Writing Effective Research Titles

Writing a Research Title

• A research title comes from observations, dilemmas, reading, selective viewing, documentaries, and reflection.
• The research title is a condensed version of the research problem.
• A research title should be original, clear, concise, and specific, also reflect the investigation topic.

Importance of a Research Title

• A research title should provide clarity and focus, attract audience/readers, establish relevance, increase discoverability, and form a first impression.

Examples of Broad and Specific Research Topics

• Broad topics: Job satisfaction, Sustainable tourism, Gastronomy tourism, and Carrying capacity.
• Specific topics:
  • The effect of job stress on the quality of life of commercial pilots: Testing the mediating effects of mindfulness and job satisfaction
  • Who takes part in film tourism? The analysis of determinants of visiting film locations
  • Exploring the on-site experience of slow tourists from an embodied practice perspective

Techniques for Narrowing Down a Topic in a Research Question

• Examine the literature to get research questions.
  • Published articles source ideas.
  • Ideas usually suggest questions that focus on replicating previous studies, exploring unexpected findings, or following future research suggestions.
  • Extend an existing explanation or theory to a new topic/setting.
  • Challenge findings, refute a relationship or specify the process and linking relations.
• Talk over ideas
  • Ask knowledgeable people about the topic for questions they have thought of.
  • Seek different opinions to discuss possible topics.
• Apply to a specific context.
  • Focus on a specific historical period.
  • Narrow the topic to a geographic unit.
  • Consider subgroups involved and if there are differences among them.
• Define the aim or desired outcome.
  • Determine if the research question will be for an exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive study.
    • Consider whether study will be applied or basic research.

Choosing a Topic for a Research Study

• Pick a topic of interest and motivation, “doable” with resources available within the time frame, focused and well-defined.

Properties of a Good Title

• A good title must be specific.
• It should express the entire scale of the research study.
• Define the total nature of the subject.
• It has to be definite, clear, and interesting to draw readers.

Standards in Writing the Title

• A research title must be concise, including words that hint at the content of the research.
  • Omit phrases and words like "A Study of," "The Implications of," "A Comparative Study of," "An Assessment of," "An Analysis of," "Inquiry," and "Investigation."
• The title must be in declarative form.
• If the title exceeds one line, it needs to be stated like a V-form of 3 lines.

Factors Influencing Revisit Intention: The Role and Effect of Destination Image, Tourist Experience, Perceived Value, and Tourist Satisfaction

• Subject matter includes factors influencing revisit intention, effect of destination image, tourist experience, perceived value, and tourist satisfaction.
• The study focused on tourists in the Philippines.

Research Proposal Example: “The influence of promotional elements to the Gen. Z senior high school students’ decision in choosing an educational institution”

• Subject matter: promotional elements
• Locale of study: educational institution (University of Baguio)
• Population involved: Gen Z senior high school students

Learning Outcomes for Related Literature

• Students should be able to locate relevant related literature, determine sources, write a review, and develop conceptual/theoretical framework.

Review of Literature

• A review involves collecting, selecting, and reading books, journal articles, reports, abstracts, and electronic/WWW resources to collect information about a research problem.

Information that may be collected from various sources

• Background information.
• Theories explaining the problem and connections.
• Data confirming the problem's existence and seriousness.
• General and specific findings.
• Recommendations for study.

Reviewing Literature

• Reviewing helps researchers identify/develop a problem, formulate a framework, and identify/use research methodologies/tools.
• Reviews help justify the need for studying the problem and prevent unnecessary duplication in studies.

How to Review Literature

• Start reviewing while the problem is conceptualized.
• The researcher needs to evidence that the problem exists/worth investigating when identifying/defining.

What to Review and Where to Get Review Materials

• Researchers need to know information sources related to the problem, which are:
  • General, primary, and secondary references.

General References

• General references show where to locate information related to a topic.
• Indexes, reviews, and abstracts are reference examples available in most libraries.

Primary Sources

• Study results are in journals/monographs, are written by those who did the study, and are sources published monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

Secondary Sources

• Publications where authors cite others' work like books, reviews, yearbooks, and encyclopedias are secondary sources and are helpful for an overview of a topic.

Primary Vs. Secondary

• To determine the source's type, ask if the source is directly involved or from another researcher, if evaluating the source is of interest, and if it provides original information.

Steps in Literature Review

• Review the definition, note variables specified in the study objectives/hypothesis, formulate search terms/keywords related to the question or interest.

Search Terms

• In the indexes of general references, search for relevant primary and secondary sources guided by the search terms.
• Start with the most recent issue.
• Search for synonymous sources.
• After tracking sources track it down.
• List the bibliographical data of sources selected.

Bibliographical information for Journals

• Author/s (Complete)
• Title of the article
• Name of the Publication/Journal
• Date and place of publication
• Volume and number
• Page/s of the article

Bibliographical information for books

• Author/s (Family Name, First Name, MI)
• Title of the Article
• Editor/s
• Title of the Book
• Year and Place of Publication
• Publisher (Company)

Bibliographical information for internet sources

• Date of retrieval
• Website

Bibliographical information for unpublished materials

• Author/s
• Title of the material
• Unpublished (Thesis/Dissertation/Paper)
• School/Agency
• Address of School/agency

Reading Articles

• Need to take notes and summarize key points.
• Follow these steps:
  • Read the abstract/summary.
  • Record bibliographic data.
  • Take concise notes, including information for a full review, such as the problem, objectives, hypothesis, procedures, major findings, and conclusions.

Note Card Content

• Author
• Research Title
• Objective
• Hypothesis (if needed)
• Research Methods
• Major Findings
• Conclusion

Writing a Literature Review

• Reviews consist of the introduction, body, summary, and conclusion.
  • The introduction describes the nature of the problem and why the researcher decided to study the question.
• The review's body reports experts' thoughts or other researchers' findings on the research problem.
• Reviews consider research done on all elements of the problem.
• Summarize findings and tie studies together to present a general picture of what has been known/thought for the problem to date, similar results, as well as contradicting ones.