Social Studies School Based

Assessment

Candidate’s Name: Cheyanne Nash

Candidate Number:
Center: Manchester High School
Center Number:
Territory: Jamaica
Teacher: Mr.V.Reynolds
Year Of Submission: 2021-2022
Topic: Unemployment

Acknowledgement
The researcher would like to use this time to acknowledge Mr.V.Reynolds for
devoting his time to assist and offer guidance to complete this School Based
Assessment (SBA). The researcher would also like to say thanks to their
parents for helping in the completion of this Assessment.

i
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement i
Table of Contents ii
Statement of Problem 1
Reason For Selecting Area of Research 2
Method of Investigation 3
Data Collection Instruments 4
Questionnaire 5-8
Procedures for Data Collection 9
Presentation of Data 10 - 12
Analysis and Interpretation of Data 13 - 15
Statement of Findings 16
Recommendations and Implementation Strategy 17 - 19
Glossary of terms 20 - 21
Bibliography 22

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Statement of Problem

What is the level of unemployment in Community X ?

 1
Reason for Selecting Area of Research

According to The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), the

unemployment rate for July 2021 was 8.5 percent. That is a 4.1 percentage
lower than the 12.6 percent for the corresponding period of the previous
year. The researcher believes that unemployment is a serious problem in
Community X and hopes that this research can provide ideas and
recommendations which could be implemented and thereby help reduce the
level of unemployment.

2
Method of Investigation

There are different methods of investigation used to carry out a research,

However the researcher decided to use the questionnaire method to conduct
this research. The researcher decided to use this method due to certain
advantages it has to it these advantage include:
● It has proven to be time efficient
● Confidentiality
● Economical etc.

3
Data Collection Instrument

Community X,
Community X P.O.,
 Manchester,
Jamaica.

February 06,2022

Dear Respondents,
The researcher, a pupil of Manchester High School, is
conducting a questionnaire for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC)
Social Studies School Based Assessment (SBA) . The research would be
evaluating the topic ‘What is the level of unemployment in Community X’.
The researcher is asking that you comply by completing the following
questions of the questionnaire truthfully and answer all questions to the best
of your abilities. ALL information will be kept anonymously.

Sincerely,
The researcher.

4
Questionnaire
Topic: Unemployment
Instructions: Place a tick (✓ ) beside the correct answer of your choice.

1. What is your gender ?

● Male
 ● Female
● Other

2. What age-range do you belong ?

● 18-24 yrs.
● 25-31 yrs.
● 32-37 yrs.
● 38 and over

3. How long have you been living in the community?

● 0-5 years
● 6-10 years
● 11-15 years
● 16 years and over

4. What is your marital status?

● Married
● Single
● Separated
● Divorce

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5. What is your current employment status?
● Employed
● Self-employed
● Retired
● Unemployed

6. What is the highest level of education that you have attained?

● Primary
 ● Secondary
● Tertiary
● None

7. What is the highest level of qualification that you have attained?

● Certificate
● Diploma
● Degree
● Other/None

8. What do you think is the main cause of unemployment in the community?

● Lack of Jobs
● Increase in population
● Increase in technology
● The willingness to be employed
● All above

9.Why is unemployment higher in some communities than others?

● Level of education
● Location
● Availability of Jobs
● All above
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10. What is the size of your family?
● 1-3 members
● 4-6 members
● 7-9 members
● 10 members and over

11. How does unemployment affect the community?

● Economic Issues
● Social Issues e.g. Crime and Violence
 ● A negative image on the community
● Other

12. In what way does unemployment affect you in the home?

● Adequate basic needs for the household
● Conflict within family members/family tension
● Unable to pay bills due to financial constraint
● Other

13. How has unemployment affected your standard of living?

● Decrease in spending power
● Not being able to provide for family
● Unable to visit a doctor/ buy medication
● No effect on your standard of living

14. What economic effects has unemployment caused on individuals in the

community psychologically?
● Social isolation
● Low self-esteem
● Erosion of confidence
● Stress
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15. As it relates to unemployment, what do you believe can be done to
implicate changes within the community?
● Develop a higher level of education
● Learn a new skill
● Encourage community members to get a job
● Others

16. What can the community do to alleviate the problem of unemployment?

● Establish training centers
● Help citizens with their qualifications
 ● Provide more job opportunities for the unemployed
● Other______________________________________________

17. How can the government lower unemployment?

● Provide more jobs
● Provide facilities for persons to learn a certain skill
● Make all levels of education free
● Create job opportunities for those who doesn’t have any qualification

18. How will having a better education decrease the unemployment rate?
● Implore people to further their education
● Higher level of education will decrease the chance of being
unemployed
● Encourage self- employment
● Create job opportunities for those who have the qualification

8
Procedures for Data Collection

From the researcher calculations Community X has approximately eighty

(80) households from the researcher calculations, a sample group of twenty-
five percent (25%) was necessary to obtain an accurate conclusion on the
level of unemployed individuals in the entire community.(25% of 80 is 20).
The researcher distinctly chose the households of random equal in amount
based on gender and economic status. Twenty (20) copies of the
questionnaires were distributed on the weekend of December 18ᵗʰ, 2021.
Each individual was given the time limit of an hour to complete the
questionnaire. All twenty (20) questionnaires were collected after
completion.

