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Writing a good Historical Investigation


Survival Robot

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey! Does anyone know whether I can evaluate a documentary on my topic as a source?

Thanks! :)

Yes, you can evaluate it. Treat it like any other secondary source, what are the pitfalls? Who has prepared the documentary? Is it someone from the US or the West in general when discussing something like the Cold War or the Vietnam War or some such? In which year was this documentary filmed? Is that significant? Just general common sense stuff you can think off should do it, tbh.

Hello,

I am doing my IA on the following topic (which of the explanations of the origins of the Holocaust is more compelling- the internationalist or functionalist interpretations?) can anyone please help me where can I get more information about it? I don't understand the question very well. So please anyone can help me I will very appreciate it. Thanks!! :)

The reason you don't understand this topic is because you've just picked an IA topic that you think will get you a good mark. This is one of the most overdone IA topics in History and you are setting yourself up for disaster by doing this. Especially since you've apparently picked a topic you don't even understand.

Find an aspect of you country's local history you find interesting and do it on that, you will have a much better shot a getting a higher grade. Just saying.

Is a question like "Why did Kennedy implement the blockade in Cuba in 1962?" too broad for this IA? Thanks!

Another generic overdone to death topic. Why is originality so dead (or overtaken by laziness)?

Both you and Nargess should read this post on The Most Overdone History IA Topics.

Edited by Arrowhead
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  • 5 weeks later...

HELLO EVERYONE.

i have a huge problem with my IA, 1. I'm late, and 2. my Q is about Kristallnacht :

To what extend can the Kristallnacht be considered the first of the Holocaust?

now the thing is I need a resource that is against this statement and one for. The one that agrees on this is impossible to find (I know it isn't the first act that's why its hard to find :S), but please could anyone help me?

thank you so much :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hey everybody, could someone PLEASE explain the difference between summary of evidence and the analysis !! I dont understand .. thanks alot !!!! :hmmm:

The summary of evidence is all of the relevant information that pertains to your IA question. For example if you did your IA on how important World War I was in causing the first Russian Revolution your summary of evidence would be the large number of deaths, the fact that the tsarina was German made people feel like she was a traitor, the army's dismal failures lead by the tsar himself made everyone angry, and the strain it put on the economy and the people due to the suffering and shortages they had.

The analysis, on the other hand, is evaluating the evidence you have as it relates to your question. So you would take each of those areas you listed (army failures, sufferings/shortages, hard feelings towards the tsar, etc) and analyze how important that factor was. You could say something like "the army's failures led to a lack of morale, and with the tsar in charge of the army he basically assumed all responsibility for the army's failure. This caused people to grow upset with him and eventually want him out of power." Something along those lines, obviously written more sophisticatedly than that though. :P You'll use your analysis to answer your question and come to a conclusion that you'll state in Part E.

However, you shouldn't do this IA topic because everyone knows it's important, it's a cliche topic and you study it in class. :P It was just an example I could think of off the top of my head.

Hope this explained it better :)

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Can someone help me about analysis part?I am really confused with it

Basically in the analysis part you will analyze all the information that you wrote in your summary of evidence section. Think of it like writing an essay. The evidence that you would provide (statistics, events, etc) is Part B, and then you will show how it answers your question in Part D. Refer back to it in your analysis, but don't repeat it all over again. Don't introduce new evidence (if you want to add something else, just put it in Part B) either. :)

Pretend my IA question was "To what extent did Hitler hate Jews?". I would set it up like this:

Part B:

- created laws that discriminated against Jewish people

- anti-semitic propaganda

- Kristallnacht

- sending Jews to concentration camps as part of the Final Solution

Part D :

- the laws that Hitler created showed how he didn't see them as equal German citizens

- the propaganda shows he felt they were the cause of Germany's problems and were "evil"

- Kristallnacht shows his tolerance for violence towards them

- sending Jews to concentration camps shows he wanted to exterminate them as a race

Part E (conclusion): Hitler didn't like Jews because he did all those other things that showed he had a deep hatred for them.

That's obviously not my IA topic by the way XD But you see how you would break it down into sections, one with evidence and one analyzing it.

Edited by emyski
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  • 4 weeks later...

so my HI topic is due tomorrow, and I was wondering which one of these was the most unique and suited to ib?

To what extent did John Hawkyns play a role in the English slave trade, and its methods?

To what extent did economic issues influence the ending of the cold war?

To what extent were the main principles of communism put into practice during the communist reign of Stalin?

To what extent did the philosphers/intellectuals of the time influence the beginning of the French Revolution?

A comparison/contrast between Napoleon Bonaparte and Hitler (their propaganda usage? or their impact on modern history?)< i dont really know where to go with that one:P

To what extent did the french revolution improve the social, economic, and political rights of women?

If someone whos done this already could let me know, what to do, or other good topics for the HI, thatd be great! Im really interested in the French Revolution, and topics that aren't commonly used. :)

Edited by hannaj
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I'd do this: To what extent were the main principles of communism put into practice during the communist reign of Stalin? or change it into "to what extent was Stalin a leader following the rules of communism" :)

The topics about Cuban missile crisis are nice to write, i wrote for example : To what extent was the outbreak of a nuclear war possible in October 1961 due to the cuban missile crisis?

