Choosing a Topic and Title (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Choosing a Topic and Title
Understanding the importance of topic selection
Your choice of topic for the NEA is one of the most critical decisions you will make. Whether your teacher assigns a topic or you have freedom to choose, you must understand what makes a strong topic and why certain topics work better than others. This decision will affect your ability to access marks and sustain your engagement over several months of research and writing.
The NEA is a sustained piece of work that requires several months of commitment. Your topic choice will directly impact both your marks and your motivation throughout this extended process.
Criteria for selecting your topic
1. Reflecting your own interests
If you have the opportunity to choose your topic, select something that genuinely interests you. This engagement is essential because the NEA is a sustained piece of work requiring several months of commitment.
Your topic might:
- Cover a period you have studied before and want to explore in greater depth
- Address themes that fascinate you, such as the history of ideas, social history, or military history
- Connect to your own background or family history (though ensure there is sufficient academic debate available for you to engage with)
- Allow you to study something completely new that you would not encounter in the standard curriculum
- Explore the history of a continent, country, or culture you have not yet studied
- Build upon knowledge you already have, perhaps examining a different aspect of a period you know well (for example, the foreign policy of a country whose domestic affairs you have studied)
- Relate to subjects you plan to study at university, such as economic history, art history, literature, politics, or philosophy
The key is choosing something that will maintain your interest and motivation throughout the extended research and writing process. Your genuine engagement with the topic will show in the quality of your work.
2. Meeting mark scheme and specification requirements
Your topic must satisfy specific technical requirements. Understanding these requirements before finalising your choice will prevent problems later.
The 200-year date range requirement
The combined date range of Component One, Component Two, and your NEA must span at least 200 years. The earliest date you study must be at least 200 years before the latest date you study. However, these do not need to be 200 continuous years.
Worked Example: Calculating Date Range
If you study:
- Component One: The Tudors 1485-1603
- Component Two: Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-1945
Your date range is 1485 to 1945 (460 years), which exceeds the 200-year requirement.
However, if you study:
- Component One: The British Empire 1857-1967
- Component Two: Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917-1953
Your date range is 1857 to 1953 (96 years). This means your NEA topic must reach back to at least 1767 to meet the 200-year requirement.
Avoiding duplication with examined units
Your topic must not include content you are studying in your examined units, though it can cover the same date range. This ensures the NEA tests your ability to conduct an independent historical investigation on new material.
Enabling a clear answer
The topic should allow you to develop a question with a clear, achievable answer within the word limit. Avoid topics that are so broad or complex that you cannot adequately address them in approximately 3,500 words.
Supporting source-based analysis
You must be able to find a range of sources and interpretations to evaluate. This means there should be conflicting and contrasting evidence available. You need this variety to weigh different perspectives and construct a well-supported judgement.
3. Ensuring the topic is manageable
A manageable topic strikes the right balance between challenge and feasibility.
Producing a meaningful question
You must be able to devise a focused question that you can answer thoroughly within about 3,500 words. Some topics sound impressive but prove too demanding when you consider time constraints and other academic commitments.
It is generally better to produce a sophisticated answer on a straightforward topic than a simplistic answer on an overly complex one.
Finding academic debate
Your topic must be one where academic historians have produced scholarly debate. Sometimes topics appear interesting but lack sufficient historiographical discussion. Without this debate, you cannot fulfil the requirement to analyse and evaluate different interpretations.
Balancing ambition with realism
While you should challenge yourself, avoid choosing a topic that will overwhelm you. If you have an enquiring mind, do not select a topic that offers insufficient intellectual stretch. Conversely, have confidence in your abilities but be realistic about what you can achieve. You must find a topic that pushes you without being unmanageable.
Accessing primary sources
You need to be able to find primary sources that will advance your argument and allow you to build a strong case about value. Ensure these sources are accessible to you, whether through your school library, local resources, or reputable online collections.