9
Presentation of Data

Question #8: What do you think is the main cause of unemployment in the
community?
Figure 1.1
Pie chart showing the cause of unemployment in Community X?

10
Question 11: How does unemployment affect Community X?
Figure 1.2
Graph depicting the effects of unemployment.

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 Question #16: What can the community do to alleviate the problem of
unemployment?

OPTIONS NO. OF % OF RESPONSES

RESPONSES
Establish training centers 5 25%
Help citizens with qualification 6 30%
Provide more job opportunities for 8 40%
the unemployed

1 5%
Other

Figure 1.3
Table showing recommendations to alleviate the problem of unemployment.

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Analysis and Interpretation of Data
In doing the research on Community X, the researcher was shocked by the
answers given from the individuals that participated in the questionnaire.
Figure 1.1 shows what residents believe to be the cause for unemployment in
the community. Five percent (5%) of the participants believed that the
‘Increase in Population’ may have caused unemployment. Another five
percent (5%) believes that ‘ Increase in technology’ may have been the cause
of unemployment. Due to the fact that some persons are unwilling to be
employed, another five percent (5%) believes that’s why unemployment has
become an issue in Community X. It is the belief of thirty-five percent (35%)
that the ‘ Lack of Jobs’ is the cause of unemployment. However half of the
respondents (50%) believe that all of the four options are the causes of
unemployment in Community X. Based on all responses given, the researcher
has concluded that unemployment is a serious issue in Community X .
Figure 1.2 in Presentation of Data is showing a graph revealing the effects
that unemployment has caused in Community X. Ten percent (10%) of the
participants think that a Negative Image on the community is an after-effect
of unemployment. Thirty-Five percent (35%) of the responses agreed that
Social Issues is an aftermath of unemployment in Community X. Fifty
percent (50%) of the respondents believed that Economic Issues had been
affected by unemployment, while it is the belief of the other five percent
(5%) that other than the options given, the respondent had a different belief.
Based on the results of the questions the researcher is concerned that fifty
percent (50%) of the respondents believe economic issues are an aftermath of
unemployment. This is a very serious problem if half the respondents
believed that the effects of unemployment, it just shows us how badly
unemployment has affected the community.

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If the other thirty-five percent (35%) believe that Social Issues is an effect
unemployment, it means that there’s a problem within the society which
could furthermore affect the growth and education in the younger generation,
and without them there would be no future to look towards. Though it’s not
an alarming amount of people saying that there’s a negative image on the
community,that does not mean that the fact is not credible . If it is their
beliefs, it means the amount of new people coming into the community and
using its resources can be greatly reduced and this could possibly cause a
financial problem in the community. The financial problem, if became
serious or not dealt with properly could cause community resources to be cut
back or not funded and the bills could possibly be raised in order to get
money, and this could push people out of their community. And the five
percent (5%) that believed that there is another effect of unemployment, it
means other than the options stated there are more effects of unemployment
affecting Community X.
The table shown before on Figure 1.3 shows recommendations to alleviate
the problem of unemployment. Five percent (5%) of the participants believe
that other than the choices given, they have different recommendations.
Twenty-Five percent (25%) of the respondents believed that the community
should Establish Training Centers to alleviate the problem within the
community. It is the belief of thirty percent (30%) of the res[pondents that
helping citizens with their qualification can reduce the level of
unemployment in Community X. The other forty percent (40%) think that if
there are more job opportunities provided for the unemployed, then the
unemployment level in Community X could be significantly lowered. The
five percent (5%) that believes there is another way to alleviate the problem
is just saying that the members of Community X are not blind to the problem
and are thinking of ways to reduce this problem. The twenty-five percent
(25%)that believes that the community should establish Training Centers, is
saying that people who do not have proper training in an area they would like
to get a job in.
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This could make it less difficult to get a job in the specific area or help start a
business in the area.The belief of the thirty percent (30%) of respondents
thinks that helping citizens with their qualification can reduce the level of
unemployment in Community X could be achieved if they have gotten their
qualifications. The qualifications are what shows that they are credible
enough to do the job ;the proof that you are capable of doing the job, so if
someone where to to help a community member to get a qualification then
that member would have no problem in getting a job.The other forty percent
(40%) believes that if there are more job opportunities for the unemployed
then it would significantly reduce the level of unemployment in Community
X. This could be highly achievable, if you look at the reasons why people are
unemployed is mainly due to the fact that they can’t find a job, can’t keep a
job or they got fired from a job so if there are more jobs out there then it
could benefit to these people and less people would be unemployed within
Community X.

