PSYCHOLOGY EE
LOUIS' Story
Contributor: Louis Hardy
How did you choose this subject?
Psychology was one of the less popular topics chosen for EEs, only numbering at about 15 people in the entire year. For me, having a genuine interest in psychology (and the fact I’m planning to be a clinical psychologist in the future) was what spurred me into writing my Extended Essay in the subject, and I knew that with the variety of topics in psychology, I wasn’t going to have much difficulty finding something I could discuss comfortably in 4,000 words.
If you already have an interest in the topic itself, good for you! A psychology EE is essentially a ‘mature’ version of the essay you already do in class, but it requires more dedication, more detail, and most importantly a whole lot more studies. On the other hand, if the content already being done in class doesn’t interest you, then the EE is an opportunity for you to engage with a topic you’re interested in - you aren’t limited to just what the IB course offers.
How did you choose your question?
1. Make sure you topic is based on a theory or phenomenon that has been studied substantially. The majority of an EE in psychology is a standard literature review - which means studies that contribute to your argument will be the main meat. Find a topic with a substantial range of studies that offer several different viewpoints on the issue to provide a good base for your EE. If your topic is lacking in studies and research done on the topic, avoid planning it further and try to move to a different topic.
2. Find a connection between your chosen topic and a situation that has occurred in real life. This real life situation acts as, essentially, the ‘reason’ for which you have chosen the topic and gives impetus to the writing process itself. Additionally, the real life situation provides more depth to your discussion of the topic and allows you to consider the ramifications and impact the conclusion of your EE could have on whatever topic it is you are discussing.
3. Your question must be debateable. Any question you come up with must have the potential to be discussed in an appropriate scope of 4,000 words. Similarly, your essay is not about listing facts - an extended essay on ‘How Psychologists Treat Depression’ is neither something that invites analysis nor evaluation. Instead, consider questions that lend themselves to critical thinking and debate.
Two words on the nature of your question: focused and specific. Naturally, you would be eager to choose a topic that invites plenty of discussion with many different viewpoints to look with at the issue, but this can easily result in such a broad scope that you’re unable to keep your arguments focused and concise. A question that looks at too many different things won’t be answered sufficiently in just 4,000 words- you may find the word count stacking up too quickly for you to be well-rounded in your writing.
4. For the love of God and everything that is holy, DO NOT DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Students who carry out an investigation for their EE are both wasting time and inviting disqualification if they actually use their own research in the discussion. Please do not carry out a study yourself for your EE- this is not negotiable.
5. Finally (and most importantly), try to choose a topic you enjoy. I decided to write about the extent to which homosexuality in individuals could be attributed to genetics. I’d read about Yoweri Museveni’s attempts to pass an anti-homosexuality bill, and his proposal to rescind it on the condition that scientific evidence could be provided that homosexuality is biological. This acted as my real-life situation (see above) and gave my writing significance in the real world.
1. Make sure you topic is based on a theory or phenomenon that has been studied substantially. The majority of an EE in psychology is a standard literature review - which means studies that contribute to your argument will be the main meat. Find a topic with a substantial range of studies that offer several different viewpoints on the issue to provide a good base for your EE. If your topic is lacking in studies and research done on the topic, avoid planning it further and try to move to a different topic.
2. Find a connection between your chosen topic and a situation that has occurred in real life. This real life situation acts as, essentially, the ‘reason’ for which you have chosen the topic and gives impetus to the writing process itself. Additionally, the real life situation provides more depth to your discussion of the topic and allows you to consider the ramifications and impact the conclusion of your EE could have on whatever topic it is you are discussing.
3. Your question must be debateable. Any question you come up with must have the potential to be discussed in an appropriate scope of 4,000 words. Similarly, your essay is not about listing facts - an extended essay on ‘How Psychologists Treat Depression’ is neither something that invites analysis nor evaluation. Instead, consider questions that lend themselves to critical thinking and debate.
Two words on the nature of your question: focused and specific. Naturally, you would be eager to choose a topic that invites plenty of discussion with many different viewpoints to look with at the issue, but this can easily result in such a broad scope that you’re unable to keep your arguments focused and concise. A question that looks at too many different things won’t be answered sufficiently in just 4,000 words- you may find the word count stacking up too quickly for you to be well-rounded in your writing.
4. For the love of God and everything that is holy, DO NOT DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Students who carry out an investigation for their EE are both wasting time and inviting disqualification if they actually use their own research in the discussion. Please do not carry out a study yourself for your EE- this is not negotiable.
5. Finally (and most importantly), try to choose a topic you enjoy. I decided to write about the extent to which homosexuality in individuals could be attributed to genetics. I’d read about Yoweri Museveni’s attempts to pass an anti-homosexuality bill, and his proposal to rescind it on the condition that scientific evidence could be provided that homosexuality is biological. This acted as my real-life situation (see above) and gave my writing significance in the real world.
How was the process?
