It is important that you set your IRP out according to the following format. The word count is approximate only.
Title Page
You can set out this page however you wish. It must have your Student Number, the date and the IRP title. Include this page as a page number on your contents page.
Contents Page
This is the index at the front of the page, which identifies headings, sub headings and page numbers. It might look something like the Figure below.
Abstract
This should be about half to one page in length. It is best to do this after you have completed your project. It sums up your IRP ‘in a nutshell’. It should provide a brief summary or description of the research, introducing the project and the objectives. It outlines research methodologies used and briefly discusses the findings and conclusions.
Acknowledgements
This is a very short section to thank the people who have helped you do this project. It could include the names of teachers, friends, parents or organisations that assisted you.
Introduction (Approximately 250 words)
This provides a brief description of the objectives of the project. Talk about what you wanted to find out and why. Explain the research question and/or hypothesis. Identify the syllabus areas your IRP relates to.
Literature Review (Approximately 400 words)
This reviews the information that already exists about the topic. The more relevant the information is to your specific topic, the better. The information that already exists may include chapters in textbooks, magazine articles, newspapers, journals, brochures, videos, television programs and statistics. The discussion of this material should lead to your topic question. You must summarise this information in your own words. You should ‘reference in text’ properly, by acknowledging the author. Do not plagiarise. Markers can very easily tell if it your words showing an understanding of the literature that