Hi, I'm Mrs. Allchin and I'm going to be taking you through this citizenship lesson today.

I'm going to give you all the information that you need to be successful, and I'm also going to pause and tell you when to complete a check for understanding or a task.

I hope you enjoy the lesson.

This lesson is called Why is Primary Research Important? And it comes from the unit of lessons: How can I be a changemaker in my community? By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain what primary research is and how it can support your active citizenship project.

Our keywords for today's lesson are primary research, which is original informational data or the results of interviewing people.

Research that you go out and collect yourself.

Support, which is something that strengthens your argument or point of view.

And data: facts or information like numbers, words, or pictures, that can be collected and used.

This is our lesson outline for Why is primary research important? First, we're going to look at what is primary research? and then we're going to consider how will it support active citizenship? So let's start by looking at What is primary research? So Sofia is asking that, "What is primary research?" We've just looked at it as a keyword.

Can you remember? Pause and have a think.

Primary research is research that you carry out yourself.

So it could include interviews, observations, questionnaires and surveys, focus groups that you lead, responses that you receive from suggestion boxes, and visual logs.

But all of those must be things that you do yourself, that you carry out yourself.

Primary research refers to gathering new and original information directly from people or observations, rather than using existing sources.

It involves collecting data yourself through methods like surveys, interviews, or observations to better understand a specific issue or topic.

So Sofia is saying, "We create primary research ourselves.

It is therefore newer and younger than secondary research, just like how primary pupils are younger than secondary pupils." So that's just a little bit of a tip there to help you remember the difference between primary and secondary.

Secondary has been created by someone else.

So secondary research is older, just like secondary students or pupils are older, whereas primary research is what you carry out yourself and therefore it's younger, so it might help you to remember the difference between the two.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these is an example of primary research.

Is it A: a newspaper report about NHS funding, B: a pupil-led observation of traffic in the local area, C: an article on a local website about a potential school closure? Pause and have a think.

And it's B, a pupil-led observation of traffic in the local area.

And that's what makes it primary research because it was pupil led, they did it themselves.

It was their research.

So Sofia's asking, "What would actual real-life examples of primary research look like?" So we've identified some of those things like observations or suggestions from suggestion boxes.

But what might these look like in real-life? So let's take a bit of a look.

So a local residents' group might carry out door-to-door surveys asking neighbours about their experiences with antisocial behaviour in the area.

The data collected could be used to lobby decision-makers for better street lighting and increased police patrols.

So that's an example of what it could look like in a real-life situation.

Let's have a look at some other examples.

So it could also be an education campaign organisation.

So it could be a charity or an organisation that's focused on education.

They might run a focus group with teenagers from low-income backgrounds to understand the barriers they face in applying to university.

So that focus group would be a really focused, that's why it's called focus group.

A focus group, a small group of people that they specifically want to talk to and really gather and hear their views and opinions about matters that they're researching.

And in this case, their feedback could be used in national campaigns to push for changes in the student finance system.

So another example there of where primary research could be used to really, really look at an issue and really sort of tackle something that is a concern.

Another example could be a tenant action group.

So if you are a tenant, that means that you are living in rented accommodation, you're someone's tenant.

So a tenant action group might start a petition to improve heating and insulation in their social housing.

Alongside signatures, they could also gather written feedback from residents detailing their experiences with the cold and damp issues within their social housing.

And these testimonials or these real-life accounts alongside the petitions could be submitted to the local housing authority.

So again, another real-life example where primary research could be used within citizenship action.

It could also be that during a community regeneration project, a local planning group might place suggestion boxes in libraries and community centres and encourage local citizens to share what facilities or changes that they'd like to see.

Their ideas could then be considered when drafting redevelopment proposals.

So again, another way of trying to get that research yourself, getting people to share their thoughts, share their opinions, share their ideas of what they would like to see happen.

So another example of what primary research can look like in real-life.

So Sofia is saying, "Sounds great! Is there anything to be aware of to ensure our primary research is purposeful?" So pause and have a think.

