1. Establish a general field of interest; discuss with supervisor/tutor
2. Undertake preliminary & background reading on the subject to be researched to discover with
what is known already and to suggest the choice of an appropriate research methodology.
3. Narrow your ideas to a workable topic or research proposal and give it a title. Decide on the most
appropriate methods for gathering data, e.g. questionnaire; observation; review of available
information etc.
4. Preparation of information gathering ‘tools’, e.g. questionnaires, interview sheets etc (if relevant)
& then information gathering stage. This can take a significant amount of time, so allow plenty of
time for this. Your target
5. Collation, analyse and interpretation of research data. There will undoubtedly be a need to
continue reading on the topic to make connections with other current and related research. This can
take a significant amount of time, so allow plenty of time for this.
6. Write first draft of research project report.
7. Revision and re-write dissertation; submit dissertation