Research Project - Structure, Method and Purpose

Research gives you the opportunity to learn more about a subject and increase your factual knowledge however you will need to go beyond the facts by analysing and interpreting. Before starting the research project you should brainstorm an idea, just writing down anything that pops into your head allows you to get creative. As well as brainstorming it is also very helpful to look at other successful projects or going out of your way to various locations etc because they can fuel inspiration.

Writing down notes on how you plan to find out the information you want to and what sources you plan to use will help you by giving you direction. When you have an idea you can use libraries and online databases for your secondary research in order to find out factual information that you need for your project, it may be difficult at first to find information if the project is quite niche however that is why other types of research are helpful, when it comes down to primary research you should make sure you use your time wisely by conducting interviews to ask a variety of different people questions to get the exact information that you need, it also can provide different perspectives for your research. For my project, I will be focusing on representations and how I would like to use persuasive techniques to overcome stereotypes such as gender, race, class sexual orientation and age, conducting interviews will be helpful for my project because having a range of opinionated views can help me back up my knowledge.

Before starting your research you should really consider what information you should be collecting information for the purpose of answering. Backing up your primary research is important, you should include background information, context and source age. After you have got all the research you need, you should have a clear understanding of how it will help with your overall project.

  

Structure, Method and Purpose for my final project:

Structure:
The research I conduct will be separated from the rest of my work which will make it clear as to which blog posts are focused on the research project. My work will be easily accessible for me and those marking the work.

Method:
Now that I have my final idea I have been considering possible ways I can take part in research. My idea is to make a shoe box for running trainers. The audience for my product are people that have an interest in health and fitness, I need to find a way to collect information that will help me discover how the box can represent the trainers, how I can make it appealing to the target audience and how I can make it creative and different to other competitors. I will need to take part in some primary and secondary research.

Possible primary research methods for my project:

• Observation 
• Questionnaire
• Focus Group
• Surveys
• Sampling 
• Interviews

Possible secondary research methods for my project: 

• Published Statistics
• Published Texts
• Media
• Personal Documents

The secondary research is very important for me because I would need to do research that can educate me considering I haven't had any experience with product design I will need to give myself time to explore the shape and original design of certain products in order to think of possible ways I can put the shoe box together.

Purpose: 
I am doing this research so that my final major project can be done to the best of my ability. Conducting research will allow me to explore different way of creating my design, this might mean that I will change my mind about my product many times but at least each time I am making it better and different to other competitors on the market. Being able to back up my points with the research will demonstrate why I decided to something in a certain way.