THE%20IB%20EXTENDED%20ESSAY

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THE IB EXTENDED ESSAY

• Problems of supervision
• and
• How to help the student

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THE EXTENDED ESSAY

• What is it?
• How do I get started?
• Good and Bad Research Questions
• Some Common Problems

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Basic Facts

• Personal research by the student
• On a question or hypothesis chosen by the
  student, not assigned by the teacher
• In a subject or discipline listed by the IB
  (e.g., NOT Linguistics, Sociology or Mathematical
  Economics)
• In the format of a formal research paper

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Basic Facts

• Length 4,000 words
• not including appendices, illustrations,
  bibliography, footnotes or endnotes
• with an abstract within 300 words

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Basic Facts

• Required for the IB Diploma
• Counts towards additional diploma points along
  with Theory of Knowledge
• Assessed according to published criteria

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WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE EXTENDED ESSAY?

• The student
• The students supervisor
• The IB Coordinator
• The International Baccalaureate Organization

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Decide which subject interests you the most.
• Without personal curiosity and interest, its
  impossible to do research.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• In that subject, make a list of the topical areas
  in the subject that interest you the most.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Discuss this list with
• your teacher
• your friends
• your parents and/or
• anyone else who you think may be able to give you
  advice or be interested.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Choose an area from this list, and read more in
  this area - if possible, with advice from your
  supervisor.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• While reading, try and list questions that you
  are curious about.
• THIS MUST BE DONE RIGHT THROUGH THE RESEARCH
  PROCESS, SO....

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KEEP A RESEARCH DIARY!
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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Ask yourself
• what data you might need to answer these
  questions
• whether you will have access to the data
• whether you will need to find other sources of
  data
• See whether there has been any research by others
  in this area.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Consult the librarian for help with tracking down
  research papers or writings, and read the
  abstracts.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Ask what methods you will need to adopt to answer
  the questions you have in mind.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Brainstorm
• Draw spider diagrams of questions and issues and
  connections between them.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Narrow down the number and scope of your
  questions as you proceed.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• Consult your supervisor at each stage, and in
  case of difficulty.

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HOW TO CHOOSE A RESEARCH TOPIC

• EXPECT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE
  YOU FINALLY SETTLE ON A TOPIC.

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WHAT IS A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION?

• One formulated by the student out of his/her own
  curiosity or interest
• Non-trivial (i.e., substantial, not speculative
  or too limited in scope, not self-evident)
• Sharply enough focused so that the student can
  answer it in 4,000 words.

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EXAMPLE OF A BAD RESEARCH QUESTION

• ECONOMICS
• Does globalization affect Turkey?

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EXAMPLE OF A BAD RESEARCH QUESTION

• BIOLOGY
• What causes cancer?

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EXAMPLE OF A BAD RESEARCH QUESTION

• HISTORY
• What would have happened to Turkey if the last
  Sultans had been more powerful?

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EXAMPLE OF A BAD RESEARCH QUESTION

• GEOGRAPHY
• Does Istanbul have a central business district?
  (variant of an example in The Extended Essay,
  IBO, 1998)

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EXAMPLE OF A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION

• ECONOMICS
• Is there a connexion between international
  coffee prices and living standards in Uganda?

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EXAMPLE OF A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION

• BIOLOGY
• The ecology of snails in the Koç School campus.

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EXAMPLE OF A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION

• HISTORY
• The establishment of foreign schools in Turkey
  in the 19th century

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EXAMPLE OF A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION

• GEOGRAPHY
• How has migration affected land use patterns in
  Van province?

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS
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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• Students discover too late that there is too
  little data, or data is inaccessible.

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• Bad pacing of the research and writing process

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• PLAGIARISM
• The use of the work of other authors
• (texts, data, creative productions,
• oral statements OR ideas) without
• proper acknowledgement, with the
• effect that it appears to be the
• plagiarists own work or idea.

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• Over-reliance on web-based sources

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• Students discover too late that their knowledge
  of the subject is not deep enough.

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• Ethical issues regarding gathering of data or
  performing of experiments

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COMMON PROBLEMS WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

• No contribution by the student the extended
  essay is a compilation of information from other
  sources.

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EXTENDED ESSAY ADVISORY with STUDENTS
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What does this session cover?

• Where you should be in the process now.
• What you need to do if you are not there.
• Possible problems at this stage, and what to do
  about them.
• Tips and pitfalls
• Discussion with subject teachers and librarian.

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Where should you be in the EE process by now?

• You should have
• Assembled the material and bibliography for your
  research
• Performed experiments (where required)
• Recorded data or observations on which your
  research is based.
• Written up research notes
• Outlined your analysis
• Started writing the SECOND DRAFT

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What you need to do if you are not there

• Decide whether you still want the IB diploma. If
  you do
• Show your supervisor what you have done
• Ask for advice.
• Spend more time on the EE research process to
  complete what needs to be done up to the second
  draft.
• Submit a second draft with what you have, and try
  and improve on it AFTER it is returned to you
  with your supervisors comments.

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What you SHOULD NOT do if you are not there

• DONT PANIC!
• Dont give up. No extended essay means NO IB
  DIPLOMA.
• Dont PROCRASTINATE and DELAY, or pretend that
  the problem will go away.

