SOCIAL STUDIES

CSEC 2022
STUDENT-BASED ASSESSMENT

Name of Candidate: Yashema Denton

Centre Number: 100129
School: Wolmer’s Girls’ School
Candidate Number: 1001294430
Teacher: Ms. Elliot
Territory: Jamaica

Title: How Covid-19 affects student entrepreneurs between the ages of 15-17 at
Wolmer’s High School for Girls.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content Page

Acknowledgment…………………………………………………………………… 3

Introduction…………………………………………………………........................ 4

Statement of the Problem……………………………………………....................... 5

Reasons for Selecting Area of Research…………………………………………… 6

Method of Investigation……………………………………………………………. 7

Instrument used to Collect Data……………………………………………………. 8

Procedures used to Collect Data…………………………………………………… 9

Presentation and Analysis of Data…………………………………………………. 10-13

Interpretation ……………………..……………………………………………….. 14-15

Statement of Findings (3)…………………………………………………………. 16

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… 17

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………. 18

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would not be able to complete this study firstly without the grace of God. It took a lot of time

and work, and my parents’ motivation helped me to pull through. I would like to thank everyone

involved in completing this study, especially my teacher, Ms. Elliot, who gave me corrections

and helped me to think outside of the box.

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 INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the operations of the world for over two years. Children

were held back from school and jobs were physically restricted so as to decrease the amount of

deaths Covid-19 was causing. As a result of this, many businesses had to be closed down and

this resulted in loss of income for many companies. Although larger businesses have been

compromised exceedingly, small businesses seem to have been flourishing. This SBA will help

to analyze how the pandemic has negatively and positively affected small businesses.

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 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

How does Covid-19 affect student entrepreneurs between the ages of 15-17 at Wolmer’s High

School for Girls?

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 REASONS FOR SELECTING AREA OF RESEARCH

The researcher chose this area because they wanted to start an online business during the Covid-

19 pandemic, but they were unsure of what the challenges would be. They decided that getting

information from people who have had this experience would be easier to analyze.

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 METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

In order to collect data for this study, I decided to interview my participants. An interview as a

data collecting tool is advantageous for many reasons. Qualitative data was collected, and that

allowed the researcher to draw better conclusions based on answers that were given by

interviewees. It was also more information to analyze with less participants, hence less workload.

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 INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION

Focus Question: How does Covid-19 affect student entrepreneurs between the ages of 15-17 at

Wolmer’s High School for Girls?

Research Questions

 What types of businesses are able to thrive within a pandemic?

 What are the difficulties faced by student entrepreneurs during Covid-19?

 What resources make it easier to cope with student businesses during the pandemic?

Interview Questions

1. What type of small business do you have?

2. What industry is your small business in?

3. What are the specific products or services that you offer?

4. Is it more difficult to conduct business ventures during the pandemic? Explain why.

5. State the difficulties you have faced within your business during the pandemic.

6. Is it easier or more difficult to gain profit while selling online? Explain why.

7. Where do you advertise your products or service?

8. Has this way of advertising affected how successful your business is? Explain how.

9. What transportation is used to deliver your goods/services to your customers?

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 10. Has travelling from home rather than from school proven to be more difficult? How

has it affected your ventures?

PROCEDURES USED TO COLLECT DATA

In order to gather information for this study, six girls in the 11th grade at Wolmer’s Girls’

School were interviewed to find out how Covid-19 has affected the operations of their small

business. This gave me the opportunity to gain qualitative data that could be interpreted to finish

this study.

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 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

A series of charts was created to display the information that was collected from the interviews.

Students who faced Difficulties

with Business during the Pan-
demic Faced difficulties
Didn't face difficulties

50% 50%

Figure 1.1 showing pie chart comparing students who conducted business during the pandemic.

This chart shows the percentage of people who were interviewed that thought Covid-19 made

their business experience more difficult. Three of the persons who were interviewed thought it

was more difficult while three did not.

Difficulties
4
faced due to
covid
3
Business Owners

Delayed shipping Increased shipping Lockdown period

cost
Difficulties
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Figure 1.2 showing bar graph displaying difficulties faced by student entrepreneurs during the pandemic

This graph shows the difficulties that some small business owners had to face during Covid-19.

