IB Psychology HL Extended Essay Example

You communicate a clear Psychology topic and a relevant relationship worth investigating.

You include a generally relevant mix of study types, which shows awareness that different methods can contribute different kinds of evidence.

Your research question stays present throughout the essay and is returned to in the conclusion.

Your population focus shifts between young adults, adolescents, and other groups, which weakens precision.

Your question is phrased more causally than much of the evidence allows.

Your methodology is not fully justified, because the selection of studies and sources is only partly explained.

You use a strong range of subject-specific terminology accurately in many places.

You show good awareness of research design, variables, validity, and different forms of evidence.

You usually explain studies in enough detail to show that you understand what they are testing and what their findings mean.

At times you blur the difference between correlation and causation.

Some terms such as reliability, validity, and representativeness are not always used with full precision.

Your discussion sometimes treats self-report measures and diagnosed depression as if they were the same thing.