1/ How to find the research topic/ objective?

A research objective is a clear, concise, declarative statement, which provides direction to

investigate the variables. Generally research objective focus on the ways to measure the
variables, such as to identify or describe them. Some objectives are directed toward identifying
the relationship or difference between two variables
Step 1: The key process is turning an idea or general thought into a topic that can be configured
into a research problem. When given an assignment where you choose the research topic, don't
begin by thinking about what to write about, but rather, ask yourself the question, "What do I
want to know?" Treat an open-ended assignment as an opportunity to learn about something
that's new or exciting to you.
Step 2: If you lack ideas, or wish to gain focus, try some or all of the following strategies:

 Review course readings, particularly the suggested readings, for topic ideas. Search the
NUS Lib for a good, recently published book and, if appropriate, more specialized works
related to the discipline area of the course. Browse through some current journals in your
subject discipline. Even if most of the articles are not relevant, can skim through the
contents quickly. Consult with a librarian and/or professor about the core journals within
your subject discipline.
 Think back what is most interested? What would you like to know more about?
 Search online media sources: Sci-hub, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post,
or Newsweek, to see if the idea has been covered by the media. Use this coverage to
refine idea into something that you'd like to investigate further but in a more deliberate,
scholarly way based on a particular problem that needs to be researched.

Step 3: Build upon initial idea, narrow, broaden, or increase the timeliness of idea so you can
write it out as a research problem.
More information:
It is important that your objectives are stated in a good way. Take care that the objectives of your
study:
 Cover the different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors in a coherent way
and in a logical sequence;
 Are clearly phrased in operational terms, specifying exactly what you are going to do,
where, and for what purpose;
 Are realistic considering local conditions;
 Use action verbs that are specific enough to be evaluated (Examples of action verbs are:
to determine, to compare, to verify, to calculate, to describe, and to establish). Avoid the
use of vague non-action verbs (Examples of non-action verbs: to appreciate, to
understand, or to study).
Keep in mind that when the project is evaluated, the results will be compared to the objectives. If
the objectives have not been spelled out clearly, the project cannot be evaluated.
2/ How to find the research gap?
Research gap is a research question or problem which has not been answered appropriately or at
all in a given field of study. Research gap is actually what makes your research publishable,
why? Because it shows you are not just duplicating existing research; it shows you have a deep
understanding of the status of the body of knowledge in your chosen field; and finally it shows
that you have conducted a research which fulfills that gap in the literature.
Step 1: Focus on Research Area
Before start trying to identify gaps in the literature, need to figure out what your area of interest
is, then focus and narrow that research area.
 Do some exploratory research in your course textbook, class notes to identify more
specific issues and arguments in your research area and possible relationships between
them.

 Read ebooks to get the "big picture" about the research area. Books and Ebooks provide
detailed information on your research area, put your research area in context, provide
summaries of research, and help you identify major themes and relationships for your
study.
 Ask your advisors and other faculty about possible topics or issues within research area
of interest.

Step 2: Read, Read, and then Read Some More

Read (a lot of) research articles: need to read through a lot of research articles in your research
area to become an expert in it. what you use from the articles that you read should relate directly
back to your focused research questions and hypothesis. Don't waste time getting sidetracked by
issues that don't relate to your research questions and hypothesis.

 Go to Start Finding Sources, Search Databases, and Browse Journals to find journal
articles for your research area
 Pay close attention to Introductions, in which authors explain why their research is
important, and Suggestions for Future Research, in which authors point readers to areas
which lack investigation or need future examination

o In Web of Science, enter the author name and choose Author from the right
drop down menu, then click on the Times Cited number next to each article to
see a list of articles that have cited this author's article

Read meta-analyses, literature reviews, and systematic reviews: these papers delve deep into
the literature, examining the trends and changes over a long period of time in your research area
and summaries of previous research findings.
Step 3: Map out the Literature:
  Use mind maps, tables, charts, pictures, post-it notes to map out the literature, whatever
works for you.
 Research each of your questions to see if there are people out there who had the same
questions and found answers to them
 Science Direct, Web of Science, and Wiley Online Library databases help you follow
the research trail by listing articles that have since cited the research article you're reading

If you find don't find any answers to one of your questions, you've probably found a research gap
from which you can develop a thesis hypothesis and experimental project.

