IB Psychology IA - Learn How To Nail Your Upcoming IA!

Moving on, let's explore some important points regarding the IB Psychology IA rubrics that will help you get a clearer picture of the exploration IB expects you to prepare:

Now that we've gone through these important points let's discuss the structure and the components of your Psychology Internal Assessment.

• Criterion 1 - Introduction (6 marks):
  • Drafting a strong Introduction is vital to the entire report. Following the marking scheme will ensure you cover all that the Introduction of your Investigation is expected to. 
    • Let's break it down into points, shall we?
      • Give context: Background of the concept/theory stated and explained in detail.
      • Define important terminology used in the investigation.
      • The Aim, Procedure, and Results of the replicated Original Study described briefly and cited. 
      • Establish a link between your investigation and the Theory you're replicating(if possible, do it explicitly).
      • State the aim of your experiment: Aim should be concise, briefly outlining what you wish to accomplish with your study, highlighting the Independent Variable and the Dependent Variable.
      • Explain the relevance of your study(give an application of the same).
      • State and operationalize the Independent and Dependent Variables in the Experimental Hypothesis.
      • Null Hypothesis.  
• Criterion 2 - Exploration (4 marks):

  • One of the most manageable parts to score in, if you understand how IB expects you to go about the Exploration component of your IA, you're sure to get marked well! Exploration refers to the how of the investigation. How you are doing your research, the list of materials you're using along with the relevant justification, and so on. All in all, this section expects you to justify the decisions your group took while replicating the study.
    • Let's understand this component in points too:
      • Identify, Mention, and Explain the design and sampling technique used in your study. Generally, Independent Samples design(two or more groups subject to varying conditions) finds use more often, but Repeated Samples design is an equally important design technique. It would be best to have valid reasons for having opted for the particular design technique you do. 
      • Along similar lines, mention and explain why you chose a particular sampling technique for your study. The most commonly used sampling technique for IA experiments is an Opportunity Sample, but it is essential to justify your choice of the sampling technique used in either case. 
      • Next, make sure you explain the choice of participants in your study.
      • Ensure you explain the confounding and controlled variables and state their influence on the study.
      • List the materials and explain your choice. 
      • When you write the procedure in points or as a paragraph, remember to describe each step on the go. 
      • The critical part that examiners look for in your report is the proof of your study being ethical. It is best to explicitly mention how the participants filled the Informed Consent Form and reference the appendix with the same copies (inclusive of Consent Forms, Briefs, and Debriefs).
• Criterion 3 - Analysis (6 marks):

  • This component of your report showcases your interpretation of the data. This is considered a challenging part since students fail to apply accurate statistics for their data, thereby losing maximum marks in this section. Below mentioned are the steps you must follow to guarantee you're on the safe side. 
  • You are required to apply both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics appropriately (Read that again).
  • For Descriptive Statistics, you should give one measure of central tendency(mean, median, mode) and one measure of dispersion(standard deviation, variance, range, semi-interquartile range). 
  • While Descriptive Statistics is used to organize the data, Inferential Statistics is used to infer and draw conclusions about the study/theory. 
  • Remember, the statistics used need to be stated in words and linked to the hypothesis. 
  • A labelled Graph should be correctly presented, and the hypotheses properly addressed (You must graph the data).
  • Highlight the importance of your data concerning the hypothesis.
  • The top band criteria require you to interpret the statistical findings in the context of the study's data.
• Criteria 4 - Evaluation (6 marks):

  • Evaluation is another component where students error quite often. Evaluation of your study implies mentioning its Strengths and Limitations. There are quite a few pointers you need to take extra care of while writing the Evaluation, as given below:
    • Investigation's findings should be referred to as the background theory/model and not just the hypothesis. Linking the results to the replicated study is not as crucial as is relating it to the Theory. Most students fail at this part and lose marks.
    • Now comes discussing the Strengths and Limitations and stating Modifications, if any, in the following three: 
      1. the Research Design,
      2. the Sample, and 
      3. the Procedure
    • Emphasize the explanation and justification.
    • While discussing the Strengths and Limitations of the Research Design, be sure you don't confuse it with the experiment's procedure. You might want to keep the following points in mind while doing so:
      1. Impact on the study, had you used a different research design.
      2. Limitations of the Design used.
      3. While listing the modification for every limitation stated, explain how it would benefit your study. 
    • Similarly, for the Sample, try tackling the following:
      1. How might particular characteristics have influenced the experiment?
      2. Do not write - Sample Size should be larger, as a modification.
      3. Highlight the strengths of the sampling technique used by you. 
    • Finally, discuss all the three(Strengths, Limitations, and Modifications) for your Procedure.
      1. Discuss in light of the time used by your group to carry out the study, the materials used, the procedure(whether it was standardized), et cetera.
      2. Do not, in any case, mention significant mistakes in your procedure. If you assess there are any such errors, try rectifying them instead of saying them.

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