LESSON 2

FORMULATING AND CLARIFYING THE RESEARCH TOPIC

MR. KWADWO BOATENG PREMPEH

SENIOR LECTURER (FINANCE)
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTANCY, STU
[email protected]
 Introduction
• Many students think that choosing their research topic is the
most exciting part of their course. After all, this is something
that they get to decide for themselves rather than having to
complete a task decided by their lecturers. We will stress in
this chapter that it is important to choose something that
will sustain your interest throughout the months that you
will need to complete it. You may even decide to do some
research that is something that forms part of your leisure
activities.
 Introduction…

• Before you start your research, you need to have at least some idea of what you
want to do. This is probably the most difficult, and yet the most important, part
of your research project. Up until now most of your studies have been concerned
with answering questions that other people have set.
• Without being clear about what you are going to research, it is difficult to plan
how you are going to research it.
• Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting point of your
research project. Once you are clear about this, you will be able to choose the
most appropriate research strategy and data collection and analysis techniques.
The formulating and clarifying process is time consuming. However, without
spending time on this stage you are far less likely to achieve a successful project.
 Introduction…

• In the initial stages of the formulating and clarifying process you will be
generating and refining research ideas. It may be that you have already been
given a research idea, perhaps by an organization or lecturer. Even if this has
happened you will still need to refine the idea into one that is feasible. Once
you have done this you will need to turn the idea into research questions
and objectives and to write the research proposal for your project.

• However, before you start the formulating and clarifying process we believe
that you need to understand what makes a good research topic. For this
reason, we begin with a discussion of the attributes of a good research
topic.
 Attributes of a Good Research Topic
The attributes of a business and management research
topic do not vary a great deal between institutions,
although there will be differences in the emphasis
placed on different attributes.
•  If you are undertaking your research project as part
of a course of study the most important attribute will
be that it meets the examining body’s requirements
and, in particular, that it is at the correct level.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

In addition, your research topic must be something you are

capable of undertaking and one that excites your
imagination. Capability can be considered in a variety of
ways. At the personal level you need to feel comfortable
that you have, or can develop, the skills that will be required
to research the topic. We hope that you will develop your
research skills as part of undertaking your project. However,
some skills, for example foreign languages, may be
impossible to acquire in the time you have available.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

Your ability to find the financial and time resources to

undertake research on the topic will also affect your
capability. Some topics are unlikely to be possible to
complete in the time allowed by your course of study. This
may be because they require you to measure the impact
of an intervention over a long time period. Similarly, topics
that are likely to require you to travel widely or need
expensive equipment should also be disregarded unless
financial resources permit.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

• You must be reasonably certain of gaining access to any

data you might need to collect. Gill and Johnson (2002)
argue that this is usually relatively straightforward to
assess. They point out that many people start with ideas
where access to data will prove difficult. Certain, more
sensitive topics, such as financial performance or
decision-making by senior managers, are potentially
fascinating. However, they may present considerable
access problems.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

For most topics it is important that the issues within the

research are capable of being linked to theory. Initially,
theory may be based just on the reading you have
undertaken as part of your study to date. However, as part
of your assessment criteria you are almost certain to be
asked to set your topic in context. As a consequence, you
will need to have knowledge of the literature and to
undertake further reading as part of defining your
research questions and objectives.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

• Most project supervisors will argue that one of the

attributes of a good topic is clearly defined research
questions and objectives. These will, along with a good
knowledge of the literature, enable you to assess the
extent to which your research is likely to provide fresh
insights into the topic. Many students believe this is
going to be difficult. Fortunately, as pointed out by
Phillips and Pugh (2005), there are many ways in which
such insight can be defined as ‘fresh’.
Attributes of a Good Research Topic…

• Finally, it is important to consider your career

goals. If you wish to become an expert in a
particular subject area or industry sector, it is
sensible to use the opportunity to develop this
expertise.
 Writing Research Questions

One of the key criteria of your research success will be whether you have a set of clear
conclusions drawn from the data you have collected. The extent to which you can do that will
be determined largely by the clarity with which you have posed your initial research questions.

Clough and Nutbrown (2002) use what they call the ‘Goldilocks test’ to decide if research
questions are either ‘too big’, ‘too small’, ‘too hot’ or ‘just right’. Those that are too big
probably need significant research funding because they demand too many resources.
Questions that are too small are likely to be of insufficient substance, while those that are too
‘hot’ may be so because of sensitivities that may be aroused as a result of doing the research.
This may be because of the timing of the research or the many other reasons that may upset
key people who have a role to play, either directly or indirectly, in the research context.
Research questions that are ‘just right’, are those that are ‘just right for investigation at this
time, by this researcher in this setting’.
 Writing Research Questions …

The pitfall that you must avoid at all costs is asking

research questions that will not generate new insights.
This raises the question of the extent to which you have
consulted the relevant literature. It is perfectly legitimate
to replicate research because you have a genuine
concern about its applicability to your research setting
(for example, your organization). However, it certainly is
not legitimate to display your ignorance of the literature.
 Writing Research Questions …

