1. Identify the independent and dependent variable.
2. Provide an operational definition for each variable. For example, the variable "education" could be operationalized as the highest degree earned.
3. State your hypothesis. What do you expect to be the relationship between your variables?
4. Select one major research design you would use to collect the data necessary to answer your question. Explain the advantages of the research design you chose for answering your specific question. Describe what type of data you would collect and how you would collect it.