1. The Higher Modern Studies Assignment

2. The Higher Modern Studies Assignment
This is worth 1/3 of your grade
You have to write a report which is worth 30 marks
You have to choose a relevant topic (issue)
You then have to investigate using various sources and come to conclusions
This booklet will explain how to pick up marks as you go

3. Choosing a Topic
Choose a Modern Studies topic where there are alternative views.
It can be a Political, Social or International Topic.
Your topic is a problem and should have solutions or alternative views.
Possible topics include:
EU membership
Nuclear weapons
Prisoner voting rights
Voting systems
Inequality in the USA
Health issues in the UK
Gun control
US healthcare system
Scottish Independence
Tuition fees in education

4. Possible Topics – Social Issues in the UK
Make sure the problem you identify is one where there are several different views which can lead to different decisions
The Welfare State in the UK
Obesity in Scotland
Alcohol in Scotland
Smoking in Scotland
Child Poverty
Gender Inequality in Society
Racial Inequality in Society
Unemployment in the UK
Social Exclusion

5. Possible Topics – Three Courses of Action
The Welfare State in the UK
Option 1- Benefits for all
Option 2-Means Tested Benefits
Option 3-Scrap the benefits system
Obesity in Scotland
Option 1-Tax fatty foods/ drinks
Option 2-Free healthy school meals for all
Option 3-Government subsidised fruit and veg
Alcohol in Scotland
Option 1-Minimum pricing on alcohol
Option 2-Increase age to 21
Option 3-More government information campaigns
Smoking in Scotland
Option 1-Increase the price of cigarettes
Option 3-Reduce cigarette advertising

6. Possible Topics – Three Courses of Action
Child Poverty
Option1- Free school meals for all
Option 2- Increased nursery hours
Option 3- Child benefit should be universal
Gender Inequality in Society
Option1- 50:50 policy
Option 2- Increase in the national minimum wage
Option 3- Free childcare up to the end of primary school
Racial Inequality in Society
Option1- Introduce affirmative action policies
Option 2- Increased racial awareness schemes in schools
Option 3-Tougher penalties for organisations for not implementing the Equality Act
Unemployment in the UK
Option1- More training programmes for unemployed youths
Option 2- Get rid of zero hour contracts
Option 3-Cut benefits
Social Exclusion
Option1- More vocational education
Option 2- Increase benefits
Option 3- Increase the national minimum wage

7. Possible Topics – Three Courses of Action
Democracy
The House of Lords
Option 1-Elect the House of Lords
Option 2-Disband the House of Lords
Option 3-Keep the existing arrangement
Increase voter turnout
Option 1-Introduce compulsory voting
Option 2-Decrease the age to 16
Option 3-More campaigns to increase turnout
The Influence of the Media
Option 1-More control over the media
Option 2-Less control over the media
Option 3-Level of influence of the media to stay the same

8. Possible Topics – Three Courses of Action
The USA
Illegal Immigration
Option 1- Tighter border control
Option 2-Amnesty to illegals
Option 3-Guest worker programme
Health care in the USA
Option 1-The Affordable Care Act
Option 2- Free universal healthcare
Option 3-Individual responsibility
Political Participation in the USA
Option 1-Vote or Die/ Rock the Vote
Option 2-Compulsary voting
Option 3-More ethnic minority candidates

9. Research your Topic There are two types of research:
Primary and Secondary
Primary Research
Primary Research is where you do your own research.
It could be a survey, an interview or a focus group.
All have their advantages and disadvantages.
It depends on what your topic is and what information you’re trying to find out.
Primary research would be good for Scottish/UK Political and Social topics where your interviewees might know about the issue you ask them about.
For some, but not all International topics, primary research might be more difficult.

10. Research your Topic Secondary research
Secondary research is where you use someone else’s research. It can be books, magazine/newspaper articles, websites, blogs, social media or online encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia.
Wikipedia gets a bad name.
It is said to be unreliable, full of mistakes, ½ truths and gossip.
Maybe.
But not all of it is.
If all you do is use Wikipedia you wouldn’t get a good mark in your assignment.
In fact its best not to refer to Wikipedia as one of your Sources at all.
But as a first place to go, to get a feel for the arguments and be a launch pad for further research it can be very useful.
Pressure Groups
Chances are for your chosen topic there will be organised groups lobbying to have your issue legalised/criminalised/abolished/strengthened. Whatever.
Chances are they will have an online presence and you can find their ‘take’ on things very easily.
The American Association for Affirmative Action is, as you would expect, for Affirmative Action.
The cleverly named Center for Equal Opportunities is against Affirmative Action

11. Suggested Format Role and Remit Introduction
5 bits of background knowledge
Explain why issue important
My Recommendation
3 options
Make decision
Then give other options
My Recommendation/ Chosen Option
Arguments for my recommendation (3)
Arguments against my recommendation (2)

12. Suggested Format Other Possible Solutions Increase age
For each solution give 2 arguments for and 2 against.
Conclusion
Research Methods

13. Writing your Introduction
Use a Heading – Introduction – and underline. This is a REPORT, not an essay!
Clearly state the wider topic/issue you have chosen to write about.
Briefly explain why you have chosen this topic – “currently a topic of discussion in the UK” “widely debated in the news media” “I wanted to discover the possible side effects of this major health issue”.
Give 5 clear points on the general topic/issue which create a context for your report. Make the background of the issue obvious.
For each point made, highlight to the marker it is background info by stating (BK) after it. See next page example

