IA HELP!

[Jotham Ong]

My IA's due in a week, and I'm not really sure how to organize my investigation. My question is "To what extent did the US contribute to the Liberation of the Philippines in WW2?" and not sure how I should organize this in my investigation. Any recommendations? 

[IB_taking_over]

This is the new syllabus, so I am not super familiar with it. As a rule, IBSruvival members cannot help you write your IA. 

 

With that in mind, I would suggest you check with the first exams May 2017 IA markbands. 

 

Basically, there are three sections: (Below is copied from my school's IA handbook)

Section 1: Identification and evaluation of sources Explained

A crucial element of this section of the internal assessment task is formulating an appropriate 

question to investigate.   The question’s scope must be clearly defined and be narrow enough 

to complete in the 2,200 word limit.

This section requires students to analyse in detail two of the sources that they will use in their 

investigation.  Sources selected must be appropriate academic sources. In this section students 

must:

• clearly state the question they have chosen to investigate (this must be stated as a question)

• include a brief explanation of the nature of the two sources they have selected for detailed 

analysis, including an explanation of their relevance to the investigation 

• analyse two sources in detail. With reference to the origin, purpose and content, the student 

should analyse the value and limitations of the two sources in relation to the investigation.

Section 2: Investigation Explained

This section of the internal assessment task consists of the actual investigation. The internal 

assessment task provides scope for a wide variety of different types of historical investigation, 

for example:

• a historical topic or theme using a variety of written sources or a variety of written and non-

written sources

• a historical topic based on fieldwork, for example, a museum, archeological site, battlefields, 

places of worship such as mosques or churches, historic buildings

• a local history study.

The investigation must be clearly and effectively organized (chronological/thematic with sub-

titles that indicate organization). While there is no prescribed format for how this section must 

be structured, it must contain critical analysis that is focused clearly on the question being 

investigated, and must also include the conclusion that the student draws from their analysis.

In this section, students must use a range of evidence to support their argument from 

appropriate sources.  Web sources of any kind should be used very sparingly.  Those sources 

selected must be vetted to ensure reliability.  The exception to this guidance is the use of  

databases, which contain academic print sources that have been digitized.

Section 3: Reflection Explained

This section of the internal assessment task requires students to reflect on what undertaking 

their investigation highlighted to them about the methods used by, and the challenges facing, 

the historian.  

Examples of discussion questions that may help to encourage reflection include the following.

• What methods used by historians did you use in your investigation? 

• What did your investigation highlight to you about the limitations of those methods?

• What are the challenges facing the historian? How do they differ from the challenges facing a 

scientist or a mathematician?

• What challenges in particular does archive-based history present?

• How can the reliability of sources be evaluated?

• What is the difference between bias and selection?

• What constitutes a historical event?

• Who decides which events are historically significant?

• Is it possible to describe historical events in an unbiased way?

• What is the role of the historian?

• Should terms such as “atrocity” be used when writing about history, or should value 

judgments be avoided?

• If it is difficult to establish proof in history, does that mean that all versions are equally 

acceptable?

 

Hopefully this is enough to get you going, if not feel free to ask more questions