Writing your research questions will be, in most cases,

your individual concern but it is useful to get other people
to help you. An obvious source of guidance is your
project Supervisor. Consulting your project supervisor will
avoid the pitfalls of the questions that are too easy or too
difficult or have been answered before. Discussing your
area of interest with your project supervisor will lead to
your research questions becoming much clearer.
Research Objectives

Your research may begin with a general focus

research question that then generates more
detailed research questions, or you may use your
general focus research question as a base from
which you write a set of research objectives.
Objectives are more generally acceptable to the
research community as evidence of the
researcher’s clear sense of purpose and direction.
 Research Objectives

Maylor and Blackmon (2005) suggest that such personal objectives would be better
were they to pass the well-known SMART test. That is that the objectives are:
• 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? (e.g. secured a career-level first job in software design).
• Achievable. Are the targets you have set for yourself achievable given all the
possible constraints?
• Realistic. Given all the 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 in the time frame you
have set?
CRITICALLY REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
 The Purpose of the Critical Review
Your review has a number of purposes. Many of these have been highlighted by
Gall et al. (2006) in their book for students undertaking educational research and
are, we believe, of equal relevance to business and management researchers:
•To help you to refine further your research question(s) and objectives;
•To highlight research possibilities that have been overlooked implicitly in research
to date;
•To discover explicit recommendations for further research. These can provide you
with a superb justification for your own research question(s) and objectives;
•To help you to avoid simply repeating work that has been done already;
•To sample current opinions in newspapers, professional and trade journals,
thereby gaining insights into the aspects of your research question(s) and
objectives that are considered newsworthy;
 The Purpose of the Critical Review …
• To discover and provide an insight into research approaches,
strategies and techniques that may be appropriate to your own
research question(s) and objectives
• To help the researcher understand the existing body of knowledge
• To provide a solid theoretical foundation for the proposed study.
• To substantiate the presence of the research problem.
• Justifying the proposed study as one that contributes something new
to the body of knowledge.
Literature Sources Available
 Primary literature sources
Primary Literature sources (also known as grey literature)
are the first occurrences of a piece of work. They include
published sources such as reports and some central and
local government publications such as White Papers and
planning documents. They also include unpublished
manuscript sources such as letters, memos and committee
minutes that may be analyzed as data in their own right.
Other examples of primary literature sources are conference
proceedings (also referred to as symposia) and theses.
 Secondary literature sources
Secondary literature sources such as books and journals
are the subsequent publications of primary literature.
The publications are aimed at a wider audience. They
are easier to locate than primary literature as they are
better covered by the tertiary literature. Examples of
secondary literature sources are journals (periodicals,
serials and magazines). Newspapers also forms part of
secondary literature sources.
 Tertiary Sources
Tertiary literature sources: also called search tools, are designed either to
help to locate primary and secondary literature or to introduce a topic.
They therefore include indexes and abstracts as well as encyclopedias
and bibliographies. Other examples of tertiary sources include
dictionaries, guides, and handbooks. Dictionaries and encyclopedias are
excellent starting points for research. They can provide general
background information to help narrow or broaden the focus of a topic,
define unfamiliar terms, and offer bibliographies of other sources. Some
works include an index, which will provide excellent access to a subject.
Most of tertiary literatures are called indexes and abstracts. They are
mostly accessible via the Internet or held by a university library.
 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as presenting the work and ideas of other people and
passing them off as your own, without acknowledging the original source
of the ideas used. Find below list of four common forms of plagiarism
which are commonly found in universities.

It is tempting to think that all cases of plagiarism are a consequence of

students either being too idle to pursue their research and writing
diligently, or wishing to appear cleverer than they really are. But the fact is
that plagiarism is an extremely complex issue and the reasons for it may
owe as much to student confusion as willful negligence. That said, there is
little excuse for confusion.
 Research Approaches
Your research project will involve the use of theory. That theory may or
may not be made explicit in the design of the research, although it will
usually be made explicit in your presentation of the findings and
conclusions. The extent to which you are clear about the theory at the
beginning of your research raises an important question concerning the
design of your research project. This is whether your research should
use the deductive approach, in which you develop a theory and
hypothesis (or hypotheses) and design a research strategy to test the
hypothesis, or the inductive approach, in which you would collect data
and develop theory as a result of your data analysis.
 Deduction: Testing Theory
Deductive approach to theory development involving the testing
of a theoretical proposition by the employment of a research
strategy specifically designed for the purpose of its testing.
Deduction owes much to what we would think of as scientific
research. It involves the development of a theory that is
subjected to a rigorous test. As such, it is the dominant research
approach in the natural sciences, where laws present the basis
of explanation, allow the anticipation of phenomena, predict
their occurrence and therefore permit them to be controlled.
 Induction: Building Theory
An inductive approach is an approach to theory development
involving the development of a theory as a result of the
observation of empirical data. Deduction has its origins in
research in the natural sciences. However , the emergence of
the social sciences in the 20th century led social science
researchers to be wary of deduction. They were critical of an
approach that enabled a cause–effect link to be made
between particular variables without an understanding of the
way in which humans interpreted their social world.
Developing such an understanding is, of course, the strength
of an inductive approach.
Major differences between deductive and inductive approaches to research…..
THANK YOU