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THE FIVE‘WS’ When you start to think about your research project, a useful way of
remembering the important questions to ask is to think of the five ‘Ws’:

What?
What is your research? This question needs to be answered as specifically as possible. One of
the hardest parts in the early stages is to be able to define your project, so much research fails
because the researcher has been unable to do this. A useful tip is to sum up, in one sentence
only, your research. If you are unable to do this, the chances are your research topic is too
broad, ill thought out or too obscure.
Why?
Why do you want to do the research? What is its purpose? Okay, you might have been told to
do some research by your tutor or by your boss, but there should be another reason why you
have chosen your particular subject. It might be solely to do with the fact that you are
interested in the topic. This is a good start as you need to be interested in your research if you
are to keep up your enthusiasm and remain motivated. Or you might have identified a gap in
the research literature – this is good as it shows you have carried out careful background
research. Or perhaps you want to try to obtain funding for a particular service or enterprise and
you need to do some research first to find out if there is demand for what you are proposing.
Whatever your reason, think very carefully about why you are doing the research as this will
affect your topic, the way you conduct the research and the way in which you report the
results. If you’re doing it for a university dissertation or project, does your proposed research
provide the opportunity to reach the required intellectual stan- dard? Will your research
generate enough material to write a dissertation of the required length? Or will your research
generate too much data that would be impossible to summarise into a report of the required
length? If you’re conducting research for funding purposes, have you found out whether your
proposed funding body requires the information to be presented in a specific format? If so, you
need to plan your research in a way which will meet that format.
Who?
Who will be your participants? (In this book, people who take part in research will be called
participants or respondents, rather than ‘subjects’, which is a term that I have never liked.) At
this stage of the research process, you needn’t worry too much about exactly how many
participants will take part in your research as this will be covered later (see Chapter 5).
However, you should think about the type of people with whom you will need to get in touch
with and whether it will be possible for you to contact them. If you have to conduct your
research within a particular time scale, there’s little point choosing a topic which would include
people who are difficult or expensive to contact. Also, bear in mind that the Internet now
provides opportunities for contacting people cheaply, especially if you’re a student with free
internet access.
Where?
Where are you going to conduct your research? Thinking about this question in geographical
terms will help you to narrow down your research topic. Also, you need to think about the
resources in terms of budget and time that are 6 / PRACTICAL RESEARCH METHODS HOW TO
DEFINE YOUR PROJECT / 7 available to you. If you’re a student who will not receive travel
expenses or any other out of pocket expenses, choose a location close to home, college or
university. If you’re a member of a community group on a limited budget, only work in areas
within walking distance which will cut down on travel expenses. Also, you need to think about
where you’ll be carrying out your research in terms of venue. If you’re going to conduct
interviews or focus groups, where will you hold them? Is there a room at your institution which
would be free of charge, or are you going to conduct them in participants’ own homes? Would
it be safe for you to do so? Would you be comfortable doing so? If you’ve answered ‘no’ to
either of these last two questions, maybe you need to think again about your research topic. In
15 years I have encountered only one uncomfortable situation in a stranger’s home. It can
happen and you must never put yourself in a dangerous situation. Think very carefully about
whether your chosen topic and method might have an influence on personal safety.
When?
When are you going to do your research? Thinking about this question will help you to sort out
whether the research project you have proposed is possible within your time scale. It will also
help you to think more about your participants, when you need to contact them and whether
they will be available at that time. For example, if you want to go into schools and observe
classroom practice, you wouldn’t choose to do this research during the summer holiday. It
might sound obvious, but I have found some students present a well-written research proposal
which, in practical terms, will not work because the participants will be unavailable during the
proposed data collection stage. Once you have thought about these five ‘Ws’, try to sum up
your proposed project in one sentence. When you have done this, take it to several people,
including your boss and/or tutor, and ask them if it makes sense. Do they understand what your
research is about? If they don’t, ask them to explain their confusion, revise your statement and
take it back to them. I can’t overemphasise the importance of this stage of the research
process. If you get it right now, you will find that the rest of your work should flow smoothly.
However, if you get it wrong, your problems could well escalate. The following exercise will help
you to think more about these issues.
Improve the following titles using the elements of research:
Titles Improved Titles
1.The Relationship of Achievement

Motive to Differential Mobility
2.Verbal Creativity Among Senior

High School Students
3.The Relationship Between

Creativity and Music Achievement
4.School Officials and Teachers

Mobility
5.A Study of the Relationship of Self-

Acceptance, Adjustment and
Achievement of Children

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THE FIVE‘WS’ When you start to think about your research project, a useful way of

remembering the important questions to ask is to think of the five ‘Ws’:

1.The Relationship of Achievement

2.Verbal Creativity Among Senior

3.The Relationship Between

4.School Officials and Teachers

5.A Study of the Relationship of Self-

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