1. It is really important to get to grips with the different enquiry skills questions early on the Modern Studies course. They are worth 40% of the final grade at National 5! Over a series of lessons we are going to learn how to answer the different types of ES questions. Exaggeration Drawing Conclusions Support and Oppose Options Enquiry skills questions will ALWAYS provide you with sources (this is information). You ONLY use the source information that is provided, you do not need to use your own knowledge. You must use ALL sources in a question in order to gain full marks.

2. This type of question requires you to look at two different sources and pick out differences between them. Tip Compare similar issues e.g. you would not compare someone’s eye colour with someone’s hair colour. You would compare hair colour to hair colour or eye colour to eye colour. ‘LIKE FOR LIKE’ This applies to this type of enquiry skills question. Look at the past exam question as a class and see if you can pick out the differences. How to structure the answer One difference between source 1 and 2 is that source 1 claims that the rise in fuel poverty is due to huge rises in gas and electricity bills whereas source 2 claims that it is due to poor insulation in many households allowing heat to escape. A second difference is that source 1 believes that the best way to solve fuel poverty is to increase state benefits to vulnerable groups such as the elderly and families with children but Source 2 believes that the government should provide better insulation for homes to help reduce fuel poverty. It is important you learn the structure of enquiry skills answers as this makes it easier for an examiner to mark! Look at the 2010 General paper Q2b.

3. This type of question is one where you are asked to detect exaggeration and give reasons to support your choice. You will be given one or two sources and a series of statements, this can be in a paragraph or as separate bullet points. You have to decide which are exaggerated based on the source information. Tip Make sure you read the source carefully- especially figures! Exaggeration means- to over-state something. Look at past paper questions as a class. Structuring your answer One statement that is exaggerated is “The SNP and the Conservative Party agreed on all policies during the year”. This is exaggerated as Source 1 shows that the Conservative Party did not vote for student tuition fees to be scrapped whereas the SNP did. A second statement that is exaggerated is that “The SNP is likely to get the most votes in a UK Parliament Election”. This is exaggerated as source 2 shows that the SNP would only achieve 30% in a UK Parliament election whereas Labour would gain 34% which is higher than the SNP vote. Look at question 1d from the General 2010 past paper.

4. This questions requires you to provide evidence to either support a statement or oppose it. Tip Oppose means to show that it is wrong. You can be asked this questions in different formats at both general and credit level. You may be asked to come up with; ONE reason to support and ONE reason to oppose a statement. You could be asked to provide TWO reasons to support a statement. OR TWO reasons to oppose a statement. It will make it very clear what the question is asking. Look at past paper questions with your teacher. Structuring your answer Look at question 3(B) d in the General 2010 past paper. One reason to support the statement made by Li Yifan “China has the lowest percentage of its population living below the poverty line” is from the source ‘China Today’ the graph shows that China has only 10% of its population living below the poverty line compared to India with 25%, UK with 19% and USA with 13%. This shows China has the lowest percentage. One reason to oppose the view “In recent years, there has been a continuing increase in the average income of people in China.” is that the source ‘China Today’ shows that from 2006 to 2008 China’s average income in fact decreased from just over $6000 to just over $5000.

5. You are presented with information and then given two options. You have to decide which option best suits the information. Tip There is never a wrong choice. Either option can be correct, you just have to match the right information with the facts given The key to answering this question is to link up the source iformation For example; -You are told that a local area is in need of a new youth centre, the area has a high level of people living in poverty who don’t have access to computers and internet resources. -In an project A (one of the options) it will build a new community centre that will have a computer room with free internet access. It will also provide 100 new jobs in the area that will pay more than minimum wage. Can you pick out which information you would select to show project A best suits the needs of the local area? Look at some past paper questions with your teacher.

6. Structuring your Answer Look at question 4b from the 2010 General Past Paper. The project that best meets the aims of SCOTAID is project B. Project B would be the most suitable because from the information about Scotaid one of their aims is to improve education for young people. Project B will build a new community centre that will be fully equipped with 10 wind up laptop computers that young people can use to gain qualifications. Another reason why project B would be more suitable is that another of Scotaid’s aims is to improve child care in Cameroon. Project B will provide a children’s nursery so that the women of Soppo can go back to work.

