IB Social and Cultural Anthropology HL

• In IB SCA IA, fieldwork makes for 25% of the final grade. 

• You will obtain expertise in anthropological research and the methodology employed in the field by studying IB SCA IA. Taking part in the process of gathering and analyzing data is essential. Working in the field lets you:

• Utilize anthropological techniques and strategies to gather pertinent information.

• Recognize the ethical and methodological challenges that come with conducting fieldwork.

• Discover how to gather information and present it in an anthropological way.

• Draw conclusions from your fieldwork.

Conditions

• Your IB teacher anticipates that you will use one or more ways to collect data and do limited fieldwork. After that, you have to provide a written report that is no more than 2,000 words. 

• If you'd like, you can conduct the fieldwork in groups. In this scenario, you and the other IB student need to decide on a related topic and provide data that the three of you will have access to. However, your unique interpretation, analysis, and work should be included in the written report.

Selection of Fieldwork

• You must choose your own study subject for IB SCA IA. Your own topic selection should be interesting, but before it is approved or rejected, your IB instructor needs to check it and make sure it fits the requirements for internal evaluation. You are able to begin the fieldwork after approval.

• Start your research by focusing on an environment that offers tailored programs for particular populations, more public spaces that serve specific purposes,

• Start your research by focusing on an environment that offers tailored programs for particular populations, more public spaces that are available to the public and serve specific purposes, or an issue like ethnicity or gender norms.

• On the other hand, you ought to determine the beginning points after initially choosing a context or problem. Initiatives for contextual fieldwork must take anthropological issues into account, or else they will stay superficial.

• Most importantly, when conducting research, you need to be mindful of ethical guidelines and exercise discretion.

Data Gathering

• Following the establishment of the topic and context, it is vital to look into data gathering techniques and strategies. These should be selected based on particular goals and the sorts of data that will be collected, which may include qualitative and/or quantitative data.

• Ethnographers collect information in a variety of ways, such as:

  • Interviews

  • Observation

  • Note-taking

  • Audio/visual recording

  • Censuses

  • Questionnaires and

  • Material culture collection

• Furthermore, you can gather information in various formats that showcase aspects of a certain civilization and culture at a particular period or place. These could manifest as internal narratives and expressive forms found in literature, film, music, and correspondence.

• Since each method only provides a portion of the story, it cannot be used in isolation or without careful consideration. Analyzing such data from an anthropological standpoint is crucial. Large volumes of data are typically collected during fieldwork, and these data are only occasionally analyzed and written up in the fieldwork's conclusions.

Reports

• The selection of research themes and methodologies, as well as the application and assessment of the subjects and procedures, are all aspects of methodology that students need to focus on more.

• The report's format is not subject to any special restrictions from the IB. The following is emphasized in the internal evaluation criteria:

  • Critical and comparative analysis of the tactics and approaches employed in light of the kind of data displayed

  • Analysis of the fieldwork experience with a focus on moral and practical issues

  • Accurate analysis and presentation of data

IB SCA IA Assessment Objectives

Knowledge and Understanding

• Demonstrate your knowledge of and comprehension of the following: recognized ethnographic resources, specific themes in cultural and social organization, processes and patterns of chance in culture and society, and anthropological terms and concepts.

• At the advanced level, you must demonstrate your knowledge of and comprehension of the anthropological theoretical views and the ideas that underpin them.

Application and Interpretation

• IB looks at your application and interpretation skills to see if you can:

  • Create logical arguments using anthropological ideas and ethnographic examples.

  • Determine the main ideas contained in new anthropological resources.

  • Analyze anthropological material in study by considering ethical, methodological, and reflective considerations.

  • Examine the materials from the perspective of an observer.

  • They will also assess how well you can construct an argument using theoretical stances or anthropological theory.

Synthesis and Evaluation

• In addition to exhibiting anthropological imaginations and insights, IB examines how you contrast and compare various aspects of cultures and societies.

• At the HL level, IB analyze your ability to identify theoretical stances in the materials and apply them to the analysis of findings.

Selection and Use of Skills Relevant

Here, IB tests your ability to recognize a pertinent issue, context, or research inquiry. The evaluation also looks at your methods and abilities for a particular anthropological research subject or problem, as well as how you collect, organize, evaluate, and interpret data.

Ethical Considerations

IB SCA's Ethical Considerations IA SCA students should consider the following moral standards before starting fieldwork and throughout the project:

• Prevent hurting people who help out in the field.

• Unless participants in a field study specifically consent to their information being disclosed, keep their information private.

• Never use data for reasons other than the ones for which it was obtained.

• Demonstrate your concern for both the environment and human welfare.

• For other researchers to continue working with the subjects of your research, you must first establish and then maintain a working relationship with them.

• All collected data should be securely stored to maintain privacy.

• Obtain informed consent from the people who will be the study subjects before you start.

• Obtain informed consent in a format appropriate for the research site from the people who will be the subjects before you start. 

• Admit the shortcomings of your training with honesty.

• Provide enough details on the goals and methods of the study.

• Don't make up data from fieldwork. Give a precise and in-depth summary of the results of your research.

• Share the findings of your study with the people that helped you throughout your fieldwork.

When conducting online fieldwork, the same standards apply.

Authenticity & Guidelines for IB SCA IA

• It should be your own work for the IB SCA IA. But, when it comes to planning and working on the internally assessed work, your IB teacher will be very crucial. You can contact your teacher for advice during this period to get knowledge that will help you perform well on the IB SCA IA. 

• Your teacher may provide feedback on your early drafts of the assignment as part of the learning process. Afterward, you will need to turn in the completed version of the project. 

• The observation may be completed individually by each student at SL, but it cannot be completed in a group setting. Furthermore, the student's own effort must be included in the written report and critique.

• At HL, fieldwork can be done by groups of students. They might choose a shared topic and produce a corpus of information that they can all access. Conversely, the written report ought to be entirely the student's original work, drawing from their own interpretation and analysis.