Macro IA

Article Selection

The choice you make for your internal assessment news article is very important. The biggest concept to remember is that you are going to have to evaluate the news article. 

With evaluation comes judgement.

With judgement comes some time of normative or values based decision using knowledge, information, facts, and evidence. 

This means that choosing a news article that is entirely positive (facts-based) does not make for a good choice. For example, you might find a news article that reports on the economic growth rate of China in the last six months. This is largely descriptive and will not have good material to evaluate.

Instead, focus on articles that discuss macro-level government policies. Decisions by central banks or law makers to change interest rates or policies respectively make for far easier articles to evaluate. For example, if the United States Federal Reserve has decided to lower its interest rates, you can make judgements on this decision using your knowledge and the facts presented in the article.

Evaluation Process

Once you have chosen an appropriate news article that lends itself to evaluation, the process of writing up your IA and evaluating the article is next.

We have previously discussed a four-step process for this evaluation that goes like this:

1. Clearly identify the issue or problem in the news article
2. Identify the news articles solution or action to this issue and propose your own possible solutions or actions
3. Discuss the pros and cons of each possible solution
4. Conclude with your judgement of what the best course of action is and whether or not you agree with the articles solution

Two Drafts

It is okay to seek some feedback on your first draft from a teacher, but because it is an assessment, your final IA should not be beyond your own ability. This means the feedback you receive between your first and final draft should allow you to produce work you are incapable of on your own.

The feedback will therefore mostly provide general advice, such as, "You have no fully explained your diagram," or, "You need to spend more time convincing the reader that real disadvantages exist for the articles solution."

The feedback will not give you specific advice as to what to change. You are responsible for doing the thinking and applying what you know, just as any other assessment in your courses.

Cover Sheet

Click the above link to see a cover sheet that can be used upon completion.

Economics Guide

Use the above link to find the internal assessment section of the economics guide.

The section you need is on page 95! I highly suggest you read through the IA section in its entirety to make sure you understand all of the required components. It is your responsibility to understand and follow the directions in the guide, not Stamford's.