Try not to build roof-down

Research, like a journey, starts at home and ends at your destination. It is impractical to start in the middle, continue with the beginning, and finish off with the conclusion. Not only that—you need to have advanced from stage to stage in your project, but you will also be picking up material in earlier stages (e.g. data) that you will need to complete later stages (e.g. analysis).

Consequently, try to avoid working your way through your project too chaotically. Even though it might be that you sometimes feel more like continuing on this or that part of your final academic project, do not discount the relatedness of research’s stages. The big exceptions are circular processes that are not uncommon in some research settings—e.g. conducting research, revisiting premises, adjusting your setup, and rerunning your research. However, that commonly requires going through several steps of your final academic project for every skip in process you undertake.

Research, just like a journey, does to a large degree imply procedural advancement, not a spontaneous and random emergence of structures and experiences. Plan your journey out and then follow through, one leg of the itinerary at a time. Imagine how exhausting it would be to skip from segment to segment.

(This is a preview section. The full chapter on this topic continues with the sections “Rough coordinates”, “Train of thought”, “In essence”, “To reflect”, “Two travellers’ tales”, “Devil’s advocate”, and “How to tackle”.)