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(Also called "empirical" or "primary" research)
(Also called "empirical" or "primary" research)
Original resesarch involves collecting and analyzing your own data in a structured, methodical way. After you've used the information created by others in various media sources, sometimes you still have questions. That's where original research begins. In the MISO acronym, interviews, surveys, and observations fall into this category. So do experiments and the exploration of source documents and artifacts.
Original resesarch involves collecting and analyzing your own data in a structured, methodical way. After you've used the information created by others in various media sources, sometimes you still have questions. That's where original research begins. In the MISO acronym, interviews, surveys, and observations fall into this category. So do experiments and the exploration of source documents and artifacts.
This page covers experiments and observations that don't involve other people. If you collect data that involves others, please see the section on Use of Human Participants
NOTE: This page is not finished. Ultimately, it will contain info all all sorts of primary data collection--from surveys to interviews to experiments to focus groups to observational studies. But right now, it's still a work in progress...
"Not everything is already fully known in any field of knowledge. [For advanced research projects like the Personal Project and the Extended Essay,] your research question should be sufficiently original that you are making a genuine contribution to knowledge in that field. Secondary research will help you find data and information that tell you what others know and/or have found out, but there will be gaps in what you can find through secondary research. This is often a cue that primary research is needed.
"Primary research collects original data. It is research that you carry out yourself, finding new data and information, then you apply the models, methods and tools of analysis of your discipline and subject(s) to produce new knowledge.
"Primary research is used when secondary research is not sufficient to answer your specific research question, that is, you must fill in knowledge gaps or extend what is known by carrying out original research yourself. To do this, you must choose a method or methods that are appropriate to the research question and also commonly used in your particular DP subject(s). [...]
"As well as using the data you collect to support your points and argument, it is essential that you also say how the data were collected and why you chose particular research methods. In the body of your essay, be sure to include the details of any primary research you carry out, including:
• the methods used—and how and why these were selected
• the persons involved—and how and why these were selected
• the relevant results
• any limitations and biases that may have influenced the results."
"Note that in [the IB} primary research methods are not considered to be suitable for all subjects, for example, psychology. In these subjects, you can use other researchers’ primary data, but you will not be able to collect primary data yourself. Make sure you find out what you need to know about this at the start of the extended essay process, referring to the relevant extended essay subject-specific guidance" (Extended Essay Support Material, 33).
Data collection methods typical in social sciences and sciences
Data collection methods typical in social sciences and sciences
Interviews
Interviews
Make sure you're prepared for all your interviews! Even if you intend for the interview to be informal, laid back, and spontaneous, you should still have a list of topics and questions you want to cover.
You should ask open questions, covering who, what, why, how and when.
You should take notes or record the interview. Afterwards you can write up a summary or transcribe the entire session. If you are interviewing through email, keep a copy of the whole email conversation. You may wish to use these notes or transcripts in your process journal as evidence of research, collaboration or communication skills. In formal research reports, you add the entire interview transcript to an appendix and create an MLA formatted citation for your interview on your Works Cited page.
For further advice/help:
Used with permission from ISS Personal Project by Lenny Dutton
Interviews can be with one person or a small group, also called a focus group. They may be conducted face-to-face, by email, by phone, or by online chat.
Face-to-face interviews have the advantage of allowing the interviewer to ask follow-up questions during
the interview.
Successful interviews require careful preparation, including:
• developing questions related to the research question and the findings from secondary research
• trialling the questions before the actual interview
• deciding on the best methodology for conducting and recording the interview
• making the purpose and use of the data collected known to the interviewee in advance
• in some cases, providing the interviewee with the questions in advance
• assuring the anonymity of the interviewee if requested or promised.
Question design
Questions should be designed to elicit the responses required to help answer the overall research question.
Recording the interview
Another consideration is how to record the response. if you want to use any audiovisual equipment during
an interview, you must ask the permission of the interviewee.
As electronic copies/recordings of the interview are not permitted for the extended essay, an example
transcript (or extracts from the interview) will need to be attached as an appendix. If points from the interview are important to your argument, be sure to include in the body of your essay appropriate
quotations from the transcript.
(Extended Essay Support Material, 35)
Surveys
Surveys
Observations or Fieldwork
Observations or Fieldwork
Experiments
Experiments
Experiments can be conducted and their data collected using systematic methods and well-defined processes. For example:
• using the scientific method in conducting science experiments
• simulating an experiment about using mobile phone technology to determine the location of a person.
