A leap of faith

I would like to undertake a research project – how do I do it and where do I start?

Undertaking research should follow a clear and methodical process and it is essential to complete a clearly defined series of stages if you wish your project to have any validity – and certainly if you wish to get your results published. After all, if you are unable to disseminate your findings to a larger audience, there is little point in undertaking the study in the first place other than for personal satisfaction.

Developing a research question

This may seem easy but it is probably the most difficult – and most important – stage in any research project. It is best to represent your research project as a question rather than a statement and the question should not be answerable by means of a yes/no answer. For example: ‘The scope of practice of dental nurses’ as a research project would be too general. However, ‘what is the scope of practice of dental nurses?’ turns it into a question but one that could easily be answered without undertaking research. On the other hand, ‘what are the opinions of dental nurses on their scope of practice?’ turns it into a research study but still leaves it rather vague. Are you asking dental nurses in the UK? Are you researching about ‘current’ scope of practice? So, you might refine the question further to: ‘What are the opinions of UK dental nurses on their current scope of practice?’ Remember to consider how practicable it would be to undertake this study. Getting a representative sample of UK dental nurses could be challenging, time consuming and expensive so maybe you would be advised to look at a much smaller geographical area. Having refined your research question, you need to think about it carefully and ask yourself a number of further questions: