EE Research Guide Page |1

EE Research Guide
Writing your EE requires you to delve into good resources. There is no reason you should start
from scratch; begin by exploring some of the following resources that have been compiled for
you. This guide will help you throughout your research project. If you have any questions or
need any help, I am available in the library from 7:30-4:30 daily, occasional Saturdays and I can
always be reached at ashley.welch@cayintschool.ky or afarr@cayintschool.edu.ky.

Using print resources

Print resources are valuable tools when it comes to research. However, you live on an island
and purchasing/locating a print resource might be easier said than done. Print resources
include: books, magazines, journals, newspapers, encyclopedias, etc.

Our library catalog at CIS will help you locate resources on campus

https://cayintschool.follettdestiny.com (there is also a Destiny App you can download for free)

The library catalog for the Cayman Islands Public Library will provide you with other
valuable resources

http://www.cipl.gov.ky (there are several locations around the island)

When using the catalog, make sure your search terms are specific. Take advantage of advanced
search options.
If there is a book that you would like orderedI can take care of it for you. Please submit the
attached form to me ASAP and I will see about getting it ordered. These books will be ordered
through the library and will become part of the library collection, but can be checked out for
the entirety of the EE process.

Using Web resources

There are many options for search engines on the Web. It is important that you are using
search engines that are going to provide valuable and high-end results. Here are a few
suggestions.

Sweet Search- http://www.sweetsearch.com/

Google Scholar- http://scholar.google.com/
IPL- http://www.ipl.org/

Focusing on suggested search engines will help you find valuable resources quicker and easier!

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What is a valuable resource?

The Internet has loads of informationit also has loads of false information. When doing
research, it is important that you evaluate the resources you use for accurate and trustworthy
information. Apply the five points below to every resource before you begin taking notes.
Accuracy. Author and institution that published the page are present. Does it provide
contact information?
Authority. Your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred (.edu, .gov,
.org, or .net)
Objectivity. Your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is
objective in presenting the information
Currency. Your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the
links (if any) are also up-to-date and working
Coverage. You can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser
technology, or software requirement
These points are suggestionsthey do not guarantee that the resource you are using is
trustworthy. Use common sense!

Using databases
A database is a collection of information. Like Web sites, some databases are more reliable
than others. Below is a list of databases that we subscribe to, and others that have proven
beneficial by other IB students.
EBSCO- http://search.ebscohost.com/
Access academic journals, magazines, newspapers, books, reviews, reports, biographies
and primary source documents
Grolier- https://educator-slz01.scholasticlearningzone.com/auth/intl/Login/CYMYQKT
Access to reliable magazines, encyclopedia articles and Web sites
International Research Education Database- http://research.ibo.org/
Access journals, books, magazines, dissertations/thesis, reports, conferences,
films/broadcasts The Free Library- http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Periodicals-s1350
Online library of books, journals and articles
National Archives- http://www.archives.gov/research/start/
Documents and materials created by the US Government
If you are having trouble finding your topic on these databases, see Ms Ashley for additional
options

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Focus your search terms

Your search terms can make or break your research. If you are having trouble finding an
answer to your research question, it may be too specific. However, if you are having
trouble limiting the number of results, your search term(s) may be too broad.
Suggestions for developing strong and effective search terms
Limit number of words
Be descriptive. Focus your search.
Be specific
Use to focus search. Your search results will contain only the resources which
contain the phrase inside the quotation marks
Take advantage of advanced search options which utilize Boolean operators
(and, or, not)

Take advantage of the IB Resources site

Many of the links in this guide (and many more) can also be found on the CIS Library IB
Resource page- http://www.caymaninternationalschool.org/page.cfm?p=427. To access
this site either use the link given, or on the CIS homepage, click on Academics, choose
Library and on the left hand bar under Library, click on IB resources. There you will also find
tips for exemplar EEs and additional information categorized by IB subject.

EE Research Guide Page |4

Tips on formatting of the EE

This is a focus on a couple of the required sections of the extended essay.
Abstract: the purpose is to guide the reader. It should concisely highlight or review
the major points covered, along with the content and scope of the writing.
Suggestions:
o Include the Research Question & Thesis
o Outline the purpose and method of the paper
o Cover the scope of the investigation
o Detail limits and boundaries of your research
o What you are going to prove in your EE
o Outline key resources consulted
o Outline the conclusion reached in your EE
Donts:
o Do not commence with "this paper, "this report" or similar. It is better to
write about the research than about the paper.
o Do not explain the sections or parts of the paper.
o Avoid sentences that end in "is described", "is reported", "is analyzed" or
similar.
o Do not begin sentences with "it is suggested that "it is believed that", "it is
felt that"or similar. In every case, the four words can be omitted without
damaging the essential message.
o Do not repeat or rephrase the title.
o Do not refer in the abstract to information that is not in the document.
o If possible, avoid trade names, acronyms, abbreviations, or symbols. You would
need to explain them, and that takes too much room.

