One of my biggest mistakes last term in doctoral school was rushing into a topic for my research paper. While I ended up getting a 4.0 for that paper and still managed to publish it in a reputable conference, I learned some lessons and realized I could have done better.
Both as a teacher and a student, I would say that topic generation is probably the most neglected part of the research process. A research paper requires time and effort. So treat the process of generating a topic as a relationship. I mean..don’t rush into it! But how do we find candidates for “the one” for our research paper?
There are many research methods books that guide students in looking for topics to pursue but I understand they may sometimes sound either intimidating or overwhelming. So here’s some quick tips that hopefully can resonate on you:
Social media or news articles. This could be the latest trend you have noticed or observed, a news article that sparked your curiosity, puzzled you, or even raised your eyebrow. An advertising major? Ever wondered about that softdrink commercial? Is it effective? What strategy was the company trying to employ that led them to that decision? Raising your eyebrows to the many Youtubers and Netflix creating Pinoy content? How is that affecting our decisions on what to buy or watch? Curious about how online shopping is shaping the future of commerce? There are many trends right now that needs to be answered. We just need to look out for them and not just mindlessly “share” the post.
Things that frustrate you. This was largely inspired by one of my professors.He said that his research projects are usually from things that frustrated him (e.g. questionable practices of some businesses). I personally can relate. Experiences or events that angered us, frustrated us, or problems that we want to be fixed can be a good source of topic. One of my latest research is on a topic inspired by a recent traumatizing event that I experienced. I want to be able to raise awareness on that topic. However, we can’t advocate for something we don’t fully understand. Hence, we need to discover and create knowledge about it through research.
Random questions. We all know the saying that goes something like being a child sometimes. This applies to curiosity. Whenever I am with my nieces, they ask me like a gazillion questions. And sometimes, I do not really know how to answer them which amazes me because of the level of imagination and curiosity their questions show. But as adults, we can still be like children. I think in any given day, each person would have at least one question may it be related to what we see in the internet, a conversation we had with a friend, an emotion we suddenly felt, or an experience we had. Those are good starting points and we need to be mindful of that moments. Write them down on a paper, on the notes app on your phone. It does not matter if they sound awkward at this point. The important thing is you have questions you want answers to.
Your University/ school database. I know this one is probably in every research methods books you will see but we can’t neglect this one especially if you’re doing research as a thesis or capstone. These are always good starting points for checking what has been done already and other important considerations.
This is not an exhaustive list. The goal here is to have some starting points. Also, what is important is the topics that will make it on your list of candidates are topics you are personally curious about. Again, research takes time and effort. If you’re aren’t personally interested and invested on the topic, you’ll find it difficult to pursue and continue especially when the going gets tough.. oh and trust me, it will 😉
She teaches and she writes 