- Why the Research Question Matters
- The Official Rules for an EE Research Question
- Clear, Focused, Arguable: The Three-Part Test
- How to Write Your Research Question in Four Steps
- Weak and Strong Research Question Examples
- Make the Question Fit Your Subject
- Stress-Test Your Question Before You Commit
- Refining or Changing Your Question
- Common Research Question Mistakes
Quick Answer
A strong Extended Essay research question is one focused, open question, never a hypothesis or a statement of intent, that your subject's methods can answer within 4,000 words. Use wording such as 'To what extent', 'How significant' or 'How effective', name a specific case, text, period or variable, and make sure the answer is not obvious from the question itself.
What You'll Learn
- Your research question must be phrased as a question under both the 2018 guide and the new guide
- From May 2027 it is marked in Criterion A, Framework for the essay, alongside research methods and structure
- The new guide's test is simple: clear, focused and arguable
- Avoid double-barrelled questions and questions with a self-evident answer
- Treat the question as provisional: refining it after early research is normal
Why the Research Question Matters
Your research question decides which sources you need, which methods you use, how your argument is built and what kind of conclusion you can reach. Examiners also mark it directly. Under the new criteria (essays assessed from May 2027) it is one of three strands of Criterion A, Framework for the essay, and the top band needs a question that is relevant to your topic, clear, and focused in relation to the scope of the essay. Under the 2018 criteria, used up to November 2026, it sat in Criterion A, Focus and method, which looked for a clearly stated and focused question; if the topic or question was judged inappropriate for the subject, Criteria A and B could each receive no more than 4 marks.
Pro Tip
If your essay plan feels vague, the problem is often the question rather than your writing.
The Official Rules for an EE Research Question
Both guides say that, whatever your subject or pathway, you must frame your research question as a question, not as a hypothesis or a statement of intent, because a question keeps you focused throughout. The new guide adds detailed advice. Your research question should:
- Be clearly stated and focused, and arise from a specific topic in your chosen DP subject or subjects
- Invite critical analysis rather than a descriptive or narrative response
- Allow a strong line of argument to develop
- Ask one thing: avoid double-barrelled questions, which make the scope too broad
- Use higher-order wording such as 'how significant', 'how successful', 'to what extent' or 'what if'
- Not lead to a self-evident answer
- Stay open to amendment if your research takes a different direction or sources run short
- For an interdisciplinary essay, reflect your use of two subjects
Watch Out
The IB will not comment on whether a particular research question is suitable, because developing it is part of the assessment. Test it with your supervisor instead.
Clear, Focused, Arguable: The Three-Part Test
The new guide suggests evaluating every candidate question against three tests. Run each of your draft questions through them before you choose one.
- Clear: will a reader understand the nature of your research, and does the question give your research a direction?
- Focused: is it specific enough to explore within the word limit and the time you have?
- Arguable: does it allow analysis, discussion, evaluation and the development of a reasoned argument?
Watch Out
A topic is not a research question. 'Climate change policy' is a topic. A usable question names a specific case and asks something you can argue about.
How to Write Your Research Question in Four Steps
The new guide sets out a four-step model that works for any subject. It assumes you have already brainstormed broad areas and settled on a topic linked to your DP studies.
- 1Confirm your focused topic: a subject-related topic of genuine personal interest, narrowed from a broad area.
- 2Do a preliminary investigation: what has already been written, how easy sources are to find, whether there is a range of resources and views, and what questions are emerging from your reading.
- 3Brainstorm open-ended questions, usually starting with 'how', 'why' or 'to what extent', and evaluate each one: is it clear, focused and arguable?
- 4Choose one as your provisional question and think ahead: the possible outcomes, the kind of argument you could make, and what you will do if the available sources are not enough.
Weak and Strong Research Question Examples
These examples are illustrative, written to show the difference between a question that limits your marks and one that supports a strong essay. Copy the pattern, not the wording. Square brackets mark details you would fill in.
