How To You can get started with a research project.
Throughout your academic career and even as a member of the workforce, you'll be required to undertake and complete research projects.Don't worry if you're intimidated by the idea of a research project, with care and dedication, you can get it done before the deadline.
Step 1: An idea can be identified as a problem or question.
An important part of any research project is allowing each researcher to come up with their own idea, no matter how much guidance the assignment provides.You need to identify a problem in your field that needs to be solved or answer a question that hasn't been answered.A pen and piece of paper are your best friends at this point.If you're interested in anything at all, write it down as long as it falls within the guidelines of the project.It is important to remember that the more interest you have in a given topic, the easier it will be to complete the project.Don't be afraid to write down ideas.Silly or nonsensical phrases that your brain just pushes out will end up on the paper.That's fine.Think of it as cleaning out your attic.Better ideas will begin to form after a minute or two, and you might have a nice little laugh at your own expense in the meantime.
Step 2: You already have the tools.
If you can't seem to come up with anything interesting, and you've been given a vague and unhelpful prompt, your next best bet is to review your textbook or lecture notes.Look for subjects that interest you.Pick an interesting-sounding term or name and then flip open the textbook and go from there.A journal is an extremely useful tool.These periodicals are collecting research.If you were looking for a topic in radiology, you might want to look at the journal of the American College of Radiology.
Step 3: Look at what others have done.
If you are doing this in partial fulfillment of a university course or honours degree programme, you should check out what research topics other students have covered.Sometimes you can find ready-made suggestions at the end of the project which the author has made in their recommendations for further research.You can change the topic slightly to come up with a new project.This provides a ready-made, tried and tested methodology for your project.If you ask for samples of previously successful topics, some instructors will give them.It's important that you don't end up stuck with an idea, but are afraid to do it because you know someone else did it before.
Step 4: Think from every angle.
If you have a basic direction based on the project guidelines, start turning it over and over in your mind.If you come up with something on paper, write it down.If you want to think about other questions that are related to the main thrust of your guidelines, start with obvious approaches.You should keep adding items until you can't think of anything else.If your research topic is urban poverty, you could look at that topic across ethnic or sexual lines, but also look into corporate wages, minimum wage laws, the cost of medical benefits, and the loss of unskilled jobs in the urban core.You can compare and contrast urban poverty with suburban or rural poverty by looking at things such as diet and exercise levels.
Step 5: Specific topics should be synthesized.
Concrete questions that will give your research some direction can be created by combining a few or several different parameters.Cross-checking against the habits of well-to-do people and the rural poor to see if a diet is influenced more by money or environment.
Step 6: Think about what kind of methodology you are going to use.
How will you collect the data?The meat of the project is the methodology and you don't want to commit to a topic which will not have a feasible methodology or one that may require funding beyond your means.It's likely that they're going to have to self fund their projects.You will be happy that you didn't waste time on projects that could have been completed on time.Think about the questions you want answered.A good research project should collect information for the purpose of answering a question.You will think of questions that don't seem to have a clear answer.These are the topics for your research.
Step 7: You have access to that information.
Now that you have a few concrete research ideas that interest you, take your favorite and do a little preliminary research.If there seems to be no useful research at all, you'll either have to perform original research or change the topic.If there is research but it seems a bit thin, don't be afraid to take a gamble, your paper will draw attention in the right direction if nothing else.Don't limit yourself to online databases.Outside resources include primary sources, government agencies, even educational TV programs.If you want to learn about the differences in animal population between public land and an Indian reservation, call the reservation and speak to the fish and wildlife department.If you're going to do original research, that's great, but those techniques aren't covered in this article.Speak with qualified advisors and work with them to set up a process for gathering information.
Step 8: You should clearly define your project.
It's time to get a bit more formal now that you've narrowed the field and chosen a research question.Write down your research question and then note the steps you will take to get it answered.Write down each possible answer to the topic question at the bottom of the page.It's either one way, the other way or it doesn't seem to make a difference.If your plan is to research the topic, but there aren't any more specific things you can say about it, write down the types of sources you plan to use.Which magazines?Interviews and so on.Your research should have given you an idea of where to start.
Step 9: The first thing to do is to start with the basics.
Going out and researching is what that means.If you spend time creating a close outline of your presentation paper, you're most likely wasting time, as the research you gather might not fit neatly into every slot.Start with your school's library.Take the time to collect stacks of books and skim them for information.Keep an open notebook or a portable device with a notepad on hand, and copy down everything you do.It is more convincing to source one item from three different authors who all agree on it than it is to rely on one book.You should go for quantity as much as quality.If you want to get more potential sources, be sure to check citations, endnotes, and bibliographies.Writing down your sources and any other relevant details will save you a lot of trouble in the future.
Step 10: Move in a different direction.
If you have good information from your local resources, use whatever tools you can get your hands on.If you're a college student, chances are you have free access to many of these resources through your school; if not, you might have to pay to subscribe to some of them.General online research can be done at sites with reliable information such as government agencies or respected nonprofits.You can use many different queries to get the database results you want.Try to use synonymous terms if a particular set of words doesn't yield useful results.Online academic databases are dumber than the sum of their parts, so you have to use inventive language to get the results you want.
Step 11: Unusual sources should be gathered.
You should have more information written down than you can use in a single paper.This is a good time to breathe life into your project.Records that can't be reviewed anywhere else can be found in museums and historical societies.Speak to respected professors for academic information you can use as a primary source; call and speak to leaders and professionals in fields related to your topic.If it's sensible, speak to ordinary people in the field for their opinions.In some cases, this can provide you with an excellent perspective for your research, even though it isn't always appropriate in a research project.Take a look at cultural artifacts as well.Information on attitudes, hopes, and/or concerns of people in a particular time and place can be found in many areas of study.The woodblock prints of the German Expressionists show a world that they felt was often dark, grotesque, and hopeless.Strong popular attitudes can be expressed by song lyrics and poetry.
Step 12: Take a look at and trim.
You should have a lot of research on hand by this point.Look for answers or partial answers to your research question as you review it.Use context, source age, and other background information to inform your quest for understanding.You should have enough to suggest and support one answer over the others.Go through your sources one more time and set aside any that won't be useful to your project.All you need to do is put your information into a sensible format, apply your own interpretation, and prepare it for presentation.