← Differences in development

Writing the full factor/strategy/indicator chain

Every one of the three sub-topics rewards the identical underlying chain — learn it once and apply it to whichever is asked.

The four-link chain, applied to any sub-topic

  • 1. NAME the specific indicator, factor, or strategy — not a category, a single named one.
  • 2. Describe the MECHANISM: how it actually works, or how it actually affects development, step by step.
  • 3. State the CONSEQUENCE: what this means in practice for people's standard of living, income, health, or opportunity.
  • 4. Give EVIDENCE: a named case study, with a real figure or measurable detail.
Worked example Applying the chain to a strategy Name a strategy and explain its effect on reducing differences in development. NAME: microfinance lending to small business owners in a named community. MECHANISM: small loans, often to women, fund small business start-ups (a market stall, a sewing enterprise) that would not qualify for conventional bank credit. CONSEQUENCE: successful businesses raise household income directly and, because loans are typically repaid and re-lent, the same capital can fund multiple businesses over time. EVIDENCE: name the specific microfinance scheme or organisation, the loan size typically offered, and a repayment rate or number of businesses funded if known. ✓ All four links are present and specific — a generic "microfinance helps poor people" skips the mechanism and evidence that this chain requires. ✕

Describing what a strategy/factor IS instead of what it DOES

A definition ("microfinance is small loans to entrepreneurs") is not yet an explanation of EFFECT. The marks are in the mechanism and consequence — how the loans translate into actual improved development outcomes for the specific case study named, not in restating what the strategy or factor is in the abstract.

Applying the chain to a natural factor

  • NAME: extreme drought frequency in a named semi-arid region.
  • MECHANISM: unreliable rainfall reduces crop yields and livestock survival year to year, making agricultural income unpredictable and discouraging long-term investment in farming infrastructure.
  • CONSEQUENCE: households fall back on subsistence farming rather than commercial production, limiting income growth and tax revenue available for public services.
  • EVIDENCE: name the region, a rainfall figure or drought frequency statistic, and an agricultural output or income figure showing the effect.

Practise just this