The order of tasks in your study has a logic to it: it follows the cycle of empirical research. The empirical cycle consists of five elements: 1. Background; 2. Question; 3. Theory; 4. Research; 5. Conclusions. Despite its second place in the order of things, the question you are answering is the most important of the five elements. Your research answers a research question that emerges from a background of societal issues and previous research, develops ideas that could be the answer to your question, and presents data analyses that are relevant for this question. Furthermore, your research will contribute new insights to revise theories that answer the question and to design policies that change the reality that formed the background to your question. At that point, the cycle has completed one round. The changed reality, in turn, may form the background of future research.

While your research may include additional elements, it should include at least the following, and in this order:

  1. Formulate an initial version of your research question – more about that here.
  2. Then start gathering previous research and read it. Identify the state of the art in the literature on your research problem. More about that here.
  3. Having identified the gaps in the literature, reformulate your research question and present this to your supervisor, asking for feedback.
  4. Write a first draft of the introduction (suggestions here) describing the research question, the relevance of your study for science and society, and a very brief description of the research design.
  5. Determine whether an ethics review is required for your research, and if so, apply.
  6. Next, write the theory section (see here), including hypotheses (see here).
  7. Design your research (see here) and document it (see here).
  8. Collect data, describe how you did that (see here), analyze them (see here) and describe the results (see here).
  9. Write the conclusion and discussion (see here).
  10. Write the summary or abstract (see here).
  11. Finally, write the preface (see here) and lay-out your document.
  12. Check-check: go over your text and correct errors.
  13. Check-check double-check: let someone else go over your text and suggest improvements.