Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Wyatt and I'm so pleased that you could join us here today for our citizenship lesson.

Welcome to today's lesson on "How can we carry out the research for our active citizenship project?" from the unit "How can we make a difference in society? Active citizenship project." By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain the difference between primary and secondary research, and apply appropriate research methods to my active citizenship project.

Our keywords that we will be using throughout today's lesson are "primary research", "secondary research", and "research method".

Primary research is original information or data, or the results of interviewing people.

It's research that you go out and collect yourself.

Secondary research is data that others have already collected, so newspaper articles, internet stories, government statistics, or radio or TV interviews.

A research method is the way people collect and study information to learn about a topic or issue.

Our lesson is broken up into two parts today, with the first part exploring the question of what is primary and secondary research, and finally looking at which research methods should I use.

So when you are ready, let's begin today's lesson.

Research is an important part of investigations because it enables well-informed decision-making.

Research happens during the "get planning" stage of the active citizenship project cycle.

So it happens in some of the first steps of the active citizenship project cycle.

There are two key forms of research, which are primary research and secondary research, two of our keywords.

Primary research is the original information that has been collected by the researcher.

And secondary research is existing information that is used by the researcher.

So primary research is the original information, and then secondary research is anything that exists after that.

There are advantages and disadvantages of primary research.

So there are good and bad things about this type of research.

An advantage of primary research is that it's firsthand.

It's specific, it's up to date at the time, but the disadvantages are time-consuming, it's costly, and it could be biassed.

So the advantages of secondary research is that it's quick, it's cost-effective, so it doesn't cost much money, and it's widely available.

It's much easier to reach.

But there are disadvantages.

It might be outdated, so it might be from a very long time ago, and therefore it doesn't fit with what you're trying to find out today.

It could be biassed, so it could be one-sided, and it might not be fully relevant to what you are researching.

So let's have a go at filling in the missing words in these paragraphs.

So primary research is "blank" information collected by the researcher, whereas secondary research is "blank" information.

Gathering specific information is an advantage of "something" in research.

Collecting information in a cost-effective way is an advantage of "blank" research.

A disadvantaged of primary research is that it can be "blank", which means the information may be one-sided.

A disadvantage of secondary research is that it might not be "blank" to the investigation.

So we've got a few gaps to fill in here.

Let's pause the video and make these sentences make sense.

Okay, let's go through our answers then.

So primary research is original information collected by the researcher, whereas secondary research is existing information.

Gathering specific information is an advantage of primary research.

Collecting information in a cost-effective way is an advantage of secondary research.

A disadvantage of primary research is that it can be biassed, which means the information may be one-sided.

A disadvantage of secondary research is that it might not be relevant to the investigation.

Okay? So we had original, existing, primary, secondary, biassed, and relevant.

Those were our missing words.

Well done if you managed to get those right.

Research methods are the ways researchers collect and study information.

Andeep says interviews and surveys are examples of research methods.

Depending on the research method, information can be quantitative, so numerical, for example, a survey with multiple choice questions, or qualitative, which is descriptive.

For example, interviews or focus groups.

The choice of research method will depend on whether primary research or secondary research is being carried out.

Jun says, "Researchers can use both primary and secondary research." So you could use both.

So primary research methods include surveys, which is asking people simple questions.

You might have taken part in a survey.

Interviews, so talking to people to find out information.

A focus group, which is a small group discussion.

Another example of primary research is action research.

So identifying a problem and ways to fix it.

An experiment is testing ideas in a controlled way.

Or an observation, which is watching and writing down what happens.

So these are some of our primary research methods.

Survey, interview, focus group, action research, experiment, and observation.

Our secondary research methods include books.

I'm sure we know what books are, but, published information.

Articles and news reports and journals, laws and policies, so official rules and guidance, government reports, which are official facts and figures.

We have documentaries, which are educational videos.

Statistics, which are numbers and data from research.

So lots of different secondary research methods also.

