Chapter 2 Formulating and Clarifying Research Topic PDF

Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying...

Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. Learning outcomes By the end of this chapter you should be able to: identify the attributes of a good research topic; generate and refine research ideas to choose a suitable research topic; turn your research idea into a research project that has a clear research question(s), aim and objectives; understand the relationship between a research question(s), a research aim and research objectives; recognise the role of theory in developing a research question(s), a research aim and research objectives; draft a research proposal that outlines your proposed research project. 2.1 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 com- plete a task decided by their tutors. 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 com- plete it. You may even decide to do some research on something that forms part of your lei- sure activities! 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. This chapter is concerned with how to formulate and clarify your research topic, research question and related aim and objectives. If you are not clear about what you are going to research, it is difficult to plan how you are going to research it. This reminds us 2015. Pearson. 26 EBSCO Publishing: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS 1419381; Mark N.K. Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill; Research Methods for Business Students Account:ehost.  of a favourite quote in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This is part of Alice’s conversation with the Cheshire Cat. In this Alice asks the Cat (Carroll 1989: 63–4): ‘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 Alice. ‘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 strat- egy and data collection and analysis techniques. The formulating and clarifying process is time consuming and will probably take you up blind alleys (Saunders and Lewis 1997). However, without spending time on this stage you are far less likely to achieve a successful project. Choosing your research topic is a developmental exercise – not just in terms of refining a research idea and turning it into a research project, but also in terms of self-development and personal learning. Research will involve you in engaging in personal reflectivity and reflexiv- ity. In Section 1.5 we referred to the experiential learning cycle, where personal reflection is vital to learning from experience. Choosing and formulating your research topic will involve you in a period of intense intellectual activity that will provide you with the opportunity to learn from this experience. You will be able to make a number of entries in your reflective diary or learning journal to record the stages of choosing your research topic and the learning points that emerge for you from this process. Related to this will be personal reflexivity. Lincoln et al. (2011: 124) define reflexivity as ‘the process of reflecting critically on the self as researcher’. As we say elsewhere in this book, research is like going on a journey. It is a journey that involves you making a number of decisions. Being reflexive will ensure you reflect on why you choose a research topic, why you prefer one research strategy over another, how you engage with those whom you wish to take part in your research, how you use the data they reveal to you, how you deal with any problems that confront you during your project and so on. It will allow you to surface any preconceived ideas that you may have about your topic and what you expect to find, and help you to be aware of your own biases. Through doing this you will recognise your role or ‘self’ within the process of the research, remaining critically reflective and being open to new learning. This chapter is intended to encourage a reflective and reflexive approach and we would encourage you to retain these qualities as your research progresses. In the initial stages of the formulating and clarifying process you will be generating and refining research ideas (Section 2.3). It may be that you have already been given a research idea, perhaps by an organisation or tutor. 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 a research question(s), aim and objectives (Section 2.4) and to write the research proposal for your project (Section 2.5). 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 this chapter with a discussion of the attributes required for a good research topic. 27 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic Research starts with ideas. An article in the Wall Street Journal (Shellenbarger 2013) looks at recent work to encourage creativity and the generation of ideas. It provides com- fort for those of us who don’t find it easy to generate ideas, whether for research or some other purpose. While preparation is needed to start the process of generating ideas, sometimes people need to step back from their hard work to enjoy an ‘aha moment’, the article reports. This might be as simple as allowing yourself a little time in your work schedule to daydream, look out of South Devon © Jan Thornhill 2015 a window, or do something else to relax, such as go for a walk or a run. The article discusses research that found the encourage creativity. Imagine, then, walking in a colour green may encourage creativity, helping space surrounded by greenery, such as trees, plants people to generate ideas. Seeing or thinking about or grass, with water nearby. a pleasant, green environment may provide pre- Such ‘time out’ allows the brain to make sense of cious moments of relaxation and help to produce a a person’s preparatory work, while being relaxed and positive mood that allows the brain to generate an in a positive mood may also help to encourage crea- idea when you least expect it. Other research found tivity and the generation of ideas. A positive mood that seeing blue may also be linked to the