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General requirements
All students must:
 Provide a logical and coherent rationale for their choice of topic.
 Review what has already been written about the topic.
 Formulate a clear research question.
 Offer a concrete description of the methods they use to
investigate the question.
 Generate reasoned interpretations and conclusions based on
their reading and independent research in order to answer the
question.

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Choice of topic
Students first need to identify
the broad area of inquiry they
are interested in.
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Sources of ideas may include:

 Work already undertaken as part of the course.
 Preliminary reading of academic journals and
reputable scholarly e-resources, eg conference papers,
essays, book chapters or journal articles. A school
librarian can advise on this.
 Conversations with teachers, fellow students and
librarians.

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Literature review
 Students should try to read as much as they can of what has
already been written about their topic.
 Time spent on a literature review early on in the research process
will guide and improve their work.

It will help students to:

 contextualize their research question and subsequent findings
 meet criterion B: demonstrating knowledge and understanding .

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RRS
 While conducting their literature review, students may find it
useful to compile an annotated bibliography and to record their
responses to what they read in their researcher’s reflection space
(RRS).
 If using the internet, students are encouraged to use specialized
academic search engines that will find resources appropriate for
citation in the EE.
 Students must be aware of their responsibilities to cite properly
the resources they use and to check their work for plagiarism.
Their citations should adhere to the requirements of the IB and
be consistently applied.
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Research question
 The research question should therefore be non-trivial and
follow from the existing body of literature on the topic.
It must be:
 specific, sharply focused and capable of being answered
within a 3,000-word essay.
 stated clearly in the introduction of the essay and on
the title page.
 related to the chosen topic.
 Has a purpose.

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Students need to avoid researching

questions that are too narrow or
too obvious as this will limit
their ability to formulate reasoned
arguments.

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Their answer to the

question must be
analytical rather than
descriptive.
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Treatment of the topic

 Once students have identified their topic and written
their research question, they can decide how to
research their answer.
 They may find it helpful to write a statement
outlining their broad approach.
 The definition of “research” and terms such as
“primary data” and “secondary data” varies from
subject to subject.

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Two important reminders

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Academic Honesty
Another important research
skill that is developed and
demonstrated in the extended
essay is academic honesty
Fundamental research
skills include
formulating focused and
precise research
questions, appraising
sources, recording,
analysing, evaluating and
synthesizing
information, and
presenting and
evaluating results.
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Inquiry Based Learning

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Conceptual Learning

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Formulate
Research
Question
(RQ)
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 All students,
regardless of the
subject chosen,
must frame
their research
question as a
QUESTION

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Research Question
 A research question is a clear and focused question
centered on a research topic
 Research questions usually emerge when questions are
asked about a particular issue that a student is interested
in or curious about.
 A clear and well-focused research question, which has a
specific aim will allow a student to work towards
developing a reasoned argument within the scope of the
task, rather than the kind of “all about” essay that an
unfocused research question can lead to.
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Sometimes students may need to revise their research

question; therefore, a research question should always be
considered provisional until they have enough research data
to make a reasoned argument.

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5 steps to developing a research question

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1. Choose • Student’s interest and personally

a subject invested is important
• The student should be able to
and topic identify, in a broad sense, what it
that is of is that they are interested in and
why.
interest
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2. Carry out •What has already been written about this

topic?
preliminary •Was it easy to find sources of information?
reading •Is there a range of different sources available?
•Is there a range of views or perspectives on
(Literary the topic?
Review) •What interesting questions have started to
emerge from this reading?

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3. Consider the emerging

questions.

The student should now begin

posing open-ended questions
about their general topic. These
questions will usually be framed
using the terms “how”, “why” or “to
what extent”.
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4. Evaluate the question

Once possible research questions have been posed they should
be evaluated. This evaluation should be based on whether the
research question is clear, focused, and arguable.
• Clear: Will the reader understand the nature of my research? Will it direct
the research being undertaken?
• Focused: Will the research question be specific enough to allow for
exploration within the scope of the task (that is, the number of words and
time available)?
• Arguable: Does the research question allow for analysis, evaluation and the
development of a reasoned argument?

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5. Consider research outcomes

Once a provisional
research question has
• suggesting possible outcomes of the research
been decided upon
students should start • outlining the kind of argument they might
make and how the research might support this
thinking about the
• considering options if the research available is
direction their
not sufficient to support a sustained
research might take. argument.
This could be in
terms of:

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Sample research questions

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DO and
DON’Ts