SOURCES OF

RESEARCH TOPICS
Educ 899 (Seminar)
Marlo D. Alvarez, PhD
Course Professor
In your Educ 800, what have you learned
about sources of research topics?

■ Here are some sources of problems from

different authors.
Sources of Problems (Best, 1981)

■ Actual problems encountered

■ Technological changes and curricular
development
■ The graduate academic experience
■ Consultation
Sources of Problems (Good and Scates,
1954)

■ Specialization
■ Analysis of an area of knowledge
■ Consideration of existing practices and needs
■ Repetition or extension of investigation
■ “Off-shoots” of studies under way
Other sources of research topics
Other sources of research topics
Other sources of research topics
Sources of Problems
Sources of Problems
Sources of Problems
Criteria in Evaluating the Research
Problems (UEP)
■ Relevance of the Research
■ Generation of New Knowledge
■ Potential for Adoption
■ Appropriateness of Methodology
■ Potential Environmental Impact
■ Potential Socio-Economic Impact
■ Duration
Criteria in Selecting the Research Problems
(Good and Scates, 1954))

■ Novelty and avoidance of unnecessary

duplication
■ Practical value of the problem
■ Investigator’s interest in the problem
■ Availability of data and choice method
Criteria in Selecting the Research Problems
(Good and Scates, 1954))

■ Training and special qualifications

■ Time required to investigate the problem
■ Cost involved in conducting the research
■ Institutional or administrative cooperation
Criteria in Evaluating the Research
Problems (Good and Scates, 1981)
■ Relevance
■ Significance
■ Novelty
■ Feasibility
Skills for Discovering and Identifying
Problem (Cabili, 2013)
■ Reading a lot of literature in your field of
concentration and being critical of what you
read.
■ Attending professional lectures.
■ Being close observant of situations and
happenings around you
Skills for Discovering and Identifying
Problem (Cabili, 2013)
■ Thinking out the possibility of research for
most topics of lessons taken in content
courses
■ Attending research colloquiums or seminars
■ Conducting mini-researches and noting the
obtained findings closely.
Skills for Discovering and Identifying
Problem (Cabili, 2013)
■ Compiling researches with special emphasis
on content and methodology
■ Visiting various libraries for possible discovery
of researchable topics
■ Subscribing to journals in your field and in
research
■ Building-up a library of materials in your field
HOW TO WRITE THE
TITLE
Educ 899 (Seminar)
Marlo D. Alvarez, PhD
Course Professor
In FORM
■ It must be written in an inverted pyramid
In FORM
■ It must not be more than 20 to 24
substantive words.
■ All words must be in capital letters
In FORM
■ No abbreviation and acronym should be
used
■ It must be arranged in thought phrases
■ It must not enclosed in quotation mark.
In FORM
■ It must be simple and straight to the
point
■ No syllabication of words
■ It must not indicate the time frame of the
study
In FORM
■ Use the font that is prescribed by the
school and must be uniform
■ It must not be verbosely worded
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ It must be along one’s field of specialization
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ It must be novel/new or must have newness
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ It must possess originality
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ It must be interesting
■ It must be eye-catching
■ It must be thought-provoking
■ It must answer the questions who, what
and where (in case of correlational study)
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ It must seek
solution to a
felt-need
problem
■ It must be
timely.
■ It must be clear
and specific
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE

■ It must excite the

reader’s intellectual
curiosity to look
further into the study
■ It must not be wordy
■ It gives a very
specific and
accurate index of the
study
In CONTENT/SUBSTANCE
■ Avoid the use of “A Study of “or “A
Comparative Study of” or “An
Investigation of”
■ It should be explicit in the variable to be
investigated, the subject involve and the
place of study
This is it…
■ Come up with your own title. you will be given 30 minutes to
come up with your own title.
■ After the time allotted, write it in a yellow paper for
submission and in a manila paper for presentation and
critiquing (make sure to write your name and date today)
■ It will be rated according to the following criteria:
– Relevance (30)
– Significance (20)
– Novelty (20)
– Feasibility (30)