The evidence base

Check off  each of the following once you have addressed it in full. Give due consideration to each, considering the potential impact for your final dissertation/report if these aspects are not right from the beginning. Put a line through or delete items that are not relevant to your kind of research.

Before
Appropriate evidence
■	I have decided on the nature of my evidence base (see ‘Raw material’, page 148).
■	I have decided on the criteria that I will
use for selecting source materials (such as
timescales, dates, origin, location, etc.).
■	I have decided on the methods that I will
use for gathering this evidence (see Part 3).
■	I have checked that sufficient suitable
evidence will be available to me and/or that
gathering it will be feasible.
■	I have discussed my planned evidence base
with my supervisor to check it is suitable.
■	I am confident that I have the technical
and/or analytical skills for working with my planned evidence base OR that support for acquiring these is available.
■	I have piloted my methods to check that
these yield the evidence base that I need.
Sampling
■	I have a clear rationale for the sampling method that I am going to use.
■	I have thought through all variables that
could interfere with my results and set up conditions to control for these.
■	I am confident that my planned sample size
is large enough to yield significant results (if relevant) and have checked this with my supervisor.
■	I am confident that it is possible to
obtain participants or samples with the
characteristics that I need for my research.
■	I am confident my sample is representative
of the population that I am studying.

Organisation of evidence base
■	I have a system for recording, labelling and/ or coding my evidence as I go along.
■	I have designed a system for storing and
organising evidence as I collect it, so I can find and use it with ease when needed.
■	I have designed a system for storing my
evidence that enables easy retrieval.
During (for interim checks)
■	I am maintaining a list of the evidence that I am using, with all the details that I will need for the References section of my dissertation/report.
■	I am working systematically, using the
methods I planned for gathering evidence.
■	I am working systematically, using the
methods I planned for labelling evidence.
■	I am working systematically, using the
methods I planned for storing evidence.
■	My methods are yielding the data that I
expected.
■	My initial analysis of the evidence indicates
that it is appropriate to the needs of my research.
■	If my methods are not yielding the data that
I need, I have spoken to my supervisor to consider the impact of this on my project.
After
■	I have made a comprehensive list of documentary and other sources used for my research, using the required referencing system.
■	I have checked that I haven’t omitted from
my list any sources that I have used.