Bryman & Bell: Research Project Guide

Have you clearly specified your research questions?

Have you clearly indicated how the literature you have read relates to your research questions?

Is your discussion of the literature critical and organized so that it is not just a summary of what you have read?

Have you clearly outlined your research design and your research methods, including:

• why you chose a particular research design?

• why you chose a particular research method?

• how you selected your research participants?

• whether there were any issues to do with cooperation (e.g. response rates)?

• why you implemented your research in a particular way (e.g. how the interview questions relate to your research questions, why you observed participants in particular situations, why your focus group guide asked the questions in a particular way and order)?

• if your research required access to an organization, how and on what basis agreement for access was forthcoming?

• steps you took to ensure that your research was ethically responsible?

• how you analyzed your data?

• any difficulties you encountered in the implementation of your research approach?

Have you presented your data in a manner that relates to your research questions?

Does your discussion of your findings show how they relate to your research questions?

Does your discussion of your findings show how they shed light on the literature that you presented?

Are the interpretations of your data that you offer fully supported with tables, figures, or segments from transcripts?

If you have presented tables and/or figures, are they properly labelled with a title and number?

If you have presented tables and/or figures, are they commented upon in your discussion?

Do your conclusions clearly allow the reader to establish what your research contributes to the literature?

Have you explained the limitations of your study?

Do your conclusions consist solely of a summary of your findings? If they do, rewrite them!

Do your conclusions make clear the answers to your research questions?

Does your presentation of the findings and the discussion allow a clear argument and narrative to be presented to the reader?

Have you broken up the text in each chapter with appropriate subheadings?

Does your writing avoid sexist, racist, and disablist language?

Have you included all appendices that you might need to provide (e.g. interview schedule, letters requesting access, communications with research participants)?

Have you checked that your list of references includes all the items referred to in your text?

Have you checked that your list of references follows precisely the style that your institution requires?

Have you followed your supervisor's suggestions when he or she has commented on your draft chapters?

Have you got people other than your supervisor to read your draft chapters for you?

Have you checked to ensure that there is not excessive use of jargon?

Do you provide clear signposts in the course of writing, so that readers are clear about what to expect next and why it is there?

Have you ensured that your institution's requirements for submitting projects are fully met in terms of such issues as word length (so that it is neither too long nor too short) and whether an abstract and table of contents are required?

Have you ensured that you do not quote excessively when presenting the literature?

Have you fully acknowledged the work of others so that you cannot be accused of plagiarism?

Is there a good correspondence between the title of your project and its contents?

Have you acknowledged the help of others where this is appropriate (e.g. your supervisor, people who may have helped with interviews, people who read your drafts)?