THIRTEEN DISCRETE STAGES OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS ARE CATEGORIZED INTO THREE PHASES: PREPARATION, OPERATION, AND POSTOPERATION. PREPARATION STAGES INCLUDE DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM, CONSTRUCTION OF THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESES, SELECTION OF VARIABLES, IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE ERRORS, IDENTIFICATION OF OBSTACLES, SELECTION OF METHODS, PREPARATION OF RESEARCH DESIGN, AND PREPARATION OF WORKING GUIDE. THE OPERATION PHASE CONSISTS OF DATA COLLECTION. THE POSTOPERATION PHASE INCLUDES ANALYSIS OF RESULTS, INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS, AND WRITEUP. SPECIFIC TASKS TO BE PERFORMED WITHIN EACH STAGE ARE IDENTIFIED, AND GUIDELINES FOR CARRYING OUT THE TASKS ARE OFFERED. THE PROBLEM DEFINITION STAGE, SAID TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL THE STAGES, INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING TASKS: ESTABLISHING THE PURPOSE (RATIONALE) OF THE PROJECT; SPECIFYING THE PROBLEM (TAKING CARE TO DEFINE ALL CONCEPTS), ATTEMPTING TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE PROBLEM, PERFORMING A COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE SEARCH, AND SHOWING THAT IT IS REALISTIC TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM. IF THE PROJECT IS GENERATED BY THE RESEARCHER, THE PROBLEM SHOULD ALSO BE CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF TIMELINESS, POTENTIAL FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS, SIZE OF POPULATION CONCERNED, DEGREE OF INFLUENCE POSSESSED BY THAT POPULATION, AMOUNT OF RESEARCH ALREADY PERFORMED ON THE PROBLEM, POTENTIAL FOR GENERALIZATION, POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVING METHODOLOGY, AND CHANCES OF SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION. IT IS POINTED OUT THAT, WHILE THE RESEARCH PROCESS CAN BE MODIFIED TO MEET THE INDIVIDUAL RESEARCHER'S CONSTRAINTS, CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN NOT TO USE TOO MANY SHORTCUTS. AN APPENDED ARTICLE DESCRIBES HOW TO GATHER INFORMATION ON POLICE-RELATED SUBJECTS. (LKM)