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EE/RPPF
For use from May/November 2018
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Candidate personal code:
Extended essay - Reflections on planning and progress form
Candidate: This form is to be completed by the candidate during the course and completion of their EE. This document
records reflections on your planning and progress, and the nature of your discussions with your supervisor. You must
undertake three formal reflection sessions with your supervisor: The first formal reflection session should focus on your initial
ideas and how you plan to undertake your research; the interim reflection session is once a significant amount of your
research has been completed, and the final session will be in the form of a viva voce once you have completed and handed
in your EE. This document acts as a record in supporting the authenticity of your work. The three reflections combined must
amount to no more than 500 words.
The completion of this form is a mandatory requirement of the EE. It must be submitted together with the completed
EE for assessment under Criterion E. As per the ‘Protocols for completing and submitting the Reflections on
planning and progress form’ section of the EE guide, a mark of 0 will be awarded by the examiner for criterion E if
the RPPF is blank or the comments are written in a language other than that of the accompanying essay.
Supervisor: You must have three reflection sessions with each candidate, one early on in the process, an interim meeting
and then the final viva voce. Other check-in sessions are permitted but do not need to be recorded on this sheet. After each
reflection session candidates must record their reflections and as the supervisor you must indicate the month that the
reflection session took place, the candidate’s year of DP study at that time and initial this form.
First reflection session
Candidate comments:
WheneverI thought of potential EE topics, it was musically-related that Spotify seemed to
understand my taste better than I do. I realised I was never discontinuing the use of the
platform, even when competitors provide the same songs at the same price. This made me
really inquisitive about what exactly keeps users loyal in an industry so fiercely competitive.
Initially, I thought that it must be the playlists alone, but as I furthered my reading, I realised
the subject was actually much deeper — involving psychology, data, and long-term financial
strategy. In a way, it was both exciting and frightening to select a research question on the
degree of AI-driven personalization as I knew I’d have to evaluate something which is not
directly measurable. Nevertheless, the motivation to explore the thing which I use every day
but have never really understood propelled me to take up this topic and find out the extent to
which technology influences behaviour and loyalty in the manner we don’t always notice.
Month
DP year (1 or Supervisor initials:
: July
2): 2
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2016
International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato
EE/RPPF
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3
Interim reflection
Candidate comments:
The study phase was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. I assumed that Spotify would
be the one to communicate figures about retention or churn, but it was quite disappointing to
find that they do not reveal anything of the sort. For a while, I felt like I couldn't move on with
my work because my whole question hinged on demonstrating an effect that I could not
directly measure. After a consultation with my supervisor, I realised that I should reconsider
my method instead of my topic. The point of change from which it was no longer looking back
was when I had to switch to CLV/CAC as an indirect retention measure; although it was not
my original plan, it actually showed me how businesses think. I was also having a hard time
trying to keep my analysis from being overly descriptive — all these frameworks (PESTLE,
SWOT, VRIO) were quite a mouthful for me at the beginning, and I found myself repeating the
same things. Transitioning from viewing these as separate entities to comparing them made
the essay more coherent and I finally felt that I had grasped the bigger picture of Spotify’s
strategy.
Month
DP year (1 or Supervisor initials:
:
2): 2
October
Final reflection - Viva voce
Candidate comments:
Most of all, to look back on the entire experience, the aspect that surprised me the most was
how much my understanding of Spotify changed. I had thought the study would be about
how algorithms make good recommendations, but in fact, I learned a lot more about trust,
privacy, and technological limitations. The synthesizing exercise made me realise that any
strategy, not even a powerful one like personalization, is not a sure thing, especially when
competitors can easily replicate it. Moreover, I discovered a lot of things about myself as a
researcher. In the past, I would have depended on clear-cut data, but this project has shown
me ways to deal with incomplete information and yet arrive at a well-balanced conclusion.
Month
DP year (1 or Supervisor initials:
:
2): 2
Dece
mber
© International Baccalaureate
EE/RPPF
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Supervisor comments:
Supervisor: By submitting this candidate work for assessment, you are taking responsibility for its authenticity. No piece of candidate work
should be uploaded/submitted to the e-Coursework system if its authenticity is in doubt or if contradictory comments are added to this form.
If your text in the box below raises any doubt on the authenticity of the work, this component will not be assessed.
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