QCE Modern History IA3 independent source investigation quiz

A timed exam essay

An independent research investigation in Unit 4 of 1500-2000 words using 5-8 student-selected sources

A test on a single source

A group oral presentation

Is very broad

Is focused, debatable, located within Unit 4 syllabus, and answerable from accessible primary and secondary sources

Asks 'what is history'

Has only one possible answer

Only secondary sources

Both primary and secondary sources, ideally from multiple perspectives, with named authors and clear publication details

Only newspaper headlines

Whatever Wikipedia says first

Devising, Analysing, Evaluating, Communicating

Introduction, Method, Results, Conclusion

Speed, Length, Style, Spelling

Title, Sources, Conclusion, References

Whether the source is long

Origin (author, date, position), purpose (audience, intent), perspective, value for the specific research question, and limitations

The source's font

Page count

Ignoring historians

Recognising that historians have interpreted the event differently and locating the response within or in dialogue with those interpretations

Disagreeing with everyone

Quoting only one historian

Introduce a new source

Restate the thesis, summarise the weight of evidence, acknowledge limitations of the investigation, and reflect on historical significance

Just say 'in conclusion'

Reject all the sources

Using too few sources

Source description rather than evaluation, no historiographical engagement, weak research question, lack of contextual knowledge

Using only primary sources

Using a clear thesis

Be optional

Follow a consistent referencing system (typically footnotes or in-text), with full bibliographic details in a reference list

Use only URLs

Be hidden

Apartheid was bad.

Although domestic protest and international sanctions both contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa, this investigation argues - drawing on primary speeches, government records, and the major revisionist historiography - that the negotiated transition 1990-1994 was decisively shaped by internal economic strain combined with FW de Klerk's strategic calculation rather than by external pressure alone.

I will discuss apartheid.

South Africa is in Africa.