IB+EE+-researching+and+writing

IB Extended Essay

It is recommended that teachers advise their students about researching and writing the extended essay as follows.

When researching the extended essay, students should do the following. > - Read the assessment criteria and the relevant subject guidance. > - Identify how and where they will gather material. > - Identify which system of academic referencing they will use, appropriate to the subject of the essay. > - Set deadlines for themselves that will allow them to meet the school’s requirements. > - If students discover that it will not be possible to obtain the evidence needed in the time available, the research question should be changed. This should be done sooner rather than later: students should not lose time waiting and hoping that something will turn up. Students should go back to stage 3, 2 or 1, and choose a new research question that can be answered. > - The material gathered should be assembled in a logical order, linked to the structure of the essay. Only then will students know whether they have enough evidence for each stage of the argument so that they can proceed to the next. > - Students should be prepared for things to go wrong. Sometimes they may discover something later in the investigation that undermines what they thought had been established earlier on. If that happens, the investigation plan needs to be revised.
 * The research process **
 * 1) Choose the approved Diploma Programme subject for the extended essay.
 * 1) Choose a topic.
 * 2) Formulate a well-focused research question.
 * 3) Plan the investigation and writing process.
 * 1) Plan a structure (outline headings) for the essay. This may change as the investigation develops but it is useful to have a sense of direction.
 * 2) Undertake some preparatory reading.
 * 1) Carry out the investigation.

The structure of the essay is very important. This is what helps students to organize the argument, making best use of the evidence gathered. The required elements of the final work to be submitted are listed here. More details about each element are given in the “Formal presentation of the extended essay” section. Please note that the order in which they are presented here is not necessarily the order in which they should be written.
 * Writing the extended essay **
 * Title page
 * Abstract
 * Contents page
 * Introduction
 * Body (development/methods/results)
 * Conclusion
 * References and bibliography
 * Appendices

Students should use the chosen system of academic referencing as soon as they start writing. That way, they are less likely to forget to include a citation. It is also easier than trying to add references at a later stage. Most modern word processors are helpful with this. Some students draft the introduction first. If students do that, they must be prepared to revise it once the essay is complete. The main task is writing the body of the essay, which should be presented in the form of a reasoned argument. The form of this varies with the subject of the essay but, as the argument develops, it should be clear to the reader what relevant evidence has been discovered, where/how it has been discovered and how it supports the argument. Inmost subjects, sub-headings within the main body of the essay will help the reader to understand the argument (and will also help the student to keep on track). Once the main body of the essay is complete, it is possible to finalize the introduction (which tells the reader what to expect) and the conclusion (which says what has been achieved, including notes of any limitations and any questions that have not been resolved). Any information that is important to the argument should not be included in appendices or footnotes/endnotes. The examiner is not bound to read notes or appendices, so an essay that is not complete in itself will lose marks. The remaining stages in writing the essay take time but are not difficult. Students need to check that they have cited sources for all material that is not their own, and that the citations are complete and consistent with the chosen referencing system. The bibliography should list only the sources used in the essay. The whole essay needs to be proofread carefully (computer spelling and grammar checkers are useful but will not do everything). Pages must be numbered and the contents page must be completed. The abstract is normally written last.