Doing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research

This chapter discusses each part of the research project in order to give students a rounded view of the whole document they must eventually produce. Having this view will help with research planning and time management. It will also help students' confidence to know how the various parts of the research project fit into the whole. Some common problems and difficulties can be anticipated and tackled in advance. The chapter suggests research project chapter headings for both conceptual and empirical projects.

Chapter objectivesAfter reading this chapter students will be able to

• see both the parts and the whole of the research project writingup process

• plan the research knowing what kind of text must be produced

• anticipate some of the common difficulties and opportunities in research writing

• set out with confidence on the research process

'Writing up' is often considered to be the final stage in the research project. However, it is strongly advised that students think carefully about the written document that they must produce right from the beginning of the project process. By doing this students form an idea of the whole picture of a research project before they embark on it. In contrast, many first-time student researchers begin the project without appreciating the nature of the desired end-result. They attempt each stage without knowing why it is

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