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Statement of Findings
After conducting this research, the researcher identified several important
findings. The information collected revealed the following:

● A little over fifty percent of the respondents are experiencing economic

problems due to being unemployed.
● Individuals within the community believe that they should provide
more job opportunities for the unemployed.
● Information indicated that Crime and Violence is a major issue in
Community X and seemed to have been impacted by the level of
unemployment.

16
Recommendations and Implementation Strategy
After conducting this research the researcher has made the following
recommendations and implementation strategy.

1.1 The education system needs to be shifted into a new paradigm, one
where each learning style and vocational areas are accommodated so that all
students are provided with the best education which gives them a higher
chance of achieving a qualification and a job.

2.1 The researcher recommends more jobs for those who are illiterate,
disable, mentally ill, skilled, unskilled and those who haven’t completed
school.

3.1 The government needs to develop facilities in the community to educate

and train people new skills and achieve qualification to find a job in the
selected sector.

4.1 Develop more social intervention programmes strategies to educate

citizens on job qualification etc.

17
Implementation Strategies
1.2 A meeting with the education ministers or schools’ principal should be
arranged to educate and inform them of the ways in which a child learns is
different from others and not being taught in the way they understand can
result in unemployment. The researcher would recommend how they learn
and use this in their future lessons and if possible in some schools the
educators could make this mandatory. Vocational areas too should be
accessible by students so that they may be able to have insights on the
different jobs and have an idea as to what they might want a career in.

2.2 Jobs on a whole is hard to get, but as people with disablities it is near to
impossible to find one that are within there capbilities. Though the reseacher
has asked that the government should have more jobs out their for the
unemployed ,they need to also consider jobs that people with disability are
able todo. I would advice that they send out forms around with information
they need to communities,online platforms and homes for people with
disability and based on the responses see what jobs they can offer for them.
The ministry needs to take this in consideration when discussing offering jobs
to the unemployed.

3.2 The researcher can understand that it’s not everytime the government has
jobs to offer people based on what the sector certain persons are looking
for ,but what they coyld do is the sectors that they are limited workers in they
could advertise it to communtities and have facilities build to train and edcate
individuals on the sector soo they are able to have a job. This could eliminate
the high level of unemployment in Community X.

18
The key to implementing these recommendations is communcation between
the government and individuals. If they have communication then there will
be no problems in suceeding to alleviate the problem of unemployment in
Community X.

19
Glossary of Terms
Terms;

● Unemployment- Unemployment, according to the OECD, is people

above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-
employment but currently available for work during the reference
period.

● STATIN - STATIN is the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, it is a

government agency which publishes statistics about aspects of life in
Jamaica. One role of STATIN is to categorize occupations and to
promote and develop integrated social and economic statistics
pertaining to Jamaica.

● Questionnaire- A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a

series of questions for the purpose of gathering information from
respondents through survey or statistical study.

● Social Issues - A social issue is a problem that affects many people

within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day
society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the
consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control.
● Vocational Area -It is a course which is related to a particular career
and is practical to do that rather than doing some academic course.In
this course, one can learn practical knowledge by gaining experience in
that industry what a person is aiming for.

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● Government -A government is the system or group of people
governing an organized community, generally a state.
● Ministers - a head of a government department.

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 Bibliography

Carlong Secondary Social Studies Book 3-a Jamaica: Growing Together in

Society. Authors: Pam Morris, Sonia Robinson-Granville, Wintlett
Browne. First Published : 1998

Social Studies for CSEC. Author: Pat Lunt. Published: 2013

Social Studies for Grade 9, Growing Together - Teacher's Guide. Authors:

Lorven Bell Coates, Lucy Carman, Doran Evan Dixon, Blanche Oliver.
Published : November 2014.

https://jis.gov.jm/unemployment-down-2/
https://www.slideshare.net/rahematthie/csec-social-studies-sample-sba
https://environmental-conscience.com/unemployment-types-causes-effects-
solutions/
https://www.slideshare.net/Jason-Marc/social-studies-sba-sample

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