Create an Introduction section. Include the name of the study and the author's name, along with the educational or scientific institute represented by the author; if applicable, state in detail the problem or issue being studied. Why is it important? What is the purpose for conducting the research? What information is being sought?
Outline how the research will be done. What process will be used: interviews or reading historical papers? If interviews are to be conducted, will they be private, one-on-one sessions or group discussions? What are the specific demographics of the people who will be interviewed, as in age, gender, education and occupation? Define your reason for selecting these subjects, and outline whom will be excluded from the study. Outline where you will find the interview subjects, and their connection to the issue being studied.
Consider how the data will be saved; will the notes be transcribed on index cards, for example, or to word-processing documents on a computer? Define categories for documents, and detail how the material gathered will be indexed. Will you file the material under the name of the interviewee, for example, or under the category of the discussion?
Record your overall observations and detail any trends that became apparent. Add pertinent graphs or charts for ease of disseminating the data. Leave space to compare current research with past studies done on the same subject. Are the findings similar or different? Consider whether the new study leads to a research sequel, and if it can be used as the basis for a second study.