Slide 2.

Chapter 2
Formulating and clarifying the research topic

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.2

Formulating and clarifying your research topic

The 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

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.3

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?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.4

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?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.5

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 ?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.6

Generating research ideas

Useful Techniques

Rational thinking Creative thinking

Searching the literature Scanning the media

Brainstorming Relevance Trees

Exploring past projects Discussion

Keeping an ideas notebook

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.7

Rational thinking
 Examining your own strengths and interests
 Looking at past project titles
 Discussion
 Searching the literature
 Scanning the media

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.8

Creative thinking
 Keeping a notebook of ideas
 Exploring personal preferences using past
projects
 Relevance trees
 Brainstorming

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.9

Rational thinking and creative

thinking
 These techniques will generate possible
project 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.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.10

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

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.11

Looking at past project title

 Dissertations;
 Theses.

Scan your university’s list of past project titles for

anything that captures your imagination

 Scanning actual research projects.

You need to beware. The fact that a project is in your

library is no guarantee of the quality of the arguments
and observations it contains.
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.12

Discussion
 Colleagues, friends, university tutors,
practitioner and professional groups

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.13

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.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.14

Scanning the media

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

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.15

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.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.16

Exploring personal preferences using

past project
1. Select six projects that you like

2. For each of these six 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?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.17

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 sub
branches. As you proceed down the sub branches
more ideas are generated and recorded. These can
then be examined and a number selected and
combined to provide a research idea

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.18

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.19

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.
 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.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.20

Refining research ideas

 Using the Delphi Technique

 Conducting a preliminary study

 Continually testing out your ideas

 Integrating ideas

 Refining topics given to you by your organisation

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.21

The Delphi technique

 This involves using a group of people who are either
involved or interested in the research idea to generate and
choose a more specific research idea. To use this technique
you need:
1. To brief the members of the group about the research
idea;
2. At the end of the briefing to encourage group members to
seek clarification and more information as appropriate;
3. To ask each member of the group including the originator
of the research ideas based on the idea that has been
described (justification)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.22

The Delphi technique

4. To collect the research ideas in unedited and non-
attributable form and to distribute them to all members of
the group;

5. A second cycle of the process (steps 2 to 4)in which

comment on the research ideas and revise their own
contributions in the light of what others have said;

6. Subsequence cycles of the process until a consensus is

reached . These either follow a similar pattern (steps 2 to
4)in or use discussion. Voting or some other method.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.23

Turning ideas into research projects (1)

Writing research questions

Write research questions that are

 Consistent with expected standards

 Able to produce clear conclusions

 At the right level ( not too difficult )

 Not too descriptive

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.24

Turning ideas into research projects (1)

Examples of research ideas

and their derived focus questions

Examples of research ideas and their derived focus research questions

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.25

Turning ideas into research projects (2)

Useful techniques

 Start with a general focus question

 Discuss areas of interest with your tutor

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.26

Turning ideas into research projects (3)

Writing clear research objectives

 The research may begin with a general focus research question that then
generates more detailed research questions, or

 You may use a general focus research question as a base from which you
write a set of research objectives.

 Objectives are more generally accepted by the research community as

evidence of the researcher’s clear sense of purpose and direction.

 Do check whether your examining body has a preference.

 Research objective likely to lead to greater specificity than research or

investigative questions.

 Objectives should be operationalized.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.27

Turning ideas into research projects (3)

Writing clear research objectives

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.28

Turning ideas into research projects (4)

Include SMART Personal 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?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.29

The importance of theory

 Difference between Intelligence gathering and Research??

 Asking for opinions and gathering facts – 'what' questions

 Using questions that go beyond description and require
analysis – 'why' questions
Phillips and Pugh (2005)
In order to:

Explain phenomena Analyse relationships

Predict outcomes Compare and generalise

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.30

Theory
 “ A formulation regarding the cause and
effect relationship between two or more
variables, which may or may not have been
tested”

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.31

Threefold typology of theories

Grand, middle range and substantive theories

Creswell (2002)
Figure 2.1 Grand, middle-range and substantive theories
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.32

Threefold typology of theories

Grand, middle range and substantive theories

Grand theories: usually thought to be the province of the natural scientists (e.g.
Darwin and Newton).
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 well known to managers would be in this category.
Substantive theories: that are restricted to a particular time, research setting, group
or population or problem (Creswell 2002). For example, studying the reasons why a
total quality initiative in a particular organisation failed would be an example of a
Creswell (2002)
substantive theory.
Figure 2.1 Grand, middle-range and substantive theories
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.33

Deductive approach and inductive

approach

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.34

Writing your research proposal

Purposes of the research proposal

 To organise your ideas

 To convince your audience

 To contract with your client (your tutor)

 To meet ethical requirements

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.35

Content of your research proposal (1)

 Title - likely to change during the process

 Background - context within the literature

 Research questions and objectives - what you seek

to achieve

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 2.36

Content of your research proposal (2)

 Method - can be in two parts: research design and

data collection

 Timescale and Resources - (finance, data access,

equipment)

 References - include some key literature sources

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009