Another way:
1) Perform comprehensive literature review on the research topic by reading many & the latest
academic articles, books & conference proceedings
2) Actively attending siminars (organized by universities), others' PhD research proposal defense
(some universities open to PhD students) especially on topics related to your research - this will
help you discover your research gaps, whether your research is noble research or "re-inventing
the wheel" etc.
3) Try to attend research clinics as many as possible organized by the university - this can be
useful 1 to 1 session for 1-2 hours with a professor assigned so that you can share with him or
her on your research progress and solicit input from the professor on any research gap or you are
on the right track.

3/ How to identify the appropriate correspondents?

• Some raters are reluctant to give extreme judgments and this fact accounts for the error
of central tendency.

• Participants may also be “easy raters” or “hard raters” making what is called error of
leniency.

 Adjust strength of descriptive adjectives

 Space intermediate descriptive phrases farther apart
 Provide smaller differences in meaning between terms near the ends of the
scale
 Use more scale points
• A primacy effect is one that occurs when respondents tend to choose the answer that
they saw first.
• When respondents choose the answer seen most recently, the recency effect has
occurred.
 Reverse order of alternatives periodically or randomly
  The halo effect is the systematic bias that the rater introduces by carrying over a
generalized impression of the subject from one rating to another. For instance, a teacher
may expect that a student who did well on the first exam to do well on the second.
 Rate one trait at a time
 Reveal one trait per page
 Reverse anchors periodically

4/ How to conduct a reliable survey.

Reliability is concerned with the consistency of our measurement, that’s the degree to which the
questions used in a survey elicit the same type of information each time they are used under the
same conditions.
Reliability is also related to internal consistency, which refers to the degree different questions
or statements measure the same characteristic. A practical application of this concept can be
found in market segmentation studies that try to capture psychographics and construct
behavioral or satisfaction segments by asking respondent to rate a list of statements using
different rating scales (e.g. agreement/disagreement; likes/dislikes; excellent/poor, etc.). In our
example, if we want to identify “lovers of styling products,” the statements used to describe such
consumers should provide a consistent description of this group. This can be tested by using
correlations, split sample comparisons or methods such as Cronbach’s Alpha.

5. How to design a qualitative study and quantitative study?

+ Quantitative study:
Step 1: Find a model and measurement scale in a previous good research paper that relevant with
your topics
Step 2: Adjusted new factors into the model above by reading and researching from other models
as well as making an interviews with people who have deep knowledge about your topics in
order to find out some appropriate variables.
Step 3: Based on the model and read many literature review of previous studies to find the gap
research on it. According to that, we can formulate our research questions and our research
objectives. Find out what are the factors affecting dependent variables? How much does it
affect?
Step 4: Running the hypothesis testing.
Step 5: Construct the questionnaire from the measurement scale. After that, going to survey for
about 200-400 people
Step 6: Analyze and conduct the data that you have collected by using some software system
( test the reliability, validity and correlation of the data).
Step7: Write the conclusion and some suggestions.

+ Qualitative study:
Step 1: Decide on a question you want to study. Conduct research questions and research
objectives. A good research question needs to be clear, specific, and manageable.
Step 2: Do a literature review. A literature review is a process of studying what others have
written about your research question and particular topic. You read widely on the larger field and
examine studies that relate to your topic. You then draw up an analytical report that synthesizes
and integrates the existing research
Step 3: Consider your ideal sampling size. Qualitative research methods don't rely as heavily on
large sample sizes as quantitative methods, but they can still yield important insights and
findings.
Step 4: Going for interview the relevant people and collect data from this. You need to know
where to conduct the interviews, How to conduct the interview.
You can choose one-to-one interview or group interview for getting data and answer about your
research question. When interviewing, you can adjust some more sub questions which support
for the main research question to get a better result.
Step 5: Analyze data by organizing it into categories on the basis of themes, patterns, concepts,
or similar features
Step 6: Writing up your findings.

6. What are differences between qualitative study and quantitative study?

7. When do you want to conduct the qualitative study and quantitative study?
+ Qualitative study: Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we
don’t know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It’s
also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand.
Qualitative research is used when you want to know the depth, the process and the deep causes
of the researching topic.

