AN INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH METHODS

Refining The Focus For Research And Formulating A Research Question
Carrying out activity 2.1 might help with the process of refining the problem area.
Generating ideas
Activity 1.1
Brainstorming is a free-association technique of spontaneously listing all words,
concepts, ideas, questions and knowledge about a topic. Starts by making a
lengthy list about the areas you are interested in researching.
Sorting ideas
Next, sort these ideas into categories. This allows you to sort out your current
awareness of the area, decide what perspectives are most interesting and/
or relevant, and decide in which direction to steer your research. Create a
concept map from the categories you arrived at in the brainstorming stage.
Concept maps may be elaborate or simple and are designed to help you
organize your thinking about a topic, recognize where you have gaps in your
knowledge, and help to generate specific questions that may guide your
research. Having done that, decide if you now know enough about the area.
Do you need to do further reading? Are you ready to go onto the next stage
of ‘drilling down’ to the core of the problem?
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