## 5.0. When to write it

The first advice I would like to give you is: write the data and methods section first, before you have collected or analyzed your data. Describe the methods you will use to collect data before you start collecting your data: are you conducting interviews, surveys, or analyzing archival data? Preregister the design, for instance at aspredicted.org. How many observations will you collect and analyze? Why this number and not more or fewer? Make a data analysis plan: how will you get from raw data (interview recording, notes) to values of variables, which comparisons will you make? Describe the statistical tests – if any – you will apply before you actually apply them. Describe the rules you will apply to handle outliers. This is commitment to yourself that forces you to think more carefully about the data and methods. You can publish the preregistration to make violations of your promises even more transparent. Preregistration of your research design and materials and methods not only proves to others that you have not been p-hacking, it also creates a self-commitment to your plans.