Extended Essay

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CIS Extended Essay Timeline

Twelve-step plan for researching the Extended Essay

Follow the steps below:

1. Choose an available Diploma Programme subject for the extended essay for the session in question.

2. Read the following materials: the assessment criteria, relevant subject- specific chapter of the Extended Essay guide, the IB's ethical guidelines and other associated policies where relevant, such as those relating to animal experiments.

3. Set up the Researcher's Reflective Space (RRS) and use this as the key planning and reflection tool for the extended essay process.

4. Choose a topic and undertake some background reading in it.

5. Formulate a preliminary research question. Try to incorporate an IB command term in the research question if possible.

6. Draw up an outline plan for the research and writing process. This should include a timeline.

7. Begin to identify how and where you will gather source material for your research.

8. Identify which system of academic referencing they will use, ensuring that this meets the minimum requirements for the IB.

9. Set deadlines for yourself that are realistic and take into consideration CIS's internal EE deadlines.

10. Plan a structure for the essay. This may change as the research develops but it is useful to have a sense of direction from the start.

11. Undertake some preparatory reading in light of the proposed research question. NOTE: If you discover that it will not be possible to obtain the evidence needed in the time available, the research question should be changed. This is better done sooner rather than later; do not lose time waiting and hoping that something will turn up. Go back to step 3, 2, or 1, and choose a new research question that can be answered.

12. Carry out the research. The material collected should be assembled in a logical order, linked to the structure of the essay and clearly focused on the research question posed. Only then will you know that you have enough evidence for each stage of the argument so that you can proceed to the next. You should be prepared for things to occasionally go wrong. Sometimes you may discover something later in the research that undermines what you thought had been established earlier. If that happens, your research plan needs to be revised.

Source: ibo.org