The Research Process

1. Identify the research question
2. Initial review of literature
3. Distilling the question to a researchable problem
4. Continued review of literature
5. Formulation of hypothesis/assumptions
6. Determining the basic research approach
7. Identifying the population and sample
8. Designing the data collection plan
9. Selecting or developing data collection instruments
10. Choosing the method of data analysis
11. Implementing the research plan
12. Interpreting the results

Reference:
http://studylib.net/doc/9563039/chapter-2-the-research-problem