Unit
10
CHOOSING AND SPECIFYING THE RESEARCH TOPIC
Task 1. Read and learn the words and word
combinations.
amendment n. виправлення, корегування,
поправка
appeal v. привертати, притягувати
assess v. оцінювати,
визначати величину
beyond поза межами; понад
brainstorm v. Шукати вирішення проблеми за допомогою техніки
«мозкового штурму»
briefing n. Інформаційне повідомлення, інструктаж
browse v. пролистати, проглянути; недбало розглядати
capture v. захопити, оволодіти; завоювати (увагу)
considered a. обгрунтований, продуманий
death penalty n. смертний вирок
evaluate v. оцінювати; давати оцінку; складати думку;
визначати якість
experience v. випробовувати
eventual a. кінцевий, остаточний
grab v. заволодіти, захопити
impact n. вплив, удар
intelligence gathering n. збирання відомостей
offender n. правопорушник
outcome n. результат, наслідок
penal system система покарання
perpetrator n. злочинець, правопорушник
pursue v. розглядати, займатись чим-н.
practitioner n. практик, професіонал
predict v. передрікати, пророкувати; прогнозувати
predominantly adv. переважно
purposive a. що слугує певній
меті, цільовий
relevance tree n. дерево відносної
важливості
rigorous a. ретельний; точний
spark off v. викликати, породжувати,
undertake v. здійснювати, робити
variable n. змінна ( величина )
wary a. обережний
Task 2. Make up sentences with the words given in task 1.
Task 3.
Read the text and discuss it. Write a
synopsis of the text in five sentences.
CHOOSING AND SPECIFYING THE RESEARCH TOPIC
1.
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. Without being clear about what you are going to research it is difficult to plan how you are
going to research it. This reminds us of a favourite
quote in
‘Would you tell me, please, which way I
ought to walk from here?’
‘That depends a good deal on where you
want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where,’ said
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you
walk,’ said the Cat.
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.
2.
If you have not been given an initial
research idea there is a range of techniques that can be used to find and select
a topic that you would like to research. They can be thought of as those that
are predominantly rational thinking and those that involve more creative
thinking. It is usually better to use a variety of techniques. In order to
do this you will need to have some understanding of the techniques and the ways
in which they work.
|
Table
1. Techniques for generating research ideas More
frequently used techniques for generating and refining research ideas
|
3.
Examining your own
strengths and interests.
It is important that you choose a topic in which you are likely to do well and,
if possible, have already some academic knowledge. There is the need to think
about your future. If you plan to work in financial management it would be
sensible to choose a research project in the financial management field.
Looking at past project titles. Many postgraduates consider looking at past projects
a useful way of generating research ideas. For undergraduate and taught
masters degrees these are often called dissertations. For research
degrees they are termed theses. A common way of doing this is to scan a
list of past project titles for anything that captures your imagination. Titles
that look interesting or which grab your attention should be noted down, as
should any thoughts you have about the title in relation to your own research
idea.
Discussion. Colleagues, friends and university professors are all
good sources of possible project ideas. In addition, ideas can be obtained by
talking to practitioners and professional groups.
Searching the literature. Types of literature that are of particular
use for generating research ideas include:
• articles in academic and professional
journals;
• reports;
• books.
Of particular use are academic review
articles. They contain both a considered review of the state of knowledge
in that topic area and pointers towards areas where further research needs to
be undertaken. In addition you can browse recent publications, in particular
journals, for possible research ideas. Reports may also be of use. The
most recently published are usually up to date and, again, often contain
recommendations that may form basis of your research idea. Books by
contrast are less up to date than other written sources. They do, however,
often contain a good overview of research that has been undertaken, which may
suggest ideas to you.
4.
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.
Exploring personal preferences using past
projects. Another way of
generating possible project ideas is to explore your personal preferences
using past project reports from your university. To do this you should:
1)
select six projects that you like;
2)
for each of these six projects note down
your first thoughts in response to three questions:
a.
What appeals to you about the project?
b.
What is good about the project?
c.
Why is the project good?
3)
select three projects that you do not
like;
4)
for each of these three projects note down
your first thoughts in response to three questions:
a.
What do you dislike about the project?
b.
What is bad about the project?
c.
Why is the project bad?
You now have a list of what you consider
to be excellent and what you consider to be poor in projects. By examining
this list you will begin to understand those project characteristics that are
important to you and with which you feel comfortable. These can be used as the
parameters against which to evaluate possible research ideas.
Relevance trees. Relevance trees may also prove useful in
generating research topics. You should 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.
Brainstorming. The technique of brainstorming can be used to generate
and refine research ideas. To brainstorm you should:
a.
define your problem - that is, the sorts
of ideas you are interested in - as precisely as possible;
b.
ask for suggestions relating to the
problem;
c.
record all suggestions;
d.
review all the suggestions and explore
what is meant by each;
e.
analyze the list of suggestions and decide
which appeal to you most as research ideas and why.
5.
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.
