STEPS IN PLANNING & EXECUTING RESEARCH

1.	Determine when research is necessary
2.	Determine the specific topic that you need to research
3.	State the research topic as a question.
4.	Identify the key concepts and terms.
5.	Refine, narrow, or broaden the topic as needed.
6.	Select the type of research strategies (see below) most appropriate to your topic. A primary factor to consider is do you need objective or subjective information and do you want strictly factual information or information that has been subjected to some kind of analysis. All of these factors affect the selection of search strategies.
	A.	Objective or Subjective
		1)	Objective Information – This is information that does not attempt to persuade.
		2)	Subjective Information – This is information that is intended to persuade.
	B.	Factual or Analytical
		1)	Factual Information – This is information that consists of facts or data with no evaluation or analysis.
		2)	Analytical Information – This is information that has been analyzed with the purpose of understanding its impact and/or context.
7.	Resource selection: You will almost invariably need sources of previous research and information to support or fuel your current research or use as reference material. Select the appropriate tools, resources, and methods to research the topic.
	A.	Decide whether you need primary sources and/or secondary sources.
	B.	Decide whether you need popular/lay information and/or scholarly/scientific/professional sources.
	C.	Decide whether you need print, online, or other resources.
		1)	Review the characteristics of information on the Web.
		2)	Review the characteristics of library resources.
		3)	Review the characteristics of licensed database sources.
	D.	If you need primary source material, decide from what type of source.
		1)	Government agencies
		2)	Not-for-profit organizations
		3)	Scientists and researchers
		4)	Educational institutions
	E.	Select the most appropriate resources, recognizing that the sources of information may change depending on your needs.
8.	Conduct your research
9.	Evaluate your research
10.	Revise your research if necessary
11.	Present the results of your research
12.	Act on the results of your research

RESEARCH TYPES

You may be using one, some, or all of the following methods in pursuing your research. It is important to determine which ones are most appropriate for your specific research subject. In any case, recognize that you have a responsibility to record and analyze the information that you collect in a rigorus, structured manner, so that it can be further validated or confirmed by future research.

Following are factors to consider for the different types of research methods that you might select?

Experimental and quasi-experimental studies.

• You must used the Scientific Method to ensure the quality and reproducibility of your research.
• What is the most appropriate design for the experiment?
• Where are your experimental units?
• What factors are you going to control in your experiment?
• What factors are you going to be testing for in your experiment?
• If randomization is employed, how will you determine what randomization strategy to use and if it is a valid method.
• Do you need to implement a double-blind strategy to eliminate any bias in testing?

Survey research

• What aspect of the subject you are researching requires a survey?
• How will you select those you intend to survey? Through a randomization process, by a purposive selection, by membership in from a group or organization?
• If randomization is used, what method of randomization be defined?
• What form of survey is most appropriate for the subject: face-to-face, telephone, email, mail?
• What is the minimum number of respondents to make the survey statistically valid?
• What are the methods you will use to analyze and validate the results of the survey?

Interviews with subject individuals or groups and/or with experts

• What kind of individuals or groups do you need to interview?
• How many individuals or members of a group do you need to interview?
• How will you approach them initially?
• What kind of information do you need to solicit?
• What form will the interviews take - stuctured, unstructured, semistructured?
• How much time do you need for each interview?
• Do you need single interviews with each subject or a series of interviews (for different subject or a time series)
• Will you obtain consent to record the interviews for subsequent analysis?

Participant observation

• You can participate in your research, but what is the nature of the role that you want to adopt?
• Specifically, you must be both an observer as well as a participant, but:
  • How will you define the border between the two?
  • How much time will you spend in each role?
  • Which are the best activities that require participation?
  • When is it best to be strictly an observer?
  • Where are the best physical locations from which to observe?
  • How do you select other participants and establish a relationship with them?
  • How will you define your role as observer to the other participants?

Analysis of previous work

• What kind of materials will you use - printed (text, visual), audio, video, Internet?
• How will you obtain the materials?
• How will you validate the origin and authority of the materials?
• What criteria will you use to analyze the content of the materials?