Extended Essay Topics: 100 IB EE Research Questions by Subject

A good extended essay topic is a narrow research question you can answer in 4,000 words with evidence you can actually get, such as "To what extent did rationing change the diets of British working-class families between 1940 and 1945?" rather than "World War II". Below are 100 IB extended essay topics sorted by subject, each written as a focused research question with a short note on what makes it arguable or where the evidence is contested.

Use them as starting points. Your supervisor will push you to narrow any of these further, and that is a good sign.

Extended Essay Rules at a Glance (Checked November 2026)

The IB revised the extended essay for students first assessed in May 2027. If you sit exams in November 2026, you are on the previous model; everyone after that uses the new one. The basics, as summarized by IB schools and the published 2027 guide, last checked November 2026:

Discussion and evaluation carries the most marks, which tells you what kind of topic to pick: one where sources, data or interpretations disagree, so you have something to weigh. Always confirm details with your EE coordinator, because your school works from the official guide and its updates.

What Makes a Good Extended Essay Topic

Most weak extended essays fail at the topic stage, not the writing stage. Run every idea through four checks.

• It is narrow. A topic you could write a book about is too big. Limit it by place, time period, text, organism, data set or variable.
• It can be researched with what you have. A chemistry question needs equipment your school owns. A history question needs sources in a language you read.
• It has a real debate. If every source gives the same answer, you have a report, not an essay. Criterion D rewards weighing competing evidence.
• It fits a subject's methods. An economics essay uses economic theory and data. A psychology essay uses studies and research methods. Pick the subject whose tools fit the question.

From Broad Topic to Research Question

"To what extent" and "how far" questions work well because they force a judgment rather than a description.

English EE Topics (Language and Literature)

English extended essays reward close reading of a small number of texts and a clear argument about how they work.

1. How does Mary Shelley use the narrative frame in Frankenstein to shape sympathy for the creature? Critics split on whether the frame builds or undercuts that sympathy.
2. To what extent is Jay Gatsby presented as a victim rather than a fraud in The Great Gatsby? Both readings have strong textual support.
3. How does Toni Morrison use fragmented chronology in Beloved to represent trauma? Readers disagree on whether the structure clarifies or withholds.
4. How do two English translations of the same poem change its tone? Translation choices are always arguable.
5. How does Orwell use language control in Nineteen Eighty-Four to show political power? Compare Newspeak with the novel's other control methods.
6. How far does the unreliable narrator in The Remains of the Day invite the reader to judge him? Sympathy versus critique.
7. How do song lyrics by a single artist use repetition to build an argument? Treat lyrics as a literary text with a narrow corpus.
8. To what extent does the ending of Things Fall Apart reframe the whole novel? The final paragraph's shift in point of view is widely debated.

History EE Topics

History essays need a focused question, a defined period and sources you can evaluate for origin and purpose.

9. To what extent was propaganda responsible for public support of rationing in Britain from 1940 to 1945?
10. How significant was the 1918 influenza pandemic in shaping public health policy in one city? Pick a city with accessible archives.
11. To what extent did the Marshall Plan cause Western Europe's postwar recovery? Historians weigh aid against domestic policy.
12. How far did the printing press accelerate the spread of the Reformation in German towns?
13. Why did the Berlin Wall fall in November 1989 rather than earlier? Structural pressure versus contingent events.
14. To what extent was the Dust Bowl caused by farming practices rather than drought?
15. How reliable are oral histories as evidence for your local community's history in a specific decade? Method question with a debate built in.
16. To what extent did the Meiji Restoration's reforms depend on Western models?

Economics EE Topics

Economics essays apply a specific theory to a specific market with real data. Local markets make good topics because you can gather primary data.

17. How has the opening of a large discount store affected prices at nearby independent grocers?
18. To what extent has a sugar tax changed soft drink consumption in a country that introduced one? Evidence on size of effect varies.
19. How price elastic is demand for public transport fares in my city?
20. What effect has remote work had on commercial rents in one downtown area?
21. To what extent do surge pricing models allocate rides efficiently in a single city?
22. How have rising interest rates affected first-time home buyers in one region?

Psychology EE Topics

Psychology essays usually evaluate published studies rather than run new experiments on people, so pick a question with a body of research that disagrees.

