Worked example · Social Studies · Year 10
DCF: Data and computational thinking → Data and information literacy
A secure Year 10 response, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. It is also the answer key. The key idea for Step 5: a poll run online cannot measure people who are offline. That is one of the “difficulties faced when researching digital exclusion” in GCSE Social Studies Unit 1, section 1.3.3, and the reason the Community Hub knocked on doors.
In order: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 14
| Mean | Median | Mode | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 ÷ 15 = 4.3 hours | 8th value = 3 hours | 2 hours | 14 − 1 = 13 hours |
The median, 3 hours, is the best average. The mean is pulled up to 4.3 by person 13, who is online 14 hours a week for video calls, and person 7 with 10 hours. Only 5 of the 15 people spend more than 4.3 hours online, so the mean does not describe a typical person.
All four values are correct, the values are ordered first, and the choice of average is justified using the outlier. Evidences criterion 1.
| Group | Working | % not online |
|---|---|---|
| All adults | 30 ÷ 200 × 100 | 15.0% |
| Aged 16 to 34 | 1 ÷ 40 × 100 | 2.5% |
| Aged 35 to 54 | 3 ÷ 50 × 100 | 6.0% |
| Aged 55 to 74 | 9 ÷ 60 × 100 | 15.0% |
| Aged 75 and over | 17 ÷ 50 × 100 | 34.0% |
| Village centre | 20 ÷ 160 × 100 | 12.5% |
| Outlying farm or hamlet | 10 ÷ 40 × 100 | 25.0% |
| Disabled | 9 ÷ 36 × 100 | 25.0% |
| Not disabled | 21 ÷ 164 × 100 | 12.8% |
(a) The older the age group, the higher the percentage who do not use the internet: it rises from 2.5% of 16 to 34 year olds to 34.0% of people aged 75 and over.
(b) People aged 75 and over are 25% of the adults asked (50 of 200) but 56.7% of the offline adults (17 of 30). People on outlying farms and hamlets are 20% of those asked but 33.3% of the offline (10 of 30). Disabled people are 18% of those asked but 30% of the offline (9 of 30). All three groups are overrepresented.
Grouped data is turned into comparable percentages, and (b) uses the correct meaning of “overrepresented”: a bigger share of the excluded than of the population. Evidences criterion 2.
The free sessions can help most with the people who are worried about scams and safety (7) and who have no skills and no one to show them (6): 13 of the 30 offline adults, 43.3%. A session cannot fix a missing broadband signal at home (5 people), because that is a problem of infrastructure, and it cannot pay for broadband, which is the biggest single reason (9 people).
Title says what, where, when and how many; both axes are labelled; the scale goes up in equal steps of 2 from 0; bars are equal width with gaps and sorted biggest first. The follow-up links the data to the causes of digital exclusion in the specification. Evidences criteria 3 and 5.
| Weakness | Why it could mislead someone | |
|---|---|---|
| Chart A | The vertical axis starts at 80%, not 0. | A rise of 3 percentage points (82% to 85%) looks huge: the 2025 bar is 2.5 times as tall as the 2022 bar. |
| Chart A | The two years were measured in different ways: a poll on the company’s website in 2022 and a door-to-door survey in 2025. No sample sizes are given. | Only people who are online can answer a website poll, so the two figures cannot be compared fairly. The chart is made by a company selling broadband, and “since we arrived” claims it caused the rise without evidence. |
| Chart B | The percentages add up to 112%. | People may have voted more than once, or the numbers are wrong. Either way, you cannot trust the size of any slice. |
| Chart B | It is a poll on a social media page, about people who do not go online. No sample size is shown. | The people the question is about cannot see the poll or answer it. The comment “it’s all about money” is not supported: the door-to-door survey found cost was the main reason for 9 of 30 people (30%). |
Finds weaknesses in the scale, the method, the numbers and the purpose, and explains the effect of each. Evidences criterion 4.
In Cwm Eithin, the adults most likely to be digitally excluded are people aged 75 and over, disabled people and people living on outlying farms and hamlets. 34.0% of people aged 75 and over do not use the internet, compared with 15.0% of all adults, and they make up 17 of the 30 people who are offline. 25.0% of disabled people and of people in outlying areas are offline. The biggest reason is cost (9 people), followed by worries about scams (7). The Hub was right to knock on doors, because an online survey would have missed the people it was looking for. But only 200 adults answered, so small groups such as disabled people (36) give less reliable percentages.
120 words. A clear conclusion that names groups, supports each with figures, gives the main cause, and ends with a difficulty of researching digital exclusion and a limitation of the sample. Evidences criterion 5.
17 ÷ 30 = 56.7% of offline adults are aged 75 and over, compared with 50 ÷ 200 = 25% of all adults asked.
Chart A should start its vertical axis at 0%, and should say how many people were asked each year and how. Better still, it should only compare figures collected the same way.
The spreadsheet answer: 6 offline adults are aged 75 and over and live on an outlying farm or hamlet. For example: =COUNTIFS(B:B,"75+",C:C,"Outlying farm or hamlet",E:E,"No").