With its fascinating insights on human behavior, psychology is one of the most intriguing subjects out there for your IB Extended Essay (EE). But how do you get started? How do you organize all that information? How do you evaluate studies?
Writing a Psychology EE can be daunting. To help you out, here is a compilation of answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that students encounter making their Psychology EE. These FAQs are divided into two sections: making the research question and writing the essay itself.
FAQs on Research Questions
1. What do IB examiners expect from my EE?
Part of the pressure in writing an EE is that sometimes students think they should come up with brand new, groundbreaking research. This is actually not expected by the IB. A psychology EE can only use secondary data, which means that students are not expected to conduct psychological experiments or observations. Instead, treat your EE like a literature review — an overview of the research already done about your topic.
2. Any advice for making a research question (RQ)?
Avoid being either too broad or too narrow in your research question. Pick a topic that is fairly well-researched so that you have enough material, but also not too well-known that you cannot point out any gaps in the research. Additionally, it is always best to pick a topic you are genuinely interested in.
3. How do I know if my RQ may be too broad or too narrow?
You would have to do a quick search of the material related to your RQ. Here are some checkpoints you can use:
| Too Broad | Too Narrow |
| There are too many viewpoints to consider. You may feel like you do not know where to begin.It is hard to define the terms in your RQ. For example, how can you define “love”?When you imagine writing your EE, you may feel lost or that your EE lacks direction. | You have a hard time finding published studies to support your points.Defining one term in your RQ requires multiple paragraphs. This would consume your word count.Most studies related to your RQ came to similar conclusions. It is hard to find contradicting evidence. |
For a deeper dive, let’s take a look at these (hypothetical) examples.
Too broad: How do adverse childhood experiences contribute to depression?
Watch out! Because it uses technical terms, this might sound like a pretty specific research question. However, the term “adverse childhood experiences” is actually very broad — it is an umbrella term for events that may harm people as children. Likewise, “depression” can refer to many types of depressive disorders (e.g. major depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder). Having such broad terms may make it hard to decide which studies to use or leave out in writing the paper.
Too specific: To what extent does the SLC6A4 gene lead to major depressive disorder?
While this may also sound like a well-defined research question, try to think about how writing an essay for this would go. What can you say about the research on this gene? A mixture of viewpoints is always good for an essay, and if all of the studies are basically saying the same thing (e.g. Yes, this gene is linked to depression.), it may be a sign that your topic may be too specific.
4. I think my RQ is too broad. How do I fix this?
Try narrowing down your topic by changing the location or population under study. Alternatively, you can also narrow down your RQ through picking a subcategory under that topic. Here is an example.
Original RQ: How do sociocultural factors affect bilingualism?
Possible revised RQs:
- How do sociocultural factors affect bilingualism in Sweden? (Location)
- How do sociocultural factors affect bilingualism in immigrants? (Population)
- How do sociocultural factors affect coordinate bilingualism? (Subcategory)
- How does exposure to television programming affect bilingualism? (Subcategory)
5. I think my RQ is too narrow. How do I fix this?
Try switching out one variable in your RQ for one that would have more published studies. Here is an example:
Original RQ: How can parental incarceration contribute to antisocial personality disorder in children?
Possible revised RQs:
- How can parental incarceration contribute to anxiety disorders in children?
How can parental neglect contribute to antisocial personality disorder in children?
FAQs on Writing the Essay Itself
1. I don’t know how to start. How do I even begin?
Take a deep breath. Here is a suggested outline you can use:
- Introduction
- Body Section 1
- Overview of Section 1
- Study 1 + Evaluation of Study 1 + How Study 1 relates to topic
- Study 2 + Evaluation of Study 2 + How Study 2 relates to topic
- Mini conclusion of Section 1
- Body Section 2
- Format similar to Body Section 1
- Body Section 3
- Format similar to Body Section 1
- Conclusion
- References
2. What can I write about for the body sections?
Choose 3-4 subtopics you want to focus on. These can be factors, specific theories, or any subcategories of your topic. Here are some examples you can refer to:
Example RQ: What are the effects of parental divorce on childhood development?
- Effect 1: Effects on communication
- Effect 2: Effects on emotional regulation
- Effect 3: Effects on self-esteem
Example RQ: How are serotonin-regulating genes linked to major depressive disorder?
- Gene 1: SLC6A4 gene
- Gene 2: MAOA gene
- Gene 3: TPH2 gene
3. How do I use studies in my Psych EE?
In general, using a study for a Psych EE is similar to how you use studies for an extended-response question (ERQ) in an exam. You can use a study to support or refute a point you are raising in your essay.
For example, if your topic is about the effects of corporal punishment on children, you can have some studies showing the benefits of corporal punishment and other studies talking about its negative effects. Whenever you use a study, you must summarize, evaluate, and link it back to your topic.
4. What should be in a study summary?
A summary should typically include the study’s aims, methods, participants, results, and conclusions. It is not necessary to include all of the details (that would be impossible!), but it is essential to include the type of study (e.g. double-blind experiment, correlational study) and details that you would bring up in your evaluation.
5. How do I evaluate studies?
Evaluating a study involves analyzing its strengths and limitations, especially on how these might have impacted the results. There are multiple aspects you can look at when evaluating a study, including (but not limited to) the following:
| Aspect | Some Questions You Can Ask |
| Generalizability | Would we see similar results if the study was run with a different sample from the same target population?How was the sample recruited? Could this have affected the results?Is it possible for the results to have a cultural or historical bias? |
| Reliability | Would we see the same results if the study was re-run?Would we see the same results if different people interpreted the data?Was data only collected one way or were multiple methods used? (data triangulation) |
| Validity | Is the study measuring what it intends to measure?Can there be alternative explanations for the results apart from the explanation provided by the study?Is there a basis for the variables in the study to be connected to each other?Are there any demand characteristics in the study?Would the results be seen in real life? (ecological validity) |
| Ethics | What ways did the study use to protect participants from harm?Did the participants properly consent to be studied?Was the privacy of the participants protected throughout the study?Was data kept confidential and anonymous?Were participants free to leave the study anytime without any consequences?Was deception used in the study?Were participants debriefed after the study? |
When evaluating a study, it is important to balance its strengths and limitations. Additionally, it is not advisable to just simply list them like a grocery list. Choose only the most relevant strengths and limitations, especially those that have a big effect on the study’s results.
6. Are studies the only thing I have to evaluate for a psychology EE?
No! Because of the heavy focus on studies, students often forget to evaluate the points they are making in their EE. You can do this by examining the strength of any evidence supporting your point. Are the studies supporting this point strong or do they have a lot of limitations?
Furthermore, if you are using a theory or a model you can also ask these questions:
- What assumptions does the theory/model use in order to work?
- Is theory/model biased? If so, in what way?
- Does the theory/model oversimplify things?
I hope these FAQs help you succeed with the Psychology EE. While writing your Psychology EE can be a struggle (I’ve been there!), it can also be a thought-provoking dive into a topic that has always intrigued you. It may also be your biggest self-directed research experience so far, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Set clear goals and work consistently on it, and eventually you will be surprised that you have reached the end of your 3,000 word EE. You’ve got this!