For this project you will need to:

• Carry out some background research
• Consider a control for the investigation
• Add a list of references and acknowledgements or a bibliography (which ever your teacher asked you to create)

Your learning goals are:

• Plan and conduct a scientific investigation that is a fair test
• Record, analyse and communicate the results
• Evaluate the quality of the data collected and identify improvements

Stakeholders are the people who stand to lose or gain in your topic.

For example, if you are writing about thyroid cancer, stakeholders would be victims of thyroid cancer, pharmaceutical companies that sponsor research about thyroid cancer, health insurance companies that pay for treatment of thyroid cancer, the government because it makes health policy to protect citizens who might get thyroid cancer, and probably others.

The advantage of knowing the stakeholders is that when you evaluate information a stakeholder produces, you already understand why they produced information, so you understand their bias, or perspective.

If you don't know who the stakeholders are, you can read some periodical articles (from a database), find stakeholders' names, and then use Google to determine if they have a web site.  

Understand your assignment
Read your assignment thoroughly. What are the deadlines? How many pages and sources are required?

Select a topic from the choices provided.

Get an overview of your topic
Begin with a general reference source such as an encyclopedia to get an overview.

Develop a list of keywords
Using the information you read to get an overview, create a list of keywords that will help you in the next stages of information gathering.

Find, review and evaluate resources
Search the library and other local library catalogues for book and other print resources. Search the library databases for magazine and journal articles. Evaluate resources for validity, accuracy and usefulness. Create a working bibliography of potential sources.

Focus in on the detail of your topic and if necessary develop a research question.

Read first, then take notes
It is easier to take notes after reading through the material once. You will be better oriented and have a greater overall understanding. Use a systematic approach to notetaking.

Develop an outline
Now that you have a few notes and a better understanding of your topic you're ready to turn your focus question into an outline for your paper.

Revisit notes and identify where you need more information. Now that you have an outline, take notes on your different sections. Evaluate your notes to ensure you have enough information to write each section.

Write, Edit and Review
Review the citation guide so you can be sure to avoid plagiarism. Refer to your assignment for formatting specifications.