POX7001 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

IN EDUCATION

LECTURE 2:
HOW TO CHOOSE A
RESEARCH TOPIC AND WRITE
PROBLEM STATEMENT

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chew Fong Peng

Faculty of Education, Univeristy of Malaya
 HOW TO PREPARE A RESEARCH PROPOSAL?
(Education)
Chapter 3
3.1 Introduction
 Chapter 2 3.2 Research Design
 2.1 Introduction 3.3 Location of the Study
Chapter 1  2.3 Review of 3.4 Population and Sample
1.1 Introduction Constructs and 3.3.1 Sample Size
1.2 Background of Study Concepts Involved Determination
1.3 Statement of Problem 3.3.2 Sampling Method
 2.2 Related
1.4 Purpose of Study 3.5 Instruments of the Study
Theories and
1.5 Research Objectives 3.5.1 Validity and Reliability
Models
of Instruments
1.6 Research Questions  2.4 Review of Past 3.5.2 Pilot Study
1.7 Research Hypotheses Studies 3.6 Data Collection
(if any)  2.5 Frameworks of Techniques
1.8 Significant of study the Study 3.7 Intervention Plan (for
1.9 Scope of Study
 2.5.1 Theoretical Experimental Study only)
1.10 Operational Framework 3.8 Controlling of Threats to
Definitions Internal Validity (for
 2.5.2 Conceptual
1.11 Summary Experimental Study only)
Framework
3.9 Procedure of the Study
 2.6 Summary
3.10 Ethical Concerns
3.11 Data Analysis
How to Choose a
Research Topic?
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.

George Springer,
chairman of the aeronautics and astronautics department at Stanford University
You’ve been assigned a research paper, or you’ve
chosen a subject that’s interesting to you.
How do you figure out what part of your subject to
research? There are so many possibilities!

You need to focus.

Narrow your subject to a

specific topic that is suitable
for research.
 Choosing Research Topic
 Identifying the right research area and the right research
topic.
 The right topic will be interesting, complex, and compelling.
 The research you do as a student will set the stage for your
research as future research and career.
 Choosing the right topic as a student will help you ensure
that your research will be viable in the future.
 Getting ideas for your topic
There is nothing new under the sun!
Stealing from one source is plagiarism while stealing from
many is research

Jacob Kraicer, U Toronto

 Getting ideas for your topic
 Course Material: Revise lecture notes or textbook
chapters to find a topic.
 Brain Storming: Take the general topic and create a
concept map for it. From there you may find some aspect
of the topic you would like to explore.
 News: Yahoo News, CNN.com, and local broadcast news
all cover recent events and may pique your interest in
further exploration of the story.
 Internet: There are many reliable educational and current
event resources available on the Web that are excellent
sources of ideas for selecting research topics. Keep in
mind that because of the open nature of the Web, many
resources vary in quality.
Getting ideas for your topic
 Supervisor/ Committee members/ colleagues
 Reading literature/publications
 Library/Internet
 Conferences/seminars
 Look what has been funded, who gets funded, and by
whom?
 Draw inspiration from anywhere you can
 What is a great idea?
 Formulating and clarifying your research
topic

Important steps
 Identifying the attributes of a good research topic
 Generating ideas that help you select a suitable
topic
 Turning ideas into clear research questions and
objectives
 Writing your research proposal
 Attributes of a good research topic (1)

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?
 Attributes of a good research topic (2)
Appropriateness: Is it worthwhile?
 Will the examining institute's standards be met?
 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?
 Are the findings likely to be symmetrical?
 Does the research topic match your career goals?
Attributes of a good research topic (3)

And - (if relevant)

Does the topic relate clearly to an idea

you were given -

possibly by your organisation?

