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		<title>The use and misuse of research plans</title>
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				current-module = "Planning Your Research"
				page-title = "The use and misuse of research plans"
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							<p>A research plan is a way for you to sort out in your own mind what you intend to do, as well as serving as a resource for you to refer to as you conduct your research. In many areas, research plans serve as a foundation for developing specific protocol documents &ndash; they also provide an important way of communicating to collaborators or co-workers.</p>
							<p>When you draft your research plan, you must take into consideration how it will be used, bearing in mind that research can sometimes be unpredictable. Because of this unpredictability, it is important to build resilience into your plan, perhaps by thinking about alternative experiments, methods or resources you can consider using should your first choices not work out as anticipated. The importance of this is demonstrated by grant applications, which will usually ask you to identify the most critical parts of your plan and provide alternatives.</p>
							
							<h3>Reasons for creating a research plan</h3>
							
							<p>Who will rely on research plans, and what information will they be looking for?</p>
							
							<instructional-text><p>Match the players in the research sphere with the information they would be looking for in your research plan. To link the group (e.g. "Co-workers and staff") to the questions you think they would have, first click on the group in the left-hand column and then click on the corresponding questions in the right-hand column. Once you have matched a pair correctly, it will move to the top of the activity.</p></instructional-text>
							<instructional-text-accessible><p>Continue on to match the players in the research sphere with the information they would be looking for in your research plan. </p></instructional-text-accessible>
							
							<!-- ACTIVITY START -->
							<matching>
								<matching-set>
									<match-left>Co-workers and staff</match-left>
									<match-right>Why are we undertaking this research? What is my role? Are there any deadlines I must meet? </match-right>
								</matching-set>
								<matching-set>
									<match-left>Funders</match-left>
									<match-right>How important is this work? Are the methods appropriate? Does the researcher have the tools needed?</match-right>
								</matching-set>
								<matching-set>
									<match-left>Regulatory reviewers (e.g. ethics committees)</match-left>
									<match-right>Do the plans conform with the guidelines? Is the researcher aware of all their responsibilities? How will they meet them?</match-right>
								</matching-set>
								<matching-set>
									<match-left>Colleagues</match-left>
									<match-right>Is the research relevant to what I am doing? Are there reasons for us to work together?</match-right>
								</matching-set>
							</matching>
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							<p>A research plan is not an obstacle that needs to be overcome prior to undertaking a project. Your research plan sets out your future &ndash; a future that others are interested in for various reasons. This may be to ensure that you have a realistic chance of completing your research degree, or (in the case of grant applications) to provide accountability for how funding is to be spent. Putting time and effort into your plan is an essential part of developing a research career.</p>
							
							<h3>Questionable practices</h3>
							
							<p>Because research plans are used to make decisions about whether a project, or funding for a project, should be approved, researchers sometimes present their plans in ways that are not entirely accurate. For example, researchers sometimes engage in the following questionable practices.</p>
							
							<img id="pyr_1_30_img1" class="img-responsive" src="../images/page_images/course_specific/pyr_1_30_img1.png" alt="" class="remove-accessible"/>
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								<h4>Misrepresent</h4>
								<p>(e.g. disregarding or mischaracterising contradictory studies to support a current project) </p>
								<h4>Hype</h4>
								<p>(e.g. over-estimating how important an intervention will be to make it seem more significant)</p>
								<h4>Deceive</h4>
								<p>(e.g. describing a project as work they intend to do when the work has already been completed)</p>
								<h4>Embellish</h4>
								<p>(e.g. adding the names of collaborators who have yet to be contacted)</p>
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							<p>Being dishonest risks your career, which is why it is important to be diligent when crafting your research plan. Care should be taken to avoid omissions and ensure that your intentions for the research are clearly and honestly presented.</p>
							
							<h3>Your experience</h3>
							
							<p>Think about your own experience. When pressed to get a plan completed before starting your research, have you ever done any of the following?</p>
							
							<instructional-text><p>Choose the response that best reflects your experience; your answers will be recorded anonymously. You can click "View Results" to see how others taking the course have responded.</p></instructional-text>
							<instructional-text-accessible><p>Choose the response that best reflects your experience.</p></instructional-text-accessible>
							
							<!-- ACTIVITY START -->
							<process show-in-accessible-version="false">
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              						<poll poll-id="10440564" noscript-text="Left out or mischaracterised existing studies/research in your background section."></poll>
									<!-- POLL END -->
								</process-page>
								<process-page>
									<!-- POLL START -->
              						<poll poll-id="10440565" noscript-text="Knowingly over-estimated the importance of your anticipated findings."></poll>
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								</process-page>
								<process-page>
									<!-- POLL START -->
              						<poll poll-id="10440566" noscript-text="Applied for approval for work you have already completed."></poll>
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								</process-page>
								<process-page>
									<!-- POLL START -->
              						<poll poll-id="10440567" noscript-text="Added collaborators that you have not contacted."></poll>
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							</process>
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								<h4>Statement 1 of 4:</h4>
								<p>Left out or mischaracterised existing studies/research in your background section.</p>
								<ul>
									<li>Routinely</li>
									<li>Often</li>
									<li>Sometimes</li>
									<li>Seldom</li>
									<li>Never</li>
									<li>Not applicable</li>
								</ul>
								<hr>
								<h4>Statement 2 of 4:</h4>
								<p>Knowingly over-estimated the importance of your anticipated findings.</p>
								<ul>
									<li>Routinely</li>
									<li>Often</li>
									<li>Sometimes</li>
									<li>Seldom</li>
									<li>Never</li>
									<li>Not applicable</li>
								</ul>
								<hr>
								<h4>Statement 3 of 4:</h4>
								<p>Applied for approval for work you have already completed.</p>
								<ul>
									<li>Routinely</li>
									<li>Often</li>
									<li>Sometimes</li>
									<li>Seldom</li>
									<li>Never</li>
									<li>Not applicable</li>
								</ul>
								<hr>
								<h4>Statement 4 of 4: </h4>
								<p>Added collaborators that you have not contacted.</p>
								<ul>
									<li>Routinely</li>
									<li>Often</li>
									<li>Sometimes</li>
									<li>Seldom</li>
									<li>Never</li>
									<li>Not applicable</li>
								</ul>
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							<accessible-text><p>
								Even if you selected "Never" in response to each statement, you are likely to find yourself conducting research in an environment where others may have answered differently. You may also find yourself conducting research that was initially planned by someone else. If this is the case, you should remain vigilant and not let any inadequacies in existing plans dictate the standards you set for your own behaviour.
								</p></accessible-text>
							<interactive-text><p>Even if you clicked "Never" in response to each statement, you are likely to find yourself conducting research in an environment where others may have answered differently. You may also find yourself conducting research that was initially planned by someone else. If this is the case, you should remain vigilant and not let any inadequacies in existing plans dictate the standards you set for your own behaviour.</p></interactive-text>
														
							<h3>Summary</h3>
							
							<p>Research plans are important and used in different ways. They provide a roadmap for how you carry out your research and a summary that others can refer to when participating in or evaluating your research. They should be complete, honest and transparent. Anything that falls short of this is not responsible, and could negatively influence your future career.</p>
							
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