- History. Weak: 'What caused the First World War?' (too broad, invites narrative). Stronger: 'How significant was the naval arms race in worsening Anglo-German relations between 1906 and 1912?'
- Economics. Weak: 'Is a sugar tax good?' (vague, yes or no, a value judgement). Stronger: 'To what extent has [country]'s soft drinks levy reduced the sugar content of soft drinks sold there since its introduction?'
- English A. Weak: 'What is Frankenstein about?' (descriptive). Stronger: 'How does Mary Shelley use the frame narrative in Frankenstein to complicate the reader's judgement of Victor?'
- Biology. Weak: 'Does temperature affect enzymes?' (yes or no, self-evident). Stronger: 'How does temperature, between 20 °C and 60 °C, affect the rate of catalase activity in potato extract, measured by the volume of oxygen produced?'
- Business management. Weak: 'How does [company] market its products?' (descriptive). Stronger: 'To what extent has [company]'s move to subscription pricing improved its customer retention?'
- Psychology. Weak: 'Is social media bad for teenagers?' (broad and value-laden). Stronger: 'To what extent does published research support a causal link between heavy social media use and depressive symptoms in adolescents?'
- Mathematics. Weak: 'Using calculus to model population growth' (a statement, not a question). Stronger: 'How accurately can mathematical models describe the growth of [country]'s population between [year] and [year]?'
- Interdisciplinary (from May 2027). Weak: 'Air pollution and inequality' (a topic, not a question). Stronger: 'To what extent has [city]'s low-emission zone shifted the burden of air pollution onto lower-income neighbourhoods?', using geography and economics.
Make the Question Fit Your Subject
A question that works in one subject can fail in another, because examiners judge it through the methods of the subject it is registered in. Under the 2018 criteria a question inappropriate for the subject capped two criteria, and under the new guide your question must still arise from a topic in your chosen subject and suit its research methods.
- Sciences: define and justify variables that can be measured, use SI units, and choose a method you can run with school equipment or justify the secondary data you will use.
- Mathematics: avoid naming the technique in the question, because the right mathematics may only become clear once you have examined your data.
- Language A: name the text or texts and ask how they create meaning, rather than asking about the author's life or using the text as evidence about a real-world issue.
- History: focus on a specific event, period or interpretation, with wording such as 'how significant' or 'to what extent'.
- Economics and business management: apply theory to one specific market, firm or policy.
- Psychology: ask a question that a review of peer-reviewed research can answer, because primary data collection is not permitted under the new guide.
- Interdisciplinary: make it clear why two subjects are needed to answer the question.
Stress-Test Your Question Before You Commit
Before you settle on a question, test whether it can support a full essay. Doing this early can save weeks of research on a question that was never going to work.
- 1Can you name two or three main analytical points or lines of evidence?
- 2Are there enough reliable sources or data, in a language you can work in?
- 3Is the scope narrow enough for 4,000 words?
- 4Could informed people reasonably disagree about the answer?
- 5Will you reach a reasoned conclusion rather than a summary?
- 6Can your supervisor see clearly how it fits the subject?
Watch Out
If your question requires covering an entire country, century, movement or author's career, it is usually still too broad.
Refining or Changing Your Question
Both guides treat the research question as provisional until your research shows that you can build a reasoned argument. Newly emerging questions, a lack of suitable resources or a loss of interest are all reasons to amend it, and often a small change in wording is enough. Discuss any change with your supervisor; under the new guide, checking whether your question needs amending is part of the interim reflection session. Once the essay is final, make sure the same wording appears on the title page and in the introduction, and that the conclusion answers that exact question.
Common Research Question Mistakes
These problems weaken essays even when students work hard on the research. Discussing ideas is allowed, so our Extended Essay support can help you talk through what makes a question workable; agree the final wording with your supervisor.
- A broad theme instead of a question
- A yes or no question with an obvious answer
- Two questions joined together with 'and'
- A hypothesis or a statement of aims in place of a question
- A question that leads to description, such as 'What is...?' or 'What happened...?'
- A question that does not fit the subject it is registered in
- Different wording on the title page and in the introduction