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Basic guidelines on Social Studies examination

1. Read and understand the question before answering
2. Don’t ignore any word on the question
3. Identify the key words on the question
4. Take note of the commanding words e.g. state, explain, assess etc
5. Understand the requirements of each commanding word
*outline, state, list (low order questions): they require short answers but not
necessarily one-worded answer. The answer should not be silent, it should
communicate.
*describe, explain (middle order questions): require a point and its expansion
*discuss, analyse and examine (high order): require a point, explanation and a
conclusion.
*assess, evaluate (highest order): require a point, two explanations and a
conclusion. In addition they require positive and negative points or
successes and failures.

6. Answer all questions according to the order in which they appear on the
question paper (do not answer questions haphazardly).
7. Number your questions properly
8. Write more than the number of answers required by the question (for
instance, if a question says explain three you can explain five)
9. Avoid negative answering i.e. do not start answers with words like avoid, stop,
do not, not etc.
10. Write the simplest or the most obvious answers (avoid debatable answers)
11. Make sure you choose answers that are different from each other (to avoid
repetition)
12. For definition of terms avoid using the same term to define the concept
13. Use past examination paper, lesson notes and other documents for revision
14. Do not dwell too much on recent examination papers as questions are unlikely
to be repeated within a short period of time
15. Do not leave any questions unattempted
16. At the end of the examination read your answers to ensure that they make
sense

Topic by topic reminders

1. Research methods
 Title= focus, subject and setting
 Aims: go for the simplest aims (effects, causes, possible solutions)
 Methods of research are quantitative and qualitative (not to be
confused with methods of data collection)
 Trend: pattern, increasing or decreasing
 Relationship is about correlation
 Steps in preparing for a research
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2. Environment
 EIA is a process not an organisation
 Types of environments-give activity and what makes it possible
 Give names of relevant NGOs as examples
 NGOs don’t make laws but propose laws to govt
3. Population dynamics
 Fertility rate factors: social,cultural & economic
 Effects of population migration; on source area or destination area
 Push & pull factors
 Causes of conflict over use of resources; show the cause of conflict and
conflicting parties
 Definition of terms
4. Family
 Factors threatening family; explain how they are a threat, do not define
the factor
 Changes taking place in families; shown change from what to what
5. Nation-building
 Challenges faced in nation-building: discuss current problems not past
problems
 Differentiate between British and Boers
 1934 proclamations; administration vs tribunal
 How colonialism led to early nationalist movements: why Batswana no
longer wanted British rule
6. Governance
 Characteristics of good governance same as democratic govt
 Stages should be in order
 Main features of BWs constitution
 Strengths n weaknesses of BWs electoral system: differentiate from
voter apathy
 Constitutional limitations
 Roles of institutions in promoting good governance
 Formation of government in BW
7. Citizenship
 Modern n traditional attributes of citizenship
 Globalisation vs global warming
 Terrorism not tourism
 Ways of acquiring BW citizenship: birth vs descent
8. International relations
 Importance of IR
 Role played by BW at regional, continental n international
 Foreign policy: official interaction....
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 Efforts made in promoting peace

 Challenges faced by BW in international relations
9. Cultural diversity in BW
 Elements of culture; material and non-material
 Changes that have taken place in BW culture; show the past and the
present
 Gender disparities: show it from both sexes
 Ways of promoting culture: local vs international (use words like
international or in other countries)
 Evaluate importance of culture
10. Economic development
 How sectors contribute to economic devnt;employment, income,
infrastructure devnt, manpower devnt
 Challenges faced by economic sectors; shortage of skilled labour, lack
of capital, environmental problems, shortage of land
 How corruption undermines economic development
 Ways of promoting economic diversification
11. Education n human resource devnt
 Modern and traditional
 Types of education: formal, informal n non-formal
 Steps to take when rights are violated; complain to service provider,
supervisor.........ministry concerned, legal action
 Roles of stakeholders in promoting human resource devnt

Key terms/concepts to remember

*Corruption *global warming *democracy *desertification *economic

development * EIA *economic diversification *electoral system *voter apathy
*international relations *globalisation *fertility rate *mfacane/difaqane *
intermarriage * multi-ethnicity * nationalism *human resource development

Sample questions and answers:

i. Outline the roles of government in promoting environmental conservation:

Answers:

 Formulation of laws
 Environmental education
 Provision of dustbins
 Litter-picking campaigns
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ii. Explain the roles of government in promoting environmental conservation:

Answers:

 Education: through kgotla meetings and workshops government

provides people with skills and knowledge on how to protect
the environment.
 Legislation: Government has come up with some laws that are
meant to protect the environment against misuse.
 Provision of dustbins: in some areas government provides
people with dust bins so that they can put in waste materials to
prevent pollution.

(1 mark for point and 1 mark for expansion)

iii. Discuss the roles of government in promoting environmental conservation:

Answers:

 Education: through kgotla meetings and workshops government

provides people with skills and knowledge on how to protect
the environment so that people may refrain from damaging the
environment through misuse.
 Legislation: Government has come up with some laws that are
meant to protect the environment against misuse and failure to
obey such laws results in punishment hence people will be
scared of misusing the environment.
 Provision of dustbins: in some areas government provides
people with dust bins so that they can put in waste materials to
prevent pollution of the environment through wastes such as
plastics, used cans and industrial wastes.

(1 mark for a point, 1 mark for expansion and 1 mark for conclusion)

iv. Evaluate( or assess) the roles of government in promoting environmental

conservation.

Scenario 1

 Education: through kgotla meetings and workshops government provides people with
skills and knowledge on how to protect the environment so that people may refrain
from damaging the environment. However government’s efforts are not very effective
as most of the education focuses only on urban and major centres meaning people in
rural areas don’t benefit.
 Legislation: Government has come up with some laws that are meant to protect the
environment against misuse and failure to obey such laws will result in punishment
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hence people will be scared of misusing the environment. On the other hand
legislation does not seem to resolve the issue of environmental damage as monitoring
is limited due to inadequate personnel hence some people damage the environment
without any action taken against them.
(NOTE: in both answers the candidate starts with a positive, a positive
development, a positive conclusion and a negative analysis)

Scenario two

Question: Assess the roles of the Independent Electoral Commission in promoting good
governance in Botswana.

 Education on elections- The IEC embarks on teaching the public about the value of
elections through various forums such as kgotla meetings, radio and television
programmes so as to encourage people to exercise their democratic right by
participating in the voting process. This has been necessitated by the fact that IEC
identified lack of voter education as one of the major reasons for voter apathy in
Botswana.
 Lack of complete independence by the IEC: The IEC falls under the Office of the
President and this means the OP has the power to approve or disapprove some of its
initiatives and this brings into question the IECs impartiality as the CEO of IEC is
also nominated by the OP who has vested interests in the results of elections. This has
led to lack of trust in the institution resulting in numerous election petitions.

(NOTE: the first answer completely positive and the second answer is completely
negative)