Bringing it all together : an application of the research process

![CDATA[Now that you have been introduced to some basic principles surrounding research and the processes involved in conducting research, hopefully you are feeling inspired to one day take your own journey. Hopefully it all does not seem so mysterious to you now. In this chapter we bring some of what you have read to life. Using an example of a piece of research already completed we take you through the research process step by step. We begin where all good research begins – with the question, and how to develop a concise question and then use this question to search the literature. We explore the difference between aims and objectives and give you some guidance on how a research proposal should be written. Briefly we will walk you through the different designs you might want to use (remember qualitative and quantitative?). Important considerations such as ethics, timelines, budgets and finding a good supervisor or support for undertaking research are also discussed. While some of this material has been covered in previous chapters, here it is repeated and applied in a way that should consolidate what you have previously learnt and make it more meaningful. Even if you do not wish to conduct research yourself, or will not do so for a while, having good insight into how good research is conducted will stand you in great stead for critical appraisal and evidence-based practice. In illustrating the approach we took we hope the research process becomes clearer to you. Perhaps you might even consider an Honours year at some point. Talk to the academic staff; they will be able to provide advice on how to go about this.]]