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RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Chapter one
Lecture 03

RESEARCH TOPIC, VARIABLE AND CONTENTS OF

CHAPTER ONE
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OUTLINE
I. Research Topic
II. Variables
III. Contents of chapter One
– Background of a study
 Format and Design
 Sources of Information
– Problem Statement
 Ideal, Actual and Consequences
– Research Objectives & Hypotheses of a study
– Significant of a study
– Scope of a study
 Content, Geographical and Time
– Conclusion
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 INTRODUCTION
Any research that is not theoretically and
conceptually informed, not grounded in the existing
body of knowledge and investigate conceptually
grounded questions, is likely to generate findings of
a narrow and un generalisable value.

(Yiannakis 1992, p.8)

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 I. RESEARCH TOPIC
Research topic is a subject or issue that a researcher
is interested in when conducting research.
 It is the starting point of every successful research
project.
 Choosing the research topic is on going process by
which researchers explore, define and refine their
ideas
 Once you are clear about this the rest will be easy
and interesting.
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 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD TOPICS?
1) Interesting – keeps the researcher interested in it throughout
the research process

2) Researchable – can be investigated through the collection

and analysis of data
3) Significant – contributes to the improvement and
understanding of educational theory and practice
4) Manageable – fits the level of researcher’s skills, needed
resources, and time restrictions
5) Ethical – does not embarrass or harm participants
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6) It meets the requirements
 Independent and Dependent variable (IV & DV)

 Replicating a topic which was already examined

7) Capability
 Is the research topic achievable within the
available time?
 Accessibility of the data you are likely to require
for this topic?
 Is there enough written critical literature review?

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 FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Every title Should:

 have subject (IV) and Object (DV)
 clearly indicates the target population
 Not end with a period .
 summarize the main idea of the research
 be fully explanatory when standing alone
 avoid words that serve no purpose (effective, good)
 Avoid using abbreviations (CUST)
 not exceed 12 words Osen and Onen (2008)
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 Examples of research topics

I. Risk Factors and Otitis Media among children under

five years in Beledweyn pediatric hospitals
II. Konwledge attitude and practice of hand hygiene of
health care workers in private hospitals in
Beledweyn district

Independent Dependent Target Geographical

Variable variable Population Area

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 II. VARIABLE

A variable is anything that can take on differing or varying

values and characteristics.
• An independent variable influences a dependent
variable.
Example
IV DV
Child Risk factors Otitis Media
Konwledge attitude practice of hand hygiene

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 TYPES OF VARIABLES
I. Independent Variable(Predictor) is a variable that is
expected to influence the dependent variable.
Example: Child Risk factors.

II. Dependent Variable (criterion variable) is the

variable of primary interest to the researcher.
– It’s the main variable that lends itself as viable factor for
investigation.
– A variable that is to be predicted or explained.
Example:, Otitis Media.

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 Cont…

III. Mediating or Intervening variable

• moderator variable, commonly denoted as just M, is
a third variable that affects the strength of the
relationship between a dependent and independent
variables  in co relational studies.
For example
 Parental heritage
 feeding
 Environment
 etc
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 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (MODEL)

 Conceptual framework represents your beliefs and

thoughts on how certain phenomena (variables or
concepts) are related to each other.
 Gives explanation on why you believe that these
variables are associated to each other (a theory).
 So; You Need to develop Model (Concept) which
had theoretical explanation of why these variables
are related.

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 Need for Conceptual Framework
The process of building a Conceptual framework
includes:
 Introducing definitions of the concepts or
variables in your model.
 Developing a conceptual model that provides
a descriptive representation of your theory.
 Coming up with a theory that provides an
explanation for relationships between the
variables in your Model.

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 III. CONTENTS OF CHAPTER ONE
 Background of a study
 Format and Design
 Sources of Information
 Problem Statement
 Ideal, Actual and Consequences
 Research Objectives & Hypotheses of a study
 Significant of a study
 Scope of a study
 Content, Geographical and Time
 Conceptual Framework
 Conclusion
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 Background of Study
The background is the initial section of a research
project or proposal:
 It is a set of statements relevant to the theme
being studies that attracts the reader to the
work
 Provides evidence to an existing situation to
make the reader feel the urgency of the
problem and the need to study it
 Represents the history and the character of
the problem, or issues at hand
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 Cont..
The background has four main dimensions:
 Historical Dimension
provides brief history of the issue being investigated
starting with the global history and narrowing down to
historical issue in the area of under study.
 Theoretical Dimension
describes the theory(s) on which the study is based on.
It provides evidence towards the relationship between
the variables in the study and the theory to be based on.

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 Cont..
 Conceptual Dimension
provides the definitions of terms in the topic.
Three main definitions that a researcher should
provide in this section are:
a) Literal definition (exact or primary meaning of the
variables from the literature)
b) Working definition(is the literal of the term adopt by the
researcher/ must justify why you adopted out of others)
c) Operational definition (measures and characteristics of
the variable)

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 Cont..
 Contextual Dimension
describes the problems in each operation of the
variables in the context of the study:
 Provide one literal definition
 Describe the issue, effects, principles, relationship of
the variables.
 Expose the Gap

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 Sources of Background Informations
 Articles (Published Journals)
 Books
 Graduation thesis
 Databases
 Dictionaries
 Encyclopaedia
 Country profiles
 Etc,

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 Problem Statement
A very specific statement which clearly identifies
the problem being studied; usually identifies key
Variables to study and takes place after an initial
review of related literature .

The statement of problem constitute three sections:

 Ideal
 Actual
 Consequences

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 Objectives of Study
I. General objective
– It describes the general intension and identifies the
goal of the study.
– It elaborates the title of the study.
II. Specific Objectives
– States the specific intentions of the study on hand.
Characteristics of objectives
 SMART
 Clearly indicate the variables to be investigated
 Clearly indicate the target population
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 Hypotheses
Hypotheses is a pre-assumption of a situation
proposal about a solution to a problem using null
or alternative hypothesis format:
It should be:
 Testable
 clear and precise
 Indicate both
(dependent and independent variables)

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 Significant of Study
 It shows why the proposed research matters,
making an important contribution of a new
knowledge.
 It raises interest and provides the context for
organizing and understanding background
research.
 It refers to the relevance of the study in terms
of academic contributions and practical use of
the study findings.
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 Scope of the Study
 It is a description of the boundary of the
study in terms of:
– Content (independent & dependent variables)
– Geographical (location of the study)
– Time (duration of the study)
 It is also known as delimitations of the study.

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 CONCLUSION
• Strictly follow Central University Research
Guideline in terms of:
– Format and design
– Font format, size and Alignment
– Number of pages
– Heading and sub-headings
– Citation and referencing
– Preliminary and Appendix pages
CUST Guideline, Guideline, Guideline.
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 END
Any Question, Comment,
Addition or complement
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