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Extended Essay Topics by Subject: 60 Research Questions That Work
24th August, 2026 | Abhishek Malani | 14 Min Read
Introduction
Staring at a blank page trying to invent your own extended essay topic is genuinely one of the harder parts of the IB Diploma, there’s no prescribed title to react to here, just a blank slate and roughly 40 hours of independent research ahead of you. At Quest for Success, we’ve pulled together 60 ideas for extended essay research questions across ten commonly chosen subjects, each written the way a genuinely well-scoped EE topic should look: narrow, answerable, and specific enough to sustain real analysis across 4,000 words. Think of this less as a list to copy directly and more as a set of extended essay examples showing what a workable research question actually looks like in each subject.
Table of Contents
What Makes a Strong Extended Essay Topic
Before jumping into subject-specific extended essay examples, it helps to know what separates a strong research question from a weak one. Across every subject, the same core traits show up again and again:
- Narrow enough to answer in 4,000 words: A question like “How does climate change affect agriculture?” is a textbook topic, not a research question; a strong EE question narrows that down to a specific crop, region, and timeframe.
- Genuinely analytical, not just descriptive: The strongest questions ask “to what extent,” “how,” or “why,” inviting evaluation and argument rather than a straightforward factual answer.
- Supported by accessible sources or data: A fascinating question you can’t actually find enough evidence to answer in depth will stall out regardless of how interesting it sounds.
- Connected to genuine curiosity: Examiners can tell the difference between a topic chosen because it looked achievable and one chosen because the student actually wanted the answer, and that difference shows up in the quality of the final essay.
- Appropriately scoped to your subject’s methodology: A History EE and a Biology EE require completely different kinds of evidence and argument structure; a strong topic fits naturally within how your chosen subject actually investigates questions.
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EE Structure: What the IB Actually Requires
Every Extended Essay, regardless of subject, shares the same core framework. You’ll choose between two research pathways: a subject-focused pathway, investigating a question within a single DP subject, or an interdisciplinary pathway, integrating two subjects into a single research question. Either way, the essay itself is capped at a strict 4,000 words, examiners stop reading at that limit, and most strong essays land in the 3,500 to 4,000 word range to demonstrate full development without pushing right up against the ceiling. You’ll also work with a supervisor across the process, documenting your reflection and progress as part of the final assessment, and the completed project can contribute bonus points toward your overall Diploma score when combined with a strong Theory of Knowledge grade. Across roughly 40 hours of independent work, the goal is the same in every subject: a focused research question, genuinely investigated, not a broad topic summarized.
60 Extended Essay Topics by Subject
Biology
- 1. To what extent does water temperature affect the rate of photosynthesis in a specific local aquatic plant species?
- 2. How does antibiotic concentration affect the growth rate of a specific bacterial culture over time?
- 3. To what extent does urban light pollution affect the nocturnal activity patterns of a specific local insect species?
- 4. How does salinity level affect germination rates in a specific crop species relevant to a named region?
- 5. To what extent does microplastic concentration in soil affect root growth in a common local plant species?
- 6. How does caffeine concentration affect heart rate in a specific model organism (such as Daphnia) under controlled conditions?
Chemistry
- 7. To what extent does pH level affect the rate of enzymatic browning in a specific fruit?
- 8. How does the concentration of a specific catalyst affect the rate of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide?
- 9. To what extent do different solvents affect the extraction efficiency of a specific natural pigment?
- 10. How does temperature affect the corrosion rate of a specific metal in a defined saline environment?
- 11. To what extent does the concentration of citric acid affect the effectiveness of a specific homemade cleaning solution?
- 12. How does the type of biodegradable packaging material affect its decomposition rate under controlled composting conditions?
Physics
- 13. To what extent does the angle of an inclined plane affect the terminal velocity of a specific rolling object?
- 14. How does the length of a pendulum affect its period under varying amplitude conditions?
