Often, the role of study and careful preparation of a project is downplayed or neglected as it is considered unnecessary time with poor and unproductive results. In the rush for immediate “action”, decisions are made based on incomplete or incorrect data usually resulting from an undocumented “feeling” or instinct. Without diminishing the value of these, no project has truly achieved its objectives without careful and meticulous planning that usually begins with the recording of a situation, the statement of a problem. “What is happening now”, “how it works today”, etc.
The role of the study is to identify and record these problems through a methodical and documented procedure. Only in this way can the problems be identified and appropriate solutions proposed.