Carribean Internal Assesment Manual

What is the Caribbean Studies Internal Assessment? (40% of Final Assessment)

         

• The Caribbean Studies Internal Assessment is a pivotal aspect of assessing students’ competence in research methodology that is, equipping students with the knowledge and skills in conducting and drafting a research.
• It is designed to assist students in garnering knowledge, skills and attitudes as well to develop their critical thinking and reasoning abilities that are important in advanced studies at the college and University level.
• The internal assessment is marked out of 120 marks of which contributes to (40%) of the students’ final marks awarded for the course.

                                          Format of Research

v  LENGTH  2,000- 2,500 WORDS

STRUCTURE

v  Cover Page- (Caribbean Studies internal Assessment, pictorial representation of the topic studied nothing elaborate then below that, you have the title of study) Below the bottom right of the page ( candidate’s name, school, centre, candidate number, year, teacher)

v  An Acknowledgement and a BIBLIOGRAPHY MUST be included in the study
NB ABSOLUTELY NO FANCY BORDERS. Borders should be PLAIN and NEAT for this academic study.

v  FONT SIZE : “12”  for text and “14” for headings.

v   

v  FOLDER Should be PRESENTABLE ABSOLUTELY NO PAPER FOLDERS.

ALLOCATION OF MARKS

Marks will be allocated according to the following:

Chapter1
 (i) Introduction and Purpose of Research                                 ( 15 marks)

v  Statement of Problem

v  Research questions

v  Rationale

v  Background to Problem (A Synopsis)

v  Delimitations

v  Definition of Technical Terms (key words in statement of the problem)
Chapter 2

(ii) Literature Review                                                                                             ( 15 marks)
Chapter 3
(iii)  Data Collection Sources                                                                                 (10 marks)
(iv)  Presentation of Findings                                                                                 ( 18 marks)
(v) Interpretation of Findings                                                                                ( 20 marks)
(vi) Discussion of Findings                                                                                      (15 marks)
Chapter 4
(vii) Conclusion, Limitation and Recommendations                                           (15 marks)
 (Viii) Bibliography
           Appendix
(vii) Overall Presentation and Writing Skills                                                        (12marks)

     

                                    WHERE AND HOW TO START

 

Choosing a topic

v  What social issue do I want to study? ( See, pp 23 of syllabus)

v  What can I learn from doing this research?

v  You can brainstorm

v  Be passionate about the topic – develop a bond between the topic and yourself

v  According to Dr. Marcia Burrowes if you are stuck start over.(  CAPE Caribbean Studies workshop St. Kitts, 2009)

                                     Writing the Statement of the problem

The statement of the problem clearly examines the nature of the problem that you want to unravel. It should be precise. It should be in the form of a QUESTION or STATEMENT.

            SAMPLES OF A PROBLEM STATEMENT IN THE FORM A QUESTION

v  What are the main causes and effects of water pollution in the Kingston Harbour and; what strategies can be implemented to solve this problem?

v  What are the main causes and effects of poor academic performance of males as oppose to females at Manchester High and; what can be done to alleviate this problem?

v  What are the main causes and consequences of dengue fever on members of Knockpatrick, Mandeville and; what strategies can be implemented to solve this problem?

SAMPLES OFA PROBLEM STATEMENT IN THE FORM OF A STATEMENT

v  An investigation into the impact of dancehall music on the values and attitudes of teenagers between the ages of 14-18 years at Manchester High School?

v  A survey into the attitudes of teenagers 14-18 years towards the usage of Creole as oppose to Standard Jamaican English at Knox College, Clarendon.

v  An investigation into the impact of early sexualisation on the sexual and reproductive health of teenagers in Albion, Manchester.

v  To investigate the impact of the internet on the attitudes and values of teenagers in the community of Balvenie, Mandeville.

