BBA: 3102 Research Methodology

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BBA 3102 Research Methodology

• Introduction Session 03
• FORMULATING AND CLARIFYING THE
• RESEARCH TOPIC
• W.M. Rohan Laksiri

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Identifying a Topic

• A research topic focuses and provides structure
  for the steps in the scientific and disciplined
  inquiry approach

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Identifying a Topic

• Three main sources of sources of topics
• Theory an organized body of concepts,
  generalizations and principles that can be
  subjected to investigation
• Provides conceptually rich topics
• Provides confirmation of some aspects of theory
• Personal experience
• Replication

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Topic as the most important part

• The process of formulating and clarifying the
  research topic is the most important part of the
  research project.
• "It is really important to do the right research
  as well as to do the research right. You need to
  do 'wow' research, research that is compelling,
  not just interesting."

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Selecting A Research Topic

• Three ways for getting a topic
• Someone assigns a topic to you
• Someone gives you some guidelines for choosing a
  topic
• You are given the freedom to select the topic

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Successful Research Topics

• "The most successful research topics are
  narrowly focused and carefully defined, but are
  important parts of a broad-ranging, complex
  problem."

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11 points to consider in finding and developing a
research topic

• Robert Smith, in his book Graduate Research A
  Guide for Students in the Sciences (ISI Press,
  1984), lists 11 points to consider in finding and
  developing a research topic

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11 points to consider in finding and developing a
research topic

• Can it be enthusiastically pursued?
• Can interest be sustained by it?
• Is the problem solvable?
• Is it worth doing?
• Will it lead to other research problems?
• Is it manageable in size?

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11 points to consider in finding and developing a
research topic

• What is the potential for making an original
  contribution to the literature in the field?
• If the problem is solved, will the results be
  reviewed well by scholars in your field?
• Are you, or will you become, competent to solve
  it?
• By solving it, will you have demonstrated
  independent skills in your discipline?
• Will the necessary research prepare you in an
  area of demand or promise for the future?

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Identifying a Topic

• Narrowing and focusing topics
• Three problems with broad topics
• Enlarges the scope of the review beyond reason
• Complicates the organization of the review itself
• Creates studies that are too general, difficult
  to carry out, and difficult to interpret

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How to Narrow or Broaden Your Topic

• Be prepared to be flexible with your topic idea!
• If it is too broad or vague you will find too
  much information and will need to narrow the
  focus.
• If it is too specific or specialized or new, it
  will be difficult finding enough information to
  write your paper. In that case, you will need to
  broaden your idea

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How to Narrow Your Topic

• Example I'm thinking of doing a paper on
  "fashion." This topic could develop in many
  different ways.

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How to Narrow Your Topic

• Ask Yourself Questions About Your Topic
• What do you know about it? What don't you know?
• What aspects of your topic interest you
  historical, sociological, psychological, etc.?
• What time period do you want to cover?
• On what geographic region do you want to focus?
• What kind of information do you need?
• a brief summary or a lengthy explanation?
• periodical articles, books, essays?
• statistics?

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How to Narrow Your Topic

• Sample Topic Narrowing Chart

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How to Narrow Your Topic

• Narrowed Research Topic Sri Lankan youth
  fashion of the 1970s and sexual attitudes

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Identifying a Topic

• Suggestions for focusing topics
• Talk to experts in the field
• Read sources that provide overviews

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Selecting topic steps

• Select a topic that interests you
• Read through background information
• Start making a list of key words
• Write out your topic as a statement and select
  the main concepts
• Start making a list of words to describe your
  topic

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When choosing a topic ask yourself if any of
these questions could apply

• You find it interesting.
• You find it inspiring.
• You are curious about it.
• You want to learn more about it.
• You want to know who is this person.
• You want to know why this person is important.
• You want to know what a person is famous for.
• You want to know what was their motivation.
• You want to know what it took to succeed.

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When choosing a topic ask yourself if any of
these questions could apply

• You want to understand how it works.
• You want to know why it was created.
• You want to know why it was started.
• You want to know how it was started.
• You want to know how it works.
• You want to know what is needed to make it work.
  
• You want to know when it occurred.
• You want to know more about where it happened.
• You want to know why it happened.

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Listing Key Words

• What is it?
• It is making a list of the words that will help
  you find the information you need about your
  research topic. They are called "key words"
  because they can "unlock" the doors that will
  lead you to useful information.

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When will you use them?

• You will use them when searching through books
  (using indexes) and through electronic sources
  (using search screens in online reference sources
  or search tools such as search engines or
  directories).

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Why do you need to do it?

• If you have good key words, you'll find the kind
  of information you want faster. If you don't have
  good key words, you can waste a lot of time not
  finding the information you need.

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What are "good key words"?

• Good key words are the important words or short
  phrases that specifically describe your topic and
  closely related topics. They are not long
  sentences.

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When do you list them?

• Start as soon as you have a general topic. You
  will be able to add more key words to your list
  as you focus and learn more about your topic.

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How to list key words

• First, write one or two sentences about your
  topic.
• Next, underline all of the specific words that
  describe your topic.
• Make a separate list of these specific words.
• Add to your list any other words that mean the
  same thing (synonyms) or are related terms.
• Think of more words or phrases that describe the
  larger topic, of which your topic is a part. Add
  those to the list.

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How to list key words

• Think of more words or phrases that are subtopics
  of your topic which might help you find you
  useful information. Add those to the list.
• Now you should have a pretty long list of words
  and phrases that you can use to search for
  information. If one word isn't in a book's index
  or doesn't turn up any results on an electronic
  search, try another word or a combination of
  words.