Internal Assessment Conclusion and Evaluation​ ​ ​ ​

​
Before completing this task:
●​ Be sure you have finished the descriptive analysis
●​ Be sure you have finished the data presentation
●​ Be sure you have finished the inferential analysis

To complete your Conclusion and Evaluation, create a document in which you address the following prompts in
paragraph form. The more thorough and detailed you are in your answers during this step, the easier the
compilation of your final paper will be!
Use these
as section An outline of general This is how the IB will These are tips, hints
headers in suggestions for what to score this part of your and suggestions for
your paper include in the section paper. how to write a clear
paper and maximize
your score

How it is scored on ​
Section What to include in the section Comments/Notes
IA Rubric [criterion]

Conclusion Write 1-2 paragraphs to A detailed conclusion is Be careful to avoid:

interpret your data and draw described and justified which
conclusions from the results of is entirely relevant to the ●​ “over concluding” -
the investigation. research question and fully making broad claims
supported by the data that aren’t supported
❏​ Restate the research by your study
presented. [EV]
question. methodology or
analysis
❏​ Provide a clear
conclusive statement ●​ implying cause and
that answers the effect in a correlational
investigation question. study. Correlations
only describe the
❏​ State whether the
relationship, they do
experimental (not
not prove cause and
statistical) hypothesis or
effect. Correlation is a
prediction was
necessary, but not a
supported or not.
sufficient condition for
❏​ Use data to support the determining causality.
conclusion by stating
●​ making small
patterns, trends and/or
differences seem
differences (often
important. Different
referring to measures of
values are not
central tendency and/or
necessarily significantly
correlation coefficients)
different. If the
inferential statistic
indicates a result is not
 ❏​ Refer to key pieces of significant, do not
data or analysis that conclude that there is
support your an effect.
conclusion.
●​ Avoid using the word
❏​ Explain whether the “proves”
results were or were not
consistent enough to
give you reliable
evidence to answer the
research question
(often referring to
measures of spread)

❏​ Indicate the statistical

significance of the
results

❏​ Mention any surprising

outcomes or outlying
data.

Scientific Write a paragraph to explain A conclusion is correctly Usually experiments performed

Explanation your results. described and justified for IB Biology internal
through relevant comparison assessments are
❏​ State whether your to the accepted scientific “confirmatory” (a.k.a.
results match what context. [EV] hypothesis testing).
would be expected Confirmatory research occurs
given your background when researchers have a pretty
research. good idea of what's going on
and what to expect and the
❏​ Summarize the most purpose is to find out if the
plausible biological hypothesis is supported by the
explanation for your data that was collected ((PDF)
results. Exploratory vs Confirmatory
Research).
❏​ Generalize your specific
findings to other
So, in this section of the paper,
situations and/or the
you want to compare your
broader topic. How do
study to what is known about
your results fit into the
the phenomena and then state
bigger picture?
whether or data confirms (or
❏​ Compare your results to not) the known science.
published data or
information (cited).
 ❏​ Discuss reasons for
similarities and
differences between
yours and others'
findings.

❏​ Suggest explanations for

conflicting, inconclusive
or unexpected results.

Errors and Write 1-3 paragraphs to discuss The report shows evidence of A confounding variable is a
Limitations aspects of the research that may full and appropriate variable, other than the
weaken the confidence of your consideration of the impact of manipulated variable, that may
conclusion. For example, were measurement uncertainty on affect the responding variable.
the analysis. [AN]
there: You may or not be aware of
confounding variables when
Strengths and weaknesses of
❏​ Uncontrolled or you are collecting the data. If
the investigation, such as
confounding variable(s) not recognized, confounding
limitations of the data and
that may have affected variables can lead to erroneous
sources of error, are
the outcomes of the conclusions about the
discussed and provide
investigation? relationship between the
evidence of a clear
variables you are investigating.
❏​ random errors during understanding of the
data collection? methodological issues
This page about error analysis
involved in establishing the
will be helpful, especially when
❏​ systematic errors in conclusion. [EV]
discussing random and
your procedure?
systematic errors.
You may also want to discuss
The size of the sample (n) is
the:
extremely important in
❏​ impacts of the sample determining the statistical
size and/or replication significance. With increased
of measurements on sample size, measurements of
the conclusion drawn the sample tend to become
from the inferential more stable representations of
statistic. the population. If the result you
find remains constant as you
❏​ impact of any outliers collect more and more data,
on the results. you can become more
confident in any relationship
❏​ impact of
that you are finding.
variation/spread of the
data at each level (i.e.
Other factors being equal, the
standard deviation) on
smaller the variances (SD,
the confidence in your
range or quartile) of the groups
conclusion.
under consideration, the
greater the likelihood that a
 ❏​ appropriateness of the statistically significant
apparatus used in difference exists. We can be
obtaining relevant data more confident that two
groups differ when the scores
❏​ limitation(s) of the within each group are close
chosen levels of together.
manipulation on your
ability to draw a
conclusion.

❏​ impact of the
measurement
uncertainty of the tools
on the conclusions
drawn from the
experiment.

For each error and/or limitation

you discuss, you should outline
what impact it had on your data
collection and/or conclusion.

Suggestions and Write 1-3 paragraphs in which The student has discussed The improvements and
Improvements you suggest improvements and realistic and relevant suggestions should be possible
extend your investigation. suggestions for the within the context of a school
❏​ Discuss strengths of the improvement and extension laboratory.
investigation. of the investigation. [EV]

❏​ Suggest improvements
to the investigation
based on the errors
and/or limitations you
outlined.

❏​ Suggest additional data

that could be collected
to strengthen the
conclusion. This might
include additional trials
or levels of
manipulation. Outline
how and/or why the
additional data would
strengthen your
conclusion.
 ❏​ Recommend future
actions. What would be
the next step in your
study or what
experiments would you
do next?

❏​ Relate the additional

research question to the
results of your
investigation. How
would the additional
information clarify or
support your
conclusion?

Before you submit your data presentation, review this general feedback around conclusion and evaluations.

What’s Next?
The next task, as we baby-step our way through the Internal Assessment, will be to assemble a final draft
quality version of your internal assessment and complete a self evaluation.