AP Research

Advanced Placement Research developing research skills and academic inquiry.

Advanced Topics

Designing a Research Project

Building Your Research from the Ground Up

Designing a research project is like planning a journey: you need a map, supplies, and a clear destination. The better your plan, the smoother your research will go.

Steps to Design Your Project

  1. Define Your Question: What do you want to find out?
  2. Choose Your Method: Will you use interviews, surveys, or experiments?
  3. Plan Data Collection: How and where will you gather information?
  4. Consider Ethics: Will your project affect people or animals? Is it respectful and safe?
  5. Create a Timeline: Set milestones and deadlines.

Common Pitfalls

  • Being too ambitious with scope
  • Overlooking ethical considerations
  • Not allowing enough time for data collection

Pro Tip

Use checklists and timelines to stay on track!

Examples

  • Planning a survey of local businesses to study the impact of a new law.

  • Designing an experiment to test the effect of music on memory retention.

In a Nutshell

A well-designed project is organized, ethical, and realistic in scope.