How to do a research project by yourself?

Special Interest Areas design research
2

It depends on what type of research you are doing, but all methods require tools. You certainly can create all of the tools without actually doing the research. Tool creation will show any prospective employer you are capable of managing a research program.

You will need to make:

  1. Research goal and objectives
  2. Research goal and objectives (I cannot stress enough the importance of the first 2 steps)
  3. Target respondent list (who do you want)
  4. Potential source list for respondents (where do they come from)
  5. Recruiting script (what to you say to get the respondents interested)
  6. Recruiting questions (how do you make sure you get who you want)
  7. Product model (could actually be physical, could be a list of attributes, could be a lot of things but whatever it is, it is always based on steps 1 &2)
  8. Written survey or script (what are you going to ask)

Doing the research and creating conclusions & recommendations would be great, but would not be necessary. It is possible to do all of the tools and research on the cheap. The product model could be virtual and many times the respondents do not need an honorarium. But again, that will depend on steps 1 & 2.