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Extended Essay Resources: Research help ...

Getting started

 

The Extended Essay allows students to pursue personal interests, but at the end of the day, academic success remains the ultimate goal. Students are strongly encouraged to begin by consulting the EE Guide in detail, recognizing that no matter how interesting or well-researched an essay may be, it will prove unsuccessful if it doesn't meet IB's unique grading criteria. In addition to reading the guide, students may refer to the Theory of Knowledge LibGuide, for a broader understanding of various subjects and types of knowledge 

After surveying a chosen subject area, students will begin thinking about research: what to look for, where to look, how to use the resources they find.  These resources on this page are meant to help students through each of these steps.

How to research

There are many ways to conduct your research ... How will you do your research?

Search term hints

  • Think: “What do I need to know more about?” (Look for important terms in your assignment notes) …
  • Think: "What types of resources will I need? Where could I find them?" (School library/databases, public library, university library, open access databases, ect.) ...  
  • Broaden or narrow your search terms as necessary (ex: “Soldiers” vs “American Soldiers” vs “Audie Murphy”) …
  • Try all possible synonyms and related terms (ex: “President,” “American,” and “Commander-in-Chief” … Consider using an “Advanced Search”) …
  • Include both singular and plural uses of the term (ex: “wife” & “wives”) …
  • Look for better search terms in the resources you discover …
  • As you go, keep track of the terms you’ve used, and the results you’ve found (i.e. take notes) …

Note-taking & research notebooks ...

Where to research

When it comes to research, there are many places to look ... Where will you look?

Local Libraries

Open access databases and repositories ...

How to use your research

So you've gathered some research ... What will you do w/ the resources you've found? 

Boolean Searches

 

  • Use keywords in library databases instead of sentences and questions. 
    • When searching the library catalog, or one of GHS's databases, try searching for your topic keyword(s) along with "Fahrenheit 451" or "Bradbury" first. For example: ("censorship" AND "Fahrenheit 451") or ("literacy" AND "Bradbury"). Try several variations to maximize the number of relevant results. 
    • Also consider searching for your topic along with the "criticism" or "analysis" or "literature". For example: ("technology" AND "criticism") or ("oppression" and "literature"). While the results might not be directly related to Fahrenheit 451, the information in those text could be used to support your argument.
  • To look for an exact phrase, type your phrase within quotation marks ("  "). The results will contain the exact words in the quotation marks.
  • Use an asterisk (*) at the end of a root word, known as truncation, to retrieve results containing any form of the root word.
    • Example: teen* will find teens, teenage, teenager, teenagers
  • Use filters to refine your results by subject terms/topics, date, type of publication, language, peer-reviewed, etc.
  • Some databases use Boolean Operators. Narrow or expand your search by combining keywords using  AND / OR / NOT operators, as shown below.