Step 4 - Plan for Formal Research Project

Steps four and five move the research process into the formal realm for which academic training prepares most of its practitioners. Once a research request has been approved, the research needs to be planned and executed by competent personnel.

The planning and proposal stage are well documented in the literature, and follow normal procedures. Many issues need to be addressed in the plan in order for the time and expense involved to be fruitful and the results as accurate as possible.

Boles[], who outlined and excellent Personal research plan for job hunting in his What Color is Your Parachute notes that dollar for dollar, minute for minute, one gets greater value for time and money spend prior to a decision being made than after. Once such preplanning is complete, and a decision to go forward with a research project has been made, the same spirit needs to continue. Boles points out [] that once any decision has been made, people will help you fulfill it but will generally withheld information about the wisdom of having taken that particular course of action. That is why planning research before particular approaches have been settled on is critical - it saves much time, money and effort.