OCR GCSE Citizenship Studies Citizenship in action overview quiz quiz

Simply having a strong opinion about an issue, even if you never actually do anything at all about it

Voting once every five years in a general election, but taking no other part in public life in between

Following the news closely so that you are well informed, without ever taking any action of your own

Taking action to bring about change on an issue you care about

Carry out a project: choose an issue, research it, plan and take action, and evaluate it

Sit an extra written exam on top of the two main papers, taken under timed conditions in the exam hall

Write a long essay about how the government works, handed in to the teacher but never actually acted upon

Interview a Member of Parliament in person, recording their answers and writing them up as a report

They are exactly the same thing, so the two words can always be swapped without changing the meaning at all

Advocacy influences decision-makers; direct action is taking practical steps yourself

Advocacy is always illegal and gets you into trouble, whereas direct action is the only lawful way to campaign

Advocacy can only ever be done online through websites and social media, never in person or on paper

Information taken from websites, books and news reports that other people have already gathered and published

Information that comes only from official government sources, such as statistics and reports from departments

Information you gather yourself first hand, such as a survey or interview

The very first source you happen to find online when you start searching, before checking any others

To make the research take longer, since spending more time on it always earns a higher mark in the exam

Because all sources are equally reliable, so it does not really matter which ones you choose to use

To increase the sheer number of sources you have, because more sources always means a better project

To avoid relying on biased or inaccurate information

It is specific and realistic, so the action has a clear purpose and can be evaluated

It is as wildly ambitious as possible, even if there is no realistic chance of the team ever achieving it

It is kept secret from the rest of the team, so that nobody else knows what the action is trying to do

It changes completely every week, so the team never has to commit to one fixed purpose for the action

To make the action more expensive, because spending more money on it makes it more likely to succeed

Because the target is the person or body with the power to make the change

Because targets are always chosen completely at random, so it makes no difference at all who you aim at

To avoid having to work together as a team, since a single fixed target means nobody has to cooperate

Paying your income tax on time

Sitting on a jury when called

Lobbying an MP or councillor

Filing your annual tax return

Avoiding other people entirely

Keeping the aim a total secret

Ignoring problems as they arise

Collaboration and teamwork

To record what was done so you can evaluate it and describe it accurately

To make the action look longer and more impressive than it really was, padding it out with extra photos

Because evidence is required by law, so you can be prosecuted if you fail to keep a full record of the action

To avoid having to plan the action in advance, since gathering evidence afterwards replaces the planning stage

To simply describe what you did step by step, listing each task in order without making any judgement

To judge how successful it was by comparing the result against the original aim, using evidence

To plan the whole action again from the very start, repeating it a second time to gather more evidence

To choose a completely new issue to campaign on once the first action has finished, ready for next time

There is no difference between them at all, so the two words mean exactly the same thing in citizenship

The action is the result that you achieved, while the outcome is simply the plan you made beforehand

The action is what you did; the outcome is what changed as a result

The outcome always happens first, before any action is taken, and then the action follows on from it