Identify the objective of your research; that is the question you would like to answer through your research. This enables you to pick out the best method of data collection from open ended questionnaires, journals, discussions, reports and case studies. It also helps you to encode appropriate questions to pose and obtain the required information.
Collect the necessary data. In a class setting, depending on the available resources, nature of the study and level of study, the collection methods vary in mobility and range between designated field days ending in class analysis of data and Internet searches of relevant data.
Group the data according to preset categories, relevant to the focus of the study. Carry out this exercise in the class after the students review the objectives of the research. This involves analysis of data to identify unique themes and patterns in the data in order to clearly differentiate between the values obtained from the analysis.
Study the relationships between the various categories and form an appropriate hypothesis from the relations; this is the object of the study. Analyze the relationship between the results obtained and the initial study objective. This step helps increase the students' understanding of the various focuses in the study. It also helps develop their thinking as they put in effort in analyzing the categorized data and deriving appropriate conclusions on the topic.