Shaping your project
Framing your questions, writing the proposal and getting approval to begin. Stage 3 of 6.
This is the stage where a topic becomes a project. You are reading to find your place in a conversation, turning broad interests into questions you can actually answer, and choosing methods that fit them.
It often feels slow and circular, and questions change many times before they settle. That is normal. What helps is writing early, recording your decisions and the reasons for them, and getting your proposal and ethics application moving before you feel completely ready.
Milestones for this stage
Tick them off as you go. Your ticks are saved on this device.
0 of 6 done
Guides that matter most now
- I don't have a research question yetMove from a broad topic to a question you can answer, that's worth answering, in the time you have.
- My research question keeps changingTell useful refinement from drift, keep a record of each version, and agree when the question is settled.
- I can't explain the gap my study fillsArgue for your contribution clearly, in one paragraph you could say to anyone.
- My literature review reads like a list of summariesReorganise your review around ideas and debates, so sources speak to each other and your own argument comes through.
- I need to write my research proposal and I'm not sure howDraft a proposal where the question, contribution, methods and timeline all hold together.
- I'm not sure my methods fit my research questionCheck the chain from question to data to analysis to claim, and get the right expert to look at it.
- I need to get ethics approval for my researchPrepare an ethics application that comes back with fewer revisions, and plan your timeline around the review.
- I have to defend my research proposalPrepare for what the committee is really checking, and leave with the agreed plan in writing.
Tools for this stage
Also useful at this stage
- I have comprehensive or qualifying exams coming upFind out what your exam really involves, then prepare in a way that builds the knowledge your project needs anyway.
- Recruitment or access is taking much longer than I plannedFind where recruitment or access is actually stalling, widen your routes within your approval, and set a date to switch to a fallback.
- I'm preparing for fieldwork and want to be readySort out permissions, safety, data, money and your own wellbeing before you leave, and plan for what you'll do when things change.
- I need to learn a new method or piece of softwareLearn enough of a new method to use it well and defend it, without disappearing into it for a year.
- I can't get started on writing at allGet words onto the page before you know exactly what you think, and shape them afterwards.
- I'm writing a chapter and I'm unsure how to structure itWork out what the chapter has to do, then build an outline that follows the argument.
- I'm adjusting to a new country and a new academic systemMake sense of the unwritten rules, find the right support, and give yourself real time to settle.
- Statistics and research methods make me anxious, and my project needs themUnderstand where statistics anxiety comes from, and build enough confidence to plan and run the analysis your project needs.