Research can be great fun and very rewarding, but it can also be a long and complicated process. Hopefully, the research guidelines provided below can make the journey just a little easier for you.
Research Guidelines

Download 'Island of Research,' a visual depiction of the research process
Courtesy of Hoi Suen - http://espse.edu.psu.edu/suen

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/
Bill Trochim's award winning Center for Social Research Methods - highly recommended

http://www.apa.org/journals/amp/amp548594.html
Statistical Methods in Psychology Journals: Guidelines and Explanations

http://cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ferpa.buckley.html
The Buckley Amendment - Educational Right to Privacy Act

http://www.aera.net/about/policy/ethics.htm
Ethical Standards of AERA

http://www.research.psu.edu/orc/
Penn State's ORC Home Page - download human subjects forms and procedures

http://nw3.nai.net/~virtual/sot/post31.htm
Article by J. Adams, demonstrating the dangers of not having sound theory backing up your research