The research plan will help you figure out the best research method to use in developing your project. In the plan, you will develop a research question, derive a hypothesis, and then develop a research method or course of action to answer this question.

Whether you are using interpretative, qualitative, or quantitative research, a good research plan will outline why and how you derived your data. The research plan should be 2-3 pages.

Questions to answer in your Research Plan

1. What is your research question?

1. If you are doing a quantitative study, what is your hypothesis?

2. Describe the research method you will use to answer your research question.

1. How are you going to conduct your research (i.e. will it be interpretive, qualitative, quantitative, or a mixture?)
2. How are you going to gather data? (i.e. Are you going to conduct interviews or surveys? Are you going to find textual sources on your question? Are you going to conduct observations?)
3. Describe your research process. Specifically how are you going to conduct interviews, surveys, or observations? (If doing textual research, what will be your interpretive lens and what types of sources will you use for your analysis?)
4. How much data are you going to gather? (i.e. Who are you going to survey/interview and why? How many people are you going to survey? How many people will you interview?)
5. Why is this the best method?
6. What are the limitations of this method when answering your research question?
7. What textual sources are you going to find for your literature review? (Find 2-3 academic sources and list their article names here.)

3. How will you interpret your data?
4. When will you have your research (both field and textual research) completed?
5. Include any interview questions or survey questions you are going to use.