Doing Research epub3
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Doing Research epub3

Mark N.K. Saunders, Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis

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eBook - ePub
No longer available

Doing Research epub3

Mark N.K. Saunders, Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis

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About This Book


Doing Research in Business and Management brings the theory and techniques of research methods to life and covers all of the areas of research, from a review of secondary data or literature, or writing a research proposal, to completing an entire research project. The concise and easy-to-read style combined with clear tables and diagrams makes it highly accessible. ‘Definition’ boxes explain key terms and ‘Research in practice’ boxes show how the research is used in real life, making this the book you need to successfully complete your project.

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Information

Publisher
Pearson
Year
2017
ISBN
9781292222318
Edition
2

Chapter 1


Choosing your research topic

1.1 Why you should read this chapter

This is a big moment in your life. You are about to embark on a voyage of discovery. You will discover a lot about the research process, the topic you are going to research and, we hope, a lot about yourself too. For many of you, the research project is the one part of your course where you have an opportunity to choose what you are going to study and the way in which you study it. We hope that you see this as an exciting opportunity because we believe strongly that’s what it is. It’s your chance to express your individuality, your ingenuity and imagination, your resourcefulness and, above all, your personal organisational skills. These attributes have always been important. But in the twenty-first century, they are more important than ever. Why do we say this? It’s because we think that all the social, economic and technological changes of the last few years have empowered us all to take charge of our own lives to a greater extent than ever before. So take charge of your research topic now!
The overall purpose of this chapter is to enable you to get your research project off to a good start by choosing a topic to research that will give you the best chance of succeeding and passing this important component of your course. It’s worth bearing in mind that however good you may be at all the relevant skills that go into producing a good research project, you will give yourself a better chance of succeeding if you have chosen your topic wisely.
In this chapter, we talk about why choosing the right research topic is so important. We then explain why, for many of us, the choice of topic is so difficult. The choice is made easier if this decision-making process is tackled in a systematic way. In the chapter, we outline some of the procedures for adopting a systematic approach. Then, having got to the stage where you have chosen a topic, we examine ways in which the topic you have chosen can be refined in such a way that it is acceptable to your assessors and will provide you with the maximum amount of satisfaction.
We end the chapter with a consideration of what makes a good research topic, and some help on writing research questions and objectives.

1.2 Why choosing the right research topic is so important

It is possible, of course, that you may be constrained in your choice of research topic. Your university may define strict limits outside which you may not stray. Alternatively, it is possible that an employer has asked you to undertake a piece of research. In either case, some of the points in the next two sections on choosing the right research topic and generating research ideas may not apply to you directly. However, we encourage you not to ignore the points made. It may be that although you may not have a free choice of the general topic, the way in which you approach it may be entirely your decision.
Now let’s look at some of the reasons why choosing the right research topic is so important.

You have to live with it

The decision about which research topic to choose is something you will have to live with, maybe for as long as a year or more. We mean this in two senses. First, it is a topic you will become intimately familiar with, so it makes sense to choose something that you will enjoy. Ask yourself: what am I really interested in? OK, so it may be that football is your passion. Well, football nowadays is big business, particularly in the major leagues in Europe such as the English Premier League. So if your passion has a business dimension, then maybe there is a research topic to be pursued. One of our student’s undergraduate projects explored the reasons why attendances at matches were generally lower when the match was screened live on television. This led into interesting areas such as the affiliation aspect of motivation theory, where some people, for example a football team’s fans, have a need to be affiliated with like-minded people and are motivated towards interaction with these people, leading them to attend matches. This posed a question about the extent to which a comfortable armchair and the economic benefits of not attending the match in person overrode the need for affiliation!
The second sense in which we mean that the decision about your choice of research topic is something you will have to live with is that when you have chosen it, normally there is no going back. You will make life much more difficult for yourself if you find out after one half of the time period allotted to your research that you have chosen the wrong topic. It may be possible to change even at that stage, but you spend the rest of the allotted time playing catch-up. We talk later in this chapter about problems in choosing a research topic, and the consequences of making the wrong choice. So it is better to spend the time at the outset making sure it’s right for you. It is a time-consuming process. Many students have remarked to us in the past that they thought that choosing their topic would be easy. It may be easy to choose one that interests you, but turning it into a viable proposition for your course may take much longer than you thought.

It will be better choosing a topic that will both exploit and develop your knowledge and skills

As well as choosing a topic that you will enjoy, it obviously makes sense to choose a topic that you are capable of doing well. Making a list of your skills and knowledge seems a good starting point. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you prepare the list.
What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?
We are all better at some things than others. You may have discovered strengths on your course that you may want to exploit. These may relate to your background experience or particular skills that you can practise in the data collection and analysis stages of the research. The knowledge gained in previous or current work experience is a good knowledge source for many students. You are more likely to know your way around some of the areas that need specialist knowledge. In addition, this specialist knowledge will lead more easily to an informed research question that needs answering. Alternatively, you may be keen to learn about an industry that’s new to you. For example, you may be fascinated by software design and want to learn more about that industry with a view to possible employment. In this case, you will need to ask yourself whether locating a research project in that industry will give you an equal chance of success compared to an industry with which you may be familiar. It’s also a good idea to think about the modules you have studied and those in which you have had success. This will give you a confident start.
The data collection and analysis methods you adopt offer slightly different options. Here, you may be experienced at interviewing but less so at designing questionnaires. Do you exploit your expertise or decide to learn the skill of questionnaire design? Of course, you can include an element of both. The choices you make may be based on practical as well as personal development considerations. It’s not much good having learned a lot but not passed the module!
What knowledge and skills do you think you will need in the future?
This may be quite a difficult question to answer for many of us. Few of us could have predicted 25 years ago the extent to which we all now need information technology skills in both our work and home lives. Yet it may be possible for you to predict some of the generic skills you will need for effective personal performance. Some of these, such as influencing others and conducting meetings, you may have encountered during your course. The opportunity may present itself in your research to practise some of these skills, particularly in the data collection stage. In the same way, your choice of topic could help develop your specialist knowledge of an aspect of your chosen area of employment.
What resources can you draw upon to help?
Perhaps the value of this question is most evident when it reveals the absence of resources. Most of you will have access to key people such as lecturers, managers and colleagues. The extent to which these can be of assistance will, of course, vary. It will be very valuable to be able to consult an ‘expert’ in the subject area you are studying for your research but, if you have chosen a fairly specialist field, the absence of such assistance may be a considerable block to your progress. You will, of course, have access to information technology, but such issues as the processing of questionnaire answers and the analysis of questionnaire data is a complex and demanding affair if you have no experience in this. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Will your choice of topic help you pass the whole course?

Although we have put the emphasis here upon self-development, the point remains that you must choose a topic that will allow you to meet the assessment requirements and will give you the best possible chance of ultimate success. If there is one fundamental lesson that we have learned as a result of supervising many research projects over the years, it is this: the earlier you start deciding upon your topic, the more likely you will be to choose the right one and ensure final success!

1.3 Why choosing a research topic is difficult

There is no question that for many of us, choosing the right topic is one of the most difficult aspects of the whole research process. At this stage, you are on your own! It has to come from you; and making decisions, which have important consequences, is often difficult for most of us. So, what are some of the reasons why this one may be particularly difficult? Let’s have a look at some of them.

There is simply too much choice

It’s wonderful living in an age when so much information is available at the end of our fingertips. But this can lead us to think that there is no question that has not been asked and no problem which has not been solved. Whatever it is we are interested in, there appears to be a vast amount of information available, much of which there is never enough time to read. This results in the inevitable feeling that w...

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