- 1). Plan your research carefully, making sure the experiment you conduct and the data you collect are as accurate and precise as possible. For simple research, this means that you should be collecting the same pieces of information for each subject. More complex research projects require you to determine which pieces of data need to be collected.
- 2). Record everything during the research phase. Even if you don't think you will need certain data, it is best to record as much as you can. If you decide you needed some data after the experiment has ended, it can be difficult, or even impossible, to recapture the data after the fact. Keep data organized to make drawing conclusions easier and avoid making mistakes.
- 3). Examine your data for correlations. Once you have all your data recorded in one place, see whether any trends stand out. If, for example, you are studying the effects of a weed killer on weed patches and all patches of weeds were reduced in size while they were treated, this would indicate that the weed killer works.
- 4). Perform any necessary calculations, such as averaging data or determining means or medians. If your experiment involved the changing of a certain condition over time, it is easiest to evaluate this by determining the average change for the given period.
- 5). Make your observation. Draw conclusions and write down your observations about the research you've conducted. Double-check your work to ensure that your conclusions are justified by your results.
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