- 15. To what extent does coil design affect the efficiency of a simple electromagnetic induction generator?
- 16. How does water depth affect the speed of surface waves in a controlled wave tank setup?
- 17. To what extent does the material of a projectile affect its range under identical launch conditions?
- 18. How does ambient temperature affect the resistance of a specific type of thermistor?
Economics
- 19. To what extent did a specific minimum wage increase affect employment levels in a named local industry?
- 20. How effective was a specific government subsidy in increasing production in a named agricultural sector?
- 21. To what extent does income inequality affect consumer spending patterns in a specific named economy?
- 22. How has a specific trade tariff affected import volumes in a named product category?
- 23. To what extent did a specific tax policy change affect small business formation in a named region?
- 24. How does exchange rate volatility affect export competitiveness in a specific named industry?
History
- 25. To what extent did propaganda contribute to public support for a specific historical policy in a named country and period?
- 26. How significant was a specific individual's leadership in determining the outcome of a named historical conflict?
- 27. To what extent did economic factors, rather than ideological ones, drive a specific historical revolution?
- 28. How did a specific historical event change the role of women in a named society during a defined period?
- 29. To what extent was a specific historical alliance driven by strategic necessity rather than shared ideology?
- 30. How did colonial policy shape the economic development of a specific named region during a defined period?
Psychology
- 31. To what extent does sleep deprivation affect short-term memory recall in a specific tested population?
- 32. How does exposure to a specific type of media content affect self-reported body image in adolescents?
- 33. To what extent does group size affect conformity behavior in a specific controlled setting?
- 34. How does bilingualism affect cognitive flexibility, as measured by a specific standardized task?
- 35. To what extent does mindfulness practice affect self-reported anxiety levels in a specific tested group?
- 36. How does parenting style affect self-esteem development in early adolescence, based on a specific research approach?
English Literature
- 37. To what extent does the use of unreliable narration shape reader interpretation in a specific named novel?
- 38. How does a specific author use setting to reflect a protagonist's psychological state across a named work?
- 39. To what extent do two specific poets from the same period use imagery differently to explore a shared theme?
- 40. How does narrative structure contribute to the central theme of a specific named novel?
- 41. To what extent does a specific author's use of symbolism develop across two of their named works?
- 42. How does a specific playwright use dramatic irony to develop tension in a named play?
Business Management
- 43. To what extent did a specific company's marketing strategy shift contribute to its market share change in a defined period?
- 44. How effective was a specific organizational restructuring in improving employee productivity at a named company?
- 45. To what extent does a specific company's approach to corporate social responsibility affect its brand loyalty?
- 46. How did a specific company's pricing strategy affect its competitive position in a defined market?
- 47. To what extent did a specific merger or acquisition achieve its stated strategic objectives?
- 48. How effective was a specific company's digital transformation strategy in improving customer retention?
Geography
- 49. To what extent has coastal erosion affected land use patterns in a specific named coastal town?
- 50. How effective has a specific flood management strategy been in reducing flood risk in a named urban area?
- 51. To what extent does urban heat island intensity vary across different land use zones in a specific named city?
- 52. How has rural-to-urban migration affected agricultural land use in a specific named region?
- 53. To what extent has a specific tourism development strategy affected local community livelihoods in a named location?
- 54. How does water scarcity affect agricultural practices in a specific named region experiencing climate stress?
Mathematics
- 55. To what extent can a specific mathematical model accurately predict population growth in a named species or region?
- 56. How effective is a specific statistical method at identifying fraudulent patterns in a defined dataset?
- 57. To what extent does a specific mathematical model explain the spread pattern of a named historical epidemic?
- 58. How can game theory be applied to explain strategic decision-making in a specific real-world competitive scenario?
- 59. To what extent does a specific optimization model improve efficiency in a defined real-world logistics problem?
- 60. How accurately does a specific mathematical model predict outcomes in a named sport or game, based on historical data?
