Researchour process
INSTAR RESEARCH METHOD
Our Research Process — INSTAR Lab
Review how INSTAR Lab frames research questions, selects methods, examines evidence, and documents limitations before sharing a result.
What a researcher or collaborator should know about our process.
Understand what our research process makes possible: a visible path from question to method, evidence, limitations, and documented next steps.
This is a method guide, not a report of a particular project. It keeps the question, method, evidence, limitations, and documented next steps visible as the work develops.
From research question to a documented output.
Use this sequence to keep the research question, its evidence, and its limits connected as the work moves forward.
- Define
Set the research question, scope, audience, and evidence needed to examine it.
- Select
Choose methods, data, tools, and domain context that fit the question; record assumptions before analysis.
- Validate
Test the result, name limitations, and preserve a documented record for review.
Make the research process reviewable.
A useful research record makes its question, method, evidence, and boundary legible without pretending that an unresolved question is settled.
- QuestionWhat is being answered?
State the question, the intended reader, and the boundary around the work.
- MethodHow will it be tested?
Make the method, data, assumptions, and validation approach visible.
- LimitWhat remains uncertain?
Record missing evidence, competing explanations, and claims outside the scope.