The IB Psychology IA gives you the opportunity to think like a real psychologist. You’ll work independently to develop a research proposal on a problem experienced by a specific population.
Let’s start at the end…
The Final Report
Your final IA is <2200 word report summarizing your research proposal. It will have four major sections:
- Introduction
- Research Methodology
- Data Collection
- Discussion
What’s It About
Your designing a study to show you understand that psychological research is conducted with the goal of improving people’s lives. You’ll identify a specific problem experienced by a specific population of interest. You’ll develop a research question and aim about that problem and population and then explain how you could study it with one of the following research methods:
- Experiment (true or quasi-)
- Interview (structured, semi-structured or focus group)
- Observation (naturalistic or controlled, overt or covert, participant or non-participant)
- Survey/questionnaire
Rules to Follow
You must work independently on the IA. Two students cannot collaborate on the IA by choosing the same problem. The work must be done completely independently.
Ethical Considerations: Even though you’re not actually going to conduct your study, you must still follow some ethical guidelines. The following topics are forbidden:
- Abuse
- Self-harm (includes suicide)
- Pornography, rape or other sexual acts
- Serial killers or acts of torture
- Ingestion (self-reported dietary choices are permissible)
- Anything involving forced participation, public humiliation or deprivation (e.g.withholding food)
- No animal studies
You are allowed to study topics such as mental health, body image, neurodiversity or cultural differences.
The key to success in the IB Psychology IA is paying attention to details. Read, watch or listen to the instructions carefully.
Travis Dixon has been teaching for over 20 years and is an experienced IB Psychology, History and English teacher, author, workshop leader and examiner