Chapter 3 Getting Started

3.1 Full Cycle of a Statistical Research Project

Like any research project, a statistical research project starts with an interesting idea, and goes through a full cycle of brainstorming, planning with the right design/methods, investigating with the simulation studies/data analyses, fixing and iterating as necessary, and summarizing through writing/revision.

  1. Find a topic of interest. The topic should interest you, and be something which you already know at least somewhat and/or can find out more. The topic should also be something that is within your capacity restricted by your skill sets and time. Check the literature to see what works are available on it or related topics. In short, the topic should be reasonably interesting and doable. You can get ideas for research by A critical factor to consider when identifying a topic is data.
    • Idea-driven approach: You could start from an idea and then check if there are data available that can be used to test out your idea. It could be frustrating when you cannot find data after searching around.
    • data-driven approach: You could start from some available data and formulate your ideas by closely studying the data. This approach needs creative thinking to do something new on a old data.
  2. Initial planning. After you have identified a topic, you need to narrow down on the specific research questions that you want to answer, what data will be needed/used, and what methods are appropriate.
    • Form a hypothesis, design a study, conduct the study, make notes.
    • Collect data and/or find some existing data.
    • Decide on appropriate statistical methods.
    • Make a tentative outline to guide writing.
  3. Statistical investigation.
    • Perform data analysis.
    • Summarize substantive findings.
    • Investigate the performance of proposed methods via simulations.
  4. Iterate between planning and investigation.
  5. Write, revise and proofread. Revising and writing are two separate processes.
    • Start with an outline for each section which includes major headings, sub-headings and paragraphs covering different points.
    • When starting, the goal is to get the main points and ideas captured in a document, so at this time, it does not matter if sentences are incomplete or if the grammar is incorrect.
    • Are the statistical statements correct?
    • Are the data displays informative?
    • Are the conclusions based on sound evidence?
    • Are the style and tone appropriate for the venue?
    • Is the problem clearly stated?
    • Check organization — reorganize paragraphs and add transitions where necessary.
    • Work on sentences — check spelling, punctuation, word choice, tense, etc.
    • Make sure all researched information is documented (reproducibility).
    • Rework introduction and conclusion.
    • Read out loud to check for flow.
    • Find a friend to review.

There are resource online that could be helpful. Here are some examples.

3.2 Writing a Research Proposal

A research proposal is piece of writing that details exactly what you plan to do in a research project.

The following components are expected in your proposal.

  • Introduction: Introducing the topic and why you have chosen this topic (3–5 lines). Mention briefly the current related research and cite relevant works.

    • Why shold we care?
    • What have been done?
    • What are new?

  • Specific aims: Formulate a research question or hypothesis in the chosen topic. Describe briefly why you select such a question or hypothesis and its importance in the field (cite sources).

    • Why is it hard/interesting/unstudied?
    • How hard/interesting is it?

  • Data description: Describe your data set (for instance: sampling scheme, number of observations, number of variables, variables of interest, nature of the variables) and the source of your data set if it is not collected by yourself.

  • Research design/methods/schedule: Describe briefly (5-7 lines) your plan of action.

    • Why are the methods appropriate (with proper references) for the problem?
    • What steps are required to use the methods?
    • Which of the steps will be particularly hard?
    • What would you do if the hardest steps do not work as planned?
    • How would the methods help in investigating the task problem?

  • Discussion: potential problems and solutions.

    • What do you expect to find and why do you feel so?
    • Any ways your work can corroborate or challenge existing results or assumptions?
    • What are the potential impacts of your work?
    • What if the results of your investigation is not what you expected?

  • Conclusion (optional): Wrap it up by briefly summarizing your research proposal and reinforcing your research’s stated purpose.