Beginner researchers rush to start their research rather than planning for a good research. Although, planning a research could be a complex and time–consuming process, the benefits of carefully planning a research project will be evident in the quality of the research results. Therefore, it is easier to plan a research project if it is broken down in to smaller sections. So, it would be helpful to think of research in terms of a process that can be done through different phases.

  Fortunately, the majority of educational qualitative research projects follow a predictable research process with a number of distinct stages. Some of these stages may occur concurrently, while others can not occur until previous stages have been completed. In this section each stage will be described briefly with suggestion about key issues for a beginner researcher to consider as they work on their own project.