encour- and creativity may also be helped by socialising or agement of creativity. It seems that it may be the watching something that makes you laugh such as a vivacity and brightness of these colours that may comedy show. 2.2 Attributes of a good research topic The attributes of a business and management research topic do not vary a great deal between universities, although there will be differences in the emphasis placed on these attributes. If you are undertaking your research project as part of a course of study then the most important attribute will be that it meets the examining body’s requirements and, in particular, that it is at the correct level. This means that you must choose your topic with care. For example, some universities require students to collect their own data as part of their research project, whereas others allow them to base their project on data that have already been collected. Alternatively, some ask you to undertake an organisation- based piece of applied research, while others simply say that it must be within the subject matter of your course or programme. You therefore need to check the assessment criteria for your project and ensure that your choice of topic will enable you to meet these crite- ria. If you are unsure, you should discuss any uncertainties with your project tutor. 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 28 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Attributes of a good research topic 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 learning a new foreign language, may be impossible to acquire in the time you have available. As well as having the necessary skills we believe that you also need to have a genuine inter- est in the topic. Most research projects are undertaken over at least a four-month period. A topic in which you are only vaguely interested at the start is likely to become a topic in which you have no interest and with which you will fail to produce your best work. Your ability to find the financial and time resources to undertake research on the topic will also affect your capability. This relates to the concept of feasibility (which we also discuss in Chapter 6 (Section 6.2)). 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 (Box 2.1). Similarly, top- ics that are likely to require you to travel widely or need expensive equipment should also be disregarded unless financial resources permit. Capability also means you must be reasonably certain of gaining access to any data you might need to collect. Many people start with ideas where access to data will prove difficult. Certain, more sensitive topics, such as financial performance or decision mak- ing by senior managers, are potentially fascinating. However, they may present consid- erable access problems. You should, therefore, discuss this with your project tutor after reading Chapter 6. It is important that the issues within your research are capable of being linked to aca- demic 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 (Sections 2.4 and 3.2). As a consequence you will need to have knowledge of the literature and to undertake further reading as part of defining your research question(s), aim and objectives (Section 2.4). Box 2.1 questions, associations, sources and leads. She marked her most compelling thoughts in red. Then Focus on student she marked the main links to those ideas in red too. research She was careful not to discard her weaker or isolated thoughts. She felt this mind map would help her sort Turning ideas into a viable project through all her thoughts. She thought that she could make another mind map later in the project if she felt Zaynab was not short of ideas for her research. But there was too much information. she was much less sure about how to turn her topic of interest into a question that could be answered Recording questions for her research project. Her tutors emphasised that Next Zaynab recorded the authors who had originally thinking of topics was relatively easy compared to asked a potential research question and left a space turning them into viable research projects. by each to record possible answers or places to look Having explored various websites and looked at for answers. She then highlighted the questions that relevant publications in the library, she drew up a she found most exciting; the ones that really grabbed plan of action which she was sure would give her the her attention. She thought that recording all of these material necessary to write her research proposal. questions would encourage her to develop her own ideas. She also recorded her own thoughts as a fur- Charting ideas ther set of questions that were designed as prompts At the start of her project, Zaynab got a huge sheet to help her to be clear about what she needed to do of paper to make a mind map of all of her ideas, to progress her research ideas. 29 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic Box 2.1 possible answers to her questions. She received 20 posts which she used to help turn her favourite idea into a Focus on student question that could be answered for her research project. research (continued) Thinking about applying findings Turning ideas into a viable project Zaynab knew that she would be expected to comment on the practical implications of her findings when Blogging it writing up her research. Therefore, an important part Zaynab was a keen blogger so she posted summaries of of her action plan was to ask herself what would be her ideas and questions on a blog. She asked site visitors the implications for practice for the various outcomes to suggest further reading, new research methods or for that might be expected. Most project tutors will argue that one of the attributes of a good topic is a clearly defined research question(s), aim and objectives (Section 2.4). These will, along with a good knowledge of the literature, enable you to assess the extent to which your research is likely to provide new insights into the topic. Many students