The Research Process

The Research Process

1. Selection of topic.

   • The selection of your research question is a crucial stage as an inappropriate topic or question will often lead to irretrievable difficulties later in the research , so it is worth dealing with this stage carefully

2. Reviewing the literature.

   • consist of critically reading,evaluating and organising existing literature on the topic to assess the state of knowledge in the area.

3. Development of theoretical and conceptual frameworks.

   • This is a stage that can often be overlooked in the haste to collect data

4. Clarification of the research question

   • stages 1,2 and 3 of the research process will initially , in many cases, become a circular process, whereby initial research questions are chosen , investigated and often rejected for a number of reasons.

5. Research desing

   • Once the focused research question has been ascertained, the next stage is to consider two question, what data do i need to collect to answer this question? what is the best way to collect this data?

6. Data collection

   • You have to consider which methodology to choose and wich methods to utilise within the methodology

7. Data analysis and discussion of the findings

   • Methods of data analysis should always be related to the objectives of the research

8. Drawing conclusions

   • You can evaluate how successful you have beenin achieving your research objectives and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the research