What are the typical phases or stages of primary research?

The typical phases of a primary research project would include:

1. A question or a wonder or a hypothesis.
   
2. Extensive if not comprehensive reading of the published work on that question or questions surrounding it to ensure that a) the question hasn’t been answered already and b) the researcher knows and understands the current worldwide understanding of the issues in the question.
   
3. Design of a data gathering “experiment” that would ostensibly answer the question or at least give more insight into it than we already have.
   
4. Conducting the experiment taking into account various ways that the data could be inaccurate or distorted by sampling, measurement, and other even exogenous factors and errors.
   
5. Analysis of the data collected using established statistical techniques relevant to the data and question. Recognizing non-established issues such as the value of a 5% error rate as “acceptable.”
   
6. Writing up the results of the analysis which usually means a) framing the question, b) relating the known published work to the question, c) describing the data-gathering technique / experiment, d) describing the data collected, e) presenting the analysis of the data, and f) identifying possible weaknesses in the whole procedure and suggesting avenues for improvement in future work.
   
7. Finding a double-blind respectable journal in which to publish the article/paper.

This is in my experience as a conductor of research and a reviewer for several journals what the “usual” pattern of primary research looks like. I hope this helps.