23. To what extent can the bystander effect be explained by diffusion of responsibility?
24. How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy compared with medication for adolescent anxiety?
25. To what extent does social media use affect self-esteem in teenagers? Findings range from small to negligible effects.
26. How reliable is eyewitness testimony under stress?
27. To what extent is the ego depletion effect supported by replication studies? Replication attempts have produced mixed results.
28. How does bilingualism affect executive function? Researchers disagree on whether an advantage exists.

Biology EE Topics

Biology questions should name the organism, the variable and how you will measure it. For more ideas, see our biology topics list.

29. How does salt concentration affect the germination rate of radish seeds?
30. What is the effect of caffeine concentration on the heart rate of Daphnia?
31. How does light intensity affect the rate of photosynthesis in Elodea?
32. To what extent does garlic extract inhibit the growth of common bacteria compared with a standard antiseptic?
33. How does trampling affect plant species diversity along a school footpath?
34. What is the effect of temperature on the activity of the enzyme catalase from potato?

Chemistry EE Topics

Chemistry essays live on a controlled experiment and careful uncertainty analysis.

35. How does temperature affect the vitamin C content of orange juice over time?
36. What is the effect of pH on the rate of corrosion of iron nails?
37. How does the concentration of a catalyst affect the decomposition rate of hydrogen peroxide?
38. How do different brewing times affect the caffeine content of tea?
39. To what extent do natural indicators from red cabbage match a commercial indicator's accuracy?
40. How does the type of fat affect the iodine value of cooking oils?

Physics EE Topics

Physics questions need one independent variable you can change cleanly and a measurement you can repeat.

41. How does the drop height affect the bounce height of a table tennis ball?
42. How does string tension affect the frequency of a guitar string?
43. What is the effect of magnet strength on the damping of a pendulum through a copper tube?
44. How does the angle of a solar panel affect its power output across a day?
45. How does water temperature affect the speed of sound through it?
46. What is the relationship between the length of a ruler overhang and its vibration frequency?

Math EE Topics

Math essays explore a concept beyond the syllabus and apply it with clear reasoning. Pick something you can explain, not just cite.

47. How can graph theory find the most efficient route for a school bus?
48. To what extent does Benford's law describe population figures for towns in my country?
49. How accurately can a logistic model predict the spread of a local outbreak?
50. How can game theory explain bidding strategies in sealed-bid auctions?
51. How do different voting methods change the winner in the same election data? Different rules can produce different winners.
52. What is the optimal shape for a drink can that minimizes material?

Computer Science EE Topics

Computer science essays usually compare algorithms or approaches with your own tests.

53. How does the efficiency of quicksort compare with merge sort on nearly sorted data?
54. To what extent do different pathfinding algorithms trade speed for optimal routes in grid games?
55. How effective are different compression algorithms for text versus images?
56. How accurately can a simple machine learning model classify handwritten digits with small training sets?
57. To what extent does password length outperform complexity rules against brute-force attacks?
58. How do caching strategies affect load time on a small website?

Geography and Environmental Systems Topics

Fieldwork is your advantage here. Choose a site you can visit more than once.

59. How does land use affect water quality along a local river?
60. To what extent has a new bike lane changed traffic flow on one street?
61. How does distance from a city center affect urban heat island intensity?
62. To what extent has tourism changed the character of one neighborhood?
63. How effective is a coastal defense at reducing erosion along one beach?
64. How does microplastic concentration vary between beaches near and far from a city?
65. To what extent is a local recycling program diverting waste from landfill?
66. How does canopy cover affect bird species diversity in urban parks?

Global Politics and Philosophy EE Topics

These subjects reward questions where reasonable people disagree, which makes them close cousins of debate.

67. To what extent are international sanctions effective at changing state behavior?
68. How far has social media changed the way protest movements organize?
69. To what extent does the United Nations Security Council veto limit its effectiveness?
70. Is lying ever morally permissible under a Kantian framework?
71. To what extent can the trolley problem guide decisions by self-driving cars?
72. Do we have moral obligations to future generations? Philosophers disagree on whether future people can have rights.
73. To what extent does compulsory voting improve democratic legitimacy?

Business Management EE Topics

Business essays work best when focused on one organization with available data.

