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.
 A topic is researchable if the knowledge and information about it are
supported by evidence that is observable, factual, and logical.
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
1. Interest in the subject matter
2. Availability of information
3. Timeliness and relevance of the topic
4. Limitations on the subject
5. Personal resources
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
1. Interest in the subject matter
Your interest in topic may be caused by your rich background
knowledge about it and by its novelty; meaning, its unfamiliarity to you.
Your real interest in a subject pushes you to research, investigate,
or inquire about it with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
2. Availability of information
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 part and parcel of any
research work.
You have to consider the following: copyright dates of the
materials, expertise or qualification of the writers.
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
3. Timeliness and relevance
it is relevant if it yields results that are instrumental in societal
improvement.
it is timely if it is related to the present.
4. Limitation on the subject
this makes you link your choosing with course requirements (e.g.
requirements by your teachers)
Guidelines in Choosing a Research Topic
5. Personal resources
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
Research Topics to be Avoided
1. Controversial topics
2. Highly technical subjects
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects
4. Too broad subjects
5. Too narrow subjects
6. Vague subjects
Research Topics to be Avoided
1. Controversial topics – those that depend greatly on the writer’s
opinion, which may tend to be biased or prejudicial.
Facts cannot support topics like these
2. Highly technical subjects – researching on topics that require an
advance study, technical, knowledge, and vast experience is a very
difficult task.
3. Too broad subjects – will prevent your from giving a concentrated or
an in-depth analysis of the subject matter of the paper. The remedy to
this is to narrow or limit the topic to smaller one.
Research Topics to be Avoided
