Expanding a case – 127
in the second of the two paragraphs above I used the phrase ‘there
is evidence that . . . ’ in order to introduce the point about the lack of
a ‘clear’ correlation between education and economic development.
Had I simply asserted that there is no correlation, despite the reference to Lindauer and Pritchett given in order to support the claim,
the tutor could well comment ‘Substantiate this’.
3.3
Enhancing the value of your information
Enhancing the value of your information requires you to qualify your
main propositions by imposing certain restrictions on their truth or
range of application. These restrictions are broadly concerned with
time, place, manner or means, and various aspects of causation and
condition. We have already had to take some of these on board in
writing parts of the middle. In particular we have had to make a
few qualifications about place: for example, countries which have
coupled development programmes with effective land reform (South
Korea, Taiwan) seem to have escaped some of the worst manifestations
of rural poverty.
Other problems begin to surface when we ask other questions: When? How? By what means or methods? By whom? To what
degree? Why? For what reason or purpose? With what effect? Under
which circumstances or conditions? When were these mistakes in
development schemes being made? Are they still being made? There
are other questions that come to mind: Who made the mistakes (central government, local officials, governments of developed countries,
aid agencies, transnational corporations)? For what reasons did they
attempt to solve development problems in the way they did? Do
they now seem bad reasons only with the benefit of hindsight? Were
the means they used inadequate to carry out their intentions? Were
alternative means available? Under which conditions (social, cultural,
political, economic, managerial, etc.) does it seem that some development projects fared worse than others in trying to alleviate rural
poverty?
To raise questions such as these and to integrate your answers
to at least some of them into the body of your essay is to make it
in the second of the two paragraphs above I used the phrase ‘there
is evidence that . . . ’ in order to introduce the point about the lack of
a ‘clear’ correlation between education and economic development.
Had I simply asserted that there is no correlation, despite the reference to Lindauer and Pritchett given in order to support the claim,
the tutor could well comment ‘Substantiate this’.
3.3
Enhancing the value of your information
Enhancing the value of your information requires you to qualify your
main propositions by imposing certain restrictions on their truth or
range of application. These restrictions are broadly concerned with
time, place, manner or means, and various aspects of causation and
condition. We have already had to take some of these on board in
writing parts of the middle. In particular we have had to make a
few qualifications about place: for example, countries which have
coupled development programmes with effective land reform (South
Korea, Taiwan) seem to have escaped some of the worst manifestations
of rural poverty.
Other problems begin to surface when we ask other questions: When? How? By what means or methods? By whom? To what
degree? Why? For what reason or purpose? With what effect? Under
which circumstances or conditions? When were these mistakes in
development schemes being made? Are they still being made? There
are other questions that come to mind: Who made the mistakes (central government, local officials, governments of developed countries,
aid agencies, transnational corporations)? For what reasons did they
attempt to solve development problems in the way they did? Do
they now seem bad reasons only with the benefit of hindsight? Were
the means they used inadequate to carry out their intentions? Were
alternative means available? Under which conditions (social, cultural,
political, economic, managerial, etc.) does it seem that some development projects fared worse than others in trying to alleviate rural
poverty?
To raise questions such as these and to integrate your answers
to at least some of them into the body of your essay is to make it