5 Steps to an Excellent Economics Essay

We all know that essay structure is important. It's been said that a good essay is like a sandwich... you need an introduction, main body and a conclusion. This is rather vague advice, and so here are some pointers that should help you to construct an excellent economics essay.

This post is designed to support questions that require all the assessment objectives tested. These types of questions tend to feature command terms like 'discuss', 'to what extent' or 'evaluate'...

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The 5 step process
This process is not perfect but does provide a framework to help you construct your essay. Feel free to use whatever elements you believe will add to your performance...

1 - Annotate the question
Simply underline the command terms, highlight the parts which you need to respond to and the key terms etc. This will ensure you understand the question, helps you to focus and reduces the likelihood that you'll go off topic.

2 - Plan 
I would strongly advise taking 1 to 2 minutes to make an essay plan.  Bullet point or mind-map ideas, relevant theory for discussion, examples for application, evaluation points and key arguments for and against and even consider outlining your conclusion. Do this on separate paper to collect your thoughts before jumping straight in to the essay.

3 - Introduction
The introduction is should be short and 'punchy', around 4 to 8 lines and is used to frame the question and secure some quick knowledge marks with one or two concise definitions:

- Frame the question
Begin by simply stating what you think the question is asking. This can set the tone for the rest your response and provides you and the examiner with a clear road map for your essay...it won't necessarily score any marks but can be valuable in clarifying your thinking.

- Define any key terms
Provide one or two short definitions in your introduction to earn some early knowledge marks. Keep them brief, avoid detail by only providing a sentence or two; do not give all the characteristics or advantages etc.

4 - The main body
This is where you begin answering the question and where the bulk of marks will be scored. Analysis and evaluation are key and should be on full show throughout. One approach to this is based on a technique called 'SEL-OOH' (the source of which remains unknown although, I came across it when teaching IB). It stands for State, Explain, Link and On the Other Hand.

Always use a new paragraph for every point you make (leave a line between paragraphs) and begin by stating your point concisely. In a few sentences explain your point, this may be an action, policy, argument etc and remember to link it! This link can be to a diagram, the question, appropriate theory or to an evaluation point. You can continue to make points in this manner throughout the essay. The OOH stands for 'on the other hand...' and is a sentence starter or prompt that forces you to evaluate your point. This could be discussing the negative consequences of the action you'd explained or maybe talking about dynamic efficiency as a positive in the case of monopoly.

5 - The Conclusion
Following the main body where you will have weaved an argument that deals with all aspects of the question, and evaluated the impacts etc, you will need to close the essay with a conclusion. The advice I share with my classes comes from Paul Goldsmith's excellent series of blog posts on essay technique and requires you to break the conclusion in to 3 parts. First, provide a direct answer to the question asked. Then state your strongest argument that led to that conclusion and finally, provide the variables upon which your conclusion rests. He also gives a good example related to mergers and consumer welfare, so check it out!

A few extra tips
Here are a few other snippets students have found useful:

• It sounds obvious but make sure you are fully aware of the marks available, don't launch into a massive account for a 6 or 8 mark data response question
• Keep track of time. The A2 paper is 2 hours 15 minutes long, which means that you have 135 minutes to achieve 70 marks - 20 marks for the data response and two questions worth 25 marks each, thats less than 2 minutes for each mark if shared equally! Therefore, careful planning and one eye on the clock is essential.
• DEAD - By using the DEAD model, which stands for Define/describe, explain with examples, analyse (use SEL-OOH here) and Decide after evaluating, you have a check list to ensure you have met all the assessment objectives (see the CIE AOs at the bottom of this post)
• Diagrams - should be no smaller than 7 or 8 lines and can be as big as half a page. Do not wrap text around them and remember to label carefully. Use ACE to check your labels and also as a prompt when analysing diagrams - Axis, Curves and Equilibrium
• Keep language short and simple, do not over complicate things

Additional resources
Some great advice on essays can be found on the Economics Help website and on the tutor2u blog. Also, EcoPlusDal shares some great essay techniques for both AS and A2 in his Youtube videos.



The CIE AS and A2 Economics Assessment Objectives:
AO1 Knowledge and understandingDemonstrate knowledge and understanding.
AO2 ApplicationInterpret and apply knowledge and understanding to information presented in written, numerical or graphical form.
AO3 AnalysisAnalyse economic issues and arguments, using relevant economic concepts, theories and information, and communicate conclusions in a clear, reasoned manner.
AO4 EvaluationCritically evaluate economic information, arguments, proposals and policies, taking into consideration relevant information and economic principles and distinguishing facts from hypothetical statements and value