The Nature of Research

The Extended Essay is the IB Diploma's introduction to "high school" students of the higher education's academic research paper. It always was and still is the component that sets the IBDP apart from all other post-16 further education qualifications, and is one of the key reasons that university admissions officers all over the world say that IBDP students are better prepared for the rigours of higher education than all others. So, as you spend hours of sleepless nights staring at your screens as the deadlines approach and Time's winged chariot is hurrying near, know that it'll all be worth it in the end!

The assessment criteria for the Extended Essay prioritises structuring an academic research paper properly, researching and citing a variety of sources effectively, and reflecting on the process (as seen in the new criteria speficially evaluating your comments at the three different stages of reflection. This should give you confidence that, even if your paper or research is not hugely sophisticated because you find it so challenging, at least you get rewarded for trying to do the right thing.

Literature Review

The mistake made by many Extended Essay supervisors of Group 1 students is to consider this to be nothing more than a long essay. Good research is, in fact, quite scientific in structure: the student identifies a problem and considers a way to test a hypothesis. This is followed by a synthesis and evaluation of all of what has been written about the topic, to set a context to your question and hypothesis. This synthesis (and evaluation of its reliability) then acts as the backdrop for your own testing and experimenting. This is called a Literature Review.

For example: 

You have noticed that when you throw a Mentos mint into a glass of Coke, you create some kind of explosion. Your question and hypothesis involves throwing - I don't know - a tomato into a glass of Coke, which you suppose will have the same reaction.

You write 800 words summarising and synthesising all of the scientific secondary sources that go some way to explaining why this phenomenon occurs. You evaluation their reliability - this one has since been debunked because...; you don't support the findings of this one because...; this one if 'falsifiable' (Popper), because... - and this Literature Review then acts as your theoretical framework as you design, carry out and evaluate the findings of your own experiment, in turn designed to determine whether or not, as you suppose, tomatoes would cause the same explosion as Mentos.

This is clearly an absurd example, as your friends from Group 4 will tell you, but it should exemplify the oft-forgotten nature of the Literature Review. Too often, students (especially in the literary categories) write long essays about the primary source. They can be very good. But it is certainly true that by simply adding an element to the research that requires a little challenging of the premises on which you base your arguments by exploring secondary sources - the attitudes towards women in different time periods; the changing roles and functions of the public relations and advertising industry over time - grades for the Essay are significantly improved. This has always been the case with my students, elevating some really quite average papers to B grades.

Indeed, in its latest iteration of the Extended Essay, the IB has spelt out to schools and supervisors this requirement:

Literature review—demonstrating knowledge and understanding in context

Literature-based research is an essential part of the EE. Students should review the existing literature on their topic to inform the construction of their own research question and design. Time spent early on reviewing the literature will guide and improve the students’ work as it will enable them to contextualize their findings.

Students who are undertaking an analysis of one text are also required to undertake a literature review. All students must demonstrate, as indicated by criterion B, knowledge and understanding that is connected to their area of research. This includes placing their own research in the wider context of the discipline. This may include what has already been written, particular perspectives and viewpoints, or critical insights. However, for students analysing just one text, this should not distract from the main focus of the text itself.