There are two reason it is extremely recommended to be taking psychology at HL before you embark on the mystical journey that is a psych EE. One, you must be familiar with terminology and concepts used in psychology; and two, you must understand evaluative considerations applicable to studies in psychology, and know how to formulate these evaluative considerations into a discussion. Both of these skills are a necessity in writing a psychology EE! You must be familiar with words such as ecological validity and demand characteristics and be able to pick apart the strengths and limitations of a particular study. These are the tools you’ll be employing for the job, so brush up on them.
After my topic was approved, I set about ‘reading around the topic’- that is, scouting for places where I could find research. Wikipedia itself should never be a source in your writing, but it’s a good springboard for studies relevant to your topic. Again, make sure there’s a range of studies related to your topic! Without many studies, your EE will fall woefully short of what is supposed to be a literature review, and you will not score good marks.
There are two reason it is extremely recommended to be taking psychology at HL before you embark on the mystical journey that is a psych EE. One, you must be familiar with terminology and concepts used in psychology; and two, you must understand evaluative considerations applicable to studies in psychology, and know how to formulate these evaluative considerations into a discussion. Both of these skills are a necessity in writing a psychology EE! You must be familiar with words such as ecological validity and demand characteristics and be able to pick apart the strengths and limitations of a particular study. These are the tools you’ll be employing for the job, so brush up on them.
After my topic was approved, I set about ‘reading around the topic’- that is, scouting for places where I could find research. Wikipedia itself should never be a source in your writing, but it’s a good springboard for studies relevant to your topic. Again, make sure there’s a range of studies related to your topic! Without many studies, your EE will fall woefully short of what is supposed to be a literature review, and you will not score good marks.
Remember that it’s very important that you put on your ‘evaluative glasses’ while you’re reading and incorporating studies into the body of your essay.
Simply providing evidence for a perspective is not enough to form an argument, as you would know from your garden variety psychology essays in class. Evaluate the role of the study in supporting or refuting your argument. Yes, a particular study shows that the theory holds true in a certain situation, but was the sample a specific age range? Only composed of one sex? Only done with American participants? How do these considerations affect the contribution of the study itself to your argument?
Do you have any tips? What would you have done differently?
Start early. A myriad of things could go wrong in the planning and writing of your Extended Essay. It’s best to cushion your writing process with comfortable amounts of time to plug leaks in the proverbial boat - just in case.
Never use the word ‘prove’. TOK aside, there is no study that can fully prove a theory or phenomenon happens 100% of the time in a situation. Studies are evidence that strengthen and support an argument, not conclusive ‘be-all and end-all’s that make an argument immune to criticism.
Your EE Supervisor will be your best friend. For as long as it takes, anyway. Consult with your supervisor at every step in the process - they will be the leading authority on doing EEs in topics belonging to their own subject. Thought of a topic? Consult your supervisor. Found some studies? Consult your supervisor. Planned the structure of your essay? You get the gist. Conferring with your supervisor only once or twice over the period of the Extended Essay writing phase is inviting disaster if your entire 4,000-word draft happens to be in the completely wrong format three days before the deadline.
That wasn’t fun.
Keep reference details on all your studies. Learning the details of the study itself and putting that into your essay is only half the battle. Eventually, you will have to reference every study you’ve included (even in passing) in your EE in the bibliography section, so keep the details of every study at hand to make the referencing process more streamlined. Reference everything; no more, no less. Do not, under any circumstance, cite something you’ve never mentioned before that point in the EE or on the flipside, not cite a study you have used.
Always refer back to the criteria! It is what your EE will be graded on, so it is the most solid point of reference at your disposal. This is especially important for formatting gripes like referencing the studies you used in your EE and what your abstract should contain. Don’t lose marks because of silly format errors - go the whole proverbial nine yards.
Start early. A myriad of things could go wrong in the planning and writing of your Extended Essay. It’s best to cushion your writing process with comfortable amounts of time to plug leaks in the proverbial boat - just in case.
Never use the word ‘prove’. TOK aside, there is no study that can fully prove a theory or phenomenon happens 100% of the time in a situation. Studies are evidence that strengthen and support an argument, not conclusive ‘be-all and end-all’s that make an argument immune to criticism.
Your EE Supervisor will be your best friend. For as long as it takes, anyway. Consult with your supervisor at every step in the process - they will be the leading authority on doing EEs in topics belonging to their own subject. Thought of a topic? Consult your supervisor. Found some studies? Consult your supervisor. Planned the structure of your essay? You get the gist. Conferring with your supervisor only once or twice over the period of the Extended Essay writing phase is inviting disaster if your entire 4,000-word draft happens to be in the completely wrong format three days before the deadline.
That wasn’t fun.
Keep reference details on all your studies. Learning the details of the study itself and putting that into your essay is only half the battle. Eventually, you will have to reference every study you’ve included (even in passing) in your EE in the bibliography section, so keep the details of every study at hand to make the referencing process more streamlined. Reference everything; no more, no less. Do not, under any circumstance, cite something you’ve never mentioned before that point in the EE or on the flipside, not cite a study you have used.
Always refer back to the criteria! It is what your EE will be graded on, so it is the most solid point of reference at your disposal. This is especially important for formatting gripes like referencing the studies you used in your EE and what your abstract should contain. Don’t lose marks because of silly format errors - go the whole proverbial nine yards.
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