Yes, there are definitely things to consider.

Primary research needs to have a clear purpose, so a real valid reason for it; relevant and focused questions so that you're gonna get what you want out of that primary research; to target the most appropriate and relevant audience; an adequate sample size.

You can't just ask two people and call that primary research.

That needs to be an adequate sample size.

It needs to be recorded accurately.

So whatever it is that you are getting, especially if you're talking to people, you need to make sure you're thinking of a way to record that information correctly and to also not be overly complicated or time consuming to carry out.

You've gotta really think about the people that are going to be taking part in your research as well and how much time they've got to give.

So really thinking about how complicated it is and how long it takes to carry out.

So let's have a check for understanding.

So a couple of incorrect examples of primary research have slipped onto this slide.

Can you identify the two incorrect bullet points? So let's have a quick read.

Primary research needs: a clear purpose; an elaborate plan; relevant and focused questions; to target the most appropriate and relevant audience; an adequate sample size; to be recorded accurately; to target as many citizens as possible; to be not overly complicated or time consuming to carry out.

So two of those are incorrect, can you spot them? They were an elaborate plan.

It doesn't need to have an elaborate plan.

And also to target as many citizens as possible.

So can you tell me why? So an elaborate plan and targeting as many citizens as possible are not features of purposeful primary research.

Can you tell me why? So if you remember, primary research should not be overly complicated or time consuming.

So elaborate plans are not needed.

You need to really think about the people that are going to be taking part in your research and keeping it as simple and purposeful as possible.

And also primary research should target the most appropriate and relevant audience to ensure the results are purposeful.

This does not necessarily mean targeting as many citizens as possible.

So let's have a look at some examples of what could happen in a school environment.

So pupils carried out observations in their school canteen to see how many pupils used the recycling bins correctly.

Your observations would be more purposeful if they were carried out over a week, not just one day.

And also with different year groups, this would ensure a larger sample size as well as meeting a very clear purpose.

So in this case here, really good idea for primary research.

They're ultimately wanting to find out about usage of recycling bins.

So it absolutely makes sense to do an observation, but really, really sensible to do that over a week and with different age pupils 'cause that gives you a really fair kind of balance and accurate result there.

Let's have a look at another one.

If pupils were hoping to start their own food bank within school to support their local community, they could email staff to ask whether they think the project would be successful and if and how they might be willing to support the project.

They might also write to their local councillors to ask whether they would support the project and also to local supermarkets to find out whether they could provide any tinned goods.

These methods would target relevant audiences that could support their project.

So again, really, really good examples of primary research here.

They're ultimately using primary research in a slightly different way.

They're using it to kind of try and determine if it's going to be successful actually.

Because if everyone came back and said, "We're not willing to support it," they might wanna rethink what they're doing for their action.

So this is a really effective way to use primary research to consider actually if it's going to be successful, if the action is going to work and what you could potentially do to make sure that it is successful.

Young people wanting to help others understand who can vote in the UK.

For example, the idea of changing the voting age.

They might decide to email a simple referendum to all staff at their school, asking for their reasoning.

This would not be time consuming and it would also provide accurate records as everything would be online.

So this could be primary research, kind of looking at who can vote, who can't vote, what people's opinions are about that.

So actually doing something where it's a really simple quick online referendum.

Whether people have got an answer yes or no to a question about voting would be really, really quick and easy to do.

It wouldn't be time consuming 'cause you wouldn't be having to go through lots of paper questionnaires and counting them all up.

It'd all be done online.

So another example there of effective primary research.

So, ensuring that primary research has a clear purpose, uses relevant and focused questions, targets the most appropriate, relevant audience, has an adequate sample size, is recorded accurately and is not overly complicated or time consuming to carry out, will ensure that it supports you to be an active citizen and make a difference to the issue that you are hoping to address.

Let's have a check for understanding What are the missing words? Ensuring that primary research has a clear something, uses something and focused questions, targets the most appropriate and relevant something, has an adequate something size, is something accurately, it's not overly complicated or something consuming to carry out.

