2. Research process
•Research topic and research problem,
•Selection of a research problem,
•Characteristics of a good research problem,
•Main object,
•Specific objective,
•Factors that determine the scope of the research
problem from the broad area,
3. Introduction to Research topic and research
problem
•Research process consists of series of actions or steps
necessary to effectively carry out research and the
desired sequencing of these steps.
•All activities closely related.
4. Research topic
• Deciding on a topic for your research project is the first step
in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible.
• When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider the
followings:
• Your institution and department’s requirements
• Your areas of knowledge and interest
• The scientific, social, or practical relevance
• The availability of data and sources
• The length and timeframe of your research project
5. Research topic cont…
• If you have no research ideas yet, it can be hard to know
where to start.
• Here are some steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.
Step 1: Check the requirements
Step 2: Choose a broad field of research
Step 3: Look for books and articles
Step 4: Find a niche
Step 5: Consider the type of research
Step 6: Determine the relevance
Step 7: Make sure it’s plausible
Step 8: Get your topic approved
6. Step 1: Check the requirements
• The very first step is to check the practical requirements of your
educational programme. This determines the scope of what it is
possible for you to research.
• What is the minimum and maximum word count?
• When is the deadline?
• Do you have to choose from a list of topics, or do you have to think
of a topic yourself?
• Should the research have an academic or a professional
orientation?
• Are there any methodological conditions (e.g. do you have to
conduct fieldwork or use specific types of source)?
• Are there any other restrictions?
7. Step 1: Check the requirements cont…
•Some programmes will have stricter requirements
than others.
•You might be given nothing more than a word count
and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of
topics and approaches to choose from.
•If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask
your course or department coordinator.
8. Step 2: Choose a broad field of research
• Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject
you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:
• Twentieth-century literature
• Economic history
• Health policy
• Online marketing
• It’s a good idea to pick a field that you already have some familiarity
with, so that you don’t have to start your research completely from
scratch. You don’t have to be an expert on the topic, but if you’ve
already read a few articles, that gives you a good starting point to find
out more.
9. Step 3: Look for books and articles
• Try skimming through a few recent issues of the top journals
in your field, as well as looking at their most-cited articles.
For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar,
subject-specific databases, and your university library’s
resources.
• If you’ve already read some articles in the field, check their
reference lists to find more useful sources. As you read, note
down any specific ideas that interest you and make a
shortlist of possible topics.
10. Step 4: Find a niche
• After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down your broad area.
This can be a gradual process, and your topic should get more and more specific. For
example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:
• Engineering Mechanical Production/Energy
• Twentieth-century literature Twentieth-century Irish literature Post-war
Irish poetry
• Economic history European economic history German labor union history
• Health policy Reproductive health policy Reproductive rights in Tanzania
• Online marketing Social media marketing Social media engagement
strategies
• All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and
articles about them. Try to find a specific niche that not many people have
researched yet (such as a neglected author or time period), a question that’s still
being debated, or a very current practical issue.
11. Step 5: Consider the type of research
• There are many different types of research, so at this stage, it’s a
good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll
take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:
• Collecting original data (e.g. experimental or field research)?
• Analyzing existing data (e.g. national statistics, public records
or archives)?
• Interpreting cultural objects (e.g. novels, films or paintings)?
• Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g. theories, methods or
interpretations)?
• Many dissertations will combine more than one of these.
12. Step 5: Consider the type of research cont..
• You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods
yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of
the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this
as you narrow down your ideas.
• Keep in mind that collecting original data takes a great deal
of time. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend on your
dissertation, it might be best to focus on analyzing existing
data from primary and secondary sources.
13. Step 6: Determine the relevance
• It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to
make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant.
• Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in
knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
• Social relevance means that the research can advance our
understanding of society and inform social change.
• Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve
concrete problems or improve real-life processes.
• The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a
topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in
society at large or in your academic discipline.
• The relevance must be clearly stated when you
define your research problem.
14. Step 7: Make sure it’s plausible
•Before you make a final decision on your topic,
consider again the length of your dissertation, the
timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the
practicalities of conducting the research.
•Will you have enough time to read all the most
important academic literature on this topic? If there’s
too much information to tackle, consider narrowing
your focus even more.
15. Step 7: Make sure it’s plausible cont…
• Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough
data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you
think you might struggle to find information, consider
broadening or shifting your focus.
• Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the
topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical
access.
• Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the
length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s
important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!
16. Step 8: Get your topic approved
• Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of
your topic before you are assigned a supervisor. It’s a good idea to
discuss your ideas with your supervisor before you write a full
research proposal.
• Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you
thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch
focus early in the research process. Just make sure you have enough
time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or
department.
17. Research problem
• A research problem is a specific issue, difficulty,
contradiction, or gap in knowledge that you will aim to
address in your research. You might look for practical
problems aimed at contributing to change, or theoretical
problems aimed at expanding knowledge.