1) Flash of Brilliance Model
 You wake up one day with a new insight/idea
 New approach to solve an important open
problem

 Warnings:
⚫ This rarely happens
⚫ Even if it does, you may not be able to find a
supervisor who agrees
2) The Apprentice Model
 Your supervisor has a list of topics
 Suggest one (or more!) that you can work on
 Can save you a lot of time/anxiety

 Warnings:
⚫ Don’t work on something you find boring,
fruitless, badly-motivated,…
⚫ Several students may be working on the
same/related problem
3) The Phoenix Model
 You work on some projects and think very hard
about what you’ve done looking for insights
 Re-implement in a common framework
 Identify an algorithm/proof problem inside
 The topic emerges from your work
 Especially common in systems

 Warnings:
⚫ You may be working without “a topic” for a long
time
4) The Stapler Model
 You work on several small topics that turn into a
series of conference papers
 E.g., you figure out how to apply a technique (e.g.,
ILP) to several key problems in an area
 You figure out somehow how to tie it all together,
create a chapter from each paper, and put a big
staple through it

 Warnings:
⚫ May be hard/impossible to find the tie
5) The Synthesis Model
 You read some papers from other subfields in
computer science/engineering or a related field
(e.g., biology)
 And look for places to apply insight from another
(sub)field to your own
 E.g., databases to compilers

 Warnings:
⚫ You can spend a career reading papers!
⚫ You may not find any useful connections
6) The Expanded Term Project
Model
 You take a project course that gives you a new
perspective
 E.g., theory of system and vice versa
 The project/paper combines your research project
with the course project
 One (and ½) project does double duty

 Warnings:
⚫ This can distract from your research if you can’t
find a related project/paper
 Phases of the research process
Thinking
-identifying
problem & purpose
-reviewing literature Planning
Informing -Choosing study
-disseminating results design & planning
(journal articles, approach to sample,
presentations etc.) data collection etc.

Analyzing
- analyze data and Implementing
interpret findings - Recruiting
participants &
collecting data

(Norwood, 2000)
Steps in identifying a research problem
1. Outline areas of interest
Read about your Observe your
interests environment
2. Choose a topic Be curious
Talk to your
Colleagues
Ask questions
Find out
3. Narrow your topic
what others
are doing

4. Identify a research problem

5. Identify the purpose for your study

 1. Areas of Interest
▪ Start with an area you are familiar with
▪ Begin broadly and think of things that interest
you in your practice
• What do you find frustrating?
Perplexing?
• What do you think works well?
What could be improved?
▪ Be creative and try to “think outside the box”
▪ Brainstorm about general areas of interest
▪ Write down all your thoughts and ideas
2. Choosing your topic
▪ Choose one area of interest
as a topic you will focus on
▪ To help you select a topic consider:
1. Significance/relevance: Is this an important
problem for nurses/nursing practice? Is it
timely?
2. Gaps: What is already known about the topic?
Have others already examined this issue? Is
more research needed?
3. Interest: Is this something you would like to
explore further?
 3. Narrowing your topic
 Refine your topic by becoming more specific about
what you are interested in
 Pose some questions about your topic to help you
narrow your focus
 Polit & Beck (2008) suggest some question stems
to use to assist in refining your topic
 What is going on with….
 What is the meaning of…
 What influences or causes…
 What is the process by which….
 What factors contribute to….
 How effective is…..
Narrowing your topic:
Choosing a researchable question
 Narrow down the questions you have posed by
eliminating those that are not researchable
 According to Brink & Wood (2001) researchable
questions are
 Focused on fact not opinion – answers will help to describe
or explain a phenomenon
 “Now” questions - deal with current, significant issues
 Relevant - Generate useable information
 Action-oriented - usually requires you to do something and
provide direction for the rest of the research process.
5. Identifying the research problem
 To decide on your research problem consider
the potentially researchable questions about
the topic you identified earlier
 Select one that you would like to explore in
more depth
 In choosing your focus consider
 Your interests
 The literature
 Feasibility of studying the problem
 Moving from the problem
to a research project: Next steps

 Reviewing and critiquing the literature

related to your problem
 Find out what is known
 Identify approaches to studying the problem
 Consider theoretical approaches to studying the problem
 Further refine your problem & purpose

 Move to the planning phase of your study

 11 points to consider in finding and
developing a research topic
1. Can it be enthusiastically pursued?
2. Can interest be sustained by it?
3. Is the problem solvable?
4. Is it worth doing?
5. Will it lead to other research problems?
6. Is it manageable in size?

