This section of the internal assessment task requires students to reflect on what undertaking their investigation highlighted to them about the methods used by, and the challenges facing, the historian. Think of this as a mini-TOK essay. Avoid using 'I' or 'my' to make this more objective.

Examples of discussion questions that may help to encourage reflection include the following - pick one of these and fit it with your investigation:

• What is the role of the historian?
• Should historians aim to inform or persuade?
• How can the reliability of sources be evaluated?
• What did you learn about the nature of History how knowledge is produced, from your IA?
• What methods used by historians did you use in your investigation? What did your investigation highlight to you about the limitations of those methods?
• What are the challenges facing the historian? How do they differ from the challenges facing a scientist or a mathematician?
• What challenges in particular does archive-based history present?
• How does the historian determine which sources to include and which to exclude?
• What is the difference between selection and bias?
• What constitutes a historical event? Who decides which events are historically significant?
• Should terms such as “atrocity” be used when writing about history, or should value judgments be avoided?
• If it is difficult to establish proof in history, does that mean that all versions are equally acceptable?
• How does a historian know when their research is done?
• How does the historian know if they should be confident in their conclusions?
• If historians are able to disagree so easily, does that mean there is no such thing as historical truth?
• Is it possible, or advisable, to describe historical events in an unbiased way?