Research Question

This is an area that allow IB examiners to see if you understand the fundamental topic and precise reaction you are studying.

This is a great indicator of how the rest of the report will be produced as it requires a number of key features that, if missed or misidentified, can have profound impacts on the overall mark of the piece.

To help you identify how to write a Research Question that identifies the topic and is both relevant and fully focussed please observe the below examples in the table:

Here we can observe that the topic is easily identified in the left hand column and we cn observe a relevant question vs a fully focussed question.

Notice the following:

• The topic is usually a small part of the syllabus
• All RQ's are framed as direct questions
• Poorer questions have no detail about the reaction you are undertaking - so include:
  • NAME of the Method - meaning the type of technique you are using
  • Link the INDEPENDENT and DEPENDENT Variables to something tangible and real - in our examples above the RQ indicates storage, Cooking, Cheap Vs Expensive as a question to answer - so it is now not only about how much of something there is but linked to ther ways people will use it