# General method: structure a project assessment

> Learn to define a research question, organize sources and write a first-pass project due diligence memo with clear boundaries.

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A useful assessment begins before the score. This learning track helps you define what you are researching, organize the material you can legitimately access and explain how the evidence supports a conclusion.

## Start here

[How to conduct a first-pass project due diligence](/academy/general-method/first-pass-project-due-diligence/)

Work through a scope statement, an evidence register and a short memo. The guide distinguishes a project, its product and an investable instrument, so an observation about one is not silently presented as a conclusion about all three.

## What you will practice

Define an answerable research question. Separate source material from interpretation. Identify missing evidence and write the next question before filling the gap with an assumption. End with a conclusion that says what was and was not assessed.

The worksheet is an Academy educational adaptation of official guidance and research, not an investment formula or a replacement for qualified specialist work.

## Choose your perspective

**For experts:** use the structure to make your reasoning easy to examine and your research boundaries explicit.

**For readers:** use the same fields to check whether an assessment answers your question and whether its supporting material is accessible.

## Continue the learning path

Move to [technical evidence](/academy/technical-analysis/) when the open question concerns performance or deployment. Choose [commercial analysis](/academy/commercial-analysis/) when it concerns customers, usage or revenue. Use [critical reading](/academy/critical-reading/) when multiple authors reach different conclusions.

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