THE RESEARCH PROCESS

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

1. Choosing a dissertation topic

   • Step 1 (S) Check requirements
     • Word count, deadline, academic orientation, methodological conditions, restrictions.
   • S2 Choose a broad field of research
     • To pick a field that you already have some familiarity with.
   • S3 Look for books and articles
     • To skim through journals, articles and search in Google scholar, databases, university library's resources.
   • S4 Find a niche
     • To narrow down your broad area, your topic shoud get more and more specific.
   • S5 Consider the type of research
     • What approach: collecting, analyzing, interpretering, comparying.
   • S6 Determine the relevance
     • Academic, social or practical relevance.
   • S7 Make sure it's plausible
     • Length, timeframe, practicalities, sources, location, interest for you.
   • S8 Get your topic approved
     • Discuss your ideas with your supervisor.

2. Defining a research problem

   • It's important not to repeat what has already said and contribute new and relevant insights.
     • 1st step Identify a broad problem area
       • For practical research problems, reading reports, following up on previous research, and talking to people.
       • Theoretical research problems focues on expanding knowledge and understanding rather than directly contributing to change.
     • 2nd step Learn more about the problem
       • Context & background and specificity & relevance.

3. Developing strong research questions

   • Characteristics
     • Researchable, feasible, specific, complex, relevant.
   • Types
     • Descriptive, comparative, correlational, exploratory, evaluation, action research.
   • Their strenght
     • Focused & researchable, Feasible & specific, Complex & arguable.