Forums › Ask ACCA Tutor Forums › Ask the Tutor ACCA SBL Exams › how to understand p3 requirement ?
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- November 11, 2010 at 5:00 am #45840
i m having problem in reading p3 question requirement … actually i m in difference with terms like Evaluate,Analysis …etc could u please tell me what to do when such words are there .. plz
November 12, 2010 at 5:31 pm #70300This might help:
Typical verbs used in the requirements are: list, explain, describe, state, discuss. These are also chosen carefully by the examiner. Broadly, what they imply is:
• List: Very basic. Simply write items in the form of a list with no need for great detail or long explanation.
• State: not much more than list.
• Outline: just the main features to be covered.
• Describe: you need to give detail to ‘paint the full picture’
• Distinguish: compare two or more things; point out what makes them different.
• Explain: this is more than a description. Write one sentence that describes, then write at least on other to explain why the ?rst sentence is so, or the consequences of the ?rst sentence. Use examples to help your explanations. Eg “Explain the threat of new entrants experienced by this company”, you would for example say that the business was a simple on with no great know-how and this means that a new company can relatively easily enter the market with little chance that they make fundamental errors.
• Identify: selective description. You pick up on key points.
• Compare and contrast: How are things similar and how they are different?
• Discuss: There needs to be a dialogue between two or more points of view. Ideally a discussion should end with a conclusion. Think about: advantages/ disadvantages/ conclusion, or reasons why/reasons why not/conclusion. It is also possible to ‘discuss’ one viewpoint. For example you may be asked to ‘discuss the advantages of…’. Does this mean you have to do the disadvantages as well? No – simply go through the advantages, saying whether they apply in this situation, or whether they are each a major advantage or a relatively minor one.
• Evaluate: You have to judge the worth, importance or value of something. Think of this as a higher level discussion. For example, evaluate the company’s weaknesses: there might be lots of weaknesses but you would be expected to identify the most serious and perhaps say whether or not they might be easily corrected.
• Suggest/recommend: Telling our audience what to do. This is usually the last requirement in a question because you ?rst need to identify, explain and evaluate before you can recommend or suggest a way forward. - AuthorPosts
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