Activity No.

2:
Conceptualization of the
Research Study
The Research Topic
• 1. Finding your focus. Answer the following guide questions.
• What aspects of chemical engineering interests you most? (e.g Energy
Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Food Engineering, etc)
• What problems/ observations do you want to explore in your research? (e.g.
biofuels from food waste, phytoremediation using moss, etc)
• What articles have you read that have raised questions in your mind? Cite at
least 5 articles and give the questions each article has raised.
The Research Topic
• 2. Finding gaps in the literature.
• What topics are not being looked at in your topic of interest? (e.g Production
of biodiesel from food waste)
• What methods have not been investigated yet? (e.g Utilization of a home-
based pyrolysis apparatus for producing biochar)
• What populations/ materials have not yet been studied? (e.g food leather
from camote flour)
• What comparisons are being made? (e.g comparing the performance of
traditional plastic products with soy-based plastic products)
The Research Topic
• Starting the research process
• Read, read and read. Keep a spreadsheet/ word document to record and
analyze the articles you have read.
• Conduct a detailed literature search. Use print and electronic resources.
• Attend seminars, conferences and paper presentations.
• Listen and ask questions from subject-matter experts.
The Research Topic
• Discuss your research topic with other groups that are conducting
similar types of research projects.
• Discuss your research topic with stakeholders (your research and
course adviser)
• Assess what information/data is crucial and learn what you can from
it.
• Assess the research resources that are available.
Concept Mapping
• A concept map is a graphical representation of ideas in a topic. There
is no correct way to make a concept map, so feel free to use the
concept map to explore your topics in greater detail. The concept
map allows you to see the bigger picture in your research.
• Helpful techniques: Brain writing, Nominal group technique, focus
groups, open-ended problem writeshops
The Research Title
• Here are the basic questions that your title should answer.
• Does the title describe what our study is about?
• Is the title adequately specific?
• Is the title academically phrased and not verbose
• Is the title within 12 words of the substantive word requirement of the APA
(American Psychological Association)?
Titles, titles, titles
• Are these titles meet the basic requirements?
• Fuels and Food Waste
• The Application of Higher Order Linear Differential Equations in the Analysis
of Reactor Tanks which not Homogenoeous in Nature and are subjected to
Heat Effects
• Tsk, tsk, tsk (The study is about student cheating)
• Effect of Polymerization Temperature and Solvent Concentration on the
Tensile Strength of Camote Flour Bioplastics