+ Quantitative study: Quantitative research is conclusive in its purpose, as it tries to quantify a

problem and understand how prevalent it is by looking for projectable results to a larger
population. Quantitative research method is used when we want to know more about the
relationship between independent variables and dependent variable.
7/ When do you want to conduct a qualitative study / quantitative study?
When to Use Qualitative Research
- When there is a need to explore a problem or an issue
When there is a need to have complex detailed understanding of an issue
When there is a need to empower individuals to tell their story and hear their voices
When there is a need to write in a literary flexible style that conveys stories, plays or poems
without the restrictions of formal academic structures of writing
we conduct qualitative research because a problem or issue needs to be EXPLORED. We use
qualitative research for a topic with many variables that need to be explored in depth.

When to Use Quantitative Research

Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we don’t know what to
expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It generally involves
surveying a large group of people (usually at least several hundred and often thousands), using a
structured questionnaire that contains predominantly closed-ended, or forced-choice, questions.

This is so that findings may be expressed numerically, enabling companies to garner statistics
upon which plans and predictions can be made.

8. What are main contents of a research proposal?

Introduction
- Provide background information including the reason for your study.
- What existing theories do you leverage to pursue the study and why are these appropriate?
- Briefly discuss the primary connections. And write an overview of following sections.
- Length: around 5 papers
+ How to write statement of the problem
- Find the research gaps ==> what is the gap that needs to be filled?
==> What is the problem that needs to be solved?
- State the problem clearly in early paragraph:
+ provide the scope of the study (limitation)
+ Purpose/ Aim/ Objective/ Rationale/ Research Questions
- Explain the goal & research Objective
- Identify the gaps that need to be filled
- Provide a more detailed account ( Data) of the points summarized in the introduction
- Rationale the research questions \
- May introduce the key concepts (Definition)
Literature Review
- To explain the historical background of the topic
- To highlight gaps
- To synthesize the available research
- To justify the topic you plan to investigate and chose the methodology
- Build up the research framework (hypothesis development) / Key themes and sub themes
Method
- Identify which method was used & explain why it was appropriate
- Data Collection: describe carefully
- Criteria for Data Analysis
- Measurement Scale ( Quantitative Method), Coding (Qualitative Study)
Phần này đọc cho biết thêm.
Table of Content of Proposal
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................
1.1 Background.............................................................................................................
1.2 Research Rationale................................................................................................
1.3 Research Questions................................................................................................
1.4 Research Objectives ..............................................................................................
1.5 Scope .....................................................................................................................
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................
Research model and Hypothesis.......................................................................
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY.......................................................................
3.1 Research design...............................................................................................
3.1.1 Descriptive research.............................................................................
3.1.2 Research process................................................................................
3.1.3 Quantitative approach........................................................................
3.2 Questionnaire design ............................................................................
3.3 Sampling method ..................................................................................
3.3.1 Target population...............................................................................
iii
 3.3.2 Sample size ........................................................................................
3.3.3 Sampling method................................................................................
3.4 Data collection.......................................................................................
3.5 Data analysis ........................................................................................
LIST OF REFERENCES........................................................................................
The structure of a research proposal is:

a. Research project title

b. Introduction/ Backgrounds of the research
c. Rationales and Problems statement (What is problem? Why do you want to choose that
problem/ issue?)
d. Aims and purposes (What you will do to address your research questions?)
e. Significance and Implications (What is benefit of your study)
f. Research approach and Data collection methods (Which study design you will use? How do
you choose the target sample and how large is that sample? How you will go and collect the
data)
g. Literature Review: Theoretical background & Related studies You should present theories,
concepts and results of previous studies that will be used as a foundation for your research. You
are encouraged to discuss and criticize why or why not those theories/ models may apply for
your research. The sources of information should be included. Pls. follow the principles of
citation of APA. You can use Internet or Library to come up with a preliminary list of references
that you could use for your research. Ideally, you should have a few references in each of the
following: (a) publications related to the topic (b) publications related to the theory or model you
will adopt for your research.
h. Methodology
 Research Design
 Research Process
 Sampling selection
 Data collection method
 Measurement Scale
Different research types and designs:

9. how to choose the sample size for a specific research method?

Sample Sizes: Considerations
Two considerations:

1. What sample size will reach saturation or redundancy? how large does the sample
need to be to allow for the identification of consistent patterns? Some researchers say
the size of the sample should be large enough to leave you with “nothing left to
learn.”
“In other words, you might conduct interviews, and after the tenth one, realize that
there are no new concepts emerging. That is, the concepts, themes, etc. begin to be
redundant” (Dr. Bonnie Nastasi).

