pie chart if proportion of the whole is important.

Open-ended questions Respondents answer in their own words. These questions can be difficult to analyse. Should be at the end of the questionnaire.

What are your favourite TV programmes? (Please specify their titles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What do you think are the main causes of racism?

Plagiarism If you copy a piece of writing from someone else and present it as being your own work, this is called plagiarism. From the website of Austin Community College Library.austincc.edu/gen-info/facplagiarism.htm

Warning! If your Individual Investigation includes work copied from someone else and you have not properly acknowledged or referenced it, you will fail.

The same is true of copying another person's ideas or other creative work. Even if you get permission you must always acknowledge the source of your information. www.fotosearch.com

Provide references when you… Use any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge; Use another person’s idea, opinion, or theory; Use quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; or Paraphrase another person’s spoken or written words.

How are sources usually referenced or cited? As you go along e.g. following each quote used In footnotes In a bibliography

How are sources usually referenced or cited? Always put quotes in quotation marks. This marks them as not your own words.

Paraphrasing Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge the source of the information. Be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words. www.flickr.com/photos/swiv/397687582/

Do you have to provide references for every fact you use? Obvious facts readily available from numerous sources and generally known to the public are considered "common knowledge." They are not protected by copyright laws so do not have to be referenced. e.g. ‘The President of the United States is Barak Obama.’ www.ustream.tv/

Using the internet You must remember that it is important to acknowledge information you find on the internet in the same way as other sources and not just cut and paste it into your work. The same is true if a writer wants to use an image from a website. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/03/ 0311_techcheats/source/2.htm

Always add a bibliography A bibliography is a list of all the sources you have used in the process of researching your Individual Investigation. schol.wordpress.com

You could consider using an annotated bibliography An annotated bibliography is the same as a bibliography with one important difference: in an annotated bibliography, the information is followed by a brief description of the content, quality, and usefulness of the source. schol.wordpress.com

Remember - always provide references for your sources! within the text in the bibliography at the end. www.thekimchallenge.com

….and finally Do not leave your work until the last minute, in order to avoid panic plagiarism. http://www.hotelforiimperialicavalieri.com/