Tuesday night, and the Global Perspectives practice sheet is still on my desk with a blue 6 written at the top. Eight marks were possible. I did not celebrate the number, but I also did not hide the paper. A six sits in Level 3 on the mark scheme, which means the research design was appropriate and justified, just not wide or precise enough to reach the top band.
The question asked how to test the claim “Most people enjoy growing their own food.” I had to explain methods and evidence, not argue whether the claim felt true to me. That difference matters more than I used to admit. Liking tomatoes in a balcony pot is not evidence. A plan for collecting evidence is.
I started with primary research: surveys and interviews. The idea was to ask people in different places and cultures, then dig further with interviews across age, gender, and background so the survey numbers would not sit alone. On paper that sounds sensible. In blue ink my teacher wrote “such as?” next to my sentence about detailed questions. She was right. Saying I would ask “detailed questions” is not the same as naming one. Next time I need sample items ready — something like how often someone grows food, whether they enjoy the process or only the harvest, and what stopped them if they tried and quit.
Then I moved to secondary research. I wrote that I would check international organisation sites, for example the United Nations and UNESCO, to find wider viewpoints beyond my own circle. That paragraph earned a blue “Yes, fantastic!” The praise stuck because it was specific. Secondary sources do not replace talking to people; they stop me from treating my friends’ answers as the world.
The conclusion was simple. If the evidence from these methods showed that a majority enjoy growing their own food, the claim could be supported; if not, it could not. Spelling “true” wrong at the end was embarrassing, and so was drifting into “we” when the paper wanted “I.” Small accuracy problems cost clarity even when the structure is sound.
I am keeping the sheet. Global Perspectives is teaching me that a claim is only as strong as the way you test it, which feels useful for Business later and for reading news without swallowing every headline. A six is not the ceiling. It is a map of what to tighten: name the questions, justify each method against the claim, and leave less room for a blue pen to ask “such as?”