How is development measured, why are some countries less developed, and how is disease tackled?
Indicators of development and their validity, the reasons for differences in development between and within countries, and a study of a disease including its causes, impact, management and strategies.
An SQA Higher Geography answer on development and health, covering social, economic and composite indicators of development and their validity, the reasons for development differences between and within countries, and a case study of a disease such as malaria including its spread, impact and management.
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What this key area is asking
The SQA wants you to explain how development is measured and how reliable each indicator is, give reasons why countries differ in development (and why differences exist within a country), and study one disease in depth, covering its causes, spread, impact and the strategies used to manage it. Naming a disease such as malaria and judging its management is essential at Higher.
Measuring development
A single economic figure like GNI per head can be misleading: it is an average that hides huge inequality, ignores the informal economy and quality of life, and is distorted by exchange rates. Composite indices like the HDI are more valid because they blend wealth with health and education, giving a rounded picture.
Why development differs
A health case study: malaria
- Causes and spread
- Malaria is caused by a Plasmodium parasite carried by the female Anopheles mosquito, which breeds in warm, stagnant water, so it thrives across tropical regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, during and after the wet season.
- Impact
- Malaria caused over deaths in 2022, mostly young children in Africa, and weakens millions more; sick workers and pupils miss work and school, healthcare costs rise, and the loss of productivity holds back development in the worst-affected countries.
- Management
- Strategies include insecticide-treated bed nets, draining or treating stagnant water to remove breeding sites, indoor residual spraying, anti-malarial drugs, new vaccines (RTS,S, rolled out from 2021), and education on prevention, all delivered most effectively through low-cost, community-based primary health care.
Examples in context
Example 1. The development gap within Brazil. Brazil shows development differing within one country. The wealthy core in the south east (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro) has high incomes, industry and good services, while the rural north east is far poorer, drier and more reliant on subsistence farming, with lower literacy and life expectancy. The contrast illustrates core-periphery inequality and shows why a single national figure hides wide internal variation, a key point for the validity-of-indicators question.
Example 2. Malaria control through bed nets. The wide distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, funded by the Global Fund and the WHO, helped cut global malaria deaths substantially after 2000. Nets are cheap, simple and effective because they protect sleeping people when Anopheles mosquitoes bite at night. The case also shows the limits of management: progress has stalled in recent years because of funding gaps, growing insecticide and drug resistance, and the difficulty of reaching remote rural communities, which is why the new RTS,S vaccine is being added.
Try this
Q1. Explain why a single economic indicator may not be a valid measure of development. [4 marks]
- Cue. It is an average that hides inequality; it ignores the informal economy and quality of life; it is distorted by exchange rates; composite indices like HDI are more reliable.
Q2. For a disease you have studied, describe the strategies used to manage it. [4 marks]
- Cue. For malaria: insecticide-treated bed nets, draining stagnant water, anti-malarial drugs, indoor spraying, vaccines, and education through primary health care.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 20185 marksExplain why a single economic indicator may not give a valid picture of a country's level of development.Show worked answer →
Worth 5 marks. The command is "explain", so each weakness must be given with a reason. About four developed points reach the top band.
It is an average (about 2 marks). Gross national income per head is a mean, so it hides huge inequality between a wealthy elite and a poor majority. A country with oil wealth can have a high average while most people remain poor.
It ignores quality of life and the informal economy (about 2 marks). Money alone does not measure health, literacy or housing, so two countries with the same GNI can differ greatly in wellbeing. Much economic activity in poorer countries is informal (subsistence farming, street trading) and goes unrecorded, understating real living standards. Exchange-rate swings also distort the figure.
A better measure (about 1 mark). Composite indices such as the Human Development Index combine income with life expectancy and education, giving a more valid, rounded picture.
SQA Higher 20216 marksReferring to a named disease you have studied, explain its impact and evaluate the strategies used to manage it.Show worked answer →
Worth 6 marks. Use a named disease such as malaria, give impacts, then describe and judge management.
Impact (about 2 marks). Malaria kills hundreds of thousands a year, mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa, and weakens many more. Sick workers and pupils miss work and school, healthcare costs rise, and the loss of productivity holds back economic development.
Management and judgement (about 4 marks). Insecticide-treated bed nets are cheap, effective and have driven big falls in cases. Draining or treating stagnant water removes mosquito breeding sites, indoor spraying kills adult mosquitoes, and anti-malarial drugs treat cases; new vaccines (RTS,S, rolled out from 2021) add protection. Strategies work best when combined and delivered through low-cost primary health care, but funding gaps, growing insecticide and drug resistance, and reaching remote areas limit success, so the disease persists.
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Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher Geography Course Specification — SQA (2018)