Module Description
Module 1 establishes the foundation of the research process and helps participants move from a broad area of interest toward a clearly defined and researchable problem. Participants will learn how research is conceptualised, how different research approaches are used, and how scholarly literature can be systematically identified, searched, screened, and evaluated.
The module then progresses from research topic → research problem → research gap → research aim/objectives → research questions/hypotheses. Through practical exercises, participants will begin developing their own research topic and establish the intellectual foundation of their proposed study.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, participants will be able to:
- Explain the purpose, characteristics, and fundamental principles of academic research.
- Distinguish between basic, applied, exploratory, and descriptive research.
- Differentiate among quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, and introductory bibliometric approaches.
- Explain the major stages of the research process, from identifying an idea through research publication.
- Recognise fundamental principles of research ethics and academic integrity.
- Identify appropriate scholarly sources for a research topic.
- Conduct effective searches using Google Scholar and academic databases.
- Develop appropriate keywords, search strings, and Boolean search strategies.
- Apply citation chaining to identify additional relevant scholarly literature.
- Screen and evaluate articles according to relevance and quality.
- Narrow a broad research interest into a focused and researchable topic.
- Develop an appropriate and meaningful research title.
- Identify and articulate a research gap based on evidence from the literature.
- Develop a preliminary problem statement and research rationale.
- Formulate research aims, objectives, research questions, and, where appropriate, hypotheses.
- Define the preliminary scope and limitations of a proposed study.
