EPQ Guide: Planning

Generating initial ideas:

1. Think about your interests outside the classroom then decide whether they might be suitable for academic study.
2. Think about your A-level subjects. Which would (and wouldn't) you enjoy exploring in more depth?
3. Make a list of the topics (for one or more different subject areas) that you have enjoyed in that subject area and a list of topics you haven’t covered but wish you had. You might want to chat to your teachers or have a look in your textbooks.
4. Think about any career aspirations you might have, or any ideas for further study, and they could point you in a direction.

Go back to your brainstormed list of topics:

• Eliminate any that you don’t really want to write about and focus on the rest.
• Use the ideas on the mind map below to examine these topics and decide which might be worth further exploration. You might choose to make a mind map like this for some of your topics. This particular map was originally produced for the IB Extended Essay but is largely just as relevant for the EPQ.

Before deciding on a topic you should do some preliminary research to see what information is out there. Make a few brief notes as you go.

• General internet browsing: You could begin with some freestyle internet searching on a broad topic that interests you. Search for your topic online, give yourself an hour to follow links and see where they take you – keeping an EE focus, of course!
• Subscription Databases: While you will almost certainly search the databases extensively for your research once you have chosen a topic, you can also browse them to help you to chose one. See the 'Browsing our subscription databases' box below for advice on the best ones to choose for this. Using the subscription databases to help you to choose a topic also means that you are guaranteed to be able to find high quality information on that topic.
• Talk to your teachers, friends and family

Put your notes away, forget about what you have read for a few days, then see what you remember.  This time and distance is important as it is likely that you will remember what is of most interest to you, and so the angle you should develop.

You are likely to have used our databases in the past to search for information on specific topics, but many of them are also excellent when browsing for ideas. I have made some suggestions below. You will need to access them from the list on our Subscription Databases page (using the log in information given if you are not on the school network).

As you start to explore your topic, you may find sources that you would like to return to once your ideas have settled down a bit. Keep a record of these in a resource like the Annotated Bibliography (right).

Oxford Very Short Introductions

An excellent series of ebooks providing a short, academic introduction to a wide range of topics. Choose to browse by subject or use the excellent search facility if you know which topic you are interested in.

Britannica

An online encyclopaedia that you can trust and cite! Choose 'Advanced' then 'Explore: Articles' to browse Britannica in a range of different subject areas.

Hodder Review Magazines

Browsing these magazines may be a good way to identify a broad topic of interest. You can either use the search facility or browse different issues of a specific title.

Gale in context: Opposing viewpoints is good for looking at both sides of a debate. It contains text and video resources from newspapers, magazines, academic journals and websites, and is easy to browse by topic.

Other, subject-specific resources

• Drama: Drama Online
• Economics: Access Global Newsbank
• English literature: Connell Guides, EBSCO Literary Reference Centre, emagazine and MASSOLIT (a video-based resource)
• Music: , Oxford Music including Naxos Music Library
• Politics: Access Global Newsbank

Questions to ask yourself when choosing a working title and making an action plan:

1. Will this topic allow me to investigate and to plan, research, analyse, evaluate and explain, rather than simply describe and narrate?
2. Am I going to be able to manage this within the timescale, available resources and word limit (5000 words for a written project alone, 1000 words for a project that includes an artefact)? Is it focussed enough?
3. Can I carry out this project independently, safely and ethically? (see Ethical Guidelines, right)
4. Will I be able to approach this in a balanced and impartial way, or am I already biased by strong opinions and feelings?
5. Am I going to be able to understand all the concepts involved at an appropriate level?