Social and cultural anthropology IA structure: sections and steps

Some details on this page are still being checked against the IB guide.

At a glance

This piece has 2 versions, each with its own structure below. Write the one for your session.

The structure, section by section: Standard level (SL)

Sessions: May 2027 onward.

1. Observation report

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

An account of a 1-hour observation.

1. Choose a public setting you can observe ethically.
2. Take timed field notes during the hour.
3. Write up what you saw, keeping description apart from interpretation.
4. Note your own position as observer.

2. Extension of initial fieldwork

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

A second method, chosen and justified, that extends the first.

1. Pick a method that answers what the observation could not.
2. Link it to an anthropological concept.
3. Justify the choice.

3. Second fieldwork: data collection and analysis

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

The second data set, presented and analysed.

1. Collect the data with consent.
2. Present it clearly, in a table where it suits.
3. Analyse it with course concepts.

4. Critical reflection

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

Your methods, your positionality, the ethics and the practice of anthropology.

1. Evaluate each method's strengths and limits.
2. Reflect on how your presence shaped the data.
3. Discuss the ethical issues you met.
4. Connect your experience to how anthropologists work.

5. Appendix: field notes

Common practice · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

Raw field notes, which are not counted and cannot extend the report.

1. Attach your field notes.
2. Keep every point the argument needs in the body.

The structure, section by section: Higher level (HL)

Sessions: May 2027 onward.

1. Fieldwork proposal

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

Research focus, methods, ethics and resources.

1. Define the research focus.
2. Plan the methods and the timeline.
3. Plan informed consent and confidentiality.
4. Revise the plan after feedback.

2. Research report

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

The methods applied, the data, an analysis with concepts, and the findings.

1. Justify each method you used.
2. Present the data.
3. Analyse it with anthropological concepts and theory.
4. State the findings.

3. Critical reflection

Required by the IB (Component named by the IB brief or a teacher blog; the contents and steps are inferred from the name)

Your methods, positionality and ethics, and how the work changed from the proposal.

1. Evaluate the methods.
2. Explain how the plan changed and why.
3. Reflect on the ethics and your own role.

What counts toward the limit

Standard level (SL) (May 2027 onward)

Counts: the text of each component, with no preset limit while the guide is unchecked. Does not count: appendices, which cannot extend the report under older subject reports; the other counting rules are unconfirmed. No word limit is confirmed: a teacher blog gives about 2,000 words in total at SL, so the counter shows words with no limit until the guide is checked.

Higher level (HL) (May 2027 onward)

Counts: the text of each component, with no preset limit while the guide is unchecked. Does not count: appendices, which cannot extend the report under older subject reports; the other counting rules are unconfirmed. No word limit is confirmed at HL: sources give 2,000, 2,400 or 2,500 words and none is reliable for the current guide, so the counter shows words with no limit until the guide is checked.

Graphs and visuals

• Plan or sketch of the observation site Drawn, occasional
  Labelled zones and positions, with an option to anonymise the location.
• Field-notes excerpt Image, occasional
  Usually in an appendix, which is not counted.
• Interview or observation coding table Table, occasional
  Anonymised participant labels.
• Kinship diagram Drawn, rare
  Standard kinship notation: sex symbols, marriage lines and descent lines.
• Photos of participants Image, rare
  Check consent and anonymity first.

The frequencies are our estimates, from what the IB guide expects and what teachers advise. We did not count them in marked work.

Citations

No subject-specific requirement was found, and no source shows which style is common in anthropology.

The workspace keeps your sources and writes the bibliography in APA 7th to start with. You can switch to MLA 9th, Chicago author-date, Chicago notes (footnotes) or Harvard at any point.

Pitfalls

• Using appendices to carry content beyond the limit, which older subject reports warn against.
• Methods described mechanically and never justified, when the task rewards justification.
• Ethics lapses with participants over consent and confidentiality.

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Sources

• Social and cultural anthropology SL/HL subject brief, 2017 (first assessment 2019)
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• Social and cultural anthropology guide, first examinations 2019 (IB, Feb 2017)
• Social and cultural anthropology guide, first examinations 2010
• SCA subject report, May 2017
• SCA subject report, November 2016 (and 2014–2016 reports)

The IB documents behind this page, checked 29 October 2026. The linked ones are on ibo.org; the others are IB documents we read in copies hosted elsewhere, so we name them without a link. Everything above is in our own words: the official wording is in your subject guide, which your coordinator can give you. LimeAdmissions is independent of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which has not endorsed this page. Every coursework structure →