Planning the Action

Citizenship action is a planned course of action addressing an issue of concern and aiming to benefit a community or wider society. Research makes that action informed: rather than choosing an activity simply because it sounds interesting, you use evidence to decide what would help and why.

At this stage, you move from investigating your issue to planning a response. Your research should help you identify the change needed, the people you want to reach and an action that is realistic within the time and resources available.

Asking useful follow-up questions

Initial research may answer your main question, but it can also reveal something you need to investigate further. You may develop further sets of questions that link to and support your main question or issue. These are not a separate investigation: they help fill gaps that matter for your action.

Suppose your main question is: ‘How could students have a greater say in school decisions?’ Your initial findings might suggest that students know little about the school council. Useful follow-up questions could include:

• What do students already know about the school council?
• How can students currently submit suggestions?
• Who can approve changes to the way suggestions are collected?
• What would make students more willing to participate?

Each question has a planning purpose. Finding out what students already know helps you decide what information to communicate. Finding out who approves changes helps you identify whom to approach.

Follow-up questions can be investigated through either primary or secondary research. Primary research collects information first-hand, such as students’ survey responses. Secondary research uses existing information, such as the school council’s published procedures. Choose the source that can best answer the question; further questions do not have to be answered only through secondary research.

Separating results from conclusions

A result is what your research found. A conclusion is your reasoned judgement about what that finding means. Keeping them separate makes the link between evidence and action clearer.

For example, suppose 20 of the 30 students responding to your survey say they do not know how to submit a suggestion to the school council. That is a result. A supported conclusion would be that unclear information about submitting suggestions is a barrier for many of those respondents. This could justify planning an explanation of the existing process before seeking a completely new system.

However, that result alone would not justify concluding that every student is uninformed, or that the school council ignores students. Those claims go beyond what the survey established.

Bring findings together rather than relying on one striking answer. If survey responses suggest confusion and the published procedures are difficult to find, the findings support one another. If interviews reveal that some students understand the process but doubt that suggestions receive a response, your conclusion should recognise this different concern too.

Judging how strong your conclusions are

Before using a conclusion to plan action, consider how dependable the evidence is. Ask whether the information is current, whether the source has relevant knowledge and whether it represents the people affected by your issue.

A survey of only your friends may miss other students’ experiences. An organisation campaigning for change may provide useful evidence, but its purpose can affect which information it emphasises. Compare sources and consider evidence that challenges your original view as well as evidence that supports it.

Where findings disagree, look for an explanation: different groups, dates or questions may produce different answers. You may need a focused follow-up question before deciding what to do. Research can therefore lead you to narrow or revise your original aim rather than simply confirm it.

Building an action plan from the evidence

An action plan sets out what you will do, who will be involved and when the steps will happen. Its decisions should follow from your research conclusions.

In the school council example, evidence of confusion could support an aim of helping students understand how to submit suggestions. Your plan could identify the students to reach, the information they need, the permissions required and the people responsible for preparing and communicating it. Evidence that students want feedback could support a separate discussion with the council about how responses are shared.

Put the steps in a workable order. Checking the procedure and agreeing permissions should come before preparing information for others. Allow time, allocate responsibilities where you are working with others, and consider an alternative if a planned opportunity is unavailable. Discuss the plan with your teacher before beginning, including any safety or privacy concerns.

Decide in advance what evidence would show progress towards your aim. For an awareness action, finding out what the audience knows beforehand gives you a starting point for a later comparison. This helps you plan an action whose effects can be assessed, rather than assuming that delivering an activity will necessarily produce change.

The essential connection is research finding → supported conclusion → justified planning decision. A clear plan shows not only what you intend to do, but why that response fits the issue you investigated.