Subject matter of the inquiry or research

•You begin your research work with a
problem; that is, having a problem or topic
to work on. Mulling over a topic for your
research work drives you to perform HOTS
or higher-order thinking strategies of
inferential, critical, integrative, and creative
thinking in finalizing your mind on one topic
among several choices.
ESPERANZA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

•A topic is researchable if the knowledge
and information about it are supported by
evidence that is observable, factual, and
logical. Here are some pointers you have to
keep in mind in selecting a research topic
(Babbie 2013):

•Your interest in a topic may be caused by your
rich background knowledge about it and by its
novelty; meaning, its unfamiliarity to you. Being
curious about a subject, like a conundrum or a
puzzle, makes you determined to unravel the
mystery or intriguing thing behind it.
1. Interest in the subject
matter

•Your real interest in a subject pushes you to
research, investigate, or inquire about it with
full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.

•Collecting a lot of information as evidence to
support your claims about your subject matter
from varied forms of literature like books,
journals, and newspapers, among others, is a
part and parcel of any research work.
2. Availability of information

•Hence, in choosing a research topic, visit your
library to check the availability of reading
materials on your chosen topic. Included in
your investigation of the availability of
reading materials are questions on how
updated and authoritative the materials are.

•Let these questions linger as you tour the
library: What are the copyright dates of the
materials? How old or new are they? How
expert or qualified the writers are in coming
out with such kind of reading materials about
your topic?

•The topic is relevant if it yields results that are
instrumental in societal improvement. It is timely if it
is related to the present. For instance, unless it is a
pure or historical research, a research on the ins and
outs of people’s revolutionary acts will prosper more
if it tackles the contemporary revolutionary actions
rather than those in the ancient time.
3.Timeliness and relevance of the
topic

•This makes you link your choosing with course
requirements. For example, to make you
complete the requirements, your teacher
instructs you to submit a paper that will apply
the key principles you learned in business,
psychology, education, and so on.
4. Limitations on the subject

•In this case, you have no freedom to choose
your topic based on your interest, but has to
decide on one topic to finish your course.

•Before sticking fully to your final choice,
assess your research abilities in terms of your
financial standing, health condition, mental
capacity, needed facilities, and time
allotment to enable you to complete your
research.
5. Personal resources

•Imagine yourself pouring much time and
effort into its initial stage, only to find out
later that you are unable to complete it
because of your failure to raise the amount
needed for questionnaire printing and
interview trips. (Barbour 2014)

1. Controversial topics. These are topics
that depend greatly on the writer’s
which may tend to be biased or
Facts cannot support topics like these.
Research Topics to be Avoided

2. Highly technical subjects. For a
beginner, researching on topics that
an advanced study, technical knowledge,
vast experience is a very difficult task.
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects. A
subject is hard to investigate if there are
available reading materials about it and if
such materials are not up-to-date.ESPERANZA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

4. Too broad subjects. Topics that are
too broad will prevent you from giving a
concentrated or an in-depth analysis of
subject matter of the paper. The remedy
this is to narrow or limit the topic to a
one.

5. Too narrow subjects. These subjects
are so limited or specific that an
thorough searching or reading for
information about these is necessary.

6. Vague subjects. Choosing topics like these
will prevent you from having a clear focus on
paper. For instance, titles beginning with
indefinite adjectives such as several, many,
etc., as in “Some Remarkable Traits of a
or “ Several People’s Comments on the RH
are vague enough to decrease the readers’
interests and curiosity.

This time, you already have ideas on some
factors that affect your process of choosing a
researchable topic. It is also necessary for you
to know where a good research topic may
come from.
Sources of ResearchTopics

Knowing some sources of probable research
topics could hasten your choosing; thereby,
freeing you from a prolonged time of
pondering over a problem of knowing which
problem is good for you to research on. The
following can help you generate ideas about a
good research topic. (Silverman 2013)

1.Mass media communication – press
(newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)
2.Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals,
government publications.
3.Professional periodicals like College English
Language Teaching Forum, English Forum,
Economist, Academia, Business Circle, Law
Review, etc.

4. General periodicals such as Readers’ Digest,
Women’s Magazine, Panorama Magazine, Time
Magazine,World Mission Magazine, etc.
5. Previous reading assignments in your other
subjects.
6.Work experience – clues to a researchable topic
topic from full-time or part-time jobs, OJT (on-
the-job training) experience, fieldwork, etc.

Subject matter of the inquiry or research

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