This presentation will give a rapid overview of the lifecycle of a research project, focusing on some methodological and organisational topics. The discussion won't deal with "how" to do something, but "why" to make some choices. Following the structure of scientific papers, we will cover the issues of specifying the research question, examination of existing literature and definition of the study aim, which make up the "Introduction" section. For the "Methods" section many issues will be covered: definition of the target population, sample size and selection, choice of the study design, measurement instruments and data analysis. Data gathering and quality control will also be considered. "Results" section will deal with missing data pattern description and graphic-tabular presentation of the results. Interpretation of the results and recognition of the limits of the study complete the presentation.