SQA Advanced Higher Economics Researching an Economic Issue overview quiz quiz

Reading official statistics published by the ONS

Conducting a survey of local consumers yourself

Quoting a report written by a think tank

Using figures from an economics textbook

As broad as possible, such as the whole UK economy

A topic with no available data, to be original

Focused and current, with accessible data and a reachable conclusion

Purely theoretical with no real-world evidence

Guides what evidence to gather and keeps the investigation focused

Allows the candidate to avoid using any economic theory

Removes the need to reach a conclusion at the end

Means no sources need to be referenced

Descriptive, capturing opinions and reasons

Numerical, suited to calculation and charts

Always collected first-hand by the researcher

Only available from government sources

Selects only the most convenient available respondents

Makes the sample mirror the proportions of key sub-groups

Removes the need to gather any data at all

Guarantees a sample of exactly one hundred people

20 per cent, because the difference is 20

25 per cent, the difference over the original value

80 per cent, the original value itself

125 per cent, the new value over the old

90 per cent higher than the base period

10 per cent higher than the base period

10 per cent lower than the base period

Exactly the same as the base period

Official statistics from the Office for National Statistics

A press release from a company promoting its product

A campaign leaflet from a pressure group

An anonymous post on a social media site

Was produced by a trustworthy official organisation

Does not actually measure what the project's aim needs

Is recent and based on a large sample

Is corroborated by several other sources

To make the report longer without adding content

To credit the sources, allow checking and maintain academic integrity

To avoid having to analyse the data at all

Because referencing replaces the need for a conclusion

An unsupported personal opinion stated firmly

A summary that ignores the evidence gathered

Supported by the evidence and economic theory, answering the aim

A list of all the data without any judgement

Reflecting critically on the limitations of the data and methods used

Gathering as much data as possible without judging it

Repeating the same survey several times over

Removing any evidence that disagrees with the conclusion

Include charts purely for decoration

Interpret each table or chart and link it to the analysis

Avoid using any tables or graphs

Present figures without saying what they mean

Using exactly three pieces of data and no more

Cross-checking several independent sources to strengthen confidence

Drawing three different conclusions from the data

Collecting data only from one trusted source