Experiments usually involve quantitative processes to collect and analyse the resulting data.
When primary sources are your raw data--typical in literary, visual and performing arts, as well as history
When primary sources are your raw data--typical in literary, visual and performing arts, as well as history
Investigating primary source artifacts across History, Visual Arts, Literary Arts, and Performing Arts relies on analyzing human-created "data," but each discipline diverges in its ultimate goal and analytical lens.
Methodology Comparison Chart
Methodology Comparison Chart
Where the subjects align
Where the subjects align
Interrogation of Human Choices: None of these fields take an artifact at face value. A historian evaluates why a map maker chose a specific border, just as a theatre researcher analyzes why a director chose specific stage lighting.
Context Dependency: A historical document requires political context to spot propaganda, while an artwork or play requires cultural context to decode its symbolism.
Primary Evidence Supremacy: Secondary critics and historians serve only to contextualize or challenge the main work; the primary artifact always drives the thesis.
(Compare original research in history and the arts. Gemini 3.6 Thinking. 16 Aug. 2026.)
Where the subjects diverge
Where the subjects diverge
"Artifact as Means vs. Artifact as End: History uses art or documents as a window to view an external reality (e.g., using a 1918 poster to measure wartime morale). The Arts treat the artifact as the destination—examining how form, rhythm, color, or phrasing function internally.
"Verification vs. Interpretation: Historical methodology relies on cross-referencing sources to establish factual probability. Literary and artistic methodologies embrace ambiguity, exploring multiple valid theoretical interpretations rather than seeking a singular truth.
"Practice-Led Research: Performing and Visual Arts methodologies often include an embodied component (rehearsing a scene differently, testing paint mediums, re-staging a dance) where creation itself is a method of primary research. History and Literature remain purely analytical."
(Compare original research in history and the arts. Gemini 3.6 Thinking. 16 Aug. 2026.)
Historical Investigations
Historical Investigations
Investigations of original source material or artifacts in history, can reveal whether a particular situation exists and, if so, to what extent it does.
Investigations can also extract and analyse data from original sources or artifacts to demonstrate the fact of a particular situation or outcome. The original sources are the raw data that you're collecting and analyzing. These original sources or artifacts may include:
• maps
• photographs
• historical documents (including diaries and letters)
• organization policies
• law
• original art.
(Extended Essay Support Material, 33)
"When your primary research relies on historical documents or artifacts, the overarching methodology is source criticism. This means you are not just reading a letter for what it says; you are investigating why it was written, who wrote it, and what it leaves out.
"If you are writing a History EE, your methodology centers on evaluating the OPVL of your primary sources:
Origin: Who created the map/diary/law, and when? (e.g., A map drawn by a colonizing force vs. a local inhabitant).
Purpose: Why was this artifact created? (e.g., Was this photograph taken for government propaganda, or as a private family keepsake?).
Value: What unique insight does this specific artifact give us about the time period that secondary sources cannot?
Limitation: What biases exist in the source? What perspective is missing?"
"Treat your primary sources as evidence to be interrogated, not as absolute truth. Your methodology is the process of putting those artifacts on trial."
(Describe original research in history. Gemini 3.6 Thinking. 16 Aug. 2026.)
Literature
Literature
Visual and Performing Arts and Film
Visual and Performing Arts and Film
Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Method
Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Method
Primary research involves either quantitative or qualitative research methods and sometimes a combination of both ("mixed method").
Quantitative research
Quantitative research
Quantitative research follows a well-defined process that yields data that can be analysed statistically. For example:
• outcomes from experiments
• data collected from surveys where responses were given to closed or multiple-choice responses.
Qualitative research
Qualitative research
Qualitative research collects information that may reflect opinions or personal perspectives on a particular situation. While the data that are collected generally cannot be analysed statistically, they can complement and add meaning to associated quantitative data. Examples of qualitative research include:
• responses in interviews
• open-ended questions in surveys.
Triangulation
Triangulation
Triangulation is a way to strengthen your argument by corroborating it through multiple sources or data points.
For example, in history, a "vital part of explaining your methodology in these disciplines is explaining how you verify your findings. A single diary entry is not proof of a historical fact; it is proof of one person's perspective.
"You explain your methodology by stating that you will cross-reference or triangulate your primary sources. For example, comparing a soldier's private diary entry with the official military organization policy from the same day to expose disparities between the lived reality and the official narrative" (Describe original research in history. Gemini 3.6 Thinking. 16 Aug. 2026).
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