Robert Smith, “Graduate Research: A Guide for Students in the Sciences”

29
7. What is the potential for making an original
contribution to the literature in the field?
8. If the problem is solved, will the results be reviewed
well by scholars in your field?
9. Are you, or will you become, competent to solve it?
10. By solving it, will you have demonstrated
independent skills in your discipline?
11. Will the necessary research prepare you in an area of
demand or promise for the future?

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Problem Statement
 Why Writing Problem Statement?
• To present the global and local issues surrounding the topic you
are studying
 To present evidence related to the identified issues
 To argue for the importance of your study
• Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being studied.
• Anchors the research questions, hypotheses, or assumptions to
follow. It offers a concise statement about the purpose of your
paper.
• Place the topic into a particular context that defines the parameters
of what is to be investigated.
• Provide the framework for reporting the results and indicate what
is probably necessary to conduct the study and explain how the
findings will present this information.
Formulating a Research Problem

A well-formulated problem, however, should be

a) Clarify exactly what is to be determined or
solved and;
b) Narrow the scope of the study to a specific
question stated in clear and concise form.
  Supports Multiple Perspectives

 The problem must be phrased in a way that avoids

dichotomies and instead supports the generation and
exploration of multiple perspectives. A general rule
of thumb in the social sciences is that a good research
problem is one that would generate a variety of
viewpoints from a composite audience made up of
reasonable people.

 Four General Conceptualizations of a
Research Problem
• Casuist Research Problem -- this type of problem relates
to the determination of right and wrong in questions of
conduct or conscience by analyzing moral dilemmas
through the application of general rules and the careful
distinction of special cases.
• Difference Research Problem - typically asks the question,
“Is there a difference between two or more groups or
treatments?” This type of problem statement is used when
the researcher compares or contrasts two or more
phenomena. This a common approach to defining a problem
in the clinical social sciences or behavioral sciences.
• Descriptive Research Problem -- typically asks the
question, “What is...?" with the underlying purpose to
describe the significance of a situation, state, or existence
of a specific phenomenon. This problem is often
associated with revealing hidden or understudied issues.
• Relational Research Problem -- suggests a relationship
of some sort between two or more variables to be
investigated. The underlying purpose is to investigate
specific qualities or characteristics that may be connected
in some way.
 The Process of
Problem Definition/identification
Ascertain the Determine unit of
decision maker’s analysis
objectives

Understand Determine
background of relevant variables
the problem

Isolate/identify State research

the problem, not questions and
the symptoms objectives
 Key Issues in a general Problem Statement

 Context – facts/details about the problem/issue from

literature and prior research. Helps the reader to
understand the dimensions of the problem.
 Significance – why is it a problem? Who is affected by
it? Who cares?
 Gap –– The gap in knowledge between what we know
(i.e. past studies) and what we don’t know.
 Note:The gaps are areas or issues yet to be focused on or
the missing links that are required to justify the study. All
problems are not gaps but all gaps are problems.
 Purpose – why we need to do your study to address this
gap….
 Characteristics of Problem Statement

1. It should address a knowledge gap.

2. It should be significant enough to contribute to the
existing body of research.
3. It should lead to further research.
4. The problem should render itself to investigation
through a collection of data.
5. It should be of interest to the researcher and suit his/her
skills, time, and resources.
6. The approach towards solving the problem should be
ethical.
 Gap/Problem Academic phrase Bank
 This is often signaled by words such as however, although, while,
nevertheless, despite, but.
 Here are some examples of how these are used:
• Few researchers have addressed the problem of…
 • There remains a need for an efficient method that can…
 • However, light scattering techniques have been largely
unsuccessful to date.
 • Th e high absorbance makes this an impractical option in cases
where…
 • Unfortunately, these methods do not always guarantee…
 • An alternative approach is necessary.
 • Th e function of these proteins remains unclear.
 • Th ese can be time-consuming and are often technically difficult
to perform.
 • Although this approach improves performance, it results in an
unacceptable number of…
 • Previous work has focused only on…
 • However, the experimental configuration was far from optimal.
 Quantitative Problem Statement

• The problem should be stated clearly and

unambiguously
• The problem should express a relation between
two or more variables
 - is A related to B?
 - how are A and B related?
 - How is A related to B under condition C?
 - is there a difference between A and B in terms
of C?
• Implies possibilities of empirical testing