MODULE 4

• Strategies for focusing a broad research topic

  1. Develop a tentative focus

  2. Get some background information on your topic

  3. Look for magazine/journal/articles to get a general idea of the key issues or controversies involved in your topic

  4. Narrow your topic by limiting it to a specific time period or geographic area
• Finding your research topic ideas

  1. Scan books for topic ideas and suggestions

  2. Draw on your other classes for inspiration

  3. Pick a topic that is practical

  4. Browsing the internet websites can provide some topic ideas
• Researchers might consider the interest of three stakeholders: The researcher, The adviser, The study should answer interesting problems and not be a "copycat"
• Researchers must choose topics that are under their discipline
• Choosing a thesis topic


  1. One of the most difficult steps in beginning a research paper can be choosing a topic

  2. A thesis topic is the focus of the content of the whole paper

  3. Thesis topic will lead the researcher/s in constructing the thesis title
• Narrowing your topics

  1. Rank your topics

  2. Choose top 3 – 5 topics

  3. Consider different criteria: RRLS, Attainable (Time), Participants (Respondents/Informants), Financial Capability
• Brainstorming


  1. Make a list of interests related to the discipline

  2. Look for current events and trends related to the discipline

  3. Interview different people around the environment

  4. Look for gaps linking in the discipline

  5. Look for published studies

  6. Look for the research agenda/themes
• Research Gap is the reason why you are doing your research today. It serves as a "force" that makes your research different from others and is the basis for formulating research hypothesis/research questions
• Formulating the research title


  1. The title of the research project is a brief statement of the contents of the proposed thesis. The wording of the title is important for descriptive as well as information retrieval purposes, as the key concepts in the title are also used for compiling the entries in the index and abstracts of journals

  2. The title should be concise while unambiguously reflecting the exact topic of the thesis. It should be explicit and indicative of the subject (topic). Fifteen (15) words or less are normally sufficient. The title must provide a clear and appropriate description of the focus of the thesis
• Research Gap may come from Theoretical/Conceptual Frameworks, Methodological, Contextual
• Research Title

  Brief statement of the contents of the proposed thesis
• Use single word titles for formal research writing
• The more the area of investigation, the more the researcher/s needs to describe it adequately in the title
• Deadwood phrases in titles are vague, provide introductory wording but serve no purpose in a literature search
• Unnecessary phrases in titles

  • An investigation of
  • A study of
  • An examination of
  • Analysis of
  • Discussion of
  • Consideration of etc.
• Title Wording

  Important for descriptive and information retrieval purposes, used for compiling index and abstracts of journals
• Where possible, avoid unnecessary phrases in titles
• Poor Literature Review

  • Confined to description
  • Narrow and shallow
  • Confusing and longwinded
  • Constructed in an arbitrary way
• Literature Review


  Effective evaluation of selected documents on a research topic
• Good Literature Review

  • Synthesis of available research
  • Critical evaluation
  • Appropriate breadth and depth
  • Clarity and conciseness
  • Rigorous and consistent methods
• Key points for Comparison across Studies

  • Research aim/s or hypotheses
  • Research design and sampling
  • Instruments and procedures used
  • How data were analyzed
  • Results or findings
  • Interpretations
• Purposes of a Literature Review

  • Theoretical background
  • Clinical practice
  • Methodology and/or research methods
  • Previous findings
  • Rationale and/or relevance of the current study
• The body


  Depends on how the key points are organized
• The introduction


  Should provide the reader with the scale and structure of the review
• The conclusion


  Sums up the main findings of the research into the literature