SUREFIRE WAYS TO WRITING A GOOD PROJECT/RESEARCH (1)

Project writing is one of the most talked about course by many final year students here in Nigeria but it's not only done in Nigeria.
In virtually every country of the world final year students of tertiary institutions are required by their programme to write a thesis or a research paper in their various areas of study.

As a final year student myself I think it's important that I share my experience and things I am learning in the process of my own research paper and by so doing serve to assist many other students to make project writing less tasking.

Project writing for social sciences differs from that of those in the physical sciences or engineering where physical models or mechanisms are built.

In writing a paper in economics and indeed in many other social sciences the first thing that should be catered for is the "TOPIC". Hence it is treated first in this series on writing a good and stress free project/research paper.

In choosing  a topic for your research paper, it is usually good to have a topic that is precise (that is one that is not clumsy),the scope should be feasible and viable.
The following tips should be taken into account in choosing a project topic:

1. INTEREST
If possible, choose a topic that interests you. You'll have to spend a lot of time and energy on it, and there's more chance you'll do a good job if it's something you want to know more about.

2. IDEAS
 You can get some ideas by browsing among current issues in your country or economy.

3. SCOPE
 Your topic must be manageable. Avoid choosing a topic that is too broad or too narrow. If it is too broad, you will be overwhelmed by too much information. If it is too narrow, too specialized, too new, too limited in appeal, you may not find enough material.

4. TIME
 Choose a project that can be finished in the time you have. One of the major limitation i noticed in most research projects is that of lack of time, the final  semester is usually short and busy in order to maximize the scarce resource in this case "Time"  one must choose a topic you know something about and that is common enough to be found easily. It is better to do a smaller project well than to do a sloppy job on a more elaborate project.

5. CLARITY
Be clear about what topic you are researching. It is true that a topic needs to be adjusted as the information is gathered, but you should always know what topic you are searching. Not having a clear idea of what you're looking for is dangerous because you are likely to get off track and waste time you can't afford.