Before you start on the bulk of your research, you need to write a synopsis. This helps you to organize your thoughts, delineates your research and is helpful for discussing and presenting your results.

A synopsis consists of a brief introduction of your topic, a precisely formulated main research question and subquestions, followed by a division into chapters that also specifies the order, manner and materials you are going to use to answer the above questions.

As you have not done any real research yet, your synopsis is based on expectations. However, you should make yourself write down as specifically as possible what you intend to do. Think about the best order for dealing with the subquestions; what must your readers know before they can understand the next step in your research? Your subquestions will likely function as chapters or sections of your paper or presentation.

Note: Because the main research question and/or subquestions may change over the course of your research project, you should not consider your synopsis etched in stone. If your line of reasoning changes or if you want to ask different questions, simply adjust your synopsis.