How to Narrow a Broad Interest into a Focused Research Question
If none of the extended essay examples above match your interest directly, use this process to build your own:
- Start broad: Write down the general area that genuinely interests you, a historical period, a scientific process, a business trend.
- Add specificity: Narrow to a specific place, time period, population, organism, company, or dataset.
- Frame it analytically: Turn your narrowed topic into a question starting with “to what extent,” “how,” or “why,” rather than “what is.”
- Check for evidence: Confirm you can realistically access the sources, data, or texts needed to answer the question in depth within your research timeframe.
- Test the scope: If you can imagine writing a genuinely detailed, evidence-rich answer in roughly 3,500 to 4,000 words, without either running out of material or having far too much to cover, you’ve likely found a workable research question.
Common Mistakes When Choosing an EE Topic
- Choosing a topic too broad to answer in 4,000 words: The single most common reason EE research questions need revising is scope; when in doubt, narrow further.
- Picking a topic with insufficient available evidence: An exciting question you can’t actually research in depth becomes a serious problem months into the process.
- Choosing a topic purely because it sounds impressive: A niche-sounding topic explored shallowly consistently scores worse than a familiar topic explored with real depth and personal engagement.
- Ignoring your subject’s specific methodology: A History EE needs to argue from evidence and historiography; a Science EE needs a genuine experimental or data-based method; mismatching your topic to your subject’s actual approach creates problems throughout.
- Forgetting to check source accessibility early: Confirming you can actually access the data, archives, or texts you need should happen before you commit to a final research question, not months into your research.
How Quest for Success Can Help
Narrowing down from dozens of possible ib extended essay topics to one genuinely workable research question is where most students get stuck, not because they lack ideas, but because turning a broad interest into a focused, evidence-supported question takes real guidance. At Quest for Success, we help students refine a shortlist of potential topics into a properly scoped research question, confirm source and data accessibility early, and structure the research and writing process so the final essay reflects genuine, sustained independent inquiry.
Summary
A strong extended essay topic shares the same traits across every subject: it’s narrow enough to answer in 4,000 words, genuinely analytical rather than descriptive, supported by accessible evidence, and connected to real curiosity rather than chosen purely for convenience. The Extended Essay itself follows a consistent structure regardless of subject, either a subject-focused or interdisciplinary research pathway, roughly 40 hours of independent work, and a strict 4,000-word ceiling that examiners enforce by simply not reading beyond it. The 60 sample research questions above, spanning Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, History, Psychology, English Literature, Business Management, Geography, and Mathematics, illustrate what a properly scoped question looks like in each subject: specific populations, places, time periods, or datasets, framed analytically rather than as a broad descriptive topic. Whichever subject or specific question you land on, the same narrowing process, start broad, add specificity, frame analytically, check for evidence, test the scope, consistently produces a stronger, more researchable EE than starting with an impressive-sounding but unworkable idea.
FAQs
There’s no fixed number, but shortlisting 3 to 5 genuinely workable topics before committing gives you room to compare scope, evidence availability, and genuine interest before settling on your final research question.
Yes. The IB offers an interdisciplinary pathway alongside the traditional subject-focused pathway, allowing you to integrate two DP subjects into a single research question, provided both subjects genuinely contribute to the analysis.
4,000 words. Examiners stop reading at that limit, so essays significantly over the word count effectively submit an unfinished argument, since the ending is never assessed.
Treat them as models, not final questions. A strong research question needs to reflect a specific place, dataset, time period, or population you can genuinely access and analyze, so adapt any example here to your own specific context and interest.
If you can’t imagine a clear, specific type of evidence you’d gather to answer it, or if answering it would require summarizing an entire field rather than analyzing a specific case, it’s likely too broad and needs further narrowing.
Need help narrowing down your Extended Essay topic or scoping your research question? Reach out to Quest for Success; we’re here to help you turn a genuine interest into a focused, well-researched extended essay.
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