Topic, Research Question, Methodology

Students must:

• choose a topic that deals with a contemporary global political issue;
• explain the significance of the issue and why it is worthy of investigation. Often this has to do with how the issue affects people’s lives within a social organization either locally, globally or at other levels of analysis.
• choose a topic that is expressed in the form of a research question.
• construct a research question that is specific and sharply focused and capable of being discussed effectively within the word limit.

As global politics is an interdisciplinary subject and as what counts as a “political issue” is broadly interpreted, it is particularly important that students choose a topic and formulate a research question that allows them to base their essay on the specific theoretical and conceptual frames, terminology, methods and literature of global politics.

Students must demonstrate that they have made considered methodological choices in their research and selected a suitable range of appropriate and relevant sources. Case studies, comparative studies and analyses of discourse are all legitimate approaches to research, whereas interviews, literature or media reviews, or quantitative data analysis are all possible research techniques; choices depend on the research question and what is available, and need to be justified. It is appropriate to use only secondary sources or a combination of primary and secondary sources; selection depends on the level of analysis at which students approach their political issue. Again, this needs to be justified.

The approaches, techniques and sources must provide sufficient material to develop and support an argument and conclusion relevant to the research question, and they must contain different theoretical or conceptual perspectives for critical engagement to be possible.

Effective planning and a well-focused research question tend to go together. A key indicator of this is that students have chosen a comprehensive range of sources and suitable research methods, which are relevant and appropriate to answering the research question.

If the topic or research question is deemed inappropriate for the subject in which the essay is registered, no more than four marks can be awarded for this criterion. This applies to global politics essays where the issue is not contemporary. (“Contemporary” is defined here as an issue that is relevant during the student’s lifetime.)

Overall Criterion Expectations:

• Focus on topic, research and methodology. Explanation and focus of the research
• How will the research will be undertaken? How will the focus will be maintained?

Total Marks Available: 6

This criterion focuses on the topic, the research question and the methodology. It assesses the explanation of the focus of the research (this includes the topic and the research question), how the research will be undertaken, and how the focus is maintained throughout the essay.

5–6:

• The topic is communicated accurately and effectively: Identification and explanation of the research topic is effectively communicated; the purpose and focus of the research is clear and appropriate.
• The research question is clearly stated and focused: The research question is clear and addresses an issue of research that is appropriately connected to the discussion in the essay.
• Methodology of the research is complete: An appropriate range of relevant source(s) and/or method(s) has been selected in relation to the topic and research question. There is evidence of effective and informed selection of sources and/or methods.

3–4

• The topic is communicated: Identification and explanation of the research topic is communicated; the purpose and focus of the research is adequately clear, but only partially appropriate.
• The research question is clearly stated but only partially focused: The research question is clear but the discussion in the essay is only partially focused and connected to the research question.
• Methodology of the research is mostly complete: Source(s) and/or method(s) to be used are generally relevant and appropriate given the topic and research question. There is some evidence that their selection(s) was informed. If the topic or research question is deemed inappropriate for the subject in which the essay is registered no more than four marks can be awarded for this criterion.

1–2

• The topic is communicated unclearly and incompletely: Identification and explanation of the topic is limited; the purpose and focus of the research is unclear, or does not lend itself to a systematic investigation in the subject for which it is registered.
• The research question is stated but not clearly expressed or too broad: The research question is too broad in scope to be treated effectively within the word limit and requirements of the task, or does not lend itself to a systematic investigation in the subject for which it is registered. The intent of the research question is understood but has not been clearly expressed and/or the discussion of the essay is not focused on the research question.
• Methodology of the research is limited: The source(s) and/or method(s) to be used are limited in range given the topic and research question. There is limited evidence that their selection was informed.

1. The topic chosen is identified and explained to readers in terms of contextualizing and justifying its worthiness.

• How well does the research paper identify and communicate the chosen topic?

2. The title is a formal requirement on the title page of the essay. If the title is missing, it will be considered on balance with the other formal requirements against criterion D. While there is no explicit penalty in criterion A, the title will help address the requirements as it expands on the student’s intended focus. Without a title, students lose an opportunity to clarify their focus.

3. The purpose and focus of the research to be addressed is within the scope of a 4,000- word extended essay, is outlined in the introduction and specified as a research question.

• Is the research question appropriate given the scope of the task? For example, is the topic sufficiently focused to be adequately addressed within the requirements of the task?

• Is the research question clearly stated, focused and based on/situated against background knowledge and understanding of the chosen subject/topic area?

• Is the focus of the research question maintained throughout the essay?

4. The research is planned and appropriate methods of data collection (methodology) are chosen and identified in order to address the research question.

• Is there evidence of effective and informed source/method selection with regard to the choice of appropriate sources and/ or method(s) used to gather information, Including narrowing of scope the range of sources/methods, in order to address the research question within the constraints of the word limit?

5. Sources/methods are considered relevant/appropriate or sufficient in so far as the academic standards for the discipline are concerned. • For example, for an economics essay, it would not be sufficient to only use textbooks but rather include reports and data. The quality of the research question itself is not considered when assessing source selection on balance.

From the Principal Examiner: The Research Questions were generally fine but were sometimes too broad and did not allow for any real discussion. Methodology was very rarely explained (and hardly ever justified), while a theoretical framework was generally absent. Justification for the selection of sources was generally missing, as well. It must be clear that if the topic or research question is deemed inappropriate for the subject (global politics) no more than 4 marks can be awarded for this criterion. Therefore, many essays where topics may have been previously appropriate for human rights, politics or peace and conflict studies but were not by nature appropriate for global politics, would have been penalised here if they lacked a global, contemporary perspective.