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Possible Problems at this Stage 1

• You have not focused your research question
  appropriately for the size of the essay or the
  discipline.
• The direction of your research may be contrary to
  the guidelines.
• You have not identified resources for answering
  your research question.
• You have not completed readings or experiments or
  the gathering of data for your research.

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Possible Problems at this Stage 2

• You find it difficult to organize, analyze or
  interpret the material or data required for your
  research.
• You find the material is insufficient or
  inconclusive for your research.
• You feel you dont know enough in the discipline
  to be able to complete your research.

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If you have not focused your research question
appropriately for the size of the essay or the
discipline

• Remember that your research question needs to be
  addressed in 4,000 words.
• Remember that the essay has to be firmly in one
  of the disciplines taught in the IB, e.g.,
  English, History, Peace Conflict Studies but
  not Cultural Studies, Mathematical Economics,
  etc.
• Seek your supervisors guidance.
• Relate your essay to a specific thing, such as a
  novel, country, time, effect, law. The Ecology of
  Snails in the Koç School Campus is better than
  The Ecology of Turkey.

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If the direction of your research is contrary to
the guidelines

• Check carefully from the Extended Essay Guide
  what the criteria for your essay are.
• Refocus the question and start again. (It may be
  too late to do this, so)
• Complete the essay as you have started to the
  best of your ability, and hope for the best!
• Remember that NO ESSAY MEANS NO IB DIPLOMA.

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If you have not identified all necessary
resources

• Tell your supervisor, and ask for advice.
• Seek help from the librarian to find various
  sources of information and/or ideas.
• Find people or institutions outside school that
  may be able to help you, and approach them.

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If you have not completed readings or gathering
data

• Submit a second draft on the basis of what is
  available, and try to improve in the third draft.
  
• OR
• Complete the readings or data collection in time
  for your second draft.

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If you find it difficult to organize, analyze or
interpret the material or data required for your
research

• Seek your supervisors advice.
• Consider whether you need to re-word or re-think
  your research question.
• Look for theoretical frameworks or tools in your
  discipline that can help you analyze or interpret
  the material you have available.

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If you find the material is inconclusive for your
research

• Speak to your supervisor.
• Re-examine the material and see whether you are
  missing something.
• Re-examine the theoretical spectacles with
  which you are viewing the material.
• Examine why it is inconclusive as part of the
  analysis and discussion in your essay.

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If you feel you dont know enough in the
discipline to be able to complete your research

• Seek help from your supervisor to find out what
  ideas, concepts, frameworks, tools or techniques
  will help you address the research question.
• Read more in the discipline in which you are
  doing the research.
• Seek help from professors or graduate students at
  universities to teach you what you need to know.
  (Your supervisor will probably not teach you, but
  may help you teach yourself. )

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TIPS AND PITS

• Tips
• Make sure your question is narrowly focused.
• It helps to exceed by about 20-30 the word limit
  in the first few drafts, and cut it back to the
  maximum of 4,000 for the final.
• Keep assessing each draft of your essay against
  the General and Subject Criteria in the Extended
  Essay Guide, or ask your supervisor to do so.
• Record ALL sources that you consult and use, and
  cite them carefully.

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TIPS AND PITS

• More Tips
• Keep a Research Diary or Journal or Notebook,
  especially a pocket-sized one that you can carry
  about and record any ideas that occur to you
  anywhere.
• Frequently draw spider diagrams to get the bigger
  picture, and make links that you know of, and
  look for other possible links that you may have
  missed.
• Make sure that you present, analyze and interpret
  data not just present them!
• Use the technical vocabulary and concepts of the
  discipline in which you are working - dont write
  like a journalist.

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TIPS AND PITS

• STILL more tips
• Remember that if you give up on the essay, you
  still need to hand in a Yearly Project, and you
  disqualify yourself from the IB Diploma. So
• Complete the essay as best you can, even if you
  run into problems. That way you will have learnt
  something valuable!
• Write the Introduction LAST, so that you can give
  the reader a clear statement of the research
  question, and how you have addressed it (a
  roadmap of the essay).

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TIPS AND PITS

• Pitfalls
• Dont neglect to refer to BOTH sections of your
  Extended Essay Guide FREQUENTLY.
• DONT leave everything till the last. The
  deadlines for drafts are there to help you pace
  your work. They are not a monument to my alleged
  sadism!
• Do NOT rely entirely or mostly on web based
  resources because of they often tend to be
  unreliable.

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TIPS AND PITS

• MORE Pitfalls

• KEEP BACK-UPS (note the plural) OF ALL YOUR WORK.
  You will be surprised how well your computer
  knows when to crash.
• BEWARE OF PLAGIARISM (especially the
  unintentional kind)! The consequences are
  UNPLEASANT.

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HELPFUL WEBSITES

• http//www.hamilton.edu/academic/Resource/WC/inde
  x.html
• http//sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htmguidelines
• http//web.mit.edu/writing/index.html MIT Writing
  Centre. Many of the pages here have restricted
  access.
• http//webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml This
  is a comprehensive guide to writing research
  papers which also contains the MLA style guide
  whose citation conventions you to adopt in
  writing your essay. In addition, it also contains
  sections on plagiarism and citation.