• Bear in mind that some research will do both of these things,
but usually the research problem focuses on one or the
other. The type of research problem you choose depends on
your broad topic of interest and the type of research you
want to do.
18. Selection of a research problem
•Your topic is interesting and you have lots to say about
it, but this isn’t a strong enough basis for academic
research. Without a well-defined research problem,
you are likely to end up with an unfocused and
unmanageable project.
•You might end up repeating what other people have
already said, trying to say too much, or doing research
without a clear purpose and justification. You need a
problem in order to do research that contributes new
and relevant insights.
19. Step 1: Identify a broad problem area
• If you are doing practical research, you can identify a
problem by reading reports, following up on previous
research, and talking to people who work in the relevant
field or organization. You might look for:
• Issues with performance or efficiency in an organization
• Processes that could be improved in an institution
• Areas of concern among practitioners in a field
• Difficulties faced by specific groups of people in society
• If your research is connected to a job or internship, you will
need to find a research problem that has practical relevance
for the organization.
20. Step 2: Learn more about the problem
Next, you have to find out what is already known about the
problem, and pinpoint the exact aspect that your research will
address.
• Context and background
• Who does the problem affect?
• Has it been an issue for a long time, or is it a newly
discovered problem?
• What research has already been done?
• Have any solutions been proposed?
• What are the current debates about the problem, and
what do you think is missing from them?
21. Step 2: Learn more about the problem cont…
•Specificity and relevance
•What particular place, time and/or people will you
focus on?
•What aspects will you not be able to tackle?
•What will be the consequences if the problem is
not resolved?
•Whose will benefit from resolving the problem (e.g.
the management of an organization or future
researchers)?
22. Characteristics of a good research problem
A good research problem should have the following characteristics:
i. It should address a gap in knowledge.
ii. It should be significant enough to contribute to the existing body of
research
iii. It should lead to further research
iv. The problem should render itself to investigation through collection of
data
v. It should be of interest to the researcher and suit his/her skills, time, and
resources
vi. The approach towards solving the problem should be ethical
23. Research Objectives
•There are two types of research objectives; primary
and secondary objectives.
•Research objectives describe what the researcher
wants to achieve from the research/study.
•They are formulated after the research problem is
finalized.
•They provide meaning and defines the research to the
readers.
•Their purpose is to find answers to the research
problem
24. Types of research objectives
•There are two types of research objectives, namely,
main/general objectives and specific objectives.
•Some researchers use the terms primary objectives
and secondary objectives regardless of the name the
purpose is same.
•Primary objectives are same as specific objectives
while secondary objectives are same as main/general
objectives.
•Not every research has secondary or general
objectives but every research has a specific objective.
25. Research objectives
Main/General objectives
• Main/General or secondary objectives provide a detailed view of the
aims of the study. They provide a general overview of the study
usually, there is one general objective in each study.
Specific objectives
• The specific or broad objectives define what is the main aim of the
study. There can be many specific objectives because every “what”,
“where” and “how” of the research should be provided in the specific
objectives. The specific objective is the essence of the study and it
gives the main idea since they provide focus to the study
26. Scope of Research
•It depends on the type of research, i.e., whether it is
exploratory research or explanatory or descriptive
research.
•Scope refers to how far the research area has
explored and parameters in with the study will be
operating in.
•The type of information to be included in the scope of
a research project would include facts and
theories about the subject of the project.
27. Factors that determine the scope of the
research problem from the broad area
•There are numerous limitations that can impact your
ability to complete quality research.
•Research limitations may be methodological (related
to how the study is completed) or a lack of researcher
resources (such as time and research funds).
•Research limitations in a typical study may relate to
the following points:
28. Factors that determine the scope of the
research problem from the broad area cont…
1. Formulation of research aims and objectives. You might
have formulated research aims and objectives too broadly. You
can specify in which ways the formulation of research aims
and objectives could be narrowed so that the level of focus of
the study could be increased.
2. Implementation of data collection method. Because you
do not have an extensive experience in primary data collection
(otherwise you would not be reading this book), there is a
great chance that the nature of implementation of data
collection method is flawed.
29. Factors that determine the scope of the
research problem from the broad area cont…
3. Sample size. Sample size depends on the nature of the research
problem. If sample size is too small, statistical tests would not be
able to identify significant relationships within data set. You can
state that basing your study in larger sample size could have
generated more accurate results. The importance of sample size is
greater in quantitative studies compared to qualitative studies.
4. Lack of previous studies in the research area. Literature review
is an important part of any research, because it helps to identify
the scope of works that have been done so far in research area.
Literature review findings are used as the foundation for the
researcher to be built upon to achieve her research objectives
30. Factors that determine the scope of the
research problem from the broad area cont…
5. Scope of discussions. You can include this point as a
limitation of your research regardless of the choice of
the research area. Because (most likely) you don’t have
many years of experience of conducing researches and
producing academic papers of such a large size
individually, the scope and depth of discussions in your
paper is compromised in many levels compared to the
works of experienced scholars.
