How to Choose a Research Topic

Dr. Colin Fu
 Steps
• Area
• Problem
• Question(s)
• Reasons
• Hypothesis
• Justification
 A Research Problem
• What is the problem?
• What are you trying to do?
 Research problem
• Interests?
• Magnitude?
• Level of expertise?
• Relevance?
• Availability of data?
• Ethical issues?
 Steps Formulating Problem
• Step 1
– Identify a broad area of interest in the
professional field/area
 Steps Formulating Problem
• Step 2
– Dissect the broad area into sub-areas by having a
brainstorming
 Steps Formulating Problem
• Step 3
– Select the sub-area in which you would like to
conduct your research through the process of
elimination
 Research Question(s)
• What are the research questions you can /
want to ask about the research problem?
 Steps Formulating
Research Questions
• Step 1
– What question(s) you think you can ask about the
research problem?
• Why, what, who, where, when and how
 Steps Formulating
Research Questions
• Step 2
– Are questions in SMART format?
 Reasons/Cause and Effects
• Step 1
– What reasons you feel/think/know...
 Reasons
• Step 2
– SMART?
 Hypothesis
• "A hypothesis is a logical supposition, a
reasonable guess, an educated conjecture. It
provides a tentative explanation for a
phenomenon under investigation." (Leedy
and Ormrod, 2001).
• Testable statement (You CAN test it)
 Hypothesis
• Are the following statements hypothesis?
 Hypothesis
– Chocolate may cause pimples.
– Salt in soil may affect plant growth.
– Plant growth may be affected by the color of the
light.
– Bacterial growth may be affected by temperature.
– Ultra violet light may cause skin cancer.
– Temperature may cause leaves to change colour.
 Hypothesis
• Why?
– Chocolate may cause pimples.
– Salt in soil may affect plant growth.
– Plant growth may be affected by the color of the
light.
– Bacterial growth may be affected by temperature.
– Ultra violet light may cause skin cancer.
– Temperature may cause leaves to change colour.
 Hypothesis
• Good?
– Chocolate may cause pimples.
– Salt in soil may affect plant growth.
– Plant growth may be affected by the color of the
light.
– Bacterial growth may be affected by temperature.
– Ultra violet light may cause skin cancer.
– Temperature may cause leaves to change colour.
 Hypothesis
• All of these are examples of hypotheses
because they use the tentative word "may.“
• Can you test them?
• However, their form is not particularly useful.
 Hypothesis
• Why NOT useful?
– Using the word may does not suggest how you
would go about proving it.
 Hypothesis
• Why NOT useful?
– If these statements had not been written carefully,
they may not have even been hypotheses at all.
– For example, if we say "Trees will change colour
when it gets cold." we are making a prediction.
– Can you test it?
 Hypothesis
• Why NOT useful?
– Or if we write, "Ultraviolet light causes skin
cancer." could be a conclusion.
– Can you test it?
 Hypothesis
• One way to prevent making such easy
mistakes is to formalize the form of the
hypothesis.
 Hypothesis
• a question, "Does temperature affect
fermentation?"
• a conditional statement, "Temperature may
affect fermentation."
• an If, then statement, "If fermentation rate is
related to temperature, then increasing the
temperature will increase gas production."
(http://www.accessexcellence.org/21st/TL/filson/formathypo.html)
 Hypothesis
• You will perform a test of how two variables
might be related.
• This is when you are doing a real experiment.
You are testing variables.
 Hypothesis
• What are the TWO variables here?
– "If fermentation rate is related to temperature,
then increasing the temperature will increase gas
production."
 Hypothesis
• Example
– “If skin cancer is related to ultraviolet light , then
people with a high exposure to uv light will have a
higher frequency of skin cancer”
 Hypothesis
• Example
– “If skin cancer is related to genetic, then people
with a skin cancer blood line will have a higher
frequency of skin cancer”
 Hypothesis
• Example
– “People exposed to high frequency of uv light will
get skin cancer”
– Good or Bad?
– Hypothesis or Prediction?
 Hypothesis
• Example
– In November many trees undergo colour changes
in their leaves and the average daily temperatures
are dropping.
– Are these two events connected?
– How?
 Hypothesis
• Example
– If leaf colour change is related to temperature ,
then exposing plants to low temperatures will
result in changes in leaf colour.
 Hypothesis
• Hypothesis?
– "If I play the lottery, then I will get rich.“
• Why?
 Hypothesis
• Prediction
• But not all if-then statements are hypotheses
• Can you test it?
 Hypothesis
• “if the frequency of winning is related to
frequency of buying lottery tickets, then... “
• "Then" is followed by a prediction of what will
happen if you increase or decrease the
frequency of buying lottery tickets.
• If you always ask yourself that if one thing is
related to another, then you should be able to
test it.
 Hypothesis
• "If I eat chocolate, then I will get pimples.“
• What is this?
 Hypothesis
• Formalized hypotheses contain two variables.
• One is "independent" and the other is
"dependent." The independent variable is the
one you, the "scientist" control and the
dependent variable is the one that you
observe and/or measure the results.
 Hypothesis
• Make the following into HYPOTHESIS
(dependent/independent variables):
– Chocolate may cause pimples.
– Salt in soil may affect plant growth.
– Plant growth may be affected by the color of the
light.
– Bacterial growth may be affected by temperature.
– Ultra violet light may cause skin cancer.
– Temperature may cause leaves to change colour.
 Hypothesis
• What hypothesis IS NOT...
– A hypothesis is never proved or disproved
– To prove or disprove a hypothesis is bias and not
impartial (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
 Hypothesis
• What hypothesis IS...
– Research is to support of reject a hypothesis
– If rejected, a new hypothesis is needed
– If continually supported, hypothesis becomes
theory
 Homework
• Justify your choice
• Type them up and submit!
 Theory
• "an organized body of concepts and principles
intended to explain a particular
phenomenon"(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
 Theory vs Hypothesis
• A theory is similar to a hypothesis in that it
offers a tentative explanation for a
phenomenon that new data will either
support or not support.
 Theory vs Hypothesis
• Both are supported or rejected based on
testing by various investigators under different
conditions.
 Theory vs Hypothesis
• An example of a well known theory is
Einstein's theory of relativity (Leedy and
Ormrod, 2001).
 Law
• A theory that is continually validated over
time by a growing body of data becomes a
law.
 Law
• An example of a well known law is the law of
gravity (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001).
 References
NOT Harvard Referencing

• http://people.uwec.edu/piercech/researchmethods/generating%20a%20r
esearch%20hypothesis/generating%20a%20research%20hypothesis%20in
dex.htm
• http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/filson/writhypo.php
• http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/AR/index.php **
• http://glamerj.blogspot.com/2009/10/research-topic-good-or-bad.html **
• http://gking.harvard.edu/files/good.pdf ** (read)
• http://www.theresearchassistant.com/tutorial/2-1.asp ** (read)
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/16739725/Research-Problem-Hypotheses-an
d-Variables
** (read)
• http://www.gaudisite.nl/CriterionsForArchitectingMethodsPaper.pdf
(extra)
• http://www.socscidiss.bham.ac.uk/s7.html (extra)