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8/19/2019 Choosing a Topic and a Title
1/22
L/O/G/O
Choosing Topic & Title
Prof. AhmedChouari
Research Methods(S 5)
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Research Methods
Research
Methods
Contents
Introduction
Choosing a topic
Choosing a title
Practice
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Research Methods
Topic
Choosing a
Topic
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Research Methods
Introduction
• If you are free to research any topic thatinterests you, that freedom might seemfrustrating—so many choices, so little time.
At some point, you have to settle on a topic.• Research begins—not with a big question
that attracts everyone in a field, but with amental itch about a small one that only asingle researcher wants to scratch.
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Research Methods
From an interest to a topic
Choosing an easy topic is not the best idea.Most of us have more than enough interests.
eginners often find it hard to locate among
their interests a topic focused enough tosupport a substantial research pro!ect."tart with what most interests you. #othingcontributes to the quality of your wor$ morethan your commitment to it.
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Research Methods
From an interest to a topic
As$ing friends, classmates, even yourteacher about topics that interest them.Interest may come when you learn more
about a topic.%hin$ about what ma$es it interesting topeople.&nce you have a list of topics, choose theone or two that interest you most.
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Research Methods
Where to fnd in ormationabout your topic
"tart with a good encyclopedia.Chec$ out your school or local library catalog.'og on to the Internet( )our topic as a $ey word.*ew e+perienced researchers trust i$ipedia , sounder no circumstances cite it as a source ofevidence -unless your topic is the i$ipedia itself .If information is too difficult( /o bac$ to square oneand choose another topic.
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Research Methods
From a broad topic to a focusedone
"ome topics are too large0broad.1on2t narrow your topic so much that youcan2t find data on it.
%he best way to begin wor$ing on yourspecific topic is not to find all the data youcan on your general topic, but to formulatequestions that point you to !ust those datathat you need to answer them.
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Research Methods
From a broad topic to a focusedone
)ou can start with the standard !ournalisticquestions( who, what, when, and where, butfocus on how and why.
%o engage your best critical thin$ing,systematically as$ questions about yourtopic2s history, composition, and categories- ooth, Colomb, 3 illiam, 4556, pp. 789:5 .
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Research Methods
From a broad topic to a focusedone
At this point, your biggest risk is settlingon a topic so broad that it could be asubheading in a library catalog.
• A topic is probably too broad if you canstate it in four or ve words.• Examples:• Free will in olstoy• he history of commercial aviation
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Research Methods
From a broad topic to a focusedone
[
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Research Methods
From a broad topic to a focusedone
[
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Research Methods
Title
Choosing a
Title
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Research Methods
Choosing a Title
• hat $ey s$ills are needed when writing a%itle;
riting good headlines represents about
85< of the s$ills vital to article writing. *orthis reason the gurus of research writingtend to dedicate more pages to discussingthe importance of the title than they do toany section in the paper itself.
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Research Methods
Choosing a Title
• =very word in your title is important. "o the$ey is to devise a title that(
>. will immediately ma$e sense to the referee,
4. will easily be found by a search engine orinde+ing system,7. will attract the right $ind of readers rather
than discouraging them, and will also catchthe attention of browsers,
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Research Methods
Choosing a Title
:. does not consist of a string of nouns and will beimmediately comprehensible to anyone inyour general field,
8. is short, and?. has a definite and concise indication of what itis written in the paper itself. It is neither un!ustifiably specific nor too vague or generic.
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Research Methods
How can I generate atitle?
• hink about the following !uestions:
hat have I found that will attract attention;hat is new, different and interesting about
my findings;hat are the 7@8 $ey words that highlight
what ma$es my research and my findingsunique; -"ee Chin, 455:, p. ??
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Research Methods
Ho can I ma!e m" title mored"namic#• =very word -apart from articles and
prepositions included in the title should addsignificance. %he following words in italics
rarely add value( inquiry, analysis, evaluation,and assessment.
• "tudy and investigation may be useful to ma$eyour research sound less conclusive.
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Research Methods
$hat t"pes of ords should Itr" to include#
Consider the use of subtitles to amplify the purposes ormethods of study.
A title should be consistent with the research hypothesis,
purpose, or question.If a title is strongly tied to a particular model or theory,consider mentioning it in the title.
A title may be in the form of a question( se sparingly and
with caution. -"ee Byrc a$ 3 ruce, 4558, pp. 7D9 :?
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Research Methods
$hat t"pes of ords should Itr" to include#
here possible use the 9ing form of verbs rather thanabstract nouns. %his will ma$e your title more readable aswell as ma$ing it 4@7 words shorter.
%ry to choose ad!ectives that indicate the unique featuresof your wor$, e.g. low cost, scalable, robust, andpowerful.
A title should indicate what was studied 9 not the resultsor conclusions of the study.Consider mentioning the population-s in a title when astudy is deliberately delimited
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%ractice
"ee handout
Research Methods
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L/O/G/O
Research MethodsThan! ou'