So let's match the primary research method with its definition.

So we have survey, focus group, interview, and action research.

Can you pause the video now and have a go at matching the research method with its definition? Okay, time for answers.

So a survey is asking people simple questions.

A focus group is small group discussions.

An interview is talking to people for information.

Which leaves us with action research, and it means finding a problem and trying to fix it.

Well done if you matched the correct primary research method to its definition.

It is important to choose research methods appropriate for the level of your investigation, so that information can be collected effectively.

Jacob says, "For example, interviews might be more suited to local issues because speaking to people in your area might be easier than if the issue was international." Different timeframes, different things that are going on in international places.

It's gonna be harder to interview people internationally than it is locally.

So true or false? The level the issue is being investigated at does not impact which research methods are used.

Is that true or is that false? Hopefully we're all shouting that it is false.

It's false because it's important to choose a research method appropriate to the level of investigation, to ensure the information can be collected effectively.

Like I've just said, a local interview is gonna be much easier than interviewing somebody internationally.

All types of research methods have advantages and disadvantages.

Now these need to be considered before choosing which methods to use so the most effective methods, for what you are trying to find out, are used.

So here are the advantages and disadvantages of primary research methods.

So a great thing about a survey is that you can reach very, very far.

You can reach lots of different people.

The unfortunate disadvantages, though, is that there you cannot go into so much depth and detail with what answers you get, because it's a survey.

An interview advantage is that you get in-depth insights.

But it is time-consuming.

A focus group advantage is that you can hear different views, but the disadvantage is that there could be group bias.

Action research positive is that it has real-world impact.

But a disadvantage is that there are subjective results, which means it cannot be tested if it's subjective.

An experiment, an advantage of an experiment is controlled data.

But the disadvantages is that it's fit into ethics.

There are ethical concerns.

And then an advantage of an observation is natural behaviour.

So a disadvantage of this is that the way you interpret it could be one-sided, and this is known as interpretation bias.

So which is an advantage and disadvantage of an interview? Is it natural behaviour and interpretation bias? Is it diverse views or group bias? Or is it in-depth insights, but it's time-consuming? Which one is it? Okay, hopefully we've all said C, in-depth insights is great, it's what you get from an interview, but it is very time-consuming.

We're also gonna look at the advantages and disadvantages of secondary research methods now.

So books, they give great detailed knowledge.

It's all there.

But it's outdated.

Once that book is published, it's published for that time.

An article gives you current information, but there could be potential bias from the person that it has been written by.

Law and policies are an official source.

You can trust it.

But there is complex, difficult language to understand within them.

Government reports, there's reliable data, but it's restricted access.

So it's really hard to get hold of and into.

Documentaries give current information, but there could be potential bias with that as well.

And then statistics give quantifiable data, however, it lacks context towards the data.

So we have advantages and disadvantages for every type of method.

So which is an advantage and disadvantage of government reports? Which one is it from that list below? Hopefully we've spotted that it is C.

It gives reliable data, brilliant, we can trust it, but it's really hard to get into.

It's restricted access, unfortunately.

For this task, I would like us to write two short paragraphs.

One to explain primary research, and the other to explain secondary research.

Now you might want to include in your paragraphs a definition of each type of research, an advantage and a disadvantage, and an example of each research method.

Try and include an advantage and disadvantage of that method.

So pause the video and have a go at writing two short paragraphs on primary and secondary research.

Okay, let's have a look at our paragraphs now.

So in your first paragraph, you might have said, "Primary research is original information collected by researchers.

An advantage of primary research is that it is specific to the investigation being carried out.

A disadvantage is that carrying out the research can be costly.

A survey is an example of a primary research method.

People are asked simple questions by the researcher.

This allows the researcher to collect lots of information as surveys have a broad reach.

However, they tend to produce quantitative data, which limits the depth of information gathered." Now your second paragraph on secondary research could look like this.

"Secondary research is existing information used by researchers.

An advantage of secondary research is that it is widely available.