So what are the missing words? Pause and have a go.

Let's see how you got on.

So ensuring that primary research has a clear purpose, uses relevant and focused questions, targets the most appropriate and relevant audience, has an adequate sample size, is recorded accurately, is not overly complicated or time consuming to carry out, will ensure that it supports you to be an active citizen, and make a difference to the issue that you are addressing.

For Task A, I'd like you to explain what primary research is, including at least two of the features of purposeful primary research from the list below.

So when you are explaining what primary research is, make sure you are referring to those bullet points and including at least two of those, more if you want to, in your answer.

So pause while you have a go at this task.

When explaining what primary research is, you may have included: Primary research is research that you carry out and publish yourself.

An important thing to consider when doing primary research is having a clear purpose.

Because without knowing exactly what you're trying to find out, your questions could end up being random or irrelevant.

For example, if you're campaigning for a more inclusive uniform policy in school, your research should focus specifically on how pupils feel about the current uniform and what changes they want.

Another key thing is to target the right audience.

It might not be as useful asking adults about school-based issues that only pupils experience.

You need to ask the people who are directly affected.

This makes your research more reliable and useful for convincing others like school leaders or other decision-makers to take action.

So hopefully now we've got a really good understanding of what primary research is, we're now going to look at how it can really support active citizenship.

So primary research has actually been used in many well-known successful campaigns.

So if we have a look at some of these, it'll hopefully help you to kind of consider how primary research can really help campaigns to be successful.

So in 2020 when campaigning for free school meals, during school closures and holidays, Marcus Rashford wrote an open letter to MPs.

So what an open letter is, is when someone writes a letter and it is still directed to a specific person or group of people, so in this case MPs.

But they purposefully make that letter open so it's available for anyone and everyone to see.

So it's often posted on social media, people are allowed to put it onto their websites.

That's the whole kind of purpose of it really, that they want lots of people to be able to see it.

So within this open letter, he spoke of the insights that he had received from parents that he had interviewed, so again, primary research, describing their anxiety, depression, and the sacrificing of their meals to ensure that their own children were being fed.

This primary research provided the campaign with a motive and powerful firsthand accounts that were read by both decision-makers and citizens.

So an example there of primary research.

So Marcus was actually speaking to parents who were being directly affected by the lack of school meals during holidays and during the lockdowns.

And he was using that to really, really push his campaign really effectively.

Gina Martin also used primary research in a similar way when campaigning for law reform in relation to harassment and upskirting.

She collected stories from other women who had suffered similar experiences and used these firsthand testimonials to persuade decision-makers and the public that upskirting was a widespread problem and that the legal system needed to address it.

Using purposeful primary research within active citizenship can support by: helping you to understand what real people think or experience.

So it gives that real emotive element.

Making your campaign more relevant to your local community or audience.

It can help you to collect new evidence to highlight a problem that might not be widely known.

So an example when we saw Gina Martin, you know people might have thought, "Oh upskirting, it isn't really an issue." But actually because she was speaking to so many people that experienced it, she was able to say, "Actually no, look, it is a big issue.

Giving your project a personal touch through firsthand stories, quotes, or data.

We saw Marcus Rashford use this really effectively.

And showing that you've actively listened to others, which strengthens your case for change.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Identify and correct the mistakes.

Using purposeful primary research can support by: helping you understand what real people think or experience.

Making your campaign irrelevant to your local community or audience.

Collecting new evidence to highlight a problem that is already widely known.

Giving your project personal touch.

Showing that you've actively listened to others, which strengthens your case for change.

So there's some mistakes in there, can you spot them? Okay, let's see if you were able to identify and correct those mistakes.

So they were, in bullet point two, it's to make your campaign more relevant to your local community or audience, not irrelevant.

We've got collecting new evidence to highlight a problem that might not be widely known.

