FORMULATING AND CLARIFYING RESEARCH TOPICS Flashcards
Develop a research purpose.
a statement which outlines what
the researcher is hoping to achieve by doing the study.
A purpose statement needs to include the following elements:
* How the research will be done – use an action verb – e.g. assess, explore,
investigate, analyse, understand, describe, etc.
* The focus of the study – what you are studying.
* Who will be researched.
* Where the study will be undertaken, which could imply a given geographic
area, a particular industry or a particular organisation
Identify the attributes of a good research topic.
When selecting a topic, there are two requirements to keep in mind: firstly, the topic
needs to be interesting to the researcher.topics need to meet a variety of academic requirements to ensure
successful completion.
Firstly, students need to determine if the institution they are studying with has specific
requirements for research topics.
Further, the ever-present issue of finances should not be forgotten. Since you will be
investing time and resources to complete the study, it is wise to think about the
possible financial challenges and constraints.
Another key requirement to consider when formulating a topic is whether you will
have access to the information needed to address the problem.
Explain the importance of formulating a research problem.
it is shown that there are three
main steps one needs to follow when defining a problem:
* Step 1: Understand the problem
* Step 2: Approach the problem
* Step 3: Formulate or phrase the problem into a single statement
Research problems usually express a relationship between two variables. If the
problem statement does not refer to how two or more variables are related, this
suggests the need for improvement.
The final criterion to apply is to see whether the problem statement talks to the
possibility of empirical research. In other words, if the statements do not show any
link to data or information we can gather, it will probably also be problematic
because it means that you will not be able to gather information about the
problem. Therefore, you must always be sure that you can gather information
about the problem.
identify and define research problems.
the research
problem describes precisely what it is that the research aims to investigate.
whats the difference between rational thinking or the creative thinking process
rational.own strenghts and interest , looking at past projects, discuss ideas with others and scan the media for information.
creative: keep notes on research ideas , brainstorming , drawing relevance trees and exploring personal preferences using past projects.
requirement for research objectives
Specific: the objective needs to be very specific and contain reference to only
aspects of the research question.
* Measurable: all objectives need to be formulated in such a way that the variable
it refers to can be measured.
* Achievable: as a researcher, one needs to determine whether you have the
required resources and skills to make the objective achievable.
* Realistic: whatever one stipulates in the research objective, needs to be
something that can indeed be achieved. When a research objective meets all of
the other requirements, but it is not realistic, it needs to be dropped or changed
in order to be realistically attainable.
* Timed: all research objectives that are properly formulated will contain reference
to the time within which the required measurement will be done
elements included in a research proposal
Title: Titles must provide a concise summary of the study to be undertaken.
Background: This discussion needs to provide an overview of the research
problem.
research questions and objectives also need to be included. These are usually
based on the contents offered in terms of the background to the problem and,
as such, need to indicate how the research questions and objectives are related
to the background.