EE Research Guide Page |5

References and bibliography

There is not a prescribed citation format that you must use for the EE; however, the format
you choose, must be the one you use consistently throughout your paper.
Some of the most common types of citations include:

APA
MLA
Chicago style

The Purdue online writing lab proves to be a very helpful site for consultation when citing
sources. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
You may also find EasyBib- http://www.easybib.com/ and Citation Machinehttp://citationmachine.net/index2.php to be very helpful. These sites allow you to enter
the necessary information of a citation, and it creates the citation entry for you. However
helpful these sites are, be sure to double check the citations that are created, as they may
not be completely accurate.
In the next few pages you will find brief guides for APA, MLA and Chicago.

EE Research Guide Page |6

Citing Sources
APA
References page
1. All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half
inch from the left margin.
2. Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors
up to 7 names
3. Lists should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author
4. Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
5. When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of
the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and
proper nouns.
6. Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
7. Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal
articles or essays in edited collections.
Single author:
Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
Two authors:
Wegener, D. T., & Petty, R. E. (1994). Mood management across affective states: The
hedonic contingency hypothesis. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 66,
1034-1048.
Magazine article:
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.
Article in an encyclopedia:
Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501508). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica.
Article from a database:
Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of
Abnormal Eating, 8(3), 120-125.
Online newspaper article:
Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Web page:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from
http://Web address
Online magazine articles:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical,
volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Need extra help? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

EE Research Guide Page |7

In-text citations
Short quotes: According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she
did not offer an explanation as to why.
Long quotes:
Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time citing sources.
This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many
students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask
their teacher for help. (p. 199)
Unknown author: A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers
("Using APA," 2001).
Two authors in the same section: (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983).

EE Research Guide Page |8

Citing Sources
MLA
Works Cited page
1. This page is always going to be the last page of your essay or report. You should type the
words Works Cited and center it on the page.
2. Each entry must be complete and accurate.
3. Each entry reads like one long sentence. What this means is that it does not matter where
the second line begins in an entry; it begins on the second line only because you ran out of
room on the first line.
4. The second and subsequent lines are always indented five spaces.
5. The sources are listed alphabetically by the first word or name of the entry. This first word or
name should be what you use in your parenthetical citation.
Book with one author:
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
Book with more than one author:
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn,
2000. Print.
Book with no author:
Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.
Entry in a reference book:
"Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1997. Print.
Magazine article:
Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
Entire Web site:
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation
(if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
-Use n.p. if no publisher information is given and n.d. if no date
An article in a Web magazine:
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make
Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.
Article from online database:
Junge, Wolfgang, and Nathan Nelson. Nature's Rotary Electromotors. Science 29 Apr. 2005:
642-44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
Need extra help? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

EE Research Guide Page |9

In-text citations
Citing works within your text (in-text or in-project documentation)
To document your sources, cite the author's name and the page number of the source in
parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the final period:
Lowfat cream cheese can save you 300 grams of fat per year (Valenza 35).
If the author's name is used in your sentence, you may just refer to page numbers:
Copaset argues yellow simply does not interact well with khaki (45).
If you are referring to the whole work rather than a specific section, you may omit any reference
in parentheses:
Through his work, Bergers main thesis is that by using motifs, organic unity is easier to
achieve.

E E R e s e a r c h G u i d e P a g e | 10

Citing Sources
Chicago
1. Label the first page of your back matter, and your comprehensive list of sources,
Bibliography (for Notes and Bibliography style) or References (for Author Date style).
2. Each entry must be complete and accurate.
3. Each entry reads like one long sentence. What this means is that it does not matter where
the second line begins in an entry; it begins on the second line only because you ran out of
room on the first line.
4. The sources are listed alphabetically by the first word or name of the entry. This first word or
name should be what you use in your parenthetical citation.
5. Use and, not an ampersand for multi-author entries.

E E R e s e a r c h G u i d e P a g e | 11
Reference
Type

Notes--Footnotes & Endnotes [N]

3. David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun

Book: 1

Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and

Author

Arguments (Boston: Little, Brown and

Company, 1998), 45.
12. Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams,

Book: 2

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration

Authors

Changes Everything (New York: Portfolio,

Bibliography [B]

Parenthetical Text [T]

Wallace, David Foster. A Supposedly Fun Thing

I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments.

(Wallace 1998, 45)

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1998.

Tapscott, Don, and Anthony D. Williams.

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes
Everything. New York: Portfolio, 2006.

(Tapscott and Williams 2006, 15182)

2006), 151-82.
Book: Editor
or Compiler
(instead of
author)

7. Bernard O'Donoghue, trans., Sir Gawain

and the Green Knight (New York: Penguin,
2006), 36-7.

O'Donoghue, Bernard, trans. Sir Gawain and

the Green Knight. New York: Penguin, 2006.

