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History IA topic ideas.


Euan Blair

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I'm falling behind on my history IA as I'm struggling to come up with a title.

I just thought of having one along the lines of "How did John F Kennedy's leadership affect the outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962".

Do you think this would be a suitable research question for the IA?

 

Thanks 

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Hey there!

 

I think you need to develop your RQ further. Have you done any reading at all so far? If you have not, can you really assume that JFK's leadership had any effect on the outcomes? That's what the question currently implies. I am sure there have been made arguments against that fact as well. Consider using 'to what extent' instead of 'how'. Also, what does 'leadership' entail? Leadership is a broad and vague term, try to specify this more - i.e. what particular aspect of his leadership affected the outcome. What do you mean by outcome? Did the Cuban Missile Crisis really have only one single outcome? If not, specify. Due to the limited scope of the IA, try focusing on only one or a few of the consequences. 

 

See my answer in this thread on how to develop a good RQ: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/27373-ee-film-rq/?p=206632

It was a reply to someone having an issue with their EE, but the process is similar, and applicable to the History IA. 

 

 

Good luck!

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Hey, I actually studied this topic back before my IB days! It's pretty interesting.

 

Regarding alefal's comments: There really isn't any debate about whether JFK influenced the outcome. He did. In fact, there is a wealth of evidence that JFK's handling of the situation is almost the only reason there wasn't nuclear war. Using "to what extent" thus doesn't make sense in this case. Might I suggest using "in what way" rather than "how"?

 

But other than that, I agree - your RQ isn't precise enough. Are you talking about military, political leadership? Of whom - the nation, EXCOMM, US-Soviet negotiations? Also, you may find it easier to focus on one part of the missile crisis rather than all 13 days. I mean, it doesn't sound like a lot, but those days were packed. Maybe look into JFK's discussions with EXCOMM about possible reactions to the discovery. Or something.

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