So you could do for example To what extent was Fidel Castro's policy important in the Cuban missile crisis?

Thare are many letters from Khrushchev to Kennedy writing about the problem, as well as a good documentary on Youtube Defcon 3. Generally, there are many good and easily available sources from the modern American history.

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Can someone help me about analysis part?I am really confused with it

Basically in the analysis part you will analyze all the information that you wrote in your summary of evidence section. Think of it like writing an essay. The evidence that you would provide (statistics, events, etc) is Part B, and then you will show how it answers your question in Part D. Refer back to it in your analysis, but don't repeat it all over again. Don't introduce new evidence (if you want to add something else, just put it in Part B) either. :)

Pretend my IA question was "To what extent did Hitler hate Jews?". I would set it up like this:

Part B:

- created laws that discriminated against Jewish people

- anti-semitic propaganda

- Kristallnacht

- sending Jews to concentration camps as part of the Final Solution

Part D :

- the laws that Hitler created showed how he didn't see them as equal German citizens

- the propaganda shows he felt they were the cause of Germany's problems and were "evil"

- Kristallnacht shows his tolerance for violence towards them

- sending Jews to concentration camps shows he wanted to exterminate them as a race

Part E (conclusion): Hitler didn't like Jews because he did all those other things that showed he had a deep hatred for them.

That's obviously not my IA topic by the way XD But you see how you would break it down into sections, one with evidence and one analyzing it.

Thank you for this, but I have one issue. I have different interpretations of historians which were only mentioned in part D, so from your opinion should I delete them or add to first part. These interpretations were taken from the books which were referenced in the part B

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Can someone help me about analysis part?I am really confused with it

Basically in the analysis part you will analyze all the information that you wrote in your summary of evidence section. Think of it like writing an essay. The evidence that you would provide (statistics, events, etc) is Part B, and then you will show how it answers your question in Part D. Refer back to it in your analysis, but don't repeat it all over again. Don't introduce new evidence (if you want to add something else, just put it in Part B) either. :)

Pretend my IA question was "To what extent did Hitler hate Jews?". I would set it up like this:

Part B:

- created laws that discriminated against Jewish people

- anti-semitic propaganda

- Kristallnacht

- sending Jews to concentration camps as part of the Final Solution

Part D :

- the laws that Hitler created showed how he didn't see them as equal German citizens

- the propaganda shows he felt they were the cause of Germany's problems and were "evil"

- Kristallnacht shows his tolerance for violence towards them

- sending Jews to concentration camps shows he wanted to exterminate them as a race

Part E (conclusion): Hitler didn't like Jews because he did all those other things that showed he had a deep hatred for them.

That's obviously not my IA topic by the way XD But you see how you would break it down into sections, one with evidence and one analyzing it.

Thank you for this, but I have one issue. I have different interpretations of historians which were only mentioned in part D, so from your opinion should I delete them or add to first part. These interpretations were taken from the books which were referenced in the part B

Part of reaching the top markbands for Part D is having different interpretations of historians if it is applicable to your topic (which aparently it is). You don't really need to have these in Part B, so don't add them. But don't delete them either, they are good to have. Just leave them in your Part D. :)

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Can someone help me about analysis part?I am really confused with it

Basically in the analysis part you will analyze all the information that you wrote in your summary of evidence section. Think of it like writing an essay. The evidence that you would provide (statistics, events, etc) is Part B, and then you will show how it answers your question in Part D. Refer back to it in your analysis, but don't repeat it all over again. Don't introduce new evidence (if you want to add something else, just put it in Part B) either. :)

Pretend my IA question was "To what extent did Hitler hate Jews?". I would set it up like this:

Part B:

- created laws that discriminated against Jewish people

- anti-semitic propaganda

- Kristallnacht

- sending Jews to concentration camps as part of the Final Solution

Part D :

- the laws that Hitler created showed how he didn't see them as equal German citizens

- the propaganda shows he felt they were the cause of Germany's problems and were "evil"

- Kristallnacht shows his tolerance for violence towards them

- sending Jews to concentration camps shows he wanted to exterminate them as a race

Part E (conclusion): Hitler didn't like Jews because he did all those other things that showed he had a deep hatred for them.

That's obviously not my IA topic by the way XD But you see how you would break it down into sections, one with evidence and one analyzing it.

Thank you for this, but I have one issue. I have different interpretations of historians which were only mentioned in part D, so from your opinion should I delete them or add to first part. These interpretations were taken from the books which were referenced in the part B

Part of reaching the top markbands for Part D is having different interpretations of historians if it is applicable to your topic (which aparently it is). You don't really need to have these in Part B, so don't add them. But don't delete them either, they are good to have. Just leave them in your Part D. :)

Thank you :)))

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what would be a good question that i could ask about feminism during the french revolution for my HI topic?

What was the role of women in the French revolution?

To what extent can be the French Revolution be considered as a feminist movement?

What was the feminist contribution during the French Revolution?

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yea that helps thank you :) like i was thinking of to what extent did the french revolution improve the social, economic, and political rights of women, but then i did some research and realized that it didnt really improve them although there was debate about women and their rights, and there were several feminist movements.

so thanks!

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