Formulating your question
Understanding the question stem
The question stem – the opening words of your question – determines the type of answer you will write. Some stems naturally lead to analytical responses that access high marks, while others may encourage more descriptive writing.
Strong Question Stems That Encourage Judgement:
- "How far..."
- "To what extent..."
- "How important was..."
- "[Statement]' How valid is this view?"
All of these require you to make a clear judgement in response. For example, if asked "How important was X...", you must demonstrate whether X was very important, not at all important, or important in some respects but not others.
Weaker Question Stems to Avoid:
- "Describe..."
- "What were the reasons for..."
- "Account for..."
While these stems can still produce acceptable questions, they may encourage more narrative responses. The NEA rewards analysis, not description. Since you want to maximise your marks, choose stems that naturally lead to analytical writing.
Selecting appropriate dates
Your question should be set within a context of roughly 100 years. You must state this date range explicitly within your question title.
Why dates matter
You will be marked on how effectively you cover the full date range you set yourself. If your dates do not make historical sense or if there are no significant reasons for choosing your start and end dates, you will limit your marks.
Choosing meaningful start and end dates
Your dates should correspond to historically significant events or turning points that relate directly to your question.
Ensuring comprehensive coverage
Make sure your chosen dates allow you to cover the historical period effectively without creating unnecessary difficulties. The dates should frame your investigation logically.
Avoiding double focus
It is generally better to address a single issue clearly rather than attempting to answer two questions simultaneously. Sometimes you may not notice that your question has a double focus until you begin writing.
Worked Example: Identifying Double Focus
For example: "'The USA failed to achieve the main aim of its foreign policy which was to stay out of international conflict.' How far do you agree with this view of the years 1898-1991?"
This question requires you to:
- Define what the main aim of USA foreign policy was in the period
- Determine whether this aim was achieved
These are two substantial questions. You risk producing an inadequate response to both rather than a thorough response to one.
Ensuring the question is answerable within 3,500 words
Some questions are simply too large to address properly within the recommended word guidance. You must be realistic about what you can achieve.
Remember: there are no additional marks for choosing an especially ambitious or clever question. Marks are awarded for answering your question effectively. Therefore, ensure the question has an achievable answer within the word limit.
Checking for historiographical debate
Before finalising your question, confirm that historians have written about it and that genuine debate exists. AO3 requires you to analyse and evaluate at least two differing interpretations from academic historians. Without existing historical debate, you cannot access these marks.
How to Check for Interpretations:
- Enter your question into a search engine to see if results indicate historical debate on this issue
- Use Google Scholar to identify academic works relevant to your topic
- Use the 'cited by' tool in Google Scholar to check that there is a range of scholarly opinion on your topic or question
- Look for historiographical discussions in books about your period
If you find that no historians have written about your question, you must reconsider your choice.
Checking for primary sources
You need to locate at least three primary sources of at least two different types that are relevant to your chosen question. Before committing to your question, verify that suitable sources exist and are accessible.
How to Find Primary Sources:
- Consult the footnotes or appendices of books about your period. If there is a range of primary sources referenced, some may be useful for your investigation
- Search using websites that specialise in primary sources. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook is a good starting point for many topics and may provide a useful range of sources
- Check your school library resources and ask your teacher what is available
- Identify local archives or repositories that might hold relevant material
If you cannot locate sufficient primary sources, you will struggle to complete the NEA effectively. Check this before finalising your question, not after you have already committed to it.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- Choose a topic that genuinely interests you and will sustain your engagement over several months
- Ensure your topic meets the 200-year date range requirement when combined with your examined components
- Select a question stem that encourages analytical judgement rather than narrative description
- Choose dates that make historical sense and relate directly to your question
- Avoid stepping stone questions that jump between specific events without covering the intervening period
- Keep your question focused on a single issue rather than attempting a double focus
- Check that your question is answerable within approximately 3,500 words
- Verify that historiographical debate exists on your topic before committing to it
- Confirm that you can access at least three primary sources of at least two different types relevant to your question