Suggested time: 120 min.
One of the best ways to get the information you need is to go out and get it yourselves Rather than finding secondary research in books and online, you can decide what you need to know, collect the data and collate it (primary research).
You can create a sample survey, which is a study that obtains data from a subset of a population (as opposed to a census which is the whole population). You might go on to create an observational study that attempts to find correlations between two sets of data.
Here is what you'll need
Follow these steps
Step 1: Decide
Decide what you want to measure. How will you collect the data? Will it be a survey, questionnaire or observation?
Step 2: Prepare
Prepare a table or simple method of tallying quantitative data. Or create a set of survey questions. Go out into the world and collect your results. Consider where you might find a random selection of relevant people.
Step 3: Collate
Collate your results. Create a graph using spreadsheet software.
Step 4: Generalise
See if you can generalise your results to a larger population (generalisability). This requires that your participants were randomly selected.
Step 5: Correlate
Look for patterns in your results. Are there correlations between two variables? Do they need further investigation? Don’t assume a cause-and-effect from your correlation (this is one of the biggest mistakes in research).
Step 6: Summarise
Summarise your most interesting findings. Include questions raised that need further research.