74. To what extent has a local café's loyalty program increased repeat customers?
75. How effective was one brand's switch to sustainable packaging at changing customer perception?
76. To what extent should a small retailer expand into online sales?
77. How has a four-day work week trial affected productivity at one company?
78. What factors drove one startup's decision to rebrand?

Visual Arts and Music EE Topics

Arts essays analyze works and their contexts, often with visits to galleries or performances.

79. How does Impressionism's treatment of light reflect new paint technology?
80. To what extent did street art in one city change public attitudes to graffiti?
81. How does a film score use leitmotif to shape the audience's view of a character?
82. How did sampling change the structure of hip hop production?
83. To what extent does a museum's display design change how visitors interpret a work?
84. How has digital distribution changed the length of popular songs?

Interdisciplinary EE Topics

The interdisciplinary pathway lets you combine two or more subjects around one question. The test: would the question be weaker if you dropped either subject?

85. How has the use of color in political campaign posters influenced voter perceptions? Visual arts and global politics.
86. To what extent can economic incentives increase recycling rates in my school? Economics and environmental systems.
87. How does the chemistry of fermentation explain the history of bread making in one culture? Chemistry and history.
88. How accurately do statistics on screen time reflect actual student behavior? Math and psychology.
89. To what extent has climate change altered traditional farming calendars in one region? Geography and history.
90. How does the physics of acoustics explain the design of one concert hall? Physics and music.
91. To what extent do algorithms in streaming apps shape listening habits? Computer science and psychology.
92. How has medical imaging changed the way artists represent the human body? Biology and visual arts.

Turn Your Research Question Into a Debate

Criterion D asks you to weigh evidence on both sides. A quick way to test whether your topic has two sides is to state it as a resolution and argue each side for a few minutes.

93. Sugar taxes are an effective way to reduce consumption. Revenue and health gains versus regressive costs. Debate this →
94. Self-driving cars should be programmed to minimize total casualties. Utilitarian logic versus individual rights. Debate this →
95. Compulsory voting should be adopted in democracies. Turnout and legitimacy versus freedom not to vote. Debate this →
96. Social media does more harm than good to teenagers. Connection and support versus anxiety and sleep loss. Debate this →
97. International sanctions do more harm than good. Pressure on governments versus harm to civilians. Debate this →
98. Museums should return artifacts to their countries of origin. Cultural heritage versus preservation and access. Debate this →
99. Eyewitness testimony alone should not be enough to convict. Reliability concerns versus losing real evidence. Debate this →
100. Four-day work weeks should become the standard. Productivity and wellbeing versus coverage and cost. Debate this →

How to Choose Your Extended Essay Topic

1. Start with a subject you are taking and enjoy. You will spend months on this.
2. List three questions that genuinely puzzle you. Curiosity carries you through the dull research weeks.
3. Check the evidence. Before you commit, find five credible sources or confirm you can run the experiment.
4. Narrow until it hurts. Then narrow once more.
5. Test for disagreement. If you cannot name an opposing view, pick a different question.

Practice Defending Your Research Question

Your viva voce is a conversation where you explain and defend your choices out loud. Practice helps. Pick one of the resolutions above, take a side, and argue it against an AI opponent on Debate Ladder. You get timed opening, rebuttal and closing rounds, an AI judge's score, and a rating that shows you improving.

More Topic Lists

For shorter source-based papers, see research essay topics. For a science-heavy essay, biology topics has more research questions by field, and ethical debate topics works well for philosophy or global politics ideas. Every topic list on the site is collected in the complete guide to debate topics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good extended essay topic? A good topic is a narrow research question you can answer in 4,000 words, with sources or data you can access and evidence that points in more than one direction.

How long is the IB extended essay? The maximum is 4,000 words. Ask your coordinator exactly which parts count toward the limit, and plan to use most of it.

Can I write an interdisciplinary extended essay? Yes. From the May 2027 session, students can choose a subject-focused or an interdisciplinary pathway that combines two or more subjects around one question.

How is the extended essay graded? For assessments from May 2027, the essay is marked against five criteria worth 30 marks in total, with Discussion and evaluation carrying the most weight.

Which subject is easiest for the extended essay? No subject is easy. The best choice is one you study, enjoy, and can research with sources or equipment you can reach.

How do I turn a topic into a research question? Narrow it by place, time, text or variable, and phrase it as "to what extent" or "how" so the answer needs a judgment.