Extended Essay Essentials

What's in this guide?

In this guide, you will find essential documents for writing the EE in the following subjects

• Economics
• Geography
• History
• Philosophy
• Psychology

Essential documents include Subject Specific Guidelines and Sample Essays for each course.

Introduction to the EE in Individuals & Societies

From the Guide:

An extended essay (EE) in individuals and societies is intended for students who are interested in undertaking research in an area of economics, geography, history, philosophy, or world religions.

The individual and societies EE is intended to encourage the systematic and critical study of:

• human experience and behavior
• physical economic, and social environments
• the history and development of social and cultural institutions.

Students' choice of topic should enable them to recognize that the content and methodologies of the subjects are contestable and that their study requires critical thinking.

Students must have sufficient grounding in the subject under which they submit their essay: reading a textbook or consulting an encyclopedia while writing the EE will not compensate for a lack of proper background knowledge.

For a longer general overview of an arts-related EE, see Individuals and societies: An introduction. This document contains information on:

• Topic Selection
• Literature Review
• The Research Question
• Research Methods
• A Framework for the EE in Individual and Societies.

Economics EE Essentials

• Economics Subject Specific Guidelines - A short guide on how to write the Economics EE
• Score Reports - See what students did (and did not do well) in these short reports from the chief examiner.
• Sample Papers - Read sample EE papers provided by IB and see how they scored.

Geography EE Essentials

• Geography Subject Specific Guidelines - A short guide on how to write the Geography EE
• Score Reports - See what students did (and did not do well) in these short reports from the chief examiner.
• Sample Papers - Read sample EE papers provided by the IB and see how they scored.

History EE Essentials

• History Subject Specific Guidelines - A short guide on how to write the History EE
• Score Reports - See what students did (and did not do) well in these short reports from the chief examiner.
• Sample Papers - Read sample EE papers provided by IB and see how they scored.

Philosophy EE Essentials

• Philosophy Subject Specific Guidelines - A short guide on how to write the Philosophy EE
• Score Reports - See what students did (and did not do) well in these short reports from the chief examiner.
• Sample Papers - Read sample EE papers provided by IB and see how they scored

Psychology EE Essentials

• Psychology Subject Specific Guidelines - A short guide on how to write the Visual Arts EE
• Score Reports - See what students did (and did not do) well in these short reports from the chief examiner.
• Sample Papers - Read sample EE papers provided by IB and see how they scored