Defining research questions, rather like
generating research ideas, is not a straightforward matter. Beware of research
questions which are too easy or too difficult. A question that prompts a
descriptive answer, for example “What is the proportion of graduates entering
the civil service who attended the old-established
It is often a useful starting point in the
writing of research questions to begin with one general focus research question
that flows from your research idea. This may lead to several more detailed
questions or the definition of research objectives.
Table
2. has
some examples of general focus research questions.
|
Research idea |
General focus research question |
|
Job recruitment via the Internet |
How effective is recruiting for the new
staff via the Internet in comparison with traditional methods? |
|
Advertising and share prices |
How does the running of a TV advertising
campaign designed to boost the image of a company affect its share price? |
|
The use of aromas as a marketing device |
In what ways does the use of specific
aromas in supermarkets affect buyer behaviour? |
|
The future of trade unions |
What are the strategies that trade
unions should adopt to ensure their future viability? |
6.
General focus research questions may be
used 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 require
more rigorous thinking, which derives from the use of more formal language. Table 3. summarizes the objectives of
some research conducted by one of our postgraduates
Table
3. Formulating research
questions as research objectives
7.
|
Research question |
Research objective |
|
1.
Why have organizations introduced team briefing? |
1. To identify organisations’
objectives for team briefing schemes |
|
2. How can the effectiveness of team
briefing schemes be measured? |
2. To establish suitable effectiveness
criteria for team briefing schemes |
|
3.
Has team briefing been effective? |
3 To describe the extent to which the
effectiveness criteria for team briefing have been met |
|
4.
How can the effectiveness of team briefing be explained? |
4a. To determine the factors associated
with the effectiveness criteria fir team briefing being met. 4b. To estimate whether some of those
factors are more influential than other factors |
|
5.
Can the explanation be generalized? |
5. To develop an explanatory theory that
associates certain factors with the effectiveness of team briefing schemes |
8.
Unlike ‘what’ questions, ‘why’ questions
go beyond descriptions and require analysis. They look for explanations,
relationships, comparisons, predictions, generalizations and theories. It is a
shot step from the ‘why’ research question to the testing of an existing theory
in a new situation or the development of your own theory. This may be expressed
as a hypothesis that is to be tested or the eventual answer to your research
question may be the development or amendment of a theory. Although intelligence
gathering (or it is often called descriptive research) will play a part in your
research, it is unlikely to be enough. You should be seeking to explain
phenomena, to analyse relationships, to compare what
is going on in different research settings, to predict outcomes and to
generalize; then you will be working at the theoretical level. This is a
necessary requirement for most assessed research projects.
9.
Writing a research proposal is a crucial
part of the research process. If you are applying for research funding, or if
your proposal is going before an academic research committee, then you will
know that you will need to put a great deal of time into the preparation of
your proposal. However, even if the official need for a proposal is not so
vital it is still a process that will repay very careful attention.
Writing a research proposal helps you to
organize your ideas, and can be thought of as a contract between you and the
reader.
The content of the research proposal
should tell the reader what you want to do, why you want to do it, what you are
trying to achieve, and how you to plan to achieve it. Therefore the structure
of the research proposal includes: title, background, research question(s) and
objectives, method, timescale, resources and references.
Task 4. Skim the
text about formulating the research topic. Find an appropriate
heading for each paragraph.
a.
the importance of theory in writing
research projects
b.
classification of techniques for
generating research ideas
c.
rational thinking techniques
d.
the starting point of your research
project
e.
setting research objectives
f.
writing a research proposal
g.
creative thinking techniques
h.
writing research questions
Task
5. Scan the text and write the number of the
paragraph where you can find the following information. Do it as quickly as
possible.
__ rational thinking
__ theory dependant research
__ a note-book of ideas
__ personal preferences
__ ‘why’ and ‘what’ questions
__ review articles
__ general focus research question
__ the development and amendment of a theory
__ intelligence gathering
__ types of literature
__ branches and sub-branches
Task 6. Match terms in column A with their
definitions in column B
|
A |
B |
|
1) creative thinking
technique |
a) situation in which the results will be of similar
value whatever they are |
|
2) thesis |
b) formulation regarding the cause and effect
relationships between two or more variables, which may or may not have been
tested |
|
3) notebook of ideas |
c) if we accept that every purpositive
decision we take is based on the assumption that certain consequences will
flow from the decision, then these decisions are theory dependant |
|
4) rational thinking technique |
d) the usual name for research projects undertaken
for Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees,
written for an academic audience |
|
5) relevance tree |
e) one of a number of key questions that the
research process will address. These are often precursor of research
objectives |
|
6) research question |
f) technique for generating research topics that
starts with a broad concept from which further (usually more specific) topics
are generated. Each of these topics forms a separate branch, from which
further sub-branches that are more detailed can be generated |
|
7) a symmetry of potential outcomes |
g) one of a number of techniques for generating and
refining research ideas based on a systematic approach such as searching the
literature or examining past projects |
|
8) theory |
h) one of a number of techniques for generating and
refining research ideas based on non-rational criteria |
|
9) theory dependant |
i) technique for noting down any interesting research
ideas as you think of them |
Task 7. One of the attributes of a good research
topic is symmetry of potential outcomes. To gain clear understanding of what it
means and how to ensure it read and analyze the following text as a worked
example. Be ready to answer the questions:
a.
