First, you need to determine what kind of methods could be used to answer your research questions.
The sheet provides a first step for figuring out methods once you have a research question.
Worksheet Here: For Your Research Question
Then, you need to figure out a sampling scheme. A list of these is included here. As geologists, we usually find that some type of stratified system is the most efficient and can be used to address both questions where we are looking to create a relationship and if you are trying to establish a difference between two locations.
It is sometimes useful to think about scaling when putting together sampling.
A list of equipment and how to do analyses (methods) is here.