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Ib extended essay11/14/2023 ![]() The body of the essay: investigating, analysing and writing If thinking around the question has started early enough, if there are too many barriers to collecting the data, it may be best to alter the question with the supervisor’s help before getting stuck in. This is fine, but it is good to state why. However, it should be noted that in some cases it is only possible to use secondary data. It is important to evaluate how the relevant data can be collected, as an essay that includes both primary and secondary research will be well supported. Students often set a question without contemplating if they are capable of answering it. For this reason the highest scoring essays usually have a research question that start with, ‘ To what extent’, ‘A study of’, ‘An analysis of’, or ‘ How far’, or could even just be a statement to analyse. Simply stating that ‘ yes, it is true’ or ‘ no, it is not true’ is insufficient. ![]() The question should not necessarily start with words like, ‘ Does’, ‘Will’ or ‘Is’. Or, they will lead to a research or study around the topic. Either they will be aimed at solving a problem, for example, through conducting an experiment. Questions will fall broadly into two categories. It is not necessary to prove the research question right – disagreeing with the initial hypothesis is perfectly fine. It is essential that the question is relevant, focused, that the answer is not a simple yes or no, but also that it is actually answerable. A wrongly formulated research question will turn this learning experience into a stressful one. Once students have chosen their topic, they need to decide on a research question. How to choose a research question for the Extended Essay The topic needs to be approved by the IBO, which the school will help with. Taking two related things they are interested in (historic events, technologies, inventions, books, poems, geographies, markets, planets, experiments and so on) and comparing them against a related concept can also be a good model to start with. Brainstorming about the subject they most enjoy or are good at, and thinking more specifically about why they enjoy it can help generate ideas. It is normal to be overwhelmed by having too much choice for the topic. A History student might look at how the rules of two different dictators can be viewed through a certain ideology. In Economics, a student might analyse the dynamics of a specific market (such as shoes, cars, finance, a food-type), against a particular theory. ![]() An English student might want to take a couple of poems and compare how the writers use a particular literary style. Examplesįor example, a Physics student watching the film ‘The Martian’, which was filmed in the Namibia desert, might have found it very surprising that Earth bears such a resemblance to Mars, and they could set about researching certain communalities and differences between these two planets. It is generally best for students to choose a topic that they are passionate about, not least because they will have to work on it for a year! One way to choose is to take something that they recently questioned. This requires that a global issue to be looked at through a local lens, for example how wider climate change, cultural, terrorism, technology or health trends are manifested in a specific context or place. The topic must be related to one of the six topics that the student is taking for their Diploma, or they can take an interdisciplinary ‘world studies’ issue that relates to two of their subjects. ![]() Approaching the IB Extended Essay How to choose a topic for the Extended Essay The Essay should be no longer than 4000 words, with a short viva voce at the end. ![]() The programme allows for one draft to be handed in to the supervisor for feedback, and then the second version is the final version. They will meet regularly with them to help structure their research questions and guide them in writing the paper. They will need a supervisor (one of the teachers at their school). Students usually start working on their essay in the second term of the first year of their IB Diploma Programme, around January time. The essay also enables students to acquire some of the skills that are essential for researching and writing university Bachelor and Master theses. The aim of the EE is to provide students with the opportunity to research a topic of their interest, and showcase their knowledge and reading beyond the classroom syllabus. The Extended Essay (known as the ‘EE’), together with CAS and TOK, is a core component of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, and is mandatory for all students, regardless of the subjects they are taking. ![]()
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