Investigative Study (LC 2027) (Leaving Cert Business): Revision Notes

Investigative Study

What is the investigative study?

The investigative study is a crucial component of your Leaving Certificate Business Studies course. It serves as the Additional Assessment Component (AAC) and carries significant weight in your final results, accounting for 40% of your total grade. This means that almost half of your Business Studies marks depend on this project, making it absolutely essential to approach it with dedication and careful planning.

The study provides you with an opportunity to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world business applications. Rather than simply memorising theoretical concepts, you'll investigate actual business issues and challenges that companies face today.

The research process

Each year, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) releases a common brief during Term 2 of 5th Year. This brief outlines the theme and focus area for your investigation. Working from this brief, you'll need to develop and refine a specific research question that will guide your entire study.

Your investigation involves several key stages. You'll begin by conducting thorough research using multiple reliable sources to gather relevant information. This research phase requires you to analyse and evaluate the data you collect, identifying patterns, gaps, and significant findings. Finally, you'll draw meaningful conclusions and develop practical recommendations based on your analysis.

The entire process culminates in writing a comprehensive report that you'll submit digitally during 6th Year.

Skills you'll develop

The investigative study helps you build five essential skill areas that extend far beyond Business Studies:

Project management forms the foundation of your work. You'll learn to create detailed plans, set achievable goals, develop realistic timelines, and monitor your progress throughout the investigation. These organisational skills prove invaluable in both academic and professional contexts.

Research capabilities develop as you learn to gather information from diverse sources, record findings accurately, and acknowledge all sources properly through correct referencing. This builds your ability to work with information critically and ethically.

Analysis and evaluation skills strengthen as you learn to make sense of complex data, identify information gaps, and justify your conclusions with evidence. You'll develop the ability to think critically about business issues and support your arguments logically.

Communication abilities improve through presenting your findings clearly using appropriate business terminology, creating effective diagrams and visual aids, and structuring coherent written reports. These skills enhance your ability to convey complex ideas effectively.

Reflection encourages you to consider how your understanding has evolved throughout the study and to connect your findings to broader business contexts. This helps you see the bigger picture and understand how business theory applies in practice.

Possible investigation areas

Your specific topic will depend on the SEC brief, but previous themes have covered diverse business contexts.

These examples demonstrate the breadth of issues you might explore, including cross-cutting themes such as sustainability, digital transformation, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and business ethics. These themes reflect current business challenges and provide opportunities to examine how companies adapt to changing market conditions.

Assessment criteria

Your work will be evaluated using four main descriptors of quality:

Planning assessment examines your project organisation and research design. High-level work demonstrates clear project planning, strong research questions, and thoughtful reflexion on your approach. Lower-level work typically shows vague planning and poorly developed research questions.

Investigating focuses on your research execution and analysis. Excellence requires using a wide range of appropriate sources, conducting in-depth analysis, reaching clear conclusions, and recognising your study's limitations. Weaker performance typically involves few sources, superficial analysis, and failure to acknowledge limitations.

Applying evaluates how well you connect your findings to real business contexts and cross-cutting themes like ethics, sustainability, digital transformation, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship. Strong work makes clear connections between theory and practice, while weaker work fails to establish these links.

Communicating assesses your report presentation and structure. High-quality work features clear, logical organisation with effective graphics, coherent language, and accurate referencing. Poor communication typically shows unclear structure, inconsistent presentation, minimal visual aids, and inadequate referencing.

Timeline and submission

The investigative study follows a structured timeline across two academic years. The brief is released during Term 2 of 5th Year, giving you time to understand the requirements and begin planning your approach.

Throughout 5th and 6th Year, you'll work on your study over approximately 20 hours. This extended timeframe allows you to develop your investigation gradually, conducting thorough research and producing high-quality analysis.

During 6th Year, you'll complete and submit your digital report to the SEC. This electronic submission system ensures your work reaches examiners efficiently and securely.

Why the investigative study matters

The investigative study offers unique benefits that extend beyond traditional exam performance. It provides opportunities to demonstrate practical skills that don't always appear in exam hall conditions, such as project management, independent research, and sustained analysis.

The project encourages creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving in ways that structured exams cannot. You'll develop initiative, independence, and the ability to tackle complex, open-ended challenges.

Perhaps most importantly, the investigative study helps you understand how Business Studies connects to your daily life, your local community, and potential future career paths. By investigating real companies and genuine business challenges, you'll gain insights into how business theory applies in practice and develop a deeper appreciation for the subject's relevance.