believe this is going to be difficult. Fortunately there are numerous ways in which such insight can be defined as new (Sections 2.3 and 2.4). If you have already been given a research idea (perhaps by an organisation) you will need to ensure that your question(s), aim and objectives relate clearly to the idea. It is also important that your topic will have symmetry of potential outcomes: that is, your results will be of similar value whatever you find out (Gill and Johnson 2010). Without this symmetry you may spend a considerable amount of time researching your topic, only to find an answer of little importance. Whatever the outcome, you need to ensure you have the scope to write an interesting project report. Finally, it may be important to consider your future aspirations. If you wish to obtain employment or pursue a career in a particular subject area, it is sensible to use this opportunity to start to develop some expertise in it. It is almost inevitable that the extent to which these attributes apply to your research topic will depend on your topic and the reasons why you are undertaking the research. However, most will apply. For this reason it is important that you check and continue to check any potential research topic against the summary checklist contained in Box 2.2. Box 2.2 ✔ Is the research topic achievable within the available time? Checklist ✔ Will the topic still be current when you finish your project? Attributes of a good research topic ✔ Is the topic achievable within the financial resources that are likely to be available? Capability: is it feasible? ✔ Are you reasonably certain of being able to gain ✔ Is the topic something with which you are really access to data you are likely to require for this topic? fascinated? ✔ Do you have, or can you develop within the Appropriateness: is it worthwhile? project time frame, the necessary research skills to ✔ Does the topic fit the specifications and meet the undertake the topic? standards set by the examining institution? 30 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Generating and refining research ideas ✔ Does your topic contain issues that have a clear ✔ Does your topic relate clearly to the idea you have link to theory? been given (perhaps by an organisation)? ✔ Are you able to state your research question(s), ✔ Are the findings for this topic likely to be aim and objectives clearly? symmetrical: that is, of similar value whatever the ✔ Will your proposed research be able to provide outcome? fresh insights into this topic? ✔ Does the topic match your career goals? 2.3 Generating and refining research ideas Some business and management students are expected both to generate and to refine their own research ideas. Others, particularly those on professional and post-­ experience courses, are provided with a research idea by an organisation or their uni- versity. In the initial stages of their research they are expected to refine this to a clear and feasible idea that meets the requirements of the examining organisation. If you have already been given a research idea we believe you will still find it useful to read the next sub-section, which deals with generating research ideas. Many of the techniques which can be used for generating research ideas can also be used for the ­refining process. Generating research ideas 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 (Table 2.1). The precise techniques that you choose to use and the order in which you use them are entirely up to you. However, we believe you should choose those that you believe are going to be of most use to you and which you will enjoy using. By using one or more creative techniques you are more likely to ensure that your heart as well as your head is in your research project. In our experience, it is usually better to use both rational and creative techniques. In order to do this you will need to have some understanding of the techniques and the ways in which they work. We therefore outline the techniques Table 2.1 More frequently used techniques for generating and refining research ideas Rational thinking Creative thinking Examining your own strengths and interests Keeping a notebook of your ideas Examining staff research interests Exploring personal preferences using past Looking at past project titles projects Discussion Exploring relevance to business using the literature Searching existing literature Relevance trees Scanning the media Brainstorming 31 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic in Table 2.1 and subsequently discuss possible ways they might be used to generate research ideas. These techniques will generate one of two outcomes: one or more possible project ideas that you might undertake; few ideas that relate to your interests. In this case you may want to revise the area in which you are interested, either by choosing another area or by refining and perhaps narrowing or widening your original area of interest. In either instance we suggest that you make some notes and arrange to talk to your project tutor. 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, already have some academic knowledge. One way of doing this is to look at those assign- ments for which you have received good grades. For most of these assignments they are also likely to be the topics in which you were interested (Box 2.1). They will provide you with an area in which to search and find a research idea. In addition, you may, as part of your reading, be able to focus more precisely on the sort of ideas about which you wish to conduct your research. As noted in Section 2.1, 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. One part of your course that will inevitably be ­discussed at any job interview is your research project. A project in the same field will provide you with the opportunity to display clearly your depth of knowledge and your enthusiasm. Examining staff research interests You may follow the links within your institution’s website to the profile pages of