7. This type of question requires you to compare and contrast information in a number of different sources and come to some conclusion (a true statement of fact). Tip To reach your conclusion you have to work out what patterns or trends the sources show, and use the information to support your true statement. Often the question will direct you to the correct conclusion by giving you a specific issue to look at e.g. What happens to car production over time. You will then look at the information on oil production and draw a conclusion (if it goes up or down, increase/decreases).

8. How to Structure your answer Look at the General 2010 Q4 d One conclusion that can be drawn from the source is that the UK has made the biggest change in oil production. It has increased from 1800 barrels in 2005 to 2070s barrels in 2008. As a country’s oil production rises the amount a country needs to import decreases. From the source the UK’s oil imports reduced from 1600 to 1080. This is true for three out of the four countries as their production increased. Only France stayed the same. Look at past paper questions with your teacher

9. Recent Scottish Football Results Falkirk 3-2 Rangers Ayr 1-1 Hearts (4-1 pens) Ross County 0-2 Celtic Aberdeen 3-3 East Fife (3-4 pens) Motherwell 2-2 Hibernian (6-7 pens) St Johnstone 0-2 St Mirren Airdrie Utd 0-2 Dundee Utd Kilmarnock 5-0 Queen of the South Make 2 conclusions about these results – give a reason for each. a)On the success of home teams compared to away. b)On the success of SPL teams compared to others.

10. Home TeamAway Team Dundee Utd30Inverness CT Aberdeen11Celtic Dunfermline02Motherwell Hibernian00St Mirren Kilmarnock00St Johnstone Rangers12Hearts All of the home teams had winning results. Is the statement right or wrong? So how Selective would you say this statement is?

11. In this type of question you should find evidence that may support or oppose the views that are given. Tip From the statements you should look to see how much each statement within the view is either correct or incorrect. Selective-whether that part of the view is CORRECT,INCORRECT, SELECTIVE,NOT SELECTIVE,TRUTHFUL etc About the question: Once you have decided whether each statement is correct or incorrect you decide overall how selective the view has been. You can have a situation such as: All three statements are correct = not selective at all 2 correct, 1 wrong = slightly selective 1 correct, 2 wrong = fairly/very selective All 3 wrong = completely selective

12. Model Answer: Cameron Petrie is correct in his statement “The number of people receiving free personal care at home and in care homes have both risen”. Source 1 shows that in 2004 there were 33,030 people receiving free personal care at home, but 2008 this had risen to 42,400. Similarly in 2004 8340 people were receiving free personal care in care homes this increased to 9600 by 2008. This shows he is not being selective in his use of facts. In the statement “All local authorities that spent more in 2007 than 2003 on care homes have seen an increase in the places available between these years.” We can say that Cameron Petrie is not correct. All local authorities spent more from 2003 to 2008 however, in South Lanarkshire the number of places available decreased from 2926 in 2003 to 2796 in 2008. This shows that Cameron Petrie is slightly selective in his use of facts. Cameron Petrie is not correct when he states “Older females, for every reason, make more use of the day care services than every other group.” Source 3 shows that Males under 65 make more use of services for drug and alcohol problems with 152 compared to only 19 for older females and females under 65 make more use of services for learning disabilities with 3842 to only 349 for older females. This shows he has been quite selective in his use of facts. Overall Cameron Petrie was wrong in two out of three statements therefore he has been very selective in his use of facts.

13. Model Answer: Callum Wishart is incorrect when he states ‘The west of Scotland Region had the largest increase in voter turnout.’ This is proven in source 2 which shows that the region saw a 3.2% increase in turnout. However, the Lothian region saw 3.5% increase, clearly showing it had a higher increase than the West of Scotland. This shows Callum to be incorrect in his statement. Callum is correct when he states ‘In 2007, there were more MSPs in favour of independence than ever before’. The information to support Callum from source 1 shows that the number of MSPs favouring independence rose from 34 out of 129 to 49 in 2007. This shows Callum is not selective. Callum is also correct when he states ‘since the opening of the Scottish Parliament, people feel more Scottish’. Source 3 supports this as it says in 1999, 25% of people said they felt more Scottish than British. This increased to 32% in 2006. This shows Callum was correct in this statement. Overall Callum Wishart was correct in two out of three statements, therefore he is slightly selective in his view.