Write a perfect research planning report in 6 simple steps
Not only the writers, probably every single person experiences writer’s block. If you are a student who needs to submit the research planning of a project or a final thesis, it is common to feel resistance to write even if your project inspires you so much. If you are an experienced researcher and you would like to submit a research proposal for a grant, you will have the same resistance as well. I know that you would like to do your research and not spend any time on writing the planning report, however most of the time it is officially required to have this report. On the otherhand, even if it wouldn’t be required, you would have a big advantage of having a written plan to keep you on the track at times when you feel lost.
If you follow these six simple steps, I believe you will be able to write your research planning quickly and successfully.
(1) EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM
What is the problem that you would like to do your research on? Why is it interesting to solve this problem? Why isn’t it solved earlier? Who would benefit from the results if the problem is solved?
If you answer the questions above, I believe your introduction section will be clear.
(2) SET RESEARCH QUESTIONS PROPERLY
Make your research questions clear. It is a good idea to have one, two or maximum three research questions to have a sharp focus in your research.
I say ‘properly’, because your research question should be answerable with conducting experiments. There must be ways to validate the results.
For instance, ‘Is eating potato is good?’ would not be a research question. ‘Good’ for what? How much potato? How would you conduct experiments and discuss your results?
However, ‘Is eating more potato instead of rice helpful to gain muscles?’ could be a better described research question. Then, it is clear that you can conduct experiments. For instance, you can have 10 people who eat more potato than rice, you can have another 10 people who eat more rice than potato. Then, you can measure their muscle gain in two weeks. Later, you can ask them to add heavy exercise to their daily routines and you can continue measuring the changes. You can answer your research questions with your graphs and have a discussion on your findings.
(3) INTRODUCE PROPOSED METHODS
Explain the methods that you would like to use to conduct your experiments. This can be done by giving the mathematical equations, explaining parameters of these equations or providing workflow diagrams to explain the steps that your input data will be going through.
(4) EXPLAIN YOUR MOTIVATION FOR THE CHOSEN METHODS
Of course, the step above (introducing the proposed methods) should be supported by your explanation of why those methods are chosen. Sometimes, the method is chosen because it was frequently used or the library was freely-available. Even then, be honest while explaining your reasons.
(5) PROVIDE THE DESIGNED SOLUTION
You have already explained your chosen methods, and now you need to explain how these methods work together so they can make a workflow together. You can represent this workflow as a flowchart diagram or a pseudocode if you are from the field of computer/data science. Of course, when you are conducting your research, this solution proposal might need modifications. No worries, that is the nature of the research. You will have chance to explain more things in your final report, when you show what the initial proposal was and how it needed to be modified later.
(6) DO YOUR REFERENCING CAREFULLY
It is extremely important to provide references on the background, chosen methods, or for any figure/equation/table/idea that you have picked up from another source. This could be even an internet link (not always journal publications). In this case, check the proper format of your report for referencing a link.
I hope these six simple steps help you to write good research planning reports in a short time. If you have more suggestions, you can contribute in the comments section.
Thank you for reading,
Beril
Twitter: @berilsirmacek
