Extended Essay: Research
Sign up for Remind to get EE Text Reminders!
Text this number: 81010
Type this in the message: @eecla
Please take out your phones & sign up NOW!!!!
RESEARCH
PHASE
WRITING
PHASE
POLISHING
PHASE
• Find subject, topic, and initial research idea
• Read background information
• Gather sources, read research, take notes, collect data
• Continue research to refine research question
• Write extended outline
• Write first draft
• Discuss draft and get feedback
• Revise draft
• Write abstract
The Research Process
Research is not a linear process…
Focusing your Research Question
The focus of your topic may shift and
change throughout the EE process.
You may discover that you continue to prune
your topic and change its shape and scope.
Be flexible and open to change – but keep the goal in
mind: a narrow, focused research question
Focusing your Research Question
Seamus Heaney’s Poetry.
All of his poetry?
• Too broad…
In both poems, the speaker
admires his father.
What is the tension of
the poems?
Seamus Heaney’s “A Call”
and “Follower”.
Connection between
the poems?
Tension builds as the
speaker’s love for his father
is left unspoken in both
poems.
How can I trace this
tension?
Father-Son relationships in
Heaney’s “A Call” and
“Follower”.
Are the relationships
similar or different?
How does Heaney use the
structure of his poems to mirror
the unspoken tension between
the speaker and his father?
Initial research
question…
Focusing your Research Question
BROAD TOPIC:
The history of industrial
development in Korea.
NARROW TOPIC:
The history of the automobile
industry in Korea during the
Asian Financial Crisis of the late
1990s.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
To what extent did the Asian
Financial Crisis of the late 1990s
bring harm to the automobile
industry in Korea?
Focusing your Research Question
Broad Topic:
Pathogenic
Microorganisms
Narrow Topic:
Pathogenic viruses
An Even More Narrow Topic:
Pathogenic viruses in animals
Research Question:
How does the pathogenesis of
viruses affect Harbor Seals?
Library Research: LPHS
www.lphslibrary.org
Database
Website
Username
Password
Questia
Questiaschool.com
LPHS login
Lincoln
(jsmith1@cps.edu)
Gale
Access.gale.com/cps
1620
1620
OCLC
Firstsearch.oclc.org
100-111-270
Bxxd.puxx
Google Scholar
Scholar.google.com
n/a
n/a
Library Research: CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY
www.chipublib.org
The Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library has an excellent collection
of academic journals in their book/print versions.
Many of these academic journals are also available online from the CPL website with
your library card.
• http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/research/online_research.php
• enter your library card number when asked
• If you don’t have a library card, please see one of the librarians here in the LPHS
Library or visit a branch of the CPL.
• Access to EBSCO (online research database)
Library Research: DEPAUL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
http://library.depaul.edu
You will not be able to access Depaul’s academic resources directly from
the Internet.
• You must physically visit the library to access academic journals from a
computer terminal in the Reference Department.
• Bring a flash drive
• Contact the Reference Department (773-325-7863)
Research: Finding Sources
Are all types of publications equally suitable sources for your EE?
 Academic Books
 In-depth subject-specific content
 Not always the most current
 Scholarly Journals
 Narrow subject-specific content
 Often very current
 Peer-reviewed
 Encyclopedias and Reference Books
 Good for overview & background
 Lacking in depth
 Magazines and Newspapers
 Good sources for current events
 Biased
 Unauthenticated
 Websites
 Suitability depends on author & purpose
 Must be evaluated:
 Relevance; Authority; Accuracy; Currency
Scholarly Journals vs. Magazines
Examples of Scholarly Journals:
Adolescence
American Historical Review
Chaucer Review
Harvard Law Review
Journal of Black Studies
Journal of Experimental Biology
Examples of Magazines:
Time
Newsweek
US News & Report
The Nation
The Progressive
What is a Scholarly Journal?
Scholarly sources can generally be identified by
several features:
Content (topic being discussed)
Audience (for the layperson or someone familiar with
the research in the subject)
Language (higher level language and disciplinespecific terminology)
Intent (case study, report of experimental results...)
Authorship (qualifications of author to write on the
topic, usually an advanced degree with years of
experience and research on the topic)
Peer-review (material is evaluated by experts and
only published if meets the discipline's standards)
References (other materials used in the research
process are listed in a bibliography or footnotes)
To quickly assess whether or not an article in a
scholarly journal is relevant & appropriate for your
topic:
• Read the ABSTRACT
• Check headings & subheadings for keywords
• Check BIBLIOGRAPHY for keywords
To quickly assess whether or not a book is relevant &
appropriate for your topic:
• Check the title & subtitle for keywords
• Check table of contents, index, & bibliography for
keywords
• Read the foreword or introduction
Scholarly Journals: Abstracts
ABSTRACT: brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference
proceeding
• Used to quickly ascertain the paper’s purpose
• Appears at beginning of article – used as a point-of-entry for an academic
paper
You should read the ABSTRACT to get an idea of whether or not a particular
article is relevant to your research.
• You must open and read the actual article for your research.
• Citing the abstract is not valid research.
Online Research: Evaluating Websites
Key Questions for Evaluating a Website:
• Who is the author & what are his/her credentials?
• Who is the sponsoring organization?
– Check pages such as “About Us”
– Consider the Domain Name (.org .edu .com)
• What is the purpose of the site?
– Look for “Mission Statement” or “What We Do”
• How current is the information?
• Is the presented content biased? Does it contradict knowledge from other reliable
sources?
• Is the content supported with a bibliography or links to sources?
Keeping Track of Your Sources
Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes
• citations give proper credit to the authors of the materials used
• citations allow those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the
sources that you have listed as references.
• Knowingly representing the work of others as your own is plagiarism.
You should keep a log of ALL the sources your consult throughout the entire EE process.
• You might not realize until six months from now that a particular source is useful.
• Keep your source log in a proper, organized format so that you have all of the necessary
information to find your sources.
• If you print or photocopy journal articles, write the citation information along the top and keep
your articles organized.
• Literature, History, and Math papers will use MLA. Science and Psychology papers will use APA.
Initial Research: Finding Background Information
Wikipedia
• Use Wikipedia for background reading
• mine the bibliography on Wikipedia
• DO NOT use Wikipedia as a source in your EE.
Questia
• Search for journal articles using Questia
• keep in mind that your search will need to go beyond Questia, however
This presentation was adapted from a number of sources:
http://library.plymouth.edu/libuserguide/variety
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/essay/1b.html
http://www.uwcrobertboschcollege.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Extended-Essay-Seminar-on-Writing-March-15.pdf