14. Writing your Introduction
I have recently investigated the social issue of Smoking in the United Kingdom. Smoking within the UK is a very controversial problem as it can ultimately cause death. I chose to investigate this issue as I was aware of smoking and its dangers and I was intrigued to find out about what has and can be done to prevent smoking in the UK.
The issue is significant today because in the United Kingdom Smoking accounts for around 106,000 deaths every year which is nearly 300 deaths happening due to smoking every day (BK). With around 12 million people in the UK being smokers (BK) it is extremely worrying that so many deaths are occurring because of this addiction. In the UK 27% of all men are smokers and one quarter of all women are also smokers (BK). Economically, the NHS in England spend an average of between £1.4 billion to £1.7 billion pounds on Smoking related issues (BK). In Scotland this figure is around £400 million (BK). The purpose of this report is to find a solution to reduce smoking in the UK. 5 marks for setting context

15. My Recommendation
Having considered all the evidence, I believe the best approach to tackling smoking in the UK is to increase the price of cigarettes. In coming to this decision I looked at two other possible courses of action which I analysed in order to find out their positive and negative effects. These were:
Stop all cigarette advertising
Increasing the availability to alternatives to smoking

16. See the next page for an exemplar paragraph.
My Recommendation/ Chosen Option
Arguments for my recommendation (3)
Arguments against my recommendation (2)
Give general information about this ‘policy option.’
Use sub-headings to indicate to the marker what you are discussing.
Reference your sources – Source 1, Source 3 etc
In a report issued by the NHS (Source 1) it states that … Therefore this means…
As long as you do not copy this information from the research sheet and attempt to explain it you will get ANALYSIS marks.
LINK your sources together where possible
Also in these sections try to add more BK.
See the next page for an exemplar paragraph.

17. Arguments for increasing the price of cigarettes
Improve health and economy
The Chancellor George Osborne has increased cigarettes prices once again. The price of 20 cigarettes was to rise by 28 pence. Anti-smoking campaigns wanted an extra 5% added onto the rise of cigarette prices (BK). Some would argue that this will reduce the number of smokers.
Firstly I am going to discuss the advantages of increasing the prices of the cigarettes. According to a report by Landman Economics written by Howard Reed (Source 1) on the effects of increasing tobacco taxation, “increasing tobacco taxation is likely to have a number of indirect benefits in terms of reduced early deaths in the population…., reduced ill health, reduced absenteeism from work, and so on”. In the same report this is backed up as it is shown that by raising tobacco prices by 5% the results economically were great and there was a net benefit of £10.2 billion over 50 years. Due to the net benefit, on average economic benefits would be around £270 million in the first five years (1 mark ANALYSIS).
Overall Policy Option
Subheading to show marker what you are discussing
Therefore the risk of developing diseases falls because less people are smoking due to the rise in cigarette pricing. This is also positive as the less people that require the treatment the less money the treatment will cost to those who still require smoking related treatment(1A). Furthermore in 2006 the National Health Service spent around £2.7 billion pounds on smoking related diseases in England alone, to treat these diseases (BK).

18. Other Possible Solutions - Option 2
Arguments for Option 2 (2)
Arguments Option 2 (2)
Essentially the same as the previous section although SHORTER!
Arguments against should be quite strong here although not as strong as for your recommended option!
Give general information about this ‘policy option.’
Use sub-headings to indicate to the marker what you are discussing.
Reference your sources – Source 1, Source 3 etc
In a report issued by the NHS (Source 1) it states that … Therefore this means…
As long as you do not copy this information from the research sheet and attempt to explain it you will get ANALYSIS marks.
LINK your sources together where possible
Also in these sections try to add more BK.

19. Other Possible Solutions - Option 3
Arguments for Option 3 (2)
Arguments Option 3 (2)
Essentially the same as the previous section although SHORTER!
Arguments against should be quite strong here although not as strong as for your recommended option!
Give general information about this ‘policy option.’
Use sub-headings to indicate to the marker what you are discussing.
Reference your sources – Source 1, Source 3 etc
In a report issued by the NHS (Source 1) it states that … Therefore this means…
As long as you do not copy this information from the research sheet and attempt to explain it you will get ANALYSIS marks.
LINK your sources together where possible
Also in these sections try to add more BK.

20. Writing your conclusion
Recap the main reasons for making your recommendation. Go over the main arguments, not in too much detail!
Rebuttal: this is where you state the arguments against your chosen option, including the reasons for Options 2&3.
You must ARGUE back against this and say that you understand these arguments but persuade the reader your option is the best.
Explain the problems with your other options and why you didn’t choose them.
This section is worth 4 marks
A strong rebuttal would get you good marks here. Be PERSUASIVE.
Use language like ‘I believe/ I think/ my research shows…
Remember to use the heading “Conclusion”.

21. Conclusion
I have decided to go with the option of allowing prisoners the right to vote. Having looked at all the information, I feel the most persuasive reason is that it upholds democracy and allows prisoners to integrate more easily into society. Furthermore… GO OVER THE MAIN REASONS. BE PERSUASIVE!!!
However, some would say that they do not deserve the right to vote because some have committed very serious crimes and … I did take this into consideration but I feel that not all prisoners have committed serious crimes and therefore should not all be treated the same way. In addition, some have argued that prisoners don’t really care about voting however my research showed that a lot of prisoners do and…

22. Research Methods
Evaluating the usefulness and reliability of sources of information – essentially what you do in a SELECTIVITY exam question!
Choose 2 of your own resources; try to make sure they are different i.e a newspaper and a documentary or a newspaper and a government document.
The best source I used was… because…(specific advantage of the source).
This was much better than … because… (specific disadvantage of the source).