Table of content
Step #1
Choosing the right article
Finding the news article for your commentary is the first and most crucial step. Your analysis is directly influenced by the article that you select. Websites like Google News can help you find an article that suits your interests (like, duh!). It is considered best practice to keep reading the newspaper right from the beginning of your course. This will help you distinguish a relevant article when it's time to write your commentary. The news you select should concern the economic factor for which you are writing the IA.
Ensure that the article you decide to analyze should not be more than 1 A4 page (~500 words). The research article must be recent (aim for the current year) and published by a mainstream publisher (e.g., The Sydney Morning Herald). Make sure to maintain your bibliography right from the beginning.
Step #2
Introduction
Start by defining a few essential keywords from your article. Refrain from wasting your words with an irrelevant introduction. Note that you only need to explain the critical vital terms and only some of the times. The examiners are not looking for the definitions; they already have adequate knowledge of economics. Remember to credit the sources when you take the meanings from any sources, including textbooks. Also, avoid using direct quotes from the article in your commentary. Limit the number of words in your introduction to only 150 and save the rest of your word count for analyzing and evaluating.
Start by explaining the case of your article and what will be analyzed in the essay. Make sure you talk in economic terms. This will surely help you as terminology is a part of your criteria. Your job is to show analytical thinking when it comes to economics. For example, if you are writing your microeconomics commentary and your news is about the government banning alcohol, you should be able to deduce its economic impact. For instance, your article should mention how banning alcohol might create an unregulated black market, spiking the price. It is best if your assumptions are backed up by evidence. In this example, you can talk about a similar scenario in Pakistan. You can also talk about an alternative to what the government has done for it to achieve its objective. In our example, the government is trying to reduce the consumption of alcohol, so instead of banning it altogether, they should like to tax it more.
Step #3
Drawing and Explaining the Diagrams
As I have mentioned before. "Diagrams highlight better." Also, they don't count in the word count either!
Draw diagrams to explain the problem in the article and to explain the solution as well. These diagrams must be your own drawings. Also, relevance is the most important thing to remember when drawing diagrams. Why would something irrelevant fetch you marks?
Examples of relevant diagrams include the following
- explaining the effects on the stakeholders;
- stating the relationship between the economic factors and the products;
- discussing the shifts in the curves.
And, of course, explaining your diagrams is a significant task here. It does not matter if it's a simple diagram, but your explanation makes it different. You should also be able to label all the lines accurately in your charts. The diagram attached below is an excellent example of a well-labeled diagram. The x-axis and y-axis in the diagram below are labeled accurately.
However, tools are available to draw the diagrams for your commentary, including Microsoft Word and Google docs. You can even include hand diagrams on paper though they are not recommended. You can always consult your teacher for help using the software if you doubt drawing the graph.
Step #4
Developing the content
You will have to brainstorm some ideas before you start writing your commentary. Your analysis of the article will have to explain a few factors, including:
- The impacts on the stakeholders of the policies stated in the article;
- Suggesting alternative solutions;
Remember, you are not trying to rephrase and write another article. Do not rephrase the sentences from your essay. An analysis is only about developing ideas that relate to your topic. Now it's time to go deeper into your case and explain with clearer constructs. For more bottomless construction, you can make assumptions from your theory. You will be fully explaining the idea and how the approach is related to your article or the linkages between the theory and its aspects.
Step #5
Drawing the conclusion
Coming to a conclusion is based on your assumptions throughout your essay. It is all about evaluating and theorizing the outcomes that could happen. It would help if you were making judgments in your conclusion based on some reasoning and the assumptions you make. To make judgments and draw conclusions, you should fulfill the following aspects to fetch yourself some good grades:
- Effects in the long term and short term;
- Stakeholders;
- Advantages and Disadvantages;
- Alternative solutions;
Check out this link so you can go through the example of commentary with a good evaluation of their scenario.
Note: You are almost done when you follow the steps I have explained so far! You must ensure you meet all the requirements by looking into the criteria. Though we just went through every possible thing required, for a better idea, you can go through the criteria below to evaluate your own work:
Important Take-Aways From This IB Economics Internal Assessment Guide
Make sure to return to this IB Economics Internal Assessment Guide as often as possible to take advantage of these easy points. Here is a list of the main takeaways from this IB Economics Internal Assessment Guide:
- Keep track of important news articles
- Start early with your research
- Develop analytical thinking and hone it in economics class
- Question the economic significance of significant world events
The one intangible point missing from this IB Economics Internal Assessment guide is that you need the right mindset to score well in IB Economics Internal Assessments. Put yourself in the shoes of renowned economists. You want to make terms like externalities, quota, trade barriers, foreign investment, etc., a part of your daily vocabulary. Be bold in joining various social groups where people chat about these topics. It will help you more than reading different IB Economics Internal Assessments online and will better prepare your finals. Listening to other people's ideas also enriches your intellect.
For extra help and resources, you can go through some of the examples of Economics IA or commentaries from each section (micro, macro, or international) by clicking here.
Or you can always buy the best IB economics resources from nailib.com for the best help an IB student would require.
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