Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Design and Rationale
• Method 2 of 2: Uncovering an Idea During Research
• Tips
• Warnings

You will have to take on research projects many times during your studies, and possibly even when you are already working. If the topic of the project seems too complicated for you, read this quick guide, and you will be able to not only start your research project, but also finish it on time.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Design and Rationale

1. 1 Brainstorm ideas, define a problem or question. Regardless of how many guidelines the assignment contains, the most important thing in any research project is to allow the researcher to present their own ideas. It is necessary to identify a problem in the selected area that needs to be solved, or a question that has not yet been answered. At this stage, pen and paper are your best friends. Without thinking about structure or format, start jotting down ideas - whatever interests you within the project guidelines. At this stage, it is important to remember that the more interesting the topic is for you, the easier you will be able to cope with any difficulties that arise as you work on the project.
   • Do not hesitate to write down ideas or not. In the end, you may end up with some confusion on paper - stupid or meaningless phrases that your brain randomly gave out. This is fine. Treat it like cleaning the cobwebs from your attic. Better ideas will start to appear in a couple of minutes (you can also laugh at yourself a little).
   SPECIALIST'S ADVICE

   

   Chris Hadley, PhD

   
   
   PhD in Cognitive Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles Chris Hadley, PhD is a member of the wikiHow team.Engaged in content strategy, data and analytics work. He received his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2006. His research has been published in numerous scientific journals.

   Chris Hadley, PhD
   PhD in Cognitive Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

   Pick a topic that really interests you. Chris Hadley, PhD in Cognitive Psychology, says: “Research is good then, when the question under study is of interest to the author himself... Effective research requires careful and consistent work. It will be much easier and more enjoyable to work on such a project if the research topic will appeal to you».

   
   
2. 2 Use the tools that you have. If brainstorming does not provide anything interesting, and you were given vague and useless clues, it is better to review the textbook or lecture notes again. Run your eyes over them in search of something interesting. You can even choose an interesting-sounding term or name from the alphabetical index and build on it. Magazines can be another useful tool. These are periodicals that collect research in a specific area. So, for example, if the project is devoted to radiology, you can use the journal "Bulletin of Radiology and Radiology".
3. 3 Study other people's work if possible. If you are a college or high school student and a research project is part of your studies, ask your instructor if such research has been done by students in the past. If so, most likely he still has these works. Ask your teacher to review them - you may be lucky enough to find recommendations for further research at the end of the work. Or maybe you decide to slightly modify your project by slightly changing its theme. By studying other people's work, you can use a ready-made, tried and tested methodology for your project.
   • Some instructors may even give you examples of successful topics of work written earlier, if you ask. Just don't be afraid to embody some idea out of fear that someone has done it before.
4. 4 Consider the issue from different angles. If the guidelines give at least some direction, take it as a basis and try to approach the research topic from different angles. Write down whatever comes to your mind, even if it doesn't seem very realistic. Start with the obvious conclusions and then move on to other questions that are indirectly related to the main thrust of the guidelines. Keep adding points until you realize that you can't think of anything else ..
   • For example, if you are researching the topic of “urban poverty,” you can look at the issue through an ethnic or gender lens, but you can also take into account corporate wage levels, minimum wage laws, health care costs, job cuts for unskilled workers in the city and so on. You can compare and contrast the incidence of poverty in cities and suburbs or villages, and examine the factors that differ - diet, exercise, or air pollution.
5. 5 Summarize specific topics. You can combine different parameters and create specific questions that will give direction to your research. Continuing the previous example, you can pay attention to the habitual diet of the low-income population in villages and in the city, compare it with what wealthy people are used to eating, and draw conclusions about what affects the diet more - well-being or the environment, and in what degree.
6. 6 At this stage, you need to be clear about which methodology you are going to follow when collecting data. The methodology is the backbone of the project.Do not take on a job that is likely to present a lot of methodological problems. Also, don't tackle what you might not be able to afford. Poor students, as a rule, have neither money nor time, and they have to finance such projects on their own. It may seem to you that we are getting ahead of ourselves, but in the end you will be glad that you did not take on a project that you simply could not complete on time.
   • Think in the same vein about the questions you want answers to. A good research project should serve as a collection of information with the help of which it will be possible to answer (or at least try to) a specific question. As you browse and link different topics together, you may end up with questions that don't seem to have a clear answer. These questions are the topics of your research.
7. 7 Examine all the information to which you have access. When you have enough interesting ideas, pick the one you like the most and do some preliminary research. If you manage to find information that can be used, leave the selected topic; if your searches do not bring results, then you will have to either become a pioneer or change the subject. Do not be afraid to accept the challenge if there is not enough information on your topic - this is often the case in the areas requiring the most attention, which means that your project will at least attract attention.
   • Don't limit your searches to libraries and online databases. Look for other sources: primary sources, government agencies, educational television programs. If you would like to know about the differences in animal populations on public lands and Indian reservations, call the reservation and try talking to their Fish and Wildlife Department.
   • If you've decided to do your own research, great, but we won't be covering that option in this article. Talk to your supervisor and work together to develop a thorough, controlled, and verified information gathering process.
8. 8 Be clear about your project. You narrowed down your search and decided on the question your research paper needs to answer - it's time to get a little more formal. Write down the research question and briefly note the steps you plan to take to answer this question. After that, at the bottom of the page, write all possible answers to the thematic questions. There are three potential answers in total: there is one way (way, result); there is another option; there is no fundamental difference between them.
   • If your plan is to “research a topic,” and you can't say anything more specific, write down the types of sources you plan to use: books (library or personal?), Magazines (which ones?), Interviews, and so on. The preliminary research should help you figure out where to start.

