Research Methods

Successful completion of your graduate program relies on strong research, critical thinking, and communication skills. These qualities will continue to help you achieve success whether you enter industry or pursue a career in academia, and this resource provides strategies and activities to facilitate their development. Activities are designed with a focus on your current research project and will provide immediately applicable strategies to help you complete your thesis. Many of these activities and strategies will also be useful beyond the scope of your current thesis project and throughout your career. 

How to use this resource?  

Click on each topic below for an overview, suggested activities, and further resources. These topics have been designed to stand alone and do not need to be completed in sequence; use the most relevant tools for you at the particular time you need them. Suggested timing is provided for each activity, but in general the more time you spend thinking about a specific activity the more depth and insight you will get, and of course if you’re short on time this shouldn’t prevent you from trying. If you like the activities and want to learn more, consider taking TEP5500: Research Methods and Project Execution, which was the basis for the development of this resource.