Project Design - sparklabnyc/resources GitHub Wiki

Project design overview

A research design is a procedure for answering your research question using data. Creating a research design means outlining your project. The design should include information about your project:

  • Research objective/question
  • Goal
  • Procedure
  • Data collection
  • Sampling and analytical methods

How to approach a research design

1. Consider your objective

Before you start designing your procedure, you should have a clear concept of the research question you want to investigate. Make notes on your question and consider your approach to the objective.

2. Check relevant pre-existing literature

Read up on the relevant studies and literature related to your project. Identify the key findings, gaps in knowledge, and opportunities for future research direction. Take notes on how these studies inform or shape your question, and consider how your project can build upon the existing literature.

3. Identify your sampling and data collection methods

Find the relevant datasets, surveys, and observations. Identify your research population and define how you will select your sampling area. Be mindful of potential biases and ethical considerations.

4. Explore data analytics methods

Decide which analytical methods or models to employ. Justify the usage of that method and how it will influence your results.

5. Draft your research proposal

Draft a plan for your mentor to consider the feasibility and scope of the project.

Project proposal

Goals planning

Here is a brief guideline for determining research goals and objectives. Please adapt this to your specific projects; this is a starting point to get you thinking. A previous acceptable example is found at the bottom of this section. Please use it as a template if you wish in a word processing application.

Thinking about starting a new research project?

We strongly encourage you to draft a clear project proposal before you begin. Here is the basic information that you should include in your goals planning document. Make sure to include the objective of the project and the data needed.

1. Set Clear Goals

Identify approximately 3 broad goals that you aim to accomplish within a specific timeline, such as a school semester. These should align with your overall research objectives and contribute to your academic or professional advancement.

2. Define Specific Objectives

Break down each goal into actionable objectives. Your objectives should outline specific tasks, skills, or outcomes necessary to achieve the overarching goal. For example, the goal of completing a particular research project might include data collection, analysis, and writing.

3. Short-term and long-term planning

Consider both short and long-term goals. For example, a short-term goal might be learning a specific software tool, and a long-term goal may involve planning for your research trajectory over a more extended period. Try to incorporate short-term and long-term goals within the plan.

4. Sequencing

Determine which goals and objectives to prioritize over others given their importance and feasibility within the timeframe. Sequence your tasks accordingly.

Designing the project

How to write a research proposal?

A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why itโ€™s important, and how you will conduct your research.

The format of a research proposal varies, but it will mostly include these elements:

  • Title/Objective
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
  • Research design
  • References

Academics often write research proposals as a way to get funding for their studies. As a student, you might have to write one for starting a thesis or dissertation. Having a research proposal is important since it shows your reader why your project is important and that you understand the current state of research. A proposal should just be a few pages that explain the current state, gaps, future directions of literature, and how your project will address those.

Title

Include the title of the project, your name, and your supervisor's name

Introduction

Introduce your topic, give the necessary background of the project, and outline your project's research question. You should identify the problem, state your motivations, and question how your new insights will contribute to the literature.

Literature review

The literature review should be the bulk of your paper. As you get started on your project, it's important to demonstrate that you are familiar with important research on your topic. A strong literature review shares the foundation in existing knowledge. The literature review should include the current state of knowledge, gaps in that knowledge, and future directions that you can take.

Research design

The research design, otherwise known as the methodology, will describe your approach and the steps you will take to answer your question, similar to the goals planning document.

Build your research design by including the type of research, sampling area, research methods, data collection, and the practicalities of your project. Basically, this section should be a draft of your research, similar to the goals planning document, and give a timeline of progress.

References

Lastly, your research proposal must include the appropriate citations for the sources that you used. I recommend that you use Nature or APA citation format for most projects. Please also check out Zotero for citation management

Here are a few questions to consider when writing your research proposal.

George H. Heilmeier's set of questions:

  • What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. What is the problem? Why is it hard?
  • How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
  • What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
  • Who cares?
  • If you're successful, what difference will it make? What impact will success have? How will it be measured?
  • What are the risks and the payoffs?
  • How much will it cost?
  • How long will it take?
  • What are the midterm and final "exams" to check for success? How will progress be measured?

Budget: If you are applying for funding, you probably have to draft a research proposal, also include a finances section to include: cost (how much do you need), justification (why do you need that amount), and source (how did you calculate that amount). Think about travel costs, materials, and help needed.

Check out more about funding in the practicalities page or reach out to Robbie

Project repositories

This section will introduce GitHub for research. Below will have the key document to include in your GitHub. For further information and examples based on GitHub repositories, check out the reproducible research page.

Project repositories should include a README, a description, a code folder, a data folder, and a figures/output folder. The directory should be organized so that your files are easy for the user to find relevant files. The project repository is also a great way to document and version control your files. Use GitHub's repositories for your research projects to allow collaborators.

Templates

Check out the templates that we have in the lab wiki first.

Then feel free to search online or use some of the templates that I recommended here for a research proposal