World Studies

Advice on choosing a topic in world studies

1. Your focus must be on a current issue of global importance
2. You must choose a case study / local manifestation of this issue to analyse.
3. This does not have to be geographically local.
4. You must choose two IB subjects through which you will analyse this issue.
5. IB strongly recommend that these are IB subjects that you study.

Advice for research in World Studies

Ensure you are clear about how the two subject lenses are differ. You must use the theoretical frameworks from each subject. You will need to be an expert on both subjects and the global issue under consideration. Ensure that your analysis of data is equally balanced between both subjects. Data will often be secondary but in some cases you may be able to collect some primary data, such as questionnaires or interviews. You must consider whether the data you are collecting is relevant to both subject lenses.

Advice for write-up in World Studies

In the introduction you must explain clearly why the interdisciplinary approach is necessary, and state how your local issue allows you to explore the global issues. Make it clear throughout that the only way to approach this issues is an interdisciplinary analysis. Throughout the essay you must use analysis from both disciplines in order to draw conclusions. The local case study should be a clear reflection of the global analysis, and these links should be highlighted throughout the essay.