So it could raise awareness about something that people know about, but actually when it's really purposeful, it's telling us about an issue that might not be that well known yet.

And also giving your project a personal touch through firsthand stories, quotes, or data.

So those were the mistakes.

Hopefully we're able to pick them and clock them to what we have in front of us now.

So Sofia's saying, "For our active citizenship project, I'm working with Jun.

We are going to lobby our local council to invest more in youth services." And Jun's saying, "We're going to survey pupils at school to find out their opinions about youth services within our local area as well as what they might like.

We are also going to interview staff to find out their experiences of youth services and how they think this type of provision can support younger people." So how might Sofia and Jun's primary research support them? Let's have a check for understanding.

So they want their local area to invest more in youth services.

They're gonna survey pupils at school and they're also going to interview staff to find out about their experiences of youth services and if they think actually more youth services would support young people.

So that's what they're going to do for their primary research.

So pause and have a think, how might that primary research support them? So they'll be able to highlight to their local council, what their target audience, young people, think and want.

And they can also use the feedback from teachers to highlight the potential positive benefits that youth services might have on young people.

Sam is saying, "I want to inform my peers about the effects of cocoa farming in Ghana, including its climate impact and the poor pay and working conditions that farmers face.

I'm going to carry out a survey to find out what my peers know about fair trade and what they look for when buying chocolate products.

I'm also going to ask to speak to our catering staff and find out what cocoa products they use and if they are fair trade." So that's what Sam is looking at.

That's Sam's issue that she's hoping to address.

For this check for understanding, similar as before, I want you to consider how will Sam's primary research support her? So remember, she's wanting to raise awareness about, in Ghana, that the poor working conditions that farmers are facing and how that can impact on climate change.

So she's going to carry out surveys to find out what her peers know about fair trade and what they look for when they're buying chocolate products.

And she's also hoping to speak to catering staff about the products used in school.

So how might that primary research support her? So Sam's primary evidence will help focus her persuasive campaign as she will have a better understanding of what her peers think and know already.

Sam will also be able to find out whether her school uses fair trade products as this could be another route for her campaign.

For Task B, I'd like you to explain how primary research can support active citizenship.

Your answer should refer to at least two points from below.

So you could pick from: helping you understand what people think, making your campaign more relevant, collecting new evidence to highlight a problem, giving your project a personal touch, or showing that you've actively listened to others.

So pause while you have a go at this task.

When explaining how primary research can support active citizenship, you may have included: "Primary research can support active citizenship because it helps you understand what people actually think and experience, which means your campaign can be more relevant and focused.

For example, Marcus Rashford was successful in his free school meals campaign because he listened to families struggling with food poverty and used their real-life stories to highlight the problem.

This gave his campaign a personal touch and made it more powerful as it showed he had actively listened to people affected.

It also made his message more persuasive to the Government and public, because he wasn't just guessing, he had real evidence from real people." You may have continued: "Another way primary research supports active citizenship is by helping you collect new evidence to highlight a problem that might not be well known.

Instead of relying only on published facts, you can find out things for yourself and bring attention to issues that others might have missed.

For example, if you're campaigning for better youth services locally, you could run a survey asking pupils how happy they are with the number of youth services and what they would like to see improved and why.

The results would give you fresh data that directly links to your target audience and shows there's a real need for change.

This makes your campaign stronger because you are using original evidence that's hard to ignore." In summary of the lesson, Why is Primary Research Important? Primary research is research that you carry out yourself and could include interviews, observations, questionnaires and surveys, focus groups, suggestion boxes, and visual logs.

It involves collecting data yourself through methods like surveys, interviews, or observations to better understand a specific issue or topic.

Primary research can support by helping you understand what real people think or experience, making your campaign more relevant, collecting new evidence to highlight a problem that might not be widely known, giving your project personal touch through firsthand stories, quotes, or data, and showing that you've actively listened to others, which strengthens your case for change.

That brings us to the end of this lesson.

Well done for working hard, and I hope you'll come back for some more citizenship lessons in the future.