RESEARCH  QUESTIONS

v  These are key questions that the study seeks to answer which are derived from the research objectives.

v  They are also focused on the relationships between the concepts and / or variables under study.  For example, in the study “Students perceptions of the world of work: how is the school preparing them”, the study is focusing on the relationships between hoe students perceive work and how that is related to their experiences at schooling.( Mohammed, 2007)

                                   Examples of Research Questions
For the study: “Students perceptions of the world of work: how is the school preparing them.”1. What are students’ perceptions of the world of work?
2. How does the school prepare students for the world of work?

For the study: An investigation into the impact of dancehall music on the values and attitudes of teenagers between the ages 14-18years at Manchester High School.

1. What is dancehall music?
2. What effects does dancehall music have on the attitudes and values of youth at Manchester High School?
3. Where dancehall music has a negative effect on the attitudes and values of teenagers, what measures can be implemented to alleviate this problem?
For the study: An investigation into the impact of bauxite mining on the residents of the community of Kendal, Manchester?
1. What are the health and environmental effects of bauxite mining from Windalco on the Kendal District, Manchester?
2. How does Windalco respond to the health and environmental effects of bauxite mining?
3. How does bauxite mining contribute to the development in Kendal?
4. What measures can be implemented to reduce the environmental and health hazards of bauxite mining?

                                            BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

v  This gives readers an insight into the topic under study as it relates to the arguments surrounding the issue.

v  It sets the tone for the context of the study

v  It is usually persuasive and enlightening

Examples of Background to the Problem

Music has always played a dominant role in shaping the culture of Jamaica. In times past, the music of Jamaica, most widely recognized as reggae music told a story, it represented life examples- harsh brutal yet hopeful, “it was message music, conscious message music.”(Boyne, 2007)

In recent times, we have witnessed an evolution from music with a conscious message to a form of music that is perforated with violence, promiscuity and material wealth, Dancehall music. Without a doubt, it has been observed that dancehall music has had more negative effects on the attitudes and values of teenagers than positive. Today, the focus and goals of many Jamaican youth is “to get a buss.” As such, less energy is channelled into academic excellence and career attainment instead the focus is placed on “making it big” in dancehall music.
Moreover, dancehall music, when not slandering women and treating them as innate sex toys or hailing and glorifying the gun, ganja and” badmanism,” belittles the poor man, unable to attain all the “bling”as it implies that it is the material things that make a man.

On the other hand, Gareth Manning later quotes Dylan Pow, organiser of the famed Street dance “Passa Passa”and suggests that “Dancehall music is merely a speck in the array of sexual messages promoted by the mass media, and is therefore, no more influential than Hip –Hop or Soca. Furthermore, advocates of dancehall music refuse to view dancehall as pure “slackness” but rather deem the shortcomings of leaders in society as true slackness, this idea is captured in the words of dancehall artist Lady Saw,” “what is slackness?Slackness is when the road want fi fix, slackness is when government break them promise, slackness is when politician issue guns........” (Chandy, 1997)

It is therefore based on such observations that the researcher as decided to carry out a study on the impact of dancehall music on the attitudes and values of teenagers in our society.

 

                                                       RATIONALE

A rationale is a set of reasons which justifies the course or action.

v-  In a research, the rationale establishes the purpose for your study

v  -Questions such as why the project is being undertaken and what relevance it carries.

 

Dont Forget 

 

v  -Before writing the rationale you MUST do prior research on the topic

v  -The PURPOSE MUST be established

v  -State the value of the study and how will it benefit citizens, community or the society.

v   -How will it provide insights into solving a problem?

 

DELIMITATIONS

This alludes to the key parameters/boundaries of the study for example; the focus could be to examine the causes and/ or effects of the problem. It could also focus on the problem in a certain geographical area or an age group.

 Dont Forget

v  Delimitations focus on the specificities of the research of what will be addressed and what will not.

v  It is different from the limitations which are the challenges/ obstacles encountered while conducting the study.

SAMPLE

This research is limited to the positive and negative effects of dancehall music and not dancehall culture on a whole. This study is conducted using respondents from Manchester High School in Mandeville, Manchester between the ages of 14-17 years.

                              DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL TERMS

This definition of technical terms clarifies misconceptions of the terms used and thus reduces ambiguity of the study. The terms that should be defined are those from the statement of problem.