What was Mark’s initial research idea?
b.
What made him change the topic?
c.
What did he decide to research?
d.
Will a refined research topic ensure
symmetry of potential outcomes?
Mark was a part-time postgraduate student.
His initial research topic was concerned with finding out whether there was any
relationship between the level of stress experienced by social workers and the
number of years they had been employed as social workers. If he established
that there was a link between these factors this would be an interesting finding; if, however, he discovered no
relationship the finding would be less interesting and would have no real
practical relevance to his organization.
He therefore decided to amend his topic to exploring
and understanding the impact of a forthcoming stress management course on the
relative levels of stress experienced by social workers before the course. The
results of this research would be interesting and important whether or not the
course had an impact.
Task 8. Find Ukrainian equivalents of the English
words and word combinations used in the text.
|
1) clarifying the research
topic |
a) оволодіти уявою |
|
2) initial research idea |
b) внесення поправок у теорію |
|
3) to undertake a project |
c) привернути увагу |
|
4) relevance tree |
d) потенційний результат |
|
5) to capture smb’s imagination |
e) початкова ідея наукового дослідження |
|
6) to grab smb’s attention |
f) переважно |
|
7) fresh insights |
g) збір даних |
|
8) predominantly |
h) уточнення теми наукового дослідження |
|
9) to browse recent publications |
i) ретельне
обмірковування |
|
10) to spark off a thought |
j) виконувати проект |
|
11) to evaluate research ideas |
k) оцінювати
дослідницькі ідеї |
|
12) potential outcome |
l) причинно-наслідкові
відносини |
|
13) rigorous thinking |
m) сучасне розуміння |
|
14) intelligence gathering |
n) прогноз, передбачення |
|
15) amendment of a theory |
o)
проглядати останні публікації |
|
16) eventual answer |
p) викликати думку |
|
17) cause and effect relationships |
q) остаточна відповідь |
|
18) prediction |
r) дерево відносної
важливості |
|
19) to pursue the idea |
s) оглядова стаття |
|
20) review article |
t) розглядати ідею |
Task 9. Look through the text CHOOSING AND SPECIFYING
THE RESEARCH TOPIC again and
find the words which mean
the same. The paragraph numbers
are given in brackets.
1)
a sentence or phrase taken from a work of
literature or other piece of writing and repeated in order to prove a point or
support an argument (1)
2)
a student who is doing a university course
for a first degree (3)
3)
a university degree that students get if
they study for one or two years after their first degree (3)
4)
to look through or read parts of a book,
magazine, etc. without any clear purpose (3)
5)
a way of developing new ideas through a discussion
in which several people make lots of suggestions and the best ones are chosen
(4)
6)
standards that are used for judging
something or making a decision about something (5)
7)
facts or physical signs that help to prove
something (6)
a reason you give for something that has
happened or something you have done (7)
Task 10.
Identify the nouns, adjectives, adverbs
and verbs in the following group of words. Use the appropriate ones in the
sentences below. Choose the correct form of the word.
а. prefer,
b. preferable, c. preferably, d. preference, e. preferential, f. preferentially
Note the difference between preferable
and preferential.
Preferable means
better, esp. because more suitable;
that one should or would
prefer.
Preferential means
giving, receiving or showing preference.
1.
Gradual change is______ to sudden, large-scale change.
2.
Don’t expect to be treated________ .
3.
In considering people for jobs, we give__ to those with some experience.
4.
This is a controversial new law that gives___ treatment to certain minority groups.
5.
Would you____ that
we reschedule the meeting for next week.
6. I
can meet you at any time tomorrow, but___ not
before 11 o’clock.
Task 11. Answer the questions
1. Why is it important to spend time choosing
and clarifying your research topic?
2. What are the attributes of a good research
topic?
3. What topics should be avoided?
4. What techniques can be used for generating
and refining research ideas?
5. What techniques involve rational thinking?
6. What is the usual name for research
projects undertaken for Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees?
7. What techniques involve creative thinking?
8. What are the advantages of brainstorming?
9. Why is it important to define clearly
research questions and objectives?
10.
What is the difference between research
and intelligence gathering?
11.
What does the work at the theoretical
level imply?
12.
What are methods of narrowing a topic to a
specific subject?
Task 12. Speak on the following problems and discuss them with
your colleagues:
• the importance of choosing the right research topic;
• the attributes of a good research topic;
• techniques for generating and refining research ideas;
• turning research ideas into clear research objectives;
• practise in narrowing the topic to a specific subject.
Lexical revision. Commonly misused
words. Translate the sentences. Choose the correct usage with the help of a
dictionary if necessary.
1. My car can run farther /further on this brand of gasoline. I can not continue this discussion any farther
/further.
2.
3.
Please dress formally/formerly for
the wedding. I was formally/
formerly employed by a jewelry company, but I am now working in a bank.
4.
5. The continuous, harsh, and rasping sound grated /greated on my nerves. A grate /great in
the sidewalk covered the opening to the sewer. Ernest; Hemingway was considered
a grate /great writer in his own lifetime.