2. How large a sample is needed to represent the variation within target population?
How large must a sample be to in order to assess an appropriate amount of diversity or variation
that is represented in the population of interest?
Estimate sample size, based on the approach of the study or the data collection method
used. For each category there are some related rules of thumb
Rules of Thumb Based on Approach:
Research Approach Rule of Thumb
Biography/Case Study Select one case or one person.
Phenomenology Assess 10 people. If you reach saturation prior to
 assessing ten people you may use fewer.
Grounded Assess 20-30 people, which typically is enough to
theory/ethnography/action reach saturation.
research

Rules of Thumb Based on Data Collection Method:

Data Collection Method Rule of Thumb

Interviewing key informants Interview approximately five people.
In-depth interviews Interview approximately 30 people.

Focus groups Create groups that average 5-10 people each. In

addition, consider the number of focus groups you
need based on “groupings” represented in the
research question. That is, when studying males and
females of three different age groupings, plan for six
focus groups, giving you one for each gender and
three age groups for each gender.
Ethnographic surveys Select a large and representative sample (purposeful
or random based on purpose) with numbers similar to
those in a quantitative study.

A key component of any qualitative research design is flexibility. If you choose a

qualitative research design, you must have high tolerance for ambiguity.
Sample size for quantitative research:
As for sample size, in EFA, we have the minimum ratio of subject: variable is 5:1
(Gorsuch, 1983; Hatcher, 1994) and the higher the better. The formulation therefore is n >= 5m,
in which n is the sample size and m is the number of items in measurement scale. In another
study, Comfrey and Lee (1992) suggested that the different level of sample size gives different
degree of quality of results. Specifically, sample size of 50 as very poor, 100 as poor, 200 as fair,
300 as good and above as very good. In multiple regression analysis for relationship between
variables, we have the rule of thumbs. Green (1991) suggested the equation: n > 50 + 8m, in
which m is the number of independent variables.

Đọc thêm:
Sampling for Qualitative Research
Sampling refers to the selection of individuals, units, and/or settings to be studied.
Whereas quantitative studies strive for random sampling, qualitative studies often use
purposeful or criterion-based sampling, that is, a sample that has the characteristics relevant to
the research question(s).
The difference in sampling strategies between quantitative and qualitative studies: the
different goals of each research approach. Typical quantitative research seeks to infer from a
sample to a population (for example, a relationship or a treatment effect). In general, you want
to include a variety of types of people in a quantitative study so that it generalizes beyond those
in your study. Thus, the goal of quantitative approaches can be stated as, ”empirical
generalization to many.”

Qualitative research, on the other hand, typically starts with a specific group, type of
individual, event, or process. As in the qualitative study of adult survivors of childhood sexual
abuse example above, you would choose your sample very purposefully and include in your
study only those with this particular experience. The goal of qualitative research can be stated as
“in-depth understanding.”

It is true that some aspects of quantitative sampling could be relevant to a qualitative

researcher. What is important to remember is that the strategy you adopt will be driven by the:
• Research question(s)/purpose
• Time frame of your study
• Resources available
Sampling methods in qualitative and quantitative research
Assumptions of quantitative sampling……….
 We want to generalize to the population.
 Random events are predictable.
 We can compare random events to our results.
 Probability sampling is the best approach.
Assumptions of qualitative sampling………
Social actors are not predictable like objects.
Randomized events are irrelevant to social life.
Probability sampling is expensive and inefficient.
Non-probability sampling is the best approach.
size of the Sample
 • sample size not matter in qualitative research
Because of the assumptions that qualitative researchers make, namely, that the social
world is not predictable. Qualitative researchers believe that people are not like molecules or
other objects; people’s actions are not predictable.
• But quantitative researchers believe that social activity is predictable. So when they
compare their observations of social activity to what would happen in purely random results, the
difference says something.
10. What are different b/w a single dimension concept & multidimension concepts?

Unidimensional scale-single dimension Multidimensional scale

One seeks to measure only one attribute of An object might be better described with
the participant or object. It can be several dimensions.
represented by a single number line.
Unidimensionality can also refer to
measuring a single ability, attribute,
construct, or skill.

For example, one measure of an actor’s star For example, The actor’s star power variable
power is his or her ability to “carry” a movie might be better expressed by three distinct
dimensions - ticket sales for the last three
movies, speed of attracting financial
resources, and column-inch/amount of TV
coverage of the last three movies.

11/ When do you need to build up multidimensional concepts ?

Multidimensional concepts are built from varied of pillars that affect directly to the purpose of a
research. It can be said that when the objectives have many affected from various factors. Each
of dimension take an important role to scale and evaluate the goal. For example, when find out
the effect in sustainable development, scientist in University of Târgu Jiu found out that it can be
directly affected on different concept (economic, social and environmental) and three of them
cannot be refused. Therefore, we will use them when the purpose of research can be affected
from various of dimension.
12/ Which are criteria to test reliable measurement of variable in the research model ?
Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. Psychologists consider three types of
consistency: over time (test-retest reliability), across items (internal consistency), and across
different researchers (inter-rater reliability). Cronbach’s alpha, α (or coefficient alpha),
developed by Lee Cronbach in 1951, measures reliability, or internal consistency. “Reliability” is
how well a test measures what it should. For example, a company might give a job satisfaction
survey to their employees. High reliability means it measures job satisfaction, while low
reliability means it measures something else (or possibly nothing at all).

Test-Retest Reliability
When researchers measure a construct that they assume to be consistent across time, then
the scores they obtain should also be consistent across time. Test-retest reliability is the extent
to which this is actually the case. For example, intelligence is generally thought to be consistent
across time. A person who is highly intelligent today will be highly intelligent next week. This
means that any good measure of intelligence should produce roughly the same scores for this
individual next week as it does today.
Internal Consistency
A second kind of reliability is internal consistency, which is the consistency of people’s
responses across the items on a multiple-item measure. In general, all the items on such measures
are supposed to reflect the same underlying construct, so people’s scores on those items should
be correlated with each other.
Interrater Reliability
 Many behavioural measures involve significant judgment on the part of an observer or a
rater. Inter-rater reliability is the extent to which different observers are consistent in their
judgments. For example, if you were interested in measuring university students’ social skills,
you could make video recordings of them as they interacted with another student whom they are
meeting for the first time.
Validity
Validity is the extent to which the scores from a measure represent the variable they are intended
to. But how do researchers make this judgment? We have already considered one factor that they
take into account—reliability. When a measure has good test-retest reliability and internal
consistency, researchers should be more confident that the scores represent what they are
supposed to. There has to be more to it, however, because a measure can be extremely reliable
but have no validity whatsoever. As an absurd example, imagine someone who believes that
people’s index finger length reflects their self-esteem and therefore tries to measure self-esteem
by holding a ruler up to people’s index fingers. Although this measure would have extremely
good test-retest reliability, it would have absolutely no validity. The fact that one person’s index
finger is a centimeter longer than another’s would indicate nothing about which one had higher
self-esteem.
Face Validity
Face validity is the extent to which a measurement method appears “on its face” to
measure the construct of interest. Most people would expect a self-esteem questionnaire to
include items about whether they see themselves as a person of worth and whether they think
they have good qualities. So, a questionnaire that included these kinds of items would have good
face validity.
Content Validity
Content validity is the extent to which a measure “covers” the construct of interest. For
example, if a researcher conceptually defines test anxiety as involving both sympathetic nervous
system activation (leading to nervous feelings) and negative thoughts, then his measure of test
anxiety should include items about both nervous feelings and negative thoughts.
Criterion Validity
Criterion validity is the extent to which people’s scores on a measure are correlated with
other variables (known as criteria) that one would expect them to be correlated with. For
example, people’s scores on a new measure of test anxiety should be negatively correlated with
their performance on an important school exam. If it were found that people’s scores were in fact
negatively correlated with their exam performance, then this would be a piece of evidence that
these scores really represent people’s test anxiety. But if it were found that people scored equally
well on the exam regardless of their test anxiety scores, then this would cast doubt on the validity
of the measure.
When the criterion is measured at the same time as the construct, criterion validity is
referred to as concurrent validity; however, when the criterion is measured at some point in the
future (after the construct has been measured), it is referred to as predictive validity (because
scores on the measure have “predicted” a future outcome).
Criteria can also include other measures of the same construct. For example, one would
expect new measures of test anxiety or physical risk taking to be positively correlated with
existing measures of the same constructs. This is known as convergent validity.
Discriminant Validity
Discriminant validity, on the other hand, is the extent to which scores on a measure
are not correlated with measures of variables that are conceptually distinct. For example, self-
esteem is a general attitude toward the self that is fairly stable over time. It is not the same as
mood, which is how good or bad one happens to be feeling right now. So people’s scores on a
new measure of self-esteem should not be very highly correlated with their moods.