aca- demic staff. These pages are likely to display information about their teaching and research interests. You may be able to use this as a funnel to help you to explore and generate research ideas in which you would be interested for your own project. In very many cases, these pages will provide you with the overall subject area taught by each member of staff (e.g. accounting, international management, marketing, strategic man- agement). These pages are also likely to list the particular research interests of each member of staff within her or his subject area (e.g. regulation of accounting standards, transnational management, pricing and price promotions, organisational learning). In many cases, a member of staff will offer a short commentary on her or his research inter- ests which will provide more specific details. Lists of publications and conference papers with hyperlinks to online copies may be included. These will provide even more detail about the exact nature of the research interests of a member of staff. Working through this information may allow you to generate ideas for your own research and guide you to some initial reading to test this interest. Looking at past project titles Many of our students have found looking at past projects a useful way of generating research ideas. For undergraduate and taught master’s degrees these are often called dis- sertations. For research degrees they are termed theses. A common way of doing this is to scan your university’s list of past project titles for anything that captures your imagi- nation. Titles that look interesting or which grab your attention should be noted down, 32 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Generating and refining research ideas as should any thoughts you have about the title in relation to your own research idea. In this process the fact that the title is poorly worded or the project report received a low mark is immaterial. What matters is the fact that you have found a topic that interests you. Based on this you can think of new ideas in the same general area that will enable you to provide fresh insights. Scanning actual research projects may also produce research ideas. However, you need to beware. The fact that a project is in your library is no guarantee of the quality of the arguments and observations it contains. In many universities all projects are placed in the library whether they are bare passes or distinctions. Discussion Colleagues, friends and university tutors are all potentially good sources of possible research ideas. Often project tutors will have ideas for possible student projects, which they will be pleased to discuss with you. Ideas can also be obtained by talking to people who work in or have direct experi- ence of the topic area in which you are interested to develop a research idea. People who have experience of a topic area may include managers and other practitioners such as accountants, business analysts, marketing executives, human resource administrators, purchasing or sales staff as well as many others. Self-employed people and small busi- ness owners may be useful to talk to depending on your proposed topic area. Members of professional groups or workplace representatives may also provide you with insights that help to generate research ideas. Your contact with such people at this early stage may be fortuitous, relying on being able to talk to someone you already know such as those in an organisation in which you have undertaken a work placement. If such people are willing to spare some time to talk to you, it may be worthwhile to help you towards generating a research idea. It is important that as well as discussing possible ideas you also make a note of them. What seemed like a good idea in the coffee shop may not be remembered quite so clearly after the following lecture! Searching existing literature As part of your discussions, relevant literature may also be suggested. There are vari- ous types of literature that are of particular use for generating research ideas. These include: articles in academic journals; articles in professional journals; reports; books. Academic journal articles are intended to produce a theoretical contribution and will therefore contain a section that reviews literature relevant to the article’s topic area. Given the nature of published research, journal articles are generally highly specialised, focusing on a particular aspect of a management subject. You will need to be prepared to undertake an extensive search lasting some hours (or even days) to find articles that might be helpful in generating research ideas related to your broader topic of interest. Of particular use, where you can find suitable ones, are academic review articles. Some journals focus on publishing review articles – so look out for these! These articles contain a considered review of the state of knowledge in a particular topic area and are there- fore likely to contain a wealth of ideas about that area (Box 2.3). These ideas will act as pointers towards aspects where further research needs to be undertaken. In addition, 33 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Chapter 2 Formulating and clarifying the research topic Box 2.3 in the context of the globalisation of production and increased global competition. However, given Focus on its theoretical nature, questions are raised in the management literature about its applicability in practice and across research national boundaries. An introductory review article in this issue (Marler 2012) introduces succinctly the subject of strategic Evaluating the scope for strategic human resource management and outlines the devel- human resource management opment of theoretical perspectives used to define A series of review articles was published in an issue and identify it. Further review articles examine and of the Academy of Management Perspectives in 2012 evaluate the literature on the evidence and scope for focusing on literature about strategic