Formulating and Clarifying

the Research Topic

Dr. Usman Khalid

Learning Objectives
 By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
 Generate ideas that will help in the choice of a suitable research topic
 Identify the attributes of a good research topic
 Turn research ideas into a research proposal that has clear research
question(s) and objectives
 Appreciate the importance of theory in research question

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Before Starting your Research
 A quote form Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
 Alice asks the cat

‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to walk from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to’, said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where’, said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk’, said the Cat.

 Formulating and clarifying your research topic is the starting point of your
research project

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The Important Steps
 For developing a good research topic, the researcher shall be able to
 Identify the attributes of a good research topic
 Generate ideas that help him/her select a suitable topic
 Turn ideas into clear research questions and objectives
 Write the research proposal

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Activity
 What shall be the attributes of a good research topic?

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Attributes of a Good Research Topic
 Capability: Is it feasible
 Are you fascinated by the topic?
 Do you have the necessary research skills?
 Can you complete the project in the time available?
 Will the research still be current when you finish?
 Do you have sufficient financial and other resources?
 Will you be able to gain access to data?

 Multiple researchers work on same topic

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Attributes of a Good Research Topic
 Appropriateness: Is it worthwhile?
 Does the topic contain issues with clear links to theory?
 Are the research questions and objectives clearly stated?
 Will the proposed research provide fresh insights into the topic?
 Will you have a symmetry of potential outcomes?
 Does the research topic match your career goals?

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Attributes of a Good Research Topic
 Is your research topic relevant?
 With the theory  theoretical relevance
 With the practice  practical relevance

 Theoretical rigor VS methodological rigor

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Activity
 How can you generate good research topics?

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Generating Research Ideas

 Take five minutes think what you understand from points

mentioned under rational & creative thinking and we will then
discuss those.

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Rational Thinking and Creative Thinking
 These techniques will generate one of two outcomes
 One or more possible project ideas that you might undertake;
 Absolute panic because nothing in which you are interested, or which
seems suitable has come to mind.

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Examining own Strengths and Interests
 Having some academic knowledge
 Look at those assignments for which you have received good
grade.
 You may, as part of your reading, be able to focus more precisely
on the sort of ideas about which you wish to conduct your
research
 There is a need to think about your future

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Looking at Past Project Titles
 Dissertations (outcome of a doctoral degree)
 Theses (outcome of a master's degree)
 Scan your university’s list of past project titles for anything that
captures your imagination
 Scanning actual research projects
 You need to beware of the fact that a project in your library is no
guarantee of the quality of the arguments and observations it
contains.

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Discussions
 With colleagues, friends, university tutors, practitioner
and professional groups

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Searching the Literature
 As part of your discussions, relevant literature may also be suggested.

 Sharp et al, (2002) discuss types of literature that are of particular use
for generating research ideas. These include:
 Article in academic and professional journals
 Reports
 Books.

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Scanning the Media
 Keeping up to date with items in the news can be a very
rich source of ideas

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Keeping a Notebook of Ideas
 One of the more creative techniques that we all use is to keep a
notebook of ideas. All this involves is simply noting down any interesting
research ideas as you think of them and, of equal importance, what
sparked off your thought. You can then pursue the idea using more
rational thinking technique later.

Dr. Usman Khalid

Exploring Personal Preferences Using Past Project
 Select some projects that you like
 For each of these projects, note down your first thoughts in response to
three questions(if responses for different projects are the same this does
not matter)
 What appeals to you about the project?
 What is good about the project?
 Why is the project good?

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Exploring Personal Preferences Using Past Project
 Select some projects that you don’t like
 For each of these projects that you do not like
 What do you dislike about the project?
 What is bad about the project?
 Why the project is bad?

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Relevance Tree
 You start with a broad concept from which you generate further
(usually more specific) topics. Each of these topics forms a separate
branch from which you can generate further, more detailed
subbranches. As you proceed down the subbranches more ideas are
generated and recorded. These can then be examined, and a number
selected and combined to provide a research idea

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Brainstorming
 Define your problem – that is, the sorts of ideas you are interested in –
as precisely as possible.
 Ask for suggestions, relating to the problem
 Record all suggestions, observing the following rules
 No suggestion should be criticized or evaluated in any way before all ideas
have been considered;
 All suggestions, however wild, should be recorded and considered
 As many suggestions as possible should be recorded.

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Brainstorming
 Review all the suggestions and explore what is meant by each.
 Analyze the list of suggestions and decide which appeal to you most
as research ideas why.

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Activity
 Discuss in groups how can you refine your research ideas?

