IA summative quiz

Which of the following isn't an aspect to be considered when planning your problem question?

• You’ll need to analyze data.  You can’t just report about data other people have collected.

• If you’re doing a controlled experiment - you’ll need at least 5 levels of your manipulated variable and 5 trials at each of those levels.  If possible, 10 trials is better.

• If you’re doing a correlation study - you’ll need at least 30-100 data points (depending on how easy data is to collect) in order to draw a conclusion.

• If you’re doing an experiment with human subjects you’ll need to consider random sampling of individuals and report it in the Appendix section.

Answer explanation

As you are planning your problem question, keep in mind the following:

1.     You’ll need to analyze data.  You can’t just report about data other people have collected.

2.     If you’re doing a controlled experiment - you’ll need at least 5 levels of your manipulated variable and 5 trials at each of those levels.  If possible, 10 trials is better.

3.     If you’re doing a correlation study - you’ll need at least 30-100 data points (depending on how easy data is to collect) in order to draw a conclusion.

Everyone who is going to investigate human subjects… consider yourself warned… These historically do not score well by the IB because there are so many limitations and uncontrolled variables.  You MUST get informed consent and have large (like 100) samples or lots (like, LOTS) of repeated measures.  So, CAUTION

Which one isn't a reliable source to include in a background research section of an internal assessment report?

• An article from "la Recherche" magazine

• A paper published in the "Biotropica" journal

• The unpublished results of a Master's thesis on your research subject by a student from Javeriana University.

• An article from the Khan academy website

Answer explanation

The definition of a credible source can change depending on the discipline, but in general, for academic writing, a credible source is one that is unbiased and is backed up with evidence.

Open the internal assessment methodology proposal task and answer the following question:

What is the best definition for "validity"?

• Refers to the consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions)

• Refers to the accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure)

Open the internal assessment methodology proposal task and answer the following question:

To what aspect of an experimental-based IA do the following questions refer?

1) How will you attempt to minimize waste?

2) Are human consent forms required?

3) If working outside, how will you minimize your impact?

• Variable # 2

• Variable # 1

• Validity measures

• Safety and ethics

Open the methodology proposal task document and answer:

Which type of internal assessment involves sampling?

• Simulation-based internal assessment

• Database-based internal assessment

• Experimental-based internal assessment

• Computer-based internal assessment

Which research question isn´t suitable for an internal assessment experiment?

• What is the effect of different concentrations of kinetin on leaves aging and the biosynthesis of chlorophyll?

• To what extent does vaccination against COVID affect individuals with chronic Asthma?

• What is the effect of increasing temperature on the rate of lipid breakdown by the enzyme lipase?

• How does the level of urease activity differ between dried and fresh soybeans?

Answer explanation

This research question involves human subjects and requires secondary research, which takes a long time and isn´t the best option for a short-term investigation

Open the internal assessment background research task document and answer the following question: which one of these aspects isn´t part of the background research?

• Include a list of works cited

• Describe the organism or biologically relevant molecule being studied

• Explain your expectations (i.e. state a hypothesis)

• State the control variables and how you will control them throughout the experiment

Answer explanation

The only variables explicitly stated in this task were the dependent and independent variables.