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Biology (lab report) research question needed


Coping.with.IB

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Hey guys,

Thanks for entering this topic.

I have to do an extended essay in Biology which is more of a huge lab report. I chose the topic of breast cancer. For this topic, I have the statistical representation, answers to 'wh' questions and stuff for my homeland. But I am still undecided about my research question. You guys have at some point made really good lab reports in IB, so I thought I'd ask in general. Please do participate and come up with possibly suitable research questions. I'd appreciate it a lot, really. Thanks XD

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Personally I think this might end up being a bit of a bad choice - pretty much only because I don't see how you can perform an experiment on this yourself in the lab! No central experiment = bad EE grade. It's an interesting area, but the way I see it, it's difficult to do much in a school lab.

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Thanks for replying guys. Oh well it's all Biology I'm doing not EE. And we're having our summer vacation at the moment. So I'm planning to do it over the vacation without help of the lab. Regarding the data, I volunteer at a cancer society here which is very much willing to give me all the data for the breast cancer including the stats and stuff like I mentioned above. But do you think it is a bad idea? Because I think if I do arrange all the information together, I can come up with a great report. And all I need to get started though is that suitable research question which I am still trying to figure out.

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Yeah, I do think it's a bad idea, as I said YOU need to do an experiment for a good Biology EE. Not just read stats and then come up with a report on it. That is, if you want to get a good EE grade. It is possible to pass the EE with a research-based essay, but as a rule of experience, not possible to score higher than a C. It depends if you want your bonus points or not. Literature reviews are for some reason not appreciated by the IB people so my strong advice to anybody considering doing one is always to try and switch to doing an experimental EE instead. It limits your options (particularly in terms of anything relating to humans) and you have the hassle of having to find time to be in the lab and conduct the experiment, but it's key if you want the grade.

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I think you probably are right. But I am looking for an EE where I can collect data from hospitals about a disease or something like that and then explain it. Do you think something like that would fetch me good enough grades or shall I give away the topics related to collecting from hospitals? And if so could you suggest me a few good topics I can do for the EE? Thanks.

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Is collecting data from hospitals = you doing your own experiment? Answer = no. So, no! You need to do an experiment, as I said before.

You need to do your own experiment and, as it's your EE, you also have to come up with it. We can't do that for you, I'm afraid. Coming up with the area of research is one of the hardest bits of the EE but you're marked on it so it's your task!

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I'd say that both of the above questions sound doable – so long as you have easy access to different soils/area where you can plant the soil. And if you intend to do the first title you will need a lot (and by that I mean A LOT - eg: 40+) of people to test it on so as to have enough data for the experiment to be valid. Personally, I would say that the second one sounds more interesting since I have a kind of feeling that the first one has probably been done by numerous people every year.. It is of course up to you to decide which title you are more drawn to and would prefer to research and invest a lot of time in.

Keep researching until you find something you really like the sound of, and good luck! :)

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Just make sure you have some decent ways of analysing the soil and then I would also agree that the second one is more of a winner ;)

One word to the wise: treat your plants with love and respect. Any living beastie (but especially plants) used in an experiment seems to know it's under surveillance and will do its utmost to die and ruin your experiment. Your plants will probably be fine but definitely make sure they're in otherwise ideal conditions, watered etc. and try to make sure that they stand a chance of being grown before any school holidays or anything where they might undergo neglect. It's worth delaying your experiment a bit to get the optimum timing. I have had experiments ruined myself in this manner and when you find out you've basically wasted 4-5 weeks worth of work because whatever you're using has got an infection or died is very, very tragic!

Good luck! :)

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  • 3 years later...

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