# Research Methods (https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods)

A practical best-practice guide for designing rigorous studies on Terac, from framing your question to analyzing your results.

Good data starts long before you launch an opportunity. This guide walks through the methodological decisions that determine whether your results are trustworthy: how you frame your question, write your items, choose your sample, and interpret what you find.

It is written to be useful whether you are running a quick survey or a multi-wave study with domain experts. None of it is required to use Terac, but following it will materially improve the quality of your data.

> These pages cover research design. For how to configure the platform itself,
> see [Creating an
> Opportunity](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/opportunities/creating-an-opportunity),
> [Screening](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/opportunities/screening), and
> [Filters](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/recruitment/filters).

## The Four Phases [#the-four-phases]

A well-run study moves through four phases. Each page below maps to one of them.

Design → Build → Sample → Analyze

1. **Design** the study. Decide whether you are exploring or confirming, define your population, and commit to a plan.
2. **Build** the instrument. Write clear, unbiased questions and lay them out so participants can answer accurately.
3. **Sample** the right people, at the right size, with enough statistical power to detect what you care about.
4. **Analyze** with a framework you chose in advance, and aim for conclusions that hold up.

## Start Here [#start-here]

- [Research Design](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/research-design): Exploratory vs confirmatory research, defining your target population, and avoiding HARKing
- [Preregistration](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/preregistration): Lock in your hypotheses and analysis plan before you collect data
- [Writing Good Surveys](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/writing-good-surveys): Phrasing, question order, response scales, and visual design
- [Sampling and Power](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/sampling-and-power): Sampling methods, representativeness, and how big your sample needs to be
- [Analysis and Inference](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/analysis-and-inference): Significance testing, Bayesian methods, and building a real theory
- [Avoiding Bias](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/avoiding-bias): Common biases, measurement error, and why piloting matters
- [Online Research Validity](https://terac.com/docs/researchers/research-methods/online-research-validity): The strengths and limits of online samples, and when they fit your question