The 8 Mark "How Useful are Sources A & B" Question (Edexcel GCSE History)

Summary of Question 2 (a)

• Question 2 (a) requires you to evaluate how useful two sources are for a historian about the issue outlined

• You should: 

  • Refer to the content and provenance of the sources 

  • Include knowledge that is relevant to the source 

  • Make a judgement on how useful the source is for the given issue in the question

• It will always be based on the historic environment: The British sector of the Western Front

• An example of the type of question you may encounter can be seen below:

• In previous years, this question has focused on the following topics in Medicine in Britain:

What is a historical enquiry?

• A historical enquiry is when historians ask questions, select evidence and make judgments about the past

• Question 2 (a) in Medicine in Britain is focused on a historical enquiry

  • The question asks you to decide how useful Sources A and B are for the enquiry

  • The enquiry will always be based on your historic environment: The British sector of the Western Front

• You cannot achieve more than 2 marks for this question if your answer is not linked to the enquiry in the question

Using the content & provenance of a source

• A historical source is made up of two sections: 

  • The provenance 

  • The content 

Provenance 

• Provenance is the background information of a source 

• The provenance can be found at the top of each source

• The provenance usually tells you

  • Who created the source

  • What  type of source it is, for example, a newspaper article

  • When the source was made

  • Where the source was created 

• For the example question, here is a breakdown of the provenance of Source A:

• In this question, you should use the provenance of the source to:

  • Help you explain the usefulness of a source

Content 

• The content is the information presented in the source

• The content could be a variety of different types of sources such as:

  • A picture 

  • A photograph

  • An extract from a book 

  • A speech 

  • A political cartoon 

  • A letter 

• In this question, you should use the content of the source to: 

  • Help you explain the usefulness of the source

Making judgements in a “How useful are sources A & B” question 

• The 8-mark "How Useful” question requires you to make a judgement

• The common mistakes that students make when making a judgement are: 

  • Not giving a clear judgement. Students do this by: 

    • Explaining that neither of the sources is useful to a historian 

    • Failing to decide how useful the sources are

    • Using language in their answer which is not decisive e.g. “kind of” or “maybe”  

  • Focusing on reliability rather than how useful the source is. Students do this by: 

    • Not making any judgement about the source’s usefulness

    • Stating that, because the source is unreliable, the source is not useful to a historian

  • All sources are useful for a historian but not all sources are reliable

    • Unreliable sources can be very useful. For example, a photograph taken of a Regimental Aid Post by the British Army might be staged. However, it tells historians about how the Army assured citizens back home that their loved ones were well-cared for

• Good judgements will include:

  • Specific content from the sources

  • The source’s provenance

  • Your knowledge of the time period

    • This will help you to see if the source is accurate or typical for the period

• Good judgements will also keep going back to the focus of the question

  • For the example question, the focus of the question is the problems involved in transporting injured soldiers on the Western Front

• Your judgement does not need to include limitations and you can receive full marks without one

  • Students’ responses are often given higher marks if they only focus on the source's strengths. This is because the question wants you to pick parts of the source that are useful

• However, if you include a limitation you will be credited, you must make sure the limitation is: 

  • Supported by knowledge 

  • Focused on the question 

  • Relevant to your answer  

 "How Useful" Question Structure 

• You will find the sources in an insert called the Sources Booklet

  • An insert is an additional booklet to your answer paper. It provides key sources or interpretations needed to answer specific questions in the exam

• Your answer should consist of: 

  • How useful the sources are to the given issue in the question 

  • Content from each source

  • Comments about the provenance of each source

  • Specific relevant knowledge 

• Your answer could be written in PEE paragraphs

  • P- Make a point about the question

    • Make it clear how useful the source is

    • Use the source to make an inference about the issue in the question

  • E- Use information from the source and knowledge to support the point you have made

    • Your knowledge should be specific 

    • Focus on the content and provenance of the source

  • E- Explain why this shows that the source is useful 

    • Focus on the given issue in the question 

    • For top marks, your judgement about the source’s usefulness will combine the content of the source, the provenance of the source and your own knowledge of the issue in the question

• To achieve full marks, you will need two paragraphs

  • The focus of Paragraph One should be Source A

  • The focus of Paragraph Two should be Source B 

  • You will achieve 8 marks for your analysis and evaluation of how useful both sources are for the enquiry (S)

Worked Example of a "How Useful" Question