Find a topic for your research question

The first step in designing a research question is to think about a general topic area. It should be an area that is interesting to you, and to anyone likely to assess your research proposal. One strategy for doing this is to think in terms of “hot”, “luke-warm” and “cold” topics (Davies, 2022). 

Hot topics

Hot topics are at the cutting edge of research. Hundreds, if not thousands of publications are produced daily around the world in these areas—media articles too. Research grants are widely available. Examples include cancer research, the impact of climate change on weather patterns, ‘green’ energy, driverless cars, carbon capture and storage, etc. 

Luke-warm topics

Luke-warm topics are topical but less “hot”. They might be regularly discussed in scholarly literature, but not daily. The impact of deforestation on the habitat of fruit bats is an example. It is important (especially to ecologists) but not cutting-edge. 

Cold topics

Cold topics are those that may have been important decades ago, but they are barely mentioned in current scholarship, and they don’t feature in the media. The Marxist revolution in Cuba is an example. There is nothing wrong with cold topics, but they appeal only to narrow sectional interest groups. 

Researching the topic area and finding a theme

Spend several weeks reading in the topic area. Make sure you read periodical articles as well as scholarly books, and book chapters. You will start to notice regular themes emerging. These are sub-topics within the main topic area. You may like to make a mind map of these themes. Here is one on intelligence in the discipline of psychology:

Image: A mind map on the area of intelligence (Cougle, 2012)

Now try to choose a sub-topic or theme within your chosen research area. Let your emotional reaction to these themes guide you here: which arouses your intellectual passions? Which theme has been a topic of discussion with other colleagues? Which one do you read most about because it sparks something in you? 

Alternatively, your choice might be guided by a problem area. This is an area of scholarship where the literature exposes a persistent research problem. An example might be the increasing rates of autism in children and the causes of this. Statistics show that this condition is on the rise, and there is no satisfactory explanation for it yet. 

Do you want to learn technical skills or methodologies in your research that will lead to promising job prospects? An example of this is incorporating analytical instruments, such as x-ray scattering techniques, in your research if you want a career in biological chemistry. 

Is there a supervisor within the university that is at the forefront of the research you want to get into? It is important to inquire directly to them and ask what topics they currently want to explore and to see if those areas align with your personal interests. 

Whether you rely on your emotional response to a topic, are guided by a research problem, driven by career ambitions or inspired by current academics, remember that if you are doing a PhD, you will be working on the topic for many years. It must be something that fascinates you. You might decide, for example, that ‘savant syndrome’ is your narrow field of interest in the broader area of autism. 

Once you have identified a sub-topic or theme of interest, you move to the third stage. 

Now that you have found a sub-area or theme within a topic of interest, you need to narrow down even further. A research question such as ‘What is savant syndrome?’ is still far too broad. To narrow down your theme, read more about the specific area – it needs to be as specialised as possible without losing your interest.

Image: Narrowing down your sub-topic 

This is essential for developing a research question, which is the next step.