human resource strategic human resource management in the United management. This is a complex area of study that States (Kaufman 2012), Germany (Festing 2012) and seeks to understand the relationship between human China (Liang et al. 2012). Together these articles pro- resource management practices and organisational vide a very useful review of the academic literature as performance. The idea of strategic human resource well as numerous further references to follow up. management has become particularly important you can browse recent publications online, in particular journals, for possible research ideas (Section 3.5). For many subject areas your project tutor will be able to suggest recent review arti- cles, or articles that contain recommendations for further research. Reports may also be of use. The most recently published are usually up to date and, again, often contain rec- ommendations that may form the basis of your research idea. Books by contrast may be less up to date than other written sources. They often, however, contain a good overview of research that has been undertaken, which may suggest ideas to you. Alvesson and Sandberg (2011) report that articles published in academic manage- ment journals are predominantly based on research that finds new ways to investigate around existing theoretical perspectives. They call this approach ‘gap spotting’, sug- gesting it results in incremental changes in theory. They identify a more critical and reflexive but rarer approach to research that challenges the assumptions underpinning existing theoretical perspectives and which has the potential to lead to more interesting and high-impact theories. Given the difficulties associated with designing an assumption- challenging study, it is much more likely that you will adopt the first approach. We discuss this further when we consider the importance of theory in writing research ques- tions and objectives in Section 2.4. Searching for publications is only possible when you have at least some idea of the area in which you wish to undertake your research. One way of obtaining this is to re-examine your lecture notes and course textbooks and to note those subjects that appear most interesting (discussed earlier in this section) and the names of relevant authors. This will give you a basis on which to undertake a preliminary search (using techniques outlined in Sections 3.4 and 3.5). When the articles, reports and other items have been obtained it is often helpful to look for unfounded assertions and statements on the absence of research, as these are likely to contain ideas that will enable you to provide fresh insights. 34 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.  Generating and refining research ideas Scanning the media Keeping up to date with items in the news can be a very rich source of ideas. The sto- ries which occur every day in the ‘broadsheet’ or ‘compact’ newspapers, in both online and traditional print versions, may provide ideas which relate directly to the item (e.g. the extent to which items sold by supermarkets contravene the principles of ‘green con- sumerism’ by involving excessive ‘food miles’ in order to import them). Please note, however, that some of these online media are only available by subscription. The stories in these media may also suggest other ideas which flow from the central story (e.g. the degree to which a company uses its claimed environmental credentials as part of its mar- keting campaign). Keeping a notebook of your ideas One of the more creative techniques that we all use is to keep a notebook of ideas. This involves simply noting down any interesting research ideas as you think of them and, of equal importance, what sparked off your thought. You can then pursue the idea using more rational thinking techniques later. Mark keeps a notebook by his bed so he can jot down any flashes of inspiration that occur to him in the middle of the night! Exploring personal preferences using past projects One way to generate and evaluate possible project ideas is to explore your personal pref- erences by reading through a number of past project reports from your university. To get started you need to search through these and select a number that you like and a number that you do not like. For each project that you like, note down your first thoughts in response to each of the following questions: 1 What do you like in general about the project? 2 Why do you like the project? 3 Which ideas in the project appeal to you? For each project that you do not like, note down your first thoughts in response to each of the following questions: 1 What do you dislike in general about the project? 2 Why do you dislike the project? 3 Which ideas in the project do not appeal to you? When you have completed this task, you may find it helpful to spend some time reflect- ing on each set of notes – for the projects you like and those you do not. By reflecting on and thinking about each list you should begin to understand those project characteristics that are important to you and with which you feel comfortable. Of equal importance, you will have identified those with which you are uncomfortable and should avoid. This process has two benefits. Firstly, it may help you to generate possible research ideas. Secondly, you may use the project characteristics that emerge from exploring your personal preferences as parameters against which to evaluate possible research ideas. Exploring relevance to business using the literature There is an enormous amount of research published in business and management journals. The nature of these journals varies considerably, ranging from those with a more applied focus to those that are more esoteric. As a result, there will be many ways 35 EBSCOhost: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 1/28/2025 11:51:48 AM UTC via HANKEN SVENSKA HANDELSHOGSKOLAN - HANKEN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS. All use subject to https://www.ebsco.com/terms-of-use.