How Economists Approach the World: three questions to try now
Real questions, the answer key from the mark scheme, and the explanation that goes with it. No account needed to answer them.
Cross-board concept practice · originally a CIE 9708 question, used here because the concept is the same. It is not IB Economics past-paper material.
Question 1
Food prices in a country increased by 20% in three months due to an infectious virus. Which statement about the cause of this rise in food prices is normative?
Answer: A.
A Consumers were scared of running out of food.
Explanation:
A normative statement expresses an opinion, belief, or value judgment rather than a verifiable fact. In this case, the statement Consumers were scared of running out of food is a normative statement because it involves consumer sentiments and emotions, which are not directly measurable or quantifiable. It reflects how consumers perceived the situation and reacted based on fear rather than stating a verifiable cause-and-effect relationship.
On the other hand:
B Farm workers demanded higher wages to cover extra hours worked.
C Supply of foreign food was reduced because of closed borders.
D Transport costs increased by 10%.
These statements are positive statements as they represent factual, measurable cause-and-effect relationships. For example, statement B directly links the demand for higher wages by farm workers to the extra hours worked, which is a quantifiable relationship. Similarly, statements C and D provide specific reasons for the rise in food prices that can be objectively measured and verified.
Cross-board concept practice · originally a CIE 9708 question, used here because the concept is the same. It is not IB Economics past-paper material.
Question 2
Which comment relating to the introduction of charges for previously free medical treatment is normative?
Answer: B.
The other options are positive statements, which is to say claims about fact that evidence could settle. Whether fewer people can afford treatment (A), whether richer citizens pay the higher charges (C), and whether health and productivity fall (D) are all testable in principle. Being difficult to measure does not make a statement normative.
Cross-board concept practice · originally a CIE 9708 question, used here because the concept is the same. It is not IB Economics past-paper material.
Question 3
What does the assumption ‘ceteris paribus’ mean when economists analyse the way in which the quantity demanded of a good changes?
Answer: C.
The other options describe the opposite. D lets several variables move together, which is what the assumption exists to prevent. A reverses the direction of causation. B names only one of the things held constant, preferences, when the assumption covers all of them at once.
What this practice covers
These questions are drawn from past Cambridge papers, mapped across to this topic because the concept is the same. You answer, you find out immediately whether you were right, and you get the reasoning for the correct option and for each distractor. Wrong answers go to a mistakes locker so you can come back to exactly those.
Practice is free. You need an account only so your progress and your mistakes are still there next time.
What examiners see students get wrong here
These are the errors that cost marks on how economists approach the world, taken from our own topic notes. Read them before you practise and you will recognise the traps in the questions.
- Thinking a positive statement must be true. It must be testable.
- Classifying a statement by its topic rather than its wording, look for "should", "ought", "fair".
- Criticising a model for being unrealistic without asking whether it is useful.
- Treating ceteris paribus as a claim that other things really are constant, rather than an analytical device.
- Interpreting "rational" as "selfish" or "always correct".
- Comparing totals when a question requires marginal analysis.
Revise it first
If any of the above is unfamiliar, work through the notes before practising: How Economists Approach the World revision notes.