IB Historical investigation
Welcome! The purpose of this site is to support 11th and 12th grade students at Highland Park Senior High with the IB Historical Investigation.
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step 1: Get Organized!
step 1: Get Organized!
Create spaces to save your research.
*Create a folder to save PDFs, downloads, and notes.
*Set up MyBib to save citations.
Create a free account with MyBib.com. This will allow you to save your citations create folders for your different research assignments.
Make sure the style across the top says Chicago Manual of Style.
step 2: choose your topic
step 2: choose your topic
Choose your topic based on an event in history that interests you. If you are feeling stuck, try using one of the following for ideas:
BROWSING BOOK TITLES can be a great source for topic inspiration. Take a look at these titles from our library that have been curated with your IA in mind. Books are available for checkout!
CONDUCT A BROAD TOPIC SEARCH IN WIKIPEDIA to read about summaries of historical events and important people. What are you finding that interests you?
step 3: Explore & narrow your topic
step 3: Explore & narrow your topic
Preliminary research: Read as much background information as you can on what has already been written on your topic - do not skip this step!
This will help you narrow your topic (nudging you in the direction of a focused research question). This will also help you decide whether or not there is enough information available on your topic idea. Make note of technical terms, synonyms, and related topics that can be used later as search terms.
Questions to consider:
Is it relatively easy to find information on your topic? (hopefully, yes!)
Is there a range of different types of sources available - database articles, books, primary source documents, etc.? (again, hopefully yes!)
WHAT IS DEBATABLE ABOUT YOUR TOPIC? This is what makes for an interesting paper!
How to narrow a topic idea
How to narrow a topic idea
Getting the right focus is crucial for a successful paper! One thing that can be challenging is figuring out how to narrow down a broad topic idea. Here are some things to consider:
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