Identify a faculty member to take on the supervisory role in the directed research project. In some departments, students are assigned faculty members for mandatory projects; in others, students must approach a faculty member on their own initiative. Factors to consider include faculty expertise and the willingness of the faculty member to invest time in a directed research project. It would be useful to approach the identified faculty member with an informal proposal and ask if a formal submission would be warranted.
Prepare a formal proposal for the faculty member or committee that supervises directed research projects. This proposal should include a brief introduction, a discussion of current areas of controversy in the field or a hypothesis and an initial working bibliography. The length and specifics of the proposal will be determined by departmental guidelines, but 1,000 words is reasonable for an undergraduate project. Submit the proposal to the faculty member or committee.
Research the approved topic. This involves a detailed literature review based on the initial working bibliography and expanding as more reading is done. Keep detailed notes and refer back to the relevance of the information to the original hypothesis.
Consult with the faculty supervisor regularly to ensure that the research is progressing in a positive manner. Be sure to come to the meetings ready with specific questions. It often happens that a project shifts emphasis once the research is under way; this is certainly acceptable and appropriate, but the student should maintain focus on the hypothesis as it evolves and not wander about aimlessly in the material. The supervisor should impose a rough timetable of expected submissions.
Prepare an outline of the research in progress once the general framework of the research has taken shape and in accordance with the timetable determined by the faculty supervisor. This outline need not be comprehensive, but it should be sufficiently fleshed out so it gives a well-rounded picture of the topic and poses clear and specific research questions.
Present this outline to a peer group together with a working hypothesis to meet the research questions. One way to accomplish this is with a PowerPoint presentation delivered in a graduate or senior undergraduate seminar. The faculty supervisor may require other members of the seminar to prepare oral responses and follow up with written critiques.
Write the formal directed research project submission as per the departmental guidelines. Be sure to respond to the oral and written comments by the peer review committee in the final paper. Submit the paper to the faculty supervisor.