Problems of supervision and
How to help the student

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

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

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

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

The student
The student’s supervisor
The IB Coordinator
The International Baccalaureate
Organization

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Decide which subject interests you the most.
Without personal curiosity and interest, it’s impossible to do research.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
In that subject, make a list of the topical areas in the subject that interest you the most.

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.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC

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....

KEEP A RESEARCH
DIARY!

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

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Consult the librarian for help with tracking down research papers or writings, and read the abstracts.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Ask what methods you will need to adopt to answer the questions you have in mind.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Brainstorm
Draw spider diagrams of questions and issues and connections between them.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Narrow down the number and scope of your questions as you proceed.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
Consult your supervisor at each stage, and in case of difficulty.

HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC
EXPECT TO CHANGE
YOUR MIND SEVERAL
TIMES BEFORE YOU
FINALLY SETTLE ON A
TOPIC.

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.

EXAMPLE OF A BAD
RESEARCH QUESTION
ECONOMICS
Does globalization affect
Turkey?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD
RESEARCH QUESTION
BIOLOGY
What causes cancer?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD
RESEARCH QUESTION
HISTORY
What would have happened to Turkey if the last
Sultans had been more powerful?

EXAMPLE OF A BAD
RESEARCH QUESTION
GEOGRAPHY
Does Istanbul have a central business district? (variant of an example in The
Extended Essay , IBO, 1998)

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD
RESEARCH QUESTION
ECONOMICS
Is there a connexion between international coffee prices and living standards in
Uganda?

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD
RESEARCH QUESTION
BIOLOGY
The ecology of snails in the Ko ç School campus.

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD
RESEARCH QUESTION
HISTORY
The establishment of foreign schools in
Turkey in the 19 th century

EXAMPLE OF A GOOD
RESEARCH QUESTION
GEOGRAPHY
How has migration affected land use patterns in Van province?

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS
Students discover too late that there is too little data, or data is inaccessible.

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED
ESSAYS
Bad pacing of the research and writing process

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 plagiarist’s own work or idea.

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED ESSAYS

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED
ESSAYS

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED
ESSAYS
Ethical issues regarding gathering of data or performing of experiments

COMMON PROBLEMS
WITH EXTENDED
ESSAYS
No contribution by the student – the extended essay is a compilation of information from other sources.

EXTENDED ESSAY
ADVISORY with STUDENTS

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.

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

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 supervisor’s comments.

DON’T PANIC!
Don’t give up. No extended essay means
NO IB DIPLOMA.
Don’t PROCRASTINATE and DELAY, or pretend that the problem will go away.

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.

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 don’t know enough in the discipline to be able to complete your research.

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 supervisor’s guidance.
Relate your essay to a specific thing, such as a novel, country, time, effect, law. The Ecology of
Snails in the Ko ç School Campus is better than
The Ecology of Turkey .

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.

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.

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.

If you find it difficult to organize, analyze or interpret the material or data required for your research…
Seek your supervisor’s advice.
Consider whether you need to reword 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.

Speak to your supervisor.
Re-examine the material and see whether you are missing something.
Reexamine 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.

If you feel you don’t 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. )

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.

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 don’t write like a journalist.

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).

Pitfalls:
– Don’t neglect to refer to BOTH sections of your Extended Essay Guide FREQUENTLY.
– DON’T 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.

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.

http://www.hamilton.edu/academic/Resource/WC/index.h
tml http://sja.ucdavis.edu/avoid.htm#guidelines 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.