Your research methods are the sources of information that you use in your assignment. For both National 4 and National 5, you must use a minimum of two sources of different types – and there is no maximum. At both levels, you will need to evidence where your findings came from by citing your sources. This guide will explain how to carry out your research and how to cite your sources.
What kinds of sources can you use?
There are a number of different places you can go to find out information for your assignment. You might want to use:
- Newspapers
- Websites (government, charities etc.)
- Television news
- Online videos
- Interviews
- Surveys
It’s likely that you will begin researching using a search engine like Google. It’s important that you know how to use a search engine effectively. Click here for a guide to using search engines.
Research Sheets
In social science research, it’s critical that you cite the location of any sources you have used. In the Modern Studies assignment, you should collect all of your sources onto your research sheets. You should put this information on your research sheets as you go – don’t leave it to the end as this will be almost impossible!
Here is a video that shows how to cite as you write:
National 5 – Research Methods
In the National 5 Assignment, 10 marks are devoted to evaluating your research methods. Click here to go to a guide about how to complete this section.
