Choice of Research Topic

• A topic that needs research attention

• A topic that is starving for a solution
• It should have impact on the human being or its ecosystem
Choosing a research topic
• Choosing an interesting research topic is your first challenge
• Choose a topic that you are interested in! The research process is more
relevant if you care about your topic.
• Narrow your topic to something manageable.
• If your topic is too broad, you will find too much information and not be able to focus.
• Background reading can help you choose and limit the scope of your topic.
• Review the guidelines on topic selection outlined in your assignment.
• Refer to lecture notes and required texts to refresh your knowledge of
the course and assignment.
• Talk about research ideas with a friend. S/he may be able to help
focus your topic by discussing issues that didn't occur to you at first.
Choosing a research topic
• Think of the who, what, when, where and why questions:
• WHY did you choose the topic? What interests you about it? Do you have an
opinion about the issues involved?
• WHO are the information providers on this topic? Who might publish
information about it? Who is affected by the topic? Do you know of
organizations or institutions affiliated with the topic?
• WHAT are the major questions for this topic? Is there a debate about the
topic? Are there a range of issues and viewpoints to consider?
• WHERE is your topic important: at the local, national or international level?
Are there specific places affected by the topic?
• WHEN is/was your topic important? Is it a current event or an historical
issue? Do you want to compare your topic by time periods?
Factors to be Considered in choosing research
topic
• Feasibility
• End Consumers/Implications
• Fund
• Timeframe
Writing a Research proposal
• A research proposal sets out the broad topic you would like to
research (substance), what the research would set out to achieve
(aims and objectives), research questions to address (hypotheses),
how you would go about researching it (methodology), how you
would undertake it within the time available (outline plan/timeframe)
and what the results might be in relation to knowledge and
understanding in the subject (potential outcomes).
Purpose of a Research Proposal
• Research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a
worthwhile research project and that you have the competence and
the work-plan to complete it.
• The purpose of a proposal is to sell your idea to the funding agency.
This means that the investigator must convince the funding agency
that:
• The problem is significant and worthy of study
• The technical approach is novel and likely to yield results
• The investigator and his/her research team is/are the right group of
individuals to carry out and accomplish the work described in the research
proposal.
Elements of Research Proposal
• Title
• Abstract
• Table of Content
• Section A: Introduction
• objective
• Section B: Review of the Related Literature
• Conceptual Framework/Hypotheses
• Section C: Methodology
• Section D: Ethical/ Legal Consideration
• Section E: Time Schedule
• References
Research Process
• Problem Definition
• Developing an approach to the problem
• Research Design Formulation
• Data Collection
• Data preparation and analysis
• Report writing and presentation
Problem Definition
• Gives proper direction for investigation
• Convert management problem to a research problem
• Eg: should the dividend payout be decreased – to study the impact of
dividend reduction on shareholders’ perception of company stability.
• Eg: Customers are shifting to competitors’ brand – to determine the
product attributes (or services) preferred by consumers.
Characteristics of Research
• Originality
• Clarity of purpose
• Detailed research process systematic
• Ethical
• Objective (In case of empirical research)
• Explicit limitations
• Adequacy of analysis
• Unambiguous
• Comprehensive
• Justified Conclusions
Four essential elements of Research Proposal
• Objective
• Hypotheses
• Methodology
• Timeframe
Objective
• Define the aim and objective of research
• Reflects the decisions
• Reflects who will use implications
Hypotheses
• Proposition : Propositions are statements that define the relationships
amongst the concepts
• When a proposition can be tested for its validity, it is called a
hypothesis
• Eg: Higher reward leads to higher productivity.
Methodology
• Depends on the problem at hand
• Qualitative or Quantitative
• Choose a proper method
Timeframe
• When to start
• When to finish
• Milestone wise timeframe