This document provides guidance for students on developing various sections of the Internal Assessment (IA) for psychology. It outlines best practices for the introduction, design/participants, procedure, results, discussion, and presentation sections. Key recommendations include using a funnel structure for the introduction; providing detailed procedures; justifying the design and sampling; clearly defining variables; discussing ethics and limitations; and properly citing sources and labeling appendices. Adhering to these guidelines will help students earn higher marks on their IA.

1. The Internal Assessment

2. Introductions
• HL should use a “funnel down
approach” to developing the
introduction - that is, from general to
specific. Finish with the study you are
replicating.

3. Introductions
• The procedure of the original study
should be outlined in as much detail as
possible. This is important for the
discussion section.

4. Introductions
• Even at SL, the aim should be written
with regard to an IV and DV - not
simply “we will replicate Loftus &
Palmer’s original study.” Remember to
note the target population!

5. Introductions
• Simply writing the dates of the studies
is not sufficient citation in most cases.
• You can use textbooks - but use
secondary citation (Chi, Pirolli &
Pitkow, 2000, as cited in Crane &
Hannibal, 2009).

6. Design & Participants
• A significant number of students earn
zero marks for B & C.

7. Design & Participants
• Replications should be done under
“controlled conditions.” If you do your
work in hallways or at lunch tables, this
is inappropriate for IA. Here you may
lose marks in procedure as well as
design.

8. Design & Participants
• The design and sampling method must
be “justified.” This means that you
need to explain why you chose your
design and sampling method.

9. Design & Participants
• The IV and DV must be
operationalized. Both need to be very
clearly defined and it needs to be clear
how the DV will be measured.

10. Design & Participants
• Ethics must be discussed and all
documentation must be included.
Often parental consent is not included
for participants under 16. Also,
debriefing notes are often forgotten.
This means a zero for criterion B.

11. Procedure
• There should be a list of materials prior
to the procedure.
• May be bulleted, but should be in
complete sentences.
• Should refer to appendices.

12. Results
• There should be only one graph which
clearly reflects the aim or hypothesis.
The IV and DV should be clearly
represented.

13. Results
Do not graph raw data.

14. Results
• Descriptive stats must also address
variance of data.
• SL should avoid nominal data. HL may
apply chi squared.

15. Discussion
• Discussions should start by explaining
the results section and comparing the
results to the original study (SL) or the
background literature (HL).

16. Discussion
• The discussion should be one of the
most significant parts of your paper.
Many students write very short
discussions and only “state the
obvious.”

17. Discussion
• The rubric says that students should
discuss the “limitations of the design
and procedure.” Too many students
discuss the nature of the sample. This
does not earn any marks.

18. Discussion
• Modifications should be linked to the
limitations that were identified.

19. Discussion
• Strong discussions link theory to the
study.

20. Presentation
• Citation is the number one reason that
students lose marks in this criterion.
• It is also important that appendices be
appropriately labeled.