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Conducting a piece of research within a relatively short timespan is a demanding process and will require careful time management. You will need to allow time to check the feasibility of the research project and should also add sufficient time for method training or familiarisation. Ensure that you leave time spare to allow for the almost inevitable problems associated with both fieldwork and laboratory analysis. Check out your methods by first running a pilot to help identify any pitfalls and inadequacies. It is easy to underestimate how long it takes to analyse, interpret, and write up a research report. Figure 1.2 illustrates a timetable in the form of a Gantt chart for a research project expected to last 33 weeks – around a full academic year: many research projects are substantially shorter than this. Note how the time allocated to actually collecting the data is relatively short and overlaps with the ongoing literature review and writing process. Also, you are strongly urged to begin writing the report before completing your data collection; it should be possible at this stage for you to write the methods and introduction since the former will describe what you have been doing, whilst the latter reflects your background reading of the literature. Table 1.1 shows an example timescale for a research project lasting a week (e.g. on a field course). Note that even with such a short timescale, sufficient time needs to be devoted to planning the project to ensure the best chance of success (see Box 1.4).

Table 1.1 Example timescales for a short research project.

Day	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
1	Select topic, identify aims and hypotheses, create programme of study, select sites and techniques, identify major resources required, complete risk and ethical assessments	Test, and become experienced in using, techniques and equipment, implement a pilot study	Evaluate pilot study, amend programme of study
2	Implement amended programme and collect data	Enter data into spreadsheet, write methods
3	Collect data	Enter data into spreadsheet, write introduction
4	Collect data	Enter data into spreadsheet, edit introduction and methods
5	Collect data	Enter data into spreadsheet, plan results tables and figures
6	Collect data	Analyse data
7	Write results section	Write discussion	Complete report