Method 2 of 2: Uncovering an Idea During Research

1. 1 Start with the basics. This means just pick up and start researching. Trying to write as detailed a plan as possible is likely to waste your time because actual research results may differ from what you expected. Instead, start with your school or city library. Use your time to browse through as many useful literature as possible and extract all the valuable information from it. Always keep a notebook or laptop close at hand so that you can literally rewrite or copy any information that may come in handy.
   • Links to three or more sources on the same issue are always more convincing than citing one source too often. The number of sources should at least not be inferior to their quality.Be sure to check citations, closing notes, and bibliographies for additional sources (and see if all the authors you cite are citing the same earlier source).
   • By writing down source names and other relevant details (such as context) right next to the information, you will save yourself a lot of time and frustration in the future.
2. 2 Go beyond. After you have gathered all the useful information from local sources, use all the tools available to you to collect as much information as possible on the Internet, in databases such as JSTOR. If you are in college, you may have access to many of these resources through your institution. If not, you may need to get yourself a paid subscription. At the same time, general online research should be done on verified sites, such as government agencies or well-known non-profit organizations.
   • Ask questions in different ways to get the results you want from the databases. If the phrase or set of words you are using does not work, try rephrasing or replacing the words with synonyms. Academic online databases tend to be less responsive to queries, so use indirectly related terms and get creative to get the results you want.
3. 3 Collect unusual sources. By this point, you should have written down (and organized by source) more information than you can use in your work. Now is the time to get creative and breathe life into your project. Visit museums and historical communities for information that you won't find anywhere else. Ask trusted professors what sources are best to use as primary sources. Call the leaders and professionals in your research field for their views.
   • Perhaps it makes sense to "go out into the field" and talk to ordinary people, to get their opinion. This is not always appropriate (or encouraged) in research projects, but in some cases it can help you open up an interesting new perspective on your project.
   • Cultural exhibits should also be taken into account, they contain useful information about attitudes, hopes and / or beliefs of people in a certain period of time regarding art, music or literature. It is enough to look at the late woodcuts of the German Impressionists to understand that they saw the world around them as dark, grotesque and hopeless. Likewise, the lyrics and poetry reflect the entrenched worldview of the people.
4. 4 Check and put everything in order. At this point, you should have a lot of material on hand - carefully cataloged or at least a little sorted. Once again, take a close look at all this information through the prism of your research question and try to find answers to it. Read between the lines, use context, age of sources, and other additional information. You will understand which answer is correct and find enough arguments to support it. Go through your sources again and put aside those that are not directly related to the project. Now all that remains is to arrange the collected information properly, give it your own interpretation and prepare for the presentation.

Tips

• Start early. The foundation of good research work is gathering information, which takes time and patience, even if you don't do your own research. Take as much time as you can, at least until you finish your initial gathering of information. After that, the project should be put together almost independently.
• When in doubt, write more rather than less.It is easier to reduce and remove unnecessary information later than to artificially “inflate” the volume of work with the help of unconvincing facts and anecdotes.

Warnings

• Be mindful of ethical issues. Especially if you are going to conduct original research - there are fairly strict guidelines on ethics that must be followed in order for any serious scientific organization to recognize its results. Check with someone who is well versed in the subject (for example, your teacher) about what you want to do and the steps you expect to take.
• Respect the desires of others. Unless you are a journalist, it is extremely important to adhere to the wishes and conditions of other people before using their opinions and statements in your work, even if it does not technically violate ethical norms. Many of the older generation of American Indians, for example, have very negative views of sociologists who visit reservations for research, even those invited by the tribal council for important reasons such as the revival of the language. Always act with caution when out of your usual environment, and only work with those who wish to work with you.