After interviewing, I found out that business was much harder from home as the pandemic

caused delayed shipping and increased shipping costs. A lot of people were also not in need of

certain products during Covid because of the lockdown periods.

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 Advertisement Mediums used Dur-
Figure 1.3 ing Covid showing the
mediums of Word of Mouth 2
Mediums
Salesperson 1

Business Cards 2

Social Media 6
Business Owners
advertisement used by small business owners during Covid-19

Small business owners used four main mediums of advertisement during the pandemic. Word-of-

mouth, a salesperson, business cards and social media were the mediums that most of the persons

I interviewed stated they used.

Is Social Media a more

succesful advertisement
medium?
More successful
Less successful
17%

83%

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 Figure 1.4 showing the comparison between those who think social media is a better advertisement
medium and those who do not

This chart shows that 83% of the persons I interviewed thought social media was a good mode of

advertisement during the pandemic. While five of the six interviewees agreed with this

conclusion, one did not.

Is delivery during the

pandemic more difficult?
More difficult
17% 17% Less difficult
The same

67%

Figure 1.5 showing the people who think delivery during the pandemic is more or less difficult

This chart shows the amount of people who thought the pandemic affected their delivery process

negatively. Four of the six people interviewed said it was less difficult, one said it was more

difficult and one said it was the same.

Small business delivery during

the pandemic
keeping products safe
is easier at home
17% more time at home
rather than while going
50% to school
easier to deliver to cus-
33% tomers at school

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 Figure 1.6 pie chart showing differences while delivering at school vs at home

This chart shows the differences experienced by small businesses in their delivery process during

Covid. Three of the six interviewees felt that keeping products safe was easier at home rather

than bringing them to school for delivery. Two persons felt they had more time at home to

deliver because of stay-at-home periods and one felt as if it is easier to deliver to customers at

home.

INTERPRETATION
Based on the interviews that were conducted, it is evident that Covid-19 affected different

aspects of business greatly. Students of the Wolmer’s Girls School who owned online businesses

during the pandemic reported that they saw many changes, both negative and positive, within the

operations of their online businesses.

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 The first challenge reported by these students was shipping difficulties. Because of

lockdown periods and people being unemployed, there were less workers that could ship

products to other countries efficiently. Along with delays on shipping, which meant products

would take longer to arrive and be delivered to customers, there were also more expenses.

Workers had to be going out of their way and putting themselves in unsafe environments

(because of the pandemic), and so the prices for shipping increased. Another challenge

expressed by one student business owner was the ease of delivering to students while at

school. Instead of going to another location and asking for a delivery fee, it was easier to just

deliver while at school as most of their customers were schoolmates. Students also expressed that

it was harder to get customers who wanted products such as clothing and accessories, as not

many people felt the need to buy these thing because of the lockdown periods.

Other than these negative changes, most of the interviewees said that they were happy

with how their business was being run during the pandemic. Firstly, it was easier for them to

advertise their products since there was a lockdown period. More people are on social media

when they are at home, and so students found it very easy to advertise their products. This was

the main form of advertisement that was used, as all six of the people that were interviewed said

they used this mode of advertisement. Another good outcome of Covid-19 on small businesses is

the delivery process. A good majority of the students that were interviewed said that they were

more comfortable delivering while being at home. This is as a result of having less school hours

and more time to deliver products. It is also easier to keep products safe and intact while at

home. Being at school could compromise the safety of the products as it is more likely that they

will be destroyed.

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 STATEMENT OF FINDINGS
Covid-19 has affected business both positively and negatively. One way in which it has affected

business is the shipping process. The pandemic makes it more difficult to ship products to other

countries as there are less workers due to the lockdown. Another negative effect the pandemic

has on business is the ability to attract customers from school. Covid-19 has also has positive

effects on small businesses. Advertisement is easier as more people are home due to lockdown

and delivery is much easier from home as products are kept safer and can be delivered more

efficiently.

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 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Covid-19 had both negative and positive effects on small businesses of students

15-17 years old. Slower and more expensive shipping and more difficulty attracting customers

were the main challenges faced by the students. Covid-19 was mostly beneficial to the students,

as it is easier to advertise products via social media, and delivering from home is safer and more

time efficient.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

“The impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations”.

July 10, 2020.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006991117

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