Which of the following is NOT a step in a complete research plan?

A comprehensive research plan typically comprises several essential elements to ensure effective data collection and analysis. Project background provides context, helping to define the project's goals and objectives. Participants detail the target audience involved in the research, ensuring that the study focuses on the right demographic. Methodology outlines the approaches and techniques that will be used to gather data, which is crucial for ensuring that the research is both valid and reliable.

While evaluating competitors can be a valuable part of the broader market analysis or design process, it is not considered a formal step within a complete research plan. Instead, competitor analysis might be conducted separately to inform the overall strategy but does not align directly with the core steps of a structured research plan. Thus, this distinguishes it from the essential components of project background, participants, and methodology, which are fundamental to any research undertaking.