Now a disadvantage is that the information collected might not be relevant to the issue being investigated.

Government reports is an example of a secondary research method which provide researchers with official facts and figures.

An advantage of this method is when the data is reliable.

A disadvantage is that access to reports is often restricted." So it's hard to get a hold of.

So you might have included some of the same methods as we did, but hopefully you've managed to write two paragraphs, one on primary and one on secondary research.

We are now going to look at the next part of the lesson, which is exploring which research methods we should use.

Laura and Lucas have chosen a local issue to investigate.

Do pupils at our school have equal access to extracurricular activities, or ECAs for short? They need to use their discussion and debate and critical thinking skills to help them decide on which research methods to choose for their active citizenship project.

Now we have some key questions that can help identify which research methods to use.

So remember, we're looking at whether, do pupils at our school have equal access to extracurricular activities? So can everyone partake in the extracurricular activities that they want to? So we can look at some questions like what do we need to know? Whom do we need to involve? What different type of people? What type of research do we need to use? What resources do we already have? And which research methods could we use? So lots of different questions that can help us try and work out which research method to use.

So which two skills are important when deciding which research methods to use? Is it discussion and debate? Organisation? Or critical thinking? Okay, so we should have said, A, discussion and debate, and C, critical thinking.

These skills are really important to use when we need to decide which research methods to use in our active citizenship project.

Now first, Lucas and Laura need to decide on what it is they need to know from their research.

So Lucas says, "The first thing we need to know is why pupils are not taking part in ECAs." Laura says, "I disagree.

I think we need to first find which pupils aren't taking part in an ECA, and then find out why." Do you agree with Lucas or Laura? Which one do we agree with? So Lucas is saying, "The first thing we need to know is why pupils aren't taking part." Laura says, "I think we need to first find which pupils aren't taking part, and then find out why." Which one? Well, we think a good starting point would be Laura's question.

So finding out which pupils are not taking part in ECAs first, then you can find out why.

So in the question, "What do we need to know?" We could write, "Which pupils are not taking part and why." So what is the first key question when deciding on what research method to use? Is it A, what type of research do we need to use? B, which research methods can we use? Or C, what do we need to know? Which one is it? What's our first key question? Hopefully we've said C.

We need to know what we need to know first.

Laura and Lucas know what they need to find out.

Now they need to decide who needs to be involved.

So Laura says, "Pupils not taking part in ECAs need to be involved." So the ones not going to the extracurricular clubs.

Lucas says, "We also need to involve the extracurricular activities coordinator, as they will have lots of information as they oversee the whole programme." So do you think involving the ECA coordinator is a good idea? Why or why not? What do we think? We think it's a good idea.

So Lucas' idea is good.

The ECA coordinator could easily provide information such as which pupils don't participate, instead of pupils having to figure it out themselves.

So for our key question, "Whom do we need to involve?" We need to involve the pupils not taking part and the ECA coordinator.

Now Laura and Lucas then need to decide which type of research is needed, primary, secondary, or both? Laura says, "I think using the primary research observation is a good idea so we can see which pupils don't take part in ECAs." But Lucas says, "I disagree, we can collect that information using the secondary data the ECA coordinator already has." Who do we agree with more? If the information about which pupils do not take part in ECA already exists, then using this secondary research from the ECA would probably be a more effective way to gather this information, than you having to use your own time to look at which pupils aren't part of an ECA.

As Lucas says, "An observation may not be appropriate, because its purpose is to observe natural behaviour, which is a type of primary research." Laura says, "We also need to find out why pupils are not taking part in ECAs.

Secondary research won't tell us this, so we need to use primary research to explore it." So "What type of research do we need to use?" is one of our key questions, for secondary, who? And primary, why? So what is the third key question when deciding on what research methods to use from our list, what's the third key question? Time for answers.

Hopefully you've said it's B.

"What type of research do we need to use?" This is our third key question.

Laura and Lucas need to discuss what resources are available to them so they can choose realistic and appropriate research methods.

