EPQ

Sorry this is going to be quite long. I'm doing a level biology, chemistry and psychology and I'm quite interested in doing something in the medical field so I've been wanting to do my EPQ on something medical related but I'm so stuck! My initial idea was "Should people be refused organ transplantation for leading an unhealthy lifestyle" but i thought i would lose the motivation halfway through so thinking of other ideas now. I want to do something along the lines of "the effectiveness of a drug/treatment for a cancer that affects children" but I'm not sure what cancer to do as i dont know if it'll cross over my biology spec. I also work in a pharmacy so i was thinking of doing something related to the effectiveness of a type of medical drug but I dont know what drug to do it on, please help! omg this is so long, thank you so so much if you read this far :smile:

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

Elco11

10

Remember the key to a successful EPQ is it needs debate. Can you evenly discuss that cures/treatments for children’s cancer is successful and then that it is not? Doing so in the argument, counter-argument, response structure. Don’t forget you need to make sure you can find enough information for both for and against too, in order for you to be able to not only write but in order to reference so you can avoid plagiarism. If you were to stick to the children cancer topic I would suggest a question like this: “To what extent are treatments of children’s cancer effective”. HOWEVER, you need to be really careful that your essay doesn’t turn into just 5,000 words of description- argument and debate is vital.

Sadly I can’t help you in terms of crossovers within your subjects but the only way to be ultra sure is to speak to each of your subject teachers regarding your question and make sure it does not crossover with your specification. Your teachers, as you do similar subjects to you question, may still be able to help you and guide you with resources etc with their own knowledge regardless of it not being on the specification.

More generally a few EPQ tips:

-keep your logbook up to date and detail is KEY. Remember it is worth 50% of your grade.
- Keep your research log up to date also and record all research (name, website, author, date, publisher, city, reliability etc.)
- Introduction and conclusion need to reflect each other without repeating. It must state clear argument throughout your essay.
- I promise that once you reach the 1,000 word threshold you will become much more motivated.
-When you lose motivation (as it is only natural, you will!) just save it, take a break and return to it later. Otherwise you will be writing jumble and also hate it.
- make sure you are referencing throughout and as you go. It will be much harder if you have to reference right at the end.

If you need any more advice do feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 2

watermelon2509

OP

13

Original post by Elco11

Remember the key to a successful EPQ is it needs debate. Can you evenly discuss that cures/treatments for children’s cancer is successful and then that it is not? Doing so in the argument, counter-argument, response structure. Don’t forget you need to make sure you can find enough information for both for and against too, in order for you to be able to not only write but in order to reference so you can avoid plagiarism. If you were to stick to the children cancer topic I would suggest a question like this: “To what extent are treatments of children’s cancer effective”. HOWEVER, you need to be really careful that your essay doesn’t turn into just 5,000 words of description- argument and debate is vital.

Sadly I can’t help you in terms of crossovers within your subjects but the only way to be ultra sure is to speak to each of your subject teachers regarding your question and make sure it does not crossover with your specification. Your teachers, as you do similar subjects to you question, may still be able to help you and guide you with resources etc with their own knowledge regardless of it not being on the specification.

More generally a few EPQ tips:

-keep your logbook up to date and detail is KEY. Remember it is worth 50% of your grade.
- Keep your research log up to date also and record all research (name, website, author, date, publisher, city, reliability etc.)
- Introduction and conclusion need to reflect each other without repeating. It must state clear argument throughout your essay.
- I promise that once you reach the 1,000 word threshold you will become much more motivated.
-When you lose motivation (as it is only natural, you will!) just save it, take a break and return to it later. Otherwise you will be writing jumble and also hate it.
- make sure you are referencing throughout and as you go. It will be much harder if you have to reference right at the end.

If you need any more advice do feel free to ask :smile:

Thank you so much, I am so grateful, you've said so much that I didn't even know about!