» Attributes of a good research topic Capability: is it feasible?Appropriateness: is it worthwhile?Relevancy: is it relevant?

» Generating research ideasRational thinkingCreative thinkingRelevance treeBrainstorming

» Refining research ideasDelphi technique Conducting a preliminary studyIntegrating ideas

» Turning research ideas into research projectsResearch ideas Research questions

Research objectives

Capability: is it feasible?» Are you fascinated by the topic?

» Do you have the necessary research skills?

» Can you complete the project in the time available?

» Will the research still be current when you finish?

» Do you have sufficient financial and other resources?

» Will you be able to gain access to data?

Appropriateness: is it worthwhile?

» Will the examining institute's standards be met?

» Does the topic contain issues with clear links to theory?

» Are the research questions and objectives clearly stated?

» Will the proposed research provide fresh insights into the topic?

» Are the findings likely to be symmetrical?

» Does the research topic match your career goals?

And - (if relevant)

Does the topic relate clearly to an idea you were given -

possibly by your organisation ?

Generating research ideas: Useful Techniques

Rational thinking Creative thinking• examining your strength * keeping an ideas

and interest notebook

• looking at past project titles * exploring personal preferences using past projects

* discussion * relevance tree

* searching the literature: * brainstormingarticles in academic journalsreportsbooks

Refining research ideas: useful techniques

» Using the Delphi technique: ˃ Brief the group about research idea, ask them to

generate independently up to three specific research ideas based on the original research idea with justification, collect from them the so developed research ideas and redistribute in an unedited form amongst all group-members.

˃ Repeat the above cycle so that group-members improve their own contribution in light of what others have said.

˃ Repeat the cycle till the time that group reaches on some consensus on the research idea; this either follows a similar cycle or group discussion, voting or some other method. Continues in next slide

Refining research ideas: useful techniques

Continues from previous slide Conducting a preliminary study

˃ This may consists of a review of some of the relevant literature, informal discussion with people who have experience of and knowledge about the research topic/area, having good understanding of the host organization, research population and research site, and practically doing a small test study.

» Continually testing out your ideas» Integrating ideas

˃ Jankowicz (2000) suggests ‘working up and narrowing down’ approach, meaning that classifying research idea first into its area, then its field and finally the precise aspect in which researcher is interested. An example is: Accountancy financial accounting methods some aspect of activity-based costing.

» Refining topics given to you by your organisation

If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.

10

Write research questionsThat are:

» Consistent with expected standards

» Able to produce clear conclusions

» Able to generate new insights

» At the right level (not too difficult)

» Not too descriptive (beware of research questions that are too easy or too difficult)

Note: 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.

Examples of research ideas and their derived focus questions

Table 2.2 Examples of research ideas and their derived focus research questions

Writing research objectives» Check your examining body’s preferences for stated objectives» Use a general focus research question as a base to 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

» Objectives are likely to lead to greater specificity than research or investigative questions

» Research objectives require more rigorous thinking, and use of more formal language

Phrasing research question as researchobjective: an example

Research question: Why have organizations introduced team briefing?Research objective: To identify organizations’ objectives for team

briefing schemes

Data Entry with Codes• In addition to the data entry in direct way as we did in

the last week’s exercise, SPSS provides the facility to data entry with codes for gender, educational status, marital status and so on. Let’s enter data on gender and educational status of 10 respondents (for example).

• Steps for data entry (with Codes)+ Open SPSS’s ‘Data Editor’+ Go to the ‘Variable View’ first, and type Gender

under column Name and Gender of employee under column Labels, in Row 1.

…….continued next slide

Data Entry with CodesContinued from previous slide

+ Click column Values; you will get a small box, clicking that box, you will reach ‘Value Label’ entry box. Type 1 for Value and Male for Value label, and click Add. Repeat the process for code 2 for Female and add. Click OK.

+ Go to row 2 , type Education and Educational status under columns Name and labels. Repeat the process for coding: 0 for Uneducated, 1 for Primary, 2 for Matriculate, 3 for Bachelor, 4 for Master and 5 for PhD.

+ Go to ‘Data View’ and check whether the two columns created above (Gender and Education) are there. Enter codes as per data of next slide.

RespondentNumber

Gender Education

1 Female = 2 Primary = 12 Male = 1 Batchelor = 33 Male = 1 PhD = 54 Male = 1 Batchelor = 35 Female = 2 Matric = 26 Female = 2 Unedu.= 07 Male = 1 Primary = 18 Male = 1 Batchelor = 39 Male = 1 Matric = 2

10 Female = 2 Batchelor = 3

Analysis of the data1.(a) Click ‘Analyze’ ….’Descriptive Statistics’….

‘Frequencies’.(b) Check the output.

2. (a) Click ‘Analyze’ ….’Descriptive Statistics’…. ‘Crosstabs’.(b) Transfer ‘Gender’ to Rows box and ‘Educational Status’ to columns box, and click OK (b) Check the output.