(O'Donoghue 2006, 36-7)

4. Noah Baumbach, "The Zagat History of My Baumbach, Noah. "The Zagat History of My
Book:

Last Relationship," in Secret Ingredients: The Last Relationship." In Secret Ingredients: The

Chapter

New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, ed.

New Yorker Book of Food and Drink, edited by (Baumbach 2007, 409)

Contributor

David Remnick (New York: Random House,

David Remnick, 409-411. New York: Random

2007), 409.

House, 2007.

9. Benjamin A. Shaw and Linda S. Spokane,

Shaw, Benjamin A., and Linda S. Spokane.

"Examining the Association Between

"Examining the Association Between

Education Level and Physical Activity

Education Level and Physical Activity Changes (Shaw and Spokane 2008, 770)

Changes During Early Old Age," Journal of

During Early Old Age." Journal of Aging and

Aging and Health 20, no. 7 (2008): 770.

Health 20, no. 7 (2008): 767-787.

Journal
Article

Popular
Magazine
Article

11. Jeremy Miller, "The Tyranny of the Test:

One Year as a Kaplan Coach in the Public
Schools," Harper's Magazine, September

Miller, Jeremy. "The Tyranny of the Test: One

Year as a Kaplan Coach in the Public Schools." (Miller 2008, 39)
Harper's Magazine. September 2008.
2008, 39.
16. William S. Niederkorn, A Scholar Recants

Newspaper

on His Shakespeare Discovery, New York

Article

Times, June 20, 2002, Arts section, Midwest

edition.

Niederkorn, William S. A Scholar Recants on

His Shakespeare Discovery. New York Times, (Niederkorn 2002)
June 20, 2002, Arts section, Midwest edition.

E E R e s e a r c h G u i d e P a g e | 12

Thesis or

28. M. Amundin, Click Repetition Rate

Amundin, M. Click Repetition Rate Patterns

Dissertation

Patterns in Communicative Sounds from the

in Communicative Sounds from the Harbour

(Amundin 1991, 2229, 35)

Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena (PhD Porpoise, Phocoena phocoena. PhD diss.,
diss., Stockholm University, 1991), 2229, 35. Stockholm University, 1991.

Blackburn, William R. The Sustainability

6. Blackburn, William R. The Sustainability

Handbook: The Complete Management

Handbook: The Complete Management Guide

Electronic

Guide to Achieving Social, Economic and

to Achieving Social, Economic and

Book

Environmental Responsibility. London:

Environmental Responsibility. (London:

Earthscan, 2007. Available online at

Earthscan, 2007), 67. Available online at

http://www.ebrary.com.

http://www.ebrary.com.

Saper, Craig. "Toward A Visceral Scholarship

19. Saper, Craig. "Toward A Visceral

Online: Folkvine.org and Hypermedia

Scholarship Online: Folkvine.org and

Online

Ethnography.Journal of e-Media Studies, 1,

Hypermedia Ethnography.Journal of e-Media

Journal

issue 1 (2008).

Studies, 1, issue 1 (2008).

Article

http://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-

http://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-

(Blackburn 2007, 67)

(Saper 2008)

bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/2/xmlpage/4/ bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/2/xmlpage/4/a
article/285.

rticle/285.

Katz, James E. and Chih-Hui Lai."News

18. Katz, James E. and Chih-Hui Lai."News

Item in

Blogging in Cross-Cultural Contexts: A Report Blogging in Cross-Cultural Contexts: A Report

Online

on the Struggle for Voice." Knowledge,

Database

Technology, and Policy, 22, no. 2 (June 2009): Technology, and Policy, 22, no. 2 (June 2009):

on the Struggle for Voice." Knowledge,

95-107. http://www.springerlink.com.

95-107. http://www.springerlink.com.

The New York Public Library, "History,"

21. The New York Public Library. "History."

http://www.nypl.org/pr/history.cfm

http://www.nypl.org/pr/history.cfm.

(accessed December 22, 2008).

Accessed December 22, 2008.

Tankboy. "Rockin' Our Turntable: Sonic

17. Tankboy. "Rockin' Our Turntable: Sonic

Blog Entry or

Youth." Chicagoist. (June 23, 2009).

Youth." Chicagoist. (June 23, 2009).

Comment

http://chicagoist.com/2009/06/23/rockin_ou http://chicagoist.com/2009/06/23/rockin_our

Web Site

r_turntable_sonic_youth.php.

_turntable_sonic_youth.php.

Email

Amanda Holbrooke, email to James

25. Amanda Holbrooke, email to James

Message

McAninch, September 3, 2008.

McAninch, September 3, 2008.

(Katz and Lai 2009, 98)

(The New York Public Library)

(Tankboy 2009)

(Holbrooke 2008)

E E R e s e a r c h G u i d e P a g e | 13

Book Requests
Name: _________________________
Subject: _________________________________
Research question/Topic: ___________________________________
Books:

Title
1.
2.
3.

Author