New
New
Year 10

How can we carry out research for an active citizenship project?

I can explain the difference between primary and secondary research and apply appropriate research methods to my active citizenship project.

New
New
Year 10

How can we carry out research for an active citizenship project?

I can explain the difference between primary and secondary research and apply appropriate research methods to my active citizenship project.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Research is an important part of the active citizenship project cycle as it enables well informed-decision making.
  2. Research can be divided into two types: primary (original data) or secondary (existing data).
  3. Key questions like 'what do we need to know?' and 'who to involve?' guide the choice of research methods.
  4. Pupils may need qualitative (descriptive) or quantitative (numerical) data for their active citizenship project.

Keywords

  • Primary research - original information or data, or the results of interviewing people; research that you go out and collect yourself

  • Secondary research - data that others have already collected: newspaper articles, internet stories, government statistics or radio or TV interviews

  • Research method - the way people collect and study information to learn about a topic or issue

Common misconception

Careful consideration, through answering the key questions, is not needed to decide which research methods to use: research methods can be chosen at random.

Pupils must consider and answer the key questions to ensure they choose appropriate and suitable research methods for their chosen active citizenship project. Failure to do so will jeopdise the project's success.


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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which citizenship concept is this describing? Legal or moral entitlements.
law
democracy
Correct answer: rights
equality
Q2.
The issue of 'the gender pay gap' links to which Citizenship concept?
democracy
justice
Correct answer: equality
power
Q3.
At which stage is an investigation carried out in the active citizenship project cycle?
Correct Answer: get planning, planning, plan, start
Q4.
Match the word to its definition
Correct Answer:skills,abilities developed through practice/experience

abilities developed through practice/experience

Correct Answer:investigate,to look into something carefully to learn more about it

to look into something carefully to learn more about it

Correct Answer:active citizen,a person who actively engages and works to improve their community.

a person who actively engages and works to improve their community.

Q5.
Complete the sentence: An is a person or group who defend or maintain a cause or proposal.
Correct Answer: advocate
Q6.
Investigating whether the school council represents the different groups of pupils at school is an example of which level?
national
international
Correct answer: local
global

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the primary research methods with their definition.
Correct Answer:survey,asking people simple questions

asking people simple questions

Correct Answer:interview,talking to people for information

talking to people for information

Correct Answer:focus group,small group discussions

small group discussions

Correct Answer:observation,watching and writing down what happens

watching and writing down what happens

Correct Answer:action research,finding a problem and trying to fix it

finding a problem and trying to fix it

Correct Answer:experiment,testing ideas in a controlled way

testing ideas in a controlled way

Q2.
Which is not an advantage of carrying out primary research?
data is first-hand
data is specific
data is up-to-date
Correct answer: data is cost-effective
Q3.
Match the secondary research methods with their definition.
Correct Answer:books,published information

published information

Correct Answer:articles,news reports and journals

news reports and journals

Correct Answer:law and policies,official rules and guidance

official rules and guidance

Correct Answer:government reports,official facts and figures

official facts and figures

Correct Answer:documentaries,educational videos

educational videos

Correct Answer:statistics,numbers and data from research

numbers and data from research

Q4.
Complete the sentence: There are different types of research methods, information can be , for example, numerical, or qualitative, for example, descriptive.
Correct Answer: quantitative
Q5.
What order should the key questions be answered in when deciding which research methods to use?
1 - What do we need to know?
2 - Whom do we need to involve?
3 - What type of research do we need to use?
4 - What resources do we have?
5 - Which research methods can we use?
Q6.
What could jeopardise the success of an active citizenship project?
not having access to government reports
Correct answer: not considering responses to key research questions
not being able to conduct interviews
not being able to send out surveys