So, "We have our school email address and access to the ECA coordinator." Lucas says, "We also have daily tutor time, which we can use to speak to people." Our next key question is, "What resources do we have?" So we have email, we have access to email, we have access to speak to the ECA coordinator, and you have tutor time to go and speak to pupils.

Before starting their project, it's also important for Laura and Lucas to consider the ethical implications of their research.

For example, are they respecting pupils' privacy? Are they being honest and transparent? So very clear about their research, they're not hiding anything.

Does their research ensure participants are treated equally and fairly, so there's not bias? And are they protecting any sensitive information? Finally, Laura and Lucas need to decide on which research methods to use.

So Lucas says, "We could review the school policy on ECAs.

We could ask the ECA coordinator for statistics of pupils not taking part in an ECA, and then contact them via email." Laura says, "We could invite them to a focus group, so we can gather qualitative information about why they do not take part during tutor time." What other primary research methods could Lucas and Laura use to find out why pupils do not attend, other than a focus group? Laura and Lucas could use surveys to find out why pupils don't attend.

A survey has a broad reach, but limited depth, so they may not gather enough qualitative data through that.

They could also use interviews, which provide in-depth qualitative information.

As interviews can be time-consuming, they may only be able to carry out a small number, which means they will only have a limited amount of data.

So Laura and Lucas have now decided on their research methods.

So as you can see, this is statistics and surveys and focus groups, and they got there from asking all of those key questions.

So which research methods you should use will depend on the key questions, as we have seen with Laura and Lucas.

It's important to consider the responses to the key questions so the most suitable and effective research methods are chosen.

If these are not considered, the success of your active citizenship project will be in jeopardy.

So, let's have a go at correcting the Oak National Academy pupils' misconceptions by changing just one word.

So one word out of these sentences.

So from Aisha, Izzy, and Jacob's sentences, there's one word that needs to be changing.

Pause the video and have a go at working out which word needs to be changed.

Okay, so our answers should look like this.

Aisha was talking about qualitative research before, but actually, if you're gathering numbers, you would use quantitative research.

Izzy says, "In your research, you might use information that already exists, which is called secondary research," but before she called it primary.

And, "If you do not consider all the key questions before starting, the success of your active citizenship project could be at risk." Okay, so success was the word that we needed to change for Jacob.

Well done if we got those right.

So let's have a go now at completing this table to explore which research methods would be the most suitable for your own active citizenship project.

So we've been through these questions with Laura and Lucas, but now it's time to look at our own research methods and our own active citizenship project.

So pause the video and have a go at completing the table.

Okay, so here's an example of a table from an active citizenship project which focused on democracy.

So what do we need to know? We need to know how do candidates campaign, how do pupils vote, how are votes counted, and opinions, because their project is, "Does the school hold free and fair elections for the student council?" Whom do we need to involve? Well, pupils including the student council and the teacher responsible for holding these free and fair elections for the student council.

What type of research do we need to use? They need to use secondary to find out how they hold the fair and free elections, and primary to gather pupils' opinions.

What resources do we have? They have the policy of the student council, emails, tutor time, to go and speak to people, and going to the student council meetings.

Which research methods could they use? So they could use looking at the policy of how they could use surveys and interviews to find opinions.

We have now come to the end of our lesson on how can we carry out the research for our active citizenship project.

And today we learned that research is crucial for informed decision-making within an active citizenship project.

It can be divided into two types of primary research, which is original data collected, and secondary research, which is existing data used by the researcher.

For our active citizenship project, we must answer key questions like, what information do we need? Whom should be involved? Do we need primary research or secondary research, or both? And what resources are available? Once we have the necessary information, we can choose the most suitable research methods.

Failing to consider these questions carefully could jeopardise the success of our project.

So I hope we've taken a lot and we've applied it to our active citizenship project today.

Thank you for your efforts in the tasks, and I hope to see you in the next one.

Bye-bye.