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 Refining Research Ideas
 Using the Delphi Technique
 Conducting a preliminary/pilot study
 Continually testing out your ideas
 Integrating ideas
 Refining topics given to you by your organisation

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The Delphi Technique

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Continually Testing your Ideas

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Integrating Ideas
 Integrating collected research ideas to have
 A clear direction
 Ensure there doesn't exist a mismatch between research objectives and
project report
 May involve following steps
 Classifying your research idea into its
 Area  Field  Precise aspect e.g.
 Accountancy  Financial accounting methods  Activity based costing

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions
 It is not as straight forward as generating research ideas
 Questions prompting descriptive answers are easy to answer e.g.
 What is the proportion of graduates entering civil service who have
attended old, established universities? VS
 Why graduates from old and established universities are likely to enter
civil services than graduates from other universities?
 Asking for opinions and gathering facts – 'what' questions (descriptive
questions/research)
 Using questions that go beyond description and require analysis – 'why'
questions (analytical questions/research)

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions
 Research question shall produce clear conclusions
 Beware of choosing a question that is too difficult to answer.
 How will you define difficulty here?

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions
 Avoid asking research questions that will not generate new insights
 This raises the question of the extent to which you have consulted the
relevant literature
 One should start by generating general focus research questions
following a research idea
 General questions can then be refined into more precise questions or
research objectives

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Questions
 SMART test for refining research objectives
Specific: What precisely do you hope to achieve from undertaking the
research?
Measurable: What measures will you use to determine whether you have
achieved your objectives?
Achievable: Are the targets you have set for yourself achievable given all
the possible constraints?
Realistic: Given all other demands upon your time, will you have the
time and energy to complete the research on time?
Timely: Will you have time to accomplish all your objectives?

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Activity
 What is “theory”?

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Importance of Theory in Developing RQ and
Objectives
 Theory
 “ A formulation regarding the cause and effect relationship between two
or more variables, which may or may not have been tested”

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Theory
 Might be most misused and misunderstood word in the education
 General perception is
 What is in books is “theory”
 What is in real world is “practice”
 You might think of this course as atheoretical as it is giving you practical
advice of conducting research in business
 However, this will be full of theory
 Because of its cause and effect nature

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Theory
 Theories need not be always ground-breaking that shall change our
thinking about management or the way of doing business

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Threefold Typology of Theories
 Grand theories
 Usually thought to be province of natural scientists (that will lead to a
whole new way of thinking about management)
 Middle range theories
 Which lack the capacity to change the way in which we think about the
world but are nonetheless of significance (some of the theories of human
motivation fall in this category).
 Substantive theories
 That are restricted to a particular time, research setting, group or
population or problem

Dr. Usman Khalid

Deductive Approach and Inductive Approach
 From a theoretical perspective the research topic can trigger
researcher to pursue either a
 Deductive approach
 This discussion of theory assumes that a clear theoretical position is
developed prior to the collection of data.
 How resource-based view can be operationalized to increase performance of
retail sector?
 Inductive approach
 It may be that your study is based on the principle of developing theory
after data has been collected
 Which factors influence buying decisions of online shoppers?

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Activity
 The old Greek (Aristotle, Socrates, Plato era) knowledge was
deductive in nature. How mankind transitioned towards inductive
tradition of knowledge generation?

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Role of Theory in Developing RQ & Objectives
Why theories are important for conducting a research?
 Theories can help you develop rigorous, relevant and crisp
research questions & objectives
 Can help you refine your research question
 Can help you justify your research question
 Provide you a clear direction to proceed
 By communicating causality among variables

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Homework
 Write a one-page summary of
Sutton, R.I. and Staw, B.M. (1995). What theory is not, Administrative
Science Quarterly, Vol. 40(3), pp. 371-384

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Activity
 Discuss in groups what is purpose of writing a research
proposal?

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Writing your Research Proposal
 Purpose of research proposal
 To organize your research ideas
 To convince your audience
 To contact with your client (tutor)
 To meet ethical requirements

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Content of Research Proposal
 Title - likely to change during the process
 Background/literature review - context within the literature
 Research questions and objectives - what you seek to achieve
 Method - can be in two parts: research design and data collection
 Timescale and Resources - (finance, data access, equipment)
 References - include some key literature sources

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Evaluating Research Proposal
 How the components of the proposal fit together
 There has to be a symmetry in line of argumentation
 Each section must lead the reader to next, no disjoints
 Viability/practicability of the proposal
 If it is do able?
 Absence of preconceived ideas
 Avoid bias

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Tips for the Best Research Proposal
 Formulate and clarify the topic
 Meet the requirements of the examining body
 Use a variety of techniques when generating research ideas
 Is it focused on clear questions based on relevant literature
 Is it theory dependent
 Proposal shall contain organised ideas

Tell the reader

 What will be done and why
 How it will be achieved

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Your Course Evaluation
 In this course you are required to develop a comprehensive research
proposal, that will serve as the prime evaluation component
 Decide a topic of your own choice

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 Thank You

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