Groups in Context
What are four specific needs studied in CAFS?
Adequate standard of living, health, education, employment.
What are the three types of parents studied in CAFS?
Biological parents, social parents and adoptive parents.
What is the difference between primary and secondary data?
Primary data is collected firsthand by the researcher for their specific investigation. Secondary data has previously been collected or published by someone else.
Question: What is meant by technology in CAFS?
Resources created and used to extend human capabilities and help individuals meet needs or achieve purposes.
Question: What does the directive verb identify require you to do?
Recognise and name.
Identify TWO factors that can affect a group's access to services.
Examples include socioeconomic status, age, gender, education, culture, location, disability, knowledge of services and previous experiences.
Identify TWO factors that influence a person's decision to become a parent or carer.
Possible responses include personal values and beliefs, previous experiences, socioeconomic status, social expectations, cultural influences, gender expectations, education, employment and access to resources.
Name THREE methods that can be used to collect primary data.
Questionnaires/surveys, interviews, observations, case studies and experiments.
Identify THREE factors that influence access to and acceptance of technology.
What does explain require you to do?
Show cause and effect; make relationships between things evident by explaining how and/or why something occurs
Explain how socioeconomic status can influence access to services for ONE group you have studied.
Socioeconomic status can influence access because people with limited income may be unable to afford service fees or transport. For example, people experiencing homelessness may have difficulty paying for transport to healthcare appointments, reducing their access to health services and potentially negatively affecting physical wellbeing.
Explain how ONE characteristic of a dependent can affect a carer's responsibilities.
The age of a dependent can influence the level of care required. For example, an infant requires constant supervision, feeding and assistance with hygiene. This increases the carer's physical and time demands and may affect their ability to participate in employment or leisure.
Explain ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage of using a questionnaire.
An advantage is that questionnaires can collect information from a large number of participants relatively quickly, increasing the amount of data available. A disadvantage is that participants may misunderstand questions or provide limited responses, reducing the depth or accuracy of the data.
Explain how socioeconomic status can create inequitable access to technology.
People with lower socioeconomic status may have limited financial resources to purchase devices, software or reliable internet access. For example, a student from a low-income household may not have access to a laptop or home internet for completing schoolwork. This may limit educational opportunities compared with students who have greater access, negatively affecting educational and potentially economic wellbeing.
What is missing from this answer? “Access to healthcare improves wellbeing because people can receive treatment.”
Development/detail, a specific example, explicit connection to dimensions of wellbeing and a clearer explanation of the cause-and-effect relationship.
Evaluate the effectiveness of advocacy in improving wellbeing for ONE group you have studied.
Advocacy can significantly improve wellbeing by increasing awareness of a group's needs and influencing government policies, services and community attitudes. For example, advocacy organisations may campaign for increased funding or legal protections. This can improve access to resources and services and therefore enhance wellbeing. However, its effectiveness depends on factors such as funding, community support and whether governments respond to the advocacy.
Assess how support networks can affect the wellbeing of parents and carers.
Support networks can significantly enhance the wellbeing of parents and carers by providing emotional, practical and financial assistance. For example, grandparents may provide childcare, allowing a parent to work or have time for themselves. This may reduce stress and improve emotional and economic wellbeing. However, the impact depends on the availability and quality of the support network.
Justify why a researcher may use both qualitative and quantitative data.
Using both qualitative and quantitative data provides a more comprehensive understanding of an issue. Quantitative data provides measurable information that can identify patterns and trends, while qualitative data provides detailed information about people's experiences, attitudes and opinions. Therefore, combining the two allows the researcher to support numerical findings with explanations about why those patterns may occur.
Explain how technology can have BOTH a positive and negative impact on the wellbeing of individuals.
Technology can positively affect social wellbeing by allowing individuals to communicate with family and friends regardless of distance. However, excessive reliance on online communication may reduce face-to-face interaction or expose individuals to cyberbullying, negatively affecting social and emotional wellbeing.
What does evaluate require that explain does not?
A judgement based on criteria about the value, effectiveness or impact of something.
A person from ONE group you have studied is having difficulty accessing services due to location and socioeconomic status. Analyse how these TWO factors could combine to affect their wellbeing.
For people living in rural and remote communities, geographic location may mean health and support services are located significant distances away. When combined with low socioeconomic status, an individual may also be unable to afford private transport, fuel or accommodation required to access these services. These factors can therefore compound disadvantage by reducing access to necessary healthcare and support, negatively affecting physical, emotional and economic wellbeing.
A parent is working full-time while caring for a young child and an elderly family member.
Analyse how the parent's multiple roles could affect their wellbeing.
Managing full-time employment while caring for both a child and an elderly relative can create competing demands on the parent's time and energy. Limited time may reduce opportunities for sleep, exercise and social interaction, negatively affecting physical and social wellbeing. The pressure of meeting work and caring responsibilities may also increase stress, negatively affecting emotional wellbeing. However, access to formal childcare, respite care and informal family support could reduce role overload and improve the parent's ability to manage their responsibilities.
A CAFS student wants to investigate:
“How does social media use affect the wellbeing of Year 12 students?”
They decide to survey 10 of their closest friends.
Evaluate this research method and recommend how the investigation could be improved.
Key issues: Convenience sample; small sample size; selection bias; friends may provide socially desirable responses; sample may not represent the wider Year 12 population; survey could provide useful quantitative data but may lack depth.
Improvements: Larger sample, random/stratified sampling, anonymous questionnaire, include students from different groups/schools where appropriate, combine questionnaire with interviews/focus groups to obtain qualitative data.
Strong judgement:
The method would be relatively quick and easy to conduct but would have limited validity and representativeness. A larger and more diverse sample combined with anonymous data collection would produce more reliable findings.
Evaluate the impact of ONE technology on the wellbeing of individuals and families.
Smartphones can significantly enhance the wellbeing of individuals and families by providing immediate access to communication, information, education and support services. For example, family members can maintain social connections through messaging and video calls, improving social wellbeing, while health applications can provide access to health information and services, potentially enhancing physical wellbeing.
However, smartphones may also negatively affect wellbeing. Excessive use can reduce face-to-face family interaction, disrupt sleep and expose individuals to cyberbullying or inappropriate content, potentially negatively affecting physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
Judgement:
Overall, smartphones can have a significant positive impact on individual and family wellbeing when used appropriately; however, their impact depends on factors such as patterns of use, access, age and an individual's ability to manage potential risks.
Evaluate how socioeconomic status can influence the wellbeing of individuals and families.
You have 60 seconds to explain how you would structure a high-mark response. Your team must identify at least FOUR features the response needs.
Expected answers: Students should identify features such as a clear judgement/thesis addressing evaluate; accurate CAFS terminology; explanation of how/why socioeconomic status affects wellbeing; specific and relevant examples; explicit links to dimensions of wellbeing; consideration of both positive and/or negative impacts; sustained cause-and-effect relationships; and a concluding judgement that directly answers the question.