How to

Conceptualize
Research
Marie Jean N. Mendezabal, DME
Research Director
University of Saint Louis
Tuguegarao City
Learning Objectives

 Identify and conceptualize a research topic

 Formulate a research problem
 Anticipate potential ‘Who cares?’ questions
Key Phases of Research

 Research Conceptualization
 Research Execution
 Research Description
Research Conceptualization

Conceptualization, the art and practice of

discovery, is the first and the most difficult part of
research (Aurini, et. al, 2016)
Steps in Research Conceptualization

Step 1: What is the topic? The first step of any project is

to determine what you want to study.

Step 2: What is my problem? Why should anyone care

about my problem? You must then establish the
problem your research hopes to solve, including filling
in a gap or extending the literature in a new and
exciting direction.
Research Topic
The research TOPIC must be grounded on some
already known fact which is used to introduce
the topic and from which the research problem
comes from.

A. Does the topic interest you?

B. Do you know enough about your topic?
C. Is the study feasible?
Topics may arise from:

1. A concern with some social problem

2. An interest in some theme or pattern
of behavior
3. Some body of theory
4. Some personal inclination or interest
Sources to use in selecting a topic
1. Personal experience
2. Personal observation of the environment
3. Journals/Printed sources
4. On-going research projects
5. Available data sets
6. Others
In making your final choice, consider your topic’s

1. Feasibility
2. Relevance
3. Ethical Issues

9
Formulating a Research Problem

Formulating the research problem

is, in itself, a BIG problem

10
 Development of a Research Problem
• The broad general area expected to investigate. It is a broad
idea or concept from which many problems may be
Research delineated
Topic

• A situation or circumstance that requires a solution to be

described, explained, or predicted. It is an unsatisfactory
Research
Problem situation that wants you to confront.

• A statement of intent or objective of the study

Research
Purpose

• An interrogative sentence that ask a question about some

Research process, issues or phenomenon to be explored
Questions
Narrowing the Topic
 Once a research topic has been specified and
contemplate, the researcher must then narrow it
down in order to develop a research problem.
 This is done through generating questions from the
research topic.
 List of questions can be developed from the
research topic, and then investigated in relation
to its feasibility to research.
Critical Issues facing Education Education

 Curriculum standard
 Student learning
 Technology
 Social medial
 Assessments
 School leaderships
 Teacher training
 Teaching methodology
 School environment/climate
Intensify your knowledge and familiarize
yourself about what is known on your
topic through Literature Review
What is a literature review?

A literature review is a critical analysis

of scholarly articles or a published
body of knowledge
Functions of Literature Review
1. Ensures that you are not “reinventing the
wheel".
2. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research
problem and also the people who laid the
groundwork for your research.
3. Demonstrates your understanding of the
theoretical issues related to your research
question.
4. Indicates your ability to integrate and
synthesize, and critically evaluate existing
literature.
Functions of Literature Review
5. Convinces your reader that your proposed
research will make a significant and
substantial contribution to the literature (i.e.,
resolving an important theoretical issue or
filling a major gap in the literature).
When to start a literature review

• seed of a problem
Beginning

• as the research is being conducted

Middle

• manuscript writing
End
When to do a literature review

Beginning: seed of a problem

Main purpose:
a literature review in the proposal
writing stage is needed to establish the
context and rationale for your study
and to confirm your choice of research
focus/question
When to do a literature review

Middle: as the research is being

conducted

Main purpose:
the literature review keeps you in
touch with current, relevant
research in your field, which is
published during the period of your
research;
When to do a literature review

Main purpose:
Needed when relating your findings
to that of others, and to identify their
implications for theory, practice, and
research. Perhaps, the further review
will provide better focus, than that in
your initial review.

End: writing the manuscript

Advantages of doing a literature review early on

 Shows what has and has not been

investigated in the research topic you want to
investigate.

 Since all credible research studies have a

short literature review in the introduction
you can use these to jumpstart your literature
search
Advantages of doing a literature review early on

 Put focus on your research problem and to

refine your research objectives

 To learn how others have defined key

concepts and theories and how these are
reflected in the operational framework/
methodology of the research
Advantages of doing a literature review early on

 To show data sources that other researches

have used.
 To let you discover how a research project is
related to the work of others.
 To train you in synthesizing secondary
information
Advantages of doing a literature review early on

 The literature review will help you to

anticipate common problems in your
research context.

 You can use the prior experiences of others

to avoid common traps and pitfalls.
 How to search for academic journal articles

Use quotation marks to keep key works together; if not some

search engines will simultaneously search for these terms
separately (e.g., you may end up with thousands of articles
containing the word ‘school’ and thousands of articles containing
the word ‘violence’ that have nothing to do with school
shootings).

Example: Search terms

Key Combination
‘Mathematics Teaching ‘Mathematics’ AND ‘Teaching and
and Learning Learning’
‘Educational technology’ ‘Education’ AND ‘Technology’
Now what? How to use the literature to conceptualize

 First, identify key theories, terminologies, concepts,

methods, data and interpretations presented in
the literature.
 Second, identify what is not known, missing or
problematic in the literature.
 Unless you are already very well versed in the
literature, your initial review will require a lot of
time.
 A critical examination of the literature is essential.
 Literature Matrix
MAJOR
BIBLIOGRAPHY OBJECTIVES/ MAJOR
NO. THEMES/VARIABLES METHOD RECOMMENDATION/REMARKS
(APA FORMAT) RESEARCH FINDINGS/COCLUSION
QUESTIONS

1 Ganiron, T. Jr. (2014). To determine the Sawdust concrete mixture Experimental Findings of the study showed
Effects of sawdust as effect of sawdust as Fine aggregate that sawdust-cement-gravel mix
fine aggregates in fine aggregates in Qualities of sawdust has an equal advantage than the
concrete mixture for concrete mixture for concrete mixture standard mix of cement-sand-
building construction. building  adhesion of gravel. Results also indicated
International Journal of construction. aggregates that the average strength of the
Advanced Science and  thermal sawdust-cement-gravel mix was
Technology: 63 ( ), 73- insulation about 3000 psi which is still in
82  workability accordance with minimum safety
 surface standards. Moreover, sawdust
performance of sawdust can be used in concrete mixes
concrete mixture for residential floor slabs.
 humidity
 temperature With regards to the weight,
sawdust-cement-gravel mixture
was almost half of the standard
mix’s weight which proved its
lightweight property.

Furthermore, faces of the

sample that were supposed to
fall off once cracked didn’t,
instead were being held together
by strands of sawdust