The Historical Investigation:Guidance for Students

Teachers may 6nd that it is useful to photocopy this page and the section entided 'The l7ritten Account"to give to students.

Planning

1. Start by identi$iag a general area of intetest.

2. Narrow it douro to a specific question/area of investigation.

3. bhoos" a working tide that may be changed/refined at a later stage.

4. Make sue you cau obtain sufficieot resoruces for your planned investigation.

5. Read widely around the area of study and note down resources used.

6. Review your thesis question and re6ne it if necessary.

7. Ta.ke notes from your choseo resources, including exact references.

8. Complete section A (the plan) and show it to your teacher.

9. Re-read your notes and decide where they would 6t into.the sections of the investigatioo

10. Complete your investigation, according to the IBO guidelines.

On completion of the investigation, you may 6nd it useful to use the following checklist.

Ghecklist Completed

Does the front cover have your name, candi&te number, word count and thesisquestion/staterneat?

Are all the pages numbered2

Have you completed all the sections of the historicd investigation?

A: Plan of the investigatioo

B: Summarv of evidence

C: Evaluation of sources

D: Andysis

E: Conclusion

F: List of sources

Does your bibliography conain all the sources used?

Is your bibliogaphy set out in alphabeticd order?

Is your investigatioa within the word limit of 1,50G-2,000?

Diploma Programre History, Intemal Assessmenl TSM, trladr ?.004Toronto - Canadu - 1?!?13{iii

The Written Account

This section is taken from the Hittory guide frebruary 2001), but includes firrther guidance on ptoducingthe written account of the historical investigation.

Regardless of the type of historical investigation chosen, every snrdent must produce a wdtten accountconsisting of the following six sections:

A Plan of the investigation

B Summary of evidence

C Evaluation ofsources

D Analysis

E Conclusion

F List ofsources

A Plan of the investigation

The plan of the investigation should include:

. the subiect of the investigation, which may be fotmulated as a question

. the methods to be used in the investigation.

This is a relatively briefbut important section. A sharply focused question and a clearly structured Planwill be more lil<ely to produce a successful investigation.

B Summary of evidence

The summary of evidence should indicate 'qrhat the student has fouod out from the sources he or

she has used. It can be in the form of either a list or continuous prose. Any illustrations,

documents, or other relevant evidence should be included in an appendix and'sill not be included

in the word count

This section should be organized and referenced and provide evidence of thorough research-

C Evaluation of sources

This section of the written account should be a critical evaluation of nso imporant sources

appropriate to the investigation and should tefer to their origin, pu{pose, vdue and limitatioo. More

tlan two sources may be evaluated but the emphasis should be on the thorough evduation of two

sources rather than a superficial evaluation of a greater number.

The two sources chosen should be appropriate for the investigation and could, for example, be written,

oral or archeological. The purpose of this section ls fo cssess the usefulness of the sources but not to

describe their content or nature.

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Diplorna Programme History, Intemal Assessment TSM, Marcfi 2004

Outlines for the Historical Investigation

These four oudines illustrate some possible approaches to the historical investigation.

1. An investigation into social history

FIow successfully did Hitler promote the ideal of the family in the Third Reich?

A Plan of the iavestigation

To establish vrhat Hitler's ideal for the family was.To measure how far his vision accorded with redity.

B Summary of evidence

Background: position of family/women prior to 1933.Duties of women defined asl. childnn, chunb, kitchen (kind"r, kinbe, kiiche).Hider's ideals: Mein Kanpfand other contemporary sources, for example, speeches.Evaluation of evidence: histotians of social historv of Third Reich.

C Evaluationofsources

Comparison of tsro historical studies, for example, Crew, D F. 1994. Na{sn and Germaa Socie!1933-1945. Routledge; Noakes, J and Ptidham, G. 1984. Na{w 1919-1945, Vol 2. State,Ecozonl dz SocieE | 933-19. University of Exeter.

D Analysis

The place of family in Nazi ideology.Role of men: penalties on bachelors.Ideal of women as mothets/wives/employees as promoted by Hitler and Goebbels.Redity of women's position: Lebenfuorz (homes for unmarried mothers); employment patterns-demands of war and reamament.

E Conclusion

Evaluation of myth of German family as measured agahst evidence of family life from socialhistory studies. Discussion of pressures,/outside influences that undermined family policy.

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Diplonn Pogramme Hblory, Intemal Assessment TSM, March 2004

The Written Amount

D Analysis

The analysis should include:

r 1f,6 importance of the investigation in its histodcd context. aoalysis of the evideace. if appropriate, different interpretations.

In this section the elements of the inestigation identified in section B will be broken down ino keyksues/points. Consideration d historical context can add weight and perspective to tle sndy. llhereappropriate (depending on tle scope ofthe investigation) links can be made with associated events anddevelopments to aid understanding of tlte historical impornnce of the chosen itwestigation

Gonclusion

The conclusion must be clearly stated aod consistent with the evidence presented.

This section is a follow-up to section D. It requires an arutwer or conclusion, based on tlu evidencepresented, which either partially or fully addressei tle question stated or implied in tlre investigation.

List of sources

A bibliography or list of sources must be included dthough this will not fotm part of the wordcount

All sources, whetlpr written or otlenvise (ircluding intemiews), shottld be listed A recognized mgthod oflisting sources must be used cottsistently tlvoughout the iwestigation, for example, tle Hantud authfutesystem. It is recommended tlnt written sources be listed separately from non-writlen sources, forexample, web addresses, oral interviews.

Total 1,50S-2,(X)0 wotdsr 20 matks

E

F

Diploma Programnn History, lnbmal Ass€svnent TSM, tdldt ?004 - - , ; -.. *Toronto - Ganada - 131656