IB EXTENDED ESSAY

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IB EXTENDED ESSAY
GUIDELINES USEFUL TIPS
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What is the purpose of an Extended Essay?

• In-depth study of your choice
• Exploration of your personal and professional
  interests
• Independent research
• Communication of ideas and information in a
  logical and coherent manner

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What does research mean?

• To do research is to
• enquire
• question
• take information
• study
• experiment
• verify
• analyse (etc...)
• in order to know more about a topic.

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How do I start?4 basic rules

• Choose a topic that you like and that is
  challenging.
• Access Where are your sources?
• Sources have to be comprehensible.
• Methodology How am I going to do my research?

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1. TOPIC

• Interesting, challenging and feasible.
• Limited scope.
• Narrow enough to be studied in depth.
• Examples of essay titles that should not be done
  because they are too broad in scope
• The role of women in modern literature.
• Photosynthesis and plant life.

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The inverted triangle

• The Sixties
• Society the 60s
• Music in the 60s
• How do Bob Dylans
• lyrics reflect the spirit of the 60s.

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On selection...

• You can get to know more about the forest if you
  stop to examine closely one tree

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2. ACCESS

• Where are your sources located?
• Is it easy for you to reach them?
• Eg. IBM balance sheets during the 1980s.
• Problems Permits, legibility, language, etc.

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Locations where you can get bibliography and
sources

• Libraries The British Schools, National Library,
  Universidad Católica, Universidad de Montevideo,
  Universidad ORT, local libraries (Eg Nuestros
  Hijos).
• Embassies
• Chambers of Commerce/Industry LATU
• Cultural Institutes (Anglo, Goethe, Alliance
  Francaise).
• Companies
• www.
• Etc.

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3. COMPREHENSIBLE

• Are you able to understand those sources?
• Do they belong to your own educational and
  cultural background?
• Are they written in a language you know?
• - Eg.
• Highly complex statistic charts/ equations
• Documents in other languages

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4. METHODOLOGY, or RESEARCH PROCESS

• The how is as important as the what.
• METHOD path
• What path or method will you choose in order to
  prove that your research is academically and
  scientifically sound?
• Methodology allows you to verify your question /
  hypothesis as well as to justify your knowledge

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Different Methods

• Experimental (eg in the science labs)
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Bibliographical / documental analysis
• Case studies
• Statistics
• ETC.
• (Usually we use more than one method).

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question / hypothesis

• Sometimes they are framed in the usual question
  form
• How did the British community in Uruguay react
  to the Battle of the Río de la Plata in Dec.
  1939?
• Otherwise they are presented in a hypothesis
  form
• The British community in Uruguay played a
  decisive role in the rejection of the Germans in
  the Battle of the Río de la Plata in December
  1939.

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Question / Hypothesis (continued)

• Its the spine of the whole work.
• Refer to your essay question/hypothesis during
  the work as much as possible.
• The more specific, the better.
• Be aware of your constraints essay length, time
  and resources.

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The Research Writing process

• Research
• Topic
• Focus
• Seach for Sources
• Research Question
• Preparatory Reading
• Working Outline
• Assemble Sources/ Materials
• Recording information/ data

• Writing
• Shaping the Outlines
• Basic outline
• Skeleton outline
• Supporting details
• Rough draft
• Title page, Abstract, Contents,
• Introduction, Body/methods/results, Conclusion
• Illustrations, Appendix, Documentation
• Revising
• Proof reading
• Final copy

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Organisation of the Essay

• Introduction
• Body/Development
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Justification for the chosen topic.
• Background information on the topic and on your
  own process of narrowing it down.
• Clearly and precisely stated research question.
• A clear statement on the argument.

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Body / Development

• The structure depends greatly on the subject
• - Scientific essays tend to be more divided in
  sections of methods and results
• - Humanistic essays tend to be more unified.
• Your aim at this part is the development of a
  systematic answer to your research question

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Conclusion

• Clearly stated
• Relevant to the research question
• Substantiated by the evidence presented
• Indicate issues, unresolved questions and new
  questions that have emerged.

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Length of the Extended Essay

• Upper limit 4000 words. It does NOT include the
  following
• - Abstract
• - Acknowledgements
• - Contents page
• - Maps, charts, diagrams, illustrations
  tables
• - References / bibliography
• - Appendices

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Abstract

• Max. 300 words
• Synopsis of the work
• Requirements
• - State clearly research question, scope of
  the research and conclusions

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Appendices

• They are useful to include information which is
  not strictly central for your work, but which
  serves to illustrate/highlight an idea.
• They are NOT ornamental data/documents/pictures/ma
  ps/graphs
• Problems examiners are not required to read
  them, so be aware that the main idea of an
  appendix should be included in the body of the
  work.

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Appendices (cont.)

• They should be included in the exact place of the
  work where you want the examiner to consider
  your information. (See Appendix B).
• Be aware that too many appendices disrupt the
  continuity of the work.

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REFERENCES

• Direct or indirect use of another persons ideas
  and words needs to be clearly stated ALWAYS.
• The more you show your use of different sources
  and authors in your work, the more the examiner
  realises that you have studied and prepared well
  your work.

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REFERENCES (cont.)

• Usually one quotes to
• - comment the authors idea.
• - in order to back your point of view with the
  opinion of a recognized authority in the field.
• You can refer to an author or source by
• 1.quoting directly using his own words.
• 2. Paraphrasing his ideas in your own words.
• IN BOTH CASES YOU NEED TO SHOW THE ORIGIN OF THAT
  SOURCE

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1. QUOTING

• Parenthetical, in-text systems
• Population rise was due solely to migration
  this was provoked by economic aspirations but
  also by the political and courtly allure of
  Westminster. (Porter, 1994 83)
• 2) Numbered systems
• Population rise was due solely to migration
  this was provoked by economic aspirations but
  also by the political and courtly allure of
  Westminster. 1
• 1. Porter, Roy. London. A social history
  (London Penguin, 1994) Page 83.

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QUOTING (cont.)

• Quotations can appear as a footnote (end of the
  page) or endnote (end of the chapter). The
  footnote system is recommended to the endnotes.
• Latin terms that appear in quotations
• Ibid. (ibidem in the same place). Same citation
  as the one immediately preceding it.
• Op. Cit (opere citati in the work cited).
  Refers to a work previously cited but not
  immediatelyy preceding it.
• Eg Op. Cit Porter, R. page 120

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PARAPHRASING

• Paraphrasing allows you to quote indirectly and
  avoid a report full of quotation marks.
• Example
• According to Porter (2000) the rise of migrants
  flowing to London in the 10th century accounted
  for its rapid increase in population.

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Bibliography

• You should list in alphabetical order all the
  lists of sources used when writing the report.
• Books with one author
• Porter, Roy. London. A social history. London
  Penguin, 1994.
• Books with two authors
• Curran, James, and Seaton, Jean. Power without
  responsibility. London Routledge, 1991.
• Books with an editor (or compilador)
• Katz, Alejandro Qué es el libro hoy? in de
  Sagastibzábal, Leandro (ed.) El Mundo de la
  Edición de los libros Buenos Aires, Paidós 2002

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Bibliography (cont.)

• Magazines and articles
• Getting management and labor to the round
  table, Business Week, Vol. II, No. 23, Jan.
  1982, pp. 15-17
• Smith, Hendrick, Giving Labor Authority in the
  Workplace. New York Times, April 10, 1983,
  pp.1-17
• Institutional Company materials
• Bell Laboratories, Annual Report, 1983. Niles,
  Illinois Bell Laboratories, Inc., September 30,
  1983. 53 pp.
• Interviews
• González, Juan. General Manager, Microsoft
  Corporation. Montevideo, 19 April, 1999.
• Internet information
• Slembrouck, Stef What is meant by discourse
  analysis? 1998-2003, (quoted 19/4/2004).
  Available form World Wide Web ltURL
  http//bank.rug.ac.be/da/da.htmgt

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Bibliography (cont.)

• CONSISTENCY is the key when deciding on a system
  for your works references. Once you choose one
  system you have to stick to it.

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A good research always opens new doors