Selecting a research problem is often underestimated in terms of its importance. What the majority of researchers don't seem to realize is that doing all the research in the world won't bear fruit if you're not doing the right kind of reading. When selecting a research problem, you need to pick a juicy topic, so to speak - something with meat on the bone that you can use to get that extra 'wow' factor to draw in the person who reads your findings. Any good thesis or essay starts with solid research, and solid research begins with a subject that captures the imagination and avoids being bland. When you look at it in such simple, straightforward terms, it becomes a lot easier to understand the importance of research in the execution of a successful and hard-hitting end product.
In addition to carefully selecting a broad topic with plenty for you to investigate into, you need to do some wider reading into your chosen subject area. It may be a basic instruction, but it's one that's often cast aside as being too unimportant and irrelevant to take seriously. When carrying out your research, it's no good whatsoever to only gather your data from one or two sources. You need to look at a range of different sources to bounce your ideas around and manipulate them into something different so that they're not just a regurgitation of what's already been said by many scholars before you.
Furthermore, you need to look at the research problem you're trying to solve from a frank and realistic perspective. Can you really solve the problem you're attempting to unravel? Are you putting too much pressure on yourself and being overly ambitious? Is it a credible topic, or are you taking the easy route out? These are all questions you need to ask yourself to get an idea of how good your research problem is. If you begin to feel doubts creeping into your mind, this is a clear indication that you need backtrack and consider alternatives.
In addition to carefully selecting a broad topic with plenty for you to investigate into, you need to do some wider reading into your chosen subject area. It may be a basic instruction, but it's one that's often cast aside as being too unimportant and irrelevant to take seriously. When carrying out your research, it's no good whatsoever to only gather your data from one or two sources. You need to look at a range of different sources to bounce your ideas around and manipulate them into something different so that they're not just a regurgitation of what's already been said by many scholars before you.
Furthermore, you need to look at the research problem you're trying to solve from a frank and realistic perspective. Can you really solve the problem you're attempting to unravel? Are you putting too much pressure on yourself and being overly ambitious? Is it a credible topic, or are you taking the easy route out? These are all questions you need to ask yourself to get an idea of how good your research problem is. If you begin to feel doubts creeping into your mind, this is a clear indication that you need backtrack and consider alternatives.
