1. 1 Standard Grade Modern Studies Enquiry Skills Investigating methods

2. 2 Writing letters – advantages Writing a letter allows you to address it specifically to one person who you know can help you. It is a more personal way to communicate and you are more likely to get answers to your questions.

3. 3 Writing letters – advantages If you structure a letter properly with a clear explanation of what you want, you are more likely to get a reply. I am interested in finding out information about the following: 1…………………………………………………. 2………………………………………………… 3………………………………………………… 4………………………………………………… Thank you for taking the time to read this letter….

4. 4 Writing letters – disadvantages A badly written letter may not get a reply.

5. 5 Writing letters – disadvantages You may not get a reply because people: aare too busy fforget ccan’t be bothered ccan’t afford to send lots of replies to pupils

6. 6 Writing letters – disadvantages Letters can take time to get to their destination. Letters can get lost in the post.

7. 7 Writing letters – disadvantages You may just get a standard letter in reply, which is of no use to you. You may receive a pile of publicity material that does not answer your questions. Thank you for your interest in our organisation. We enclose some leaflets which may be of use to you. We wish you well in your investigation……..

8. 8 The Internet – advantages The internet gives quick access to a vast amount of information from every corner of the world.

9. 9 The Internet – advantages The internet is easy, quick to access and inexpensive. It is more up-to- date than many other sources of information.

10. 10 The Internet – advantages The internet contains information in a variety of forms – text, graphics, photo images, sound and video.

11. 11 The Internet – advantages Internet web pages provide fast links to other pages.

12. 12 The Internet – advantages There are a large number of search engines available to help you find information.

13. 13 The Internet – advantages You can save or print the material you find.

14. 14 The Internet – disadvantages Sometimes it can be difficult to find out what you are looking for because there is too much information.

15. 15 The Internet – disadvantages Not everyone has access to a computer to use the internet. Many internet websites are biased, so you must be careful when using their information.

16. 16 The Internet – disadvantages You might download a virus by accident, which could damage your computer files or cause the computer to crash.

17. 17 E-mail – advantages Using e-mail allows you to communicate with people around the world.

18. 18 E-mail – advantages You can send and receive documents or photographs as attachments.

19. 19 E-mail – advantages E-mail is a cheap and fast way of finding out information from people or organisations. It takes away the hassle of using envelopes, stamps and post boxes.

20. 20 E-mail – disadvantages Not everyone has access to a computer and the internet. You have to know the e-mail address of the person or organisation you are contacting.

21. 21 E-mail – disadvantages Your computer could be affected by a virus by opening up a bogus e-mail, or by opening up an attachment. This could result in damage to your computer, or the virus being sent to all your e-mail addresses.

22. 22 Newspapers – advantages Newspapers report up-to-date news from Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world. Newspapers are cheap and most are available daily.

23. 23 Newspapers – advantages It is easy to find relevant articles. Most newspapers will examine an issue in detail. Newspapers can be kept and re-read later.

24. 24 Newspapers – disadvantages Newspapers can be biased, so they must be read with care. Many support or oppose political parties, e.g. Labour, Conservative, SNP. Cartoons © Guardian Ltd

25. 25 Television – advantages News and current affairs programmes will cover up-to-date issues.

26. 26 Television – advantages TV programmes can be recorded on a video, a DVD, or a PVR hard disk, and watched later. Many can also be viewed on the internet.

27. 27 Television – advantages TV news programmes usually have political balance – they present different points of view or arguments, and show both sides of a story.

28. 28 Television – disadvantages TV news items can be quite short – a series of sound bites. There is often not enough time for detailed analysis.

29. 29 Television – disadvantages Some investigative TV programmes can be biased, especially if they are focusing on a particular issue they feel strongly about.

30. 30 Books – advantages Many books specialise in Modern Studies issues. They are easy to access and can be bought in many shops or at discounted prices online.

31. 31 Books – advantages Books can be found in local libraries for free. Libraries have a wide variety of current affairs books, including encyclopaedias.

32. 32 Books – disadvantages Books about Modern Studies issues can become out-of-date very quickly. Books can be expensive to buy.

33. 33 CD-Roms and DVDs – advantages They are easy to access and contain large amounts of information This can be in the form of text, graphs, photographs, video and sound clips

34. 34 CD-Roms and DVDs – disadvantages They can become outdated very quickly. They can get damaged easily. They might not work on older computers.

35. 35 Conducting an interview – advantages It allows you to talk to a person one-to-one, who may have information to help you. It lets you have ‘in-depth’ questioning and lets you follow up answers there and then.

36. 36 Conducting an interview – advantages You can extend or cut short the interview depending on progress. It gives you the chance to explore the interviewee’s opinions.

37. 37 Conducting an interview – advantages You can record the interview on tape or video and examine and analyse it at a later date.

38. 38 Conducting an interview – disadvantages It may be difficult to arrange a suitable time. You may not have a long enough time to ask your questions. I am sorry that I cannot manage to spare you time for an interview this week because of my busy schedule. I could arrange to be available for fifteen minutes on the following Wednesday afternoon.

39. 39 Conducting an interview – disadvantages The interviewee may not respond well to your questions. You may misinterpret or misunderstand what was said.

40. 40 Conducting an interview – disadvantages If you only have pen and paper, you may not have time to write down everything, or you may miss out vital information.

41. 41 Using a Questionnaire A questionnaire is a list of questions that a number of people are asked so that information can be collected about something.

42. 42 Using a Survey A survey is an examination of opinions, behaviour, etc., made by asking questions to a large number of people.

43. 43 Questionnaire – advantages You can ask direct questions, and people are likely to answer them. You can fit the questions to your own needs. You can easily pull together the answers you get. You can take your time to analyse the results.

44. 44 Questionnaire – disadvantages Questions must be made up carefully, or they could be confusing or misleading. You don’t really know if the respondent is telling the truth or not. You may not get the questionnaires returned.

45. 45 Surveys – advantages Surveys gives people the chance to express their opinions, especially about important issues. They are easy to use and can get quick results.

46. 46 Surveys – disadvantages Questions must be worded carefully. If you don’t ask the right questions, you can get misleading information. You need to choose the sample carefully. You rely on people telling the truth. You may not get all your surveys returned.