Once your CLIP has designed the inquiry – even as only a collective understanding – it’s best to put it on paper. To do so, create a preliminary version of an Inquiry Plan. Note that you can download a template for an Inquiry Plan below.

For your preliminary plan, you do not need to reach closure on these topics or complete all aspects of the data collection template. Your CLIP will do that at the Fall Multi-CLIP Orientation Meeting. As you work on your Inquiry Plan, go into greater depth on all the ideas you generated. As you do that, compare those ideas to your original purpose and questions. Check that they match. If they don’t, that’s normal. Good researchers usually refine their questions several times before they begin to gather data.