Extended Essays in Sports, Exercise, and Health Sciences
Choosing a Topic
All EEs in the sciences should begin with at least one hypothesis based on their research question. An extended essay in sports, exercise, and health sciences covers a wide range of topics from human physiology to biomechanics. It is an applied science course so an EE in this subject must investigate a sporting or health-related issue using the principles of science.
Extended essays in sports, exercise, and health sciences must have a clear SEHS emphasis. This incorporates knowledge from a variety of fields, in particular biology, chemistry, physics and psychology, but the essay must focus on human health and performance in relation to sport and exercise.
The topic must allow for an approach that relates specifically to:
Examples:
| Broad Topics | Focused Topics |
| Energy drinks and exercise | The effect of energy drinks on recovery rates in middle-distance runners |
| Psychology and performance | A study into the effect of pre-performance routines on basketball free throws |
| Thermoregulation in soccer players | A study into the effect of fluid intake on the thermoregulation in high school female soccer players |
| The mechanics of throwing | A study into the most effective angle of release for javelin throwing |
| Body composition of athletes | A study into the correlation between the body fat readings obtained by using callipers and a bioelectric impedance monitor |
Research in SEHS
Then, a student will conduct either primary or secondary research to test their hypothesis by collecting some kind of data. By analyzing their findings a student should be able to find a scientific answer to their research question.
| Primary Research |  |
| Primary Research is an analysis of data collected by the student. Students can base their essay on primary data collected through: | |
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| Secondary Research | |
| Students can base their essays on data or information obtained from literature (secondary studies). However, in this case they should use the data in an original way. Essays that simply restate facts or data taken directly from the sources are of little value. |
| Topic: The effect of energy drinks on recovery rates | Topic: Angles of release for thrown objects | ||
| Research Question | To what extent do energy drinks affect recovery rates in middle-distance runners? | Research Question | What is the optimum angle of release for a male javelin thrower? |
| Approach | Students carry out an investigation into how different energy drinks affect the recovery rates of a group of middle-distance runners. Performances of athletes in a given repeated training activity are recorded, with one group being given energy drinks between repeats, and another a suitable control. Secondary data can also be found through literature research and can supplement the findings from the experiment. | Approach | Students can carry out an investigation into the optimum angle of release of a javelin for a male athlete. Repeated measurements of release angle would best be carried out using motion analysis equipment to ensure accuracy. The use of secondary data in this instance is plentiful and should be comprehensively included and debated as a complement to the primary data collected by the student. |
Sports, Exercise, and Health Sciences Sources
Even students doing primary research will still need to reference secondary sources. And students relying entirely on secondary sources will need to find sources not only of written information but also experimental data which they can analyze.
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In Context Databases Gale In-Context databases offer topic pages and the Topic Finder search feature. This video will show you how to use topic pages. |
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Gale OneFile Databases Gale OneFile databases have two features to help you find search words as well as topics and sub-topics. Use the "subject guide search" feature in Gale OneFile databases to help you find good search terms.(tutorial video). Use the "topic finder" to help you find good topics and sub-topics (tutorial video)
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National Science Digital Library The NSDL is an open access library of digital content relevant to all aspects of hard and applied sciences. |
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Encyclopedia Britannica has lots of information, like any encyclopedia, but it also has a lot of information about sports and recreation, specifically. |
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Writing the Essay
An essay in the sciences requires is more than just generating and presenting data. Analysis of the data is also essential. The main body of the essay should consist of an argument or evaluation based on the data or information presented. You can gather your own data through a variety of methods, or rely on secondary data. You should use graphs, tables, or diagrams to point out the significance of your findings.
You should ensure that the main body of the essay is well structured and has an obvious logical progression. You can use numbered and headed paragraphs to impose a clear structure. Your evaluation should show that you understand the the data they have collected and its significance to the world.
In your analysis, you should also describe and explain the limitations imposed on the research by factors such as
Students should also consider biological limitations such as:
Safety and Ethics in Choosing a Topic
In all cases where human subjects are used as the basis for an investigation, clear evidence of informed consent must be provided in accordance with the IB guidelines.
Some topics may be inadmissible because their means of investigation are unethical. For example, investigations that:
Some topics may be unsuitable because of safety issues. Adequate safety apparatus and qualified supervision is required for experiments involving dangerous substances such as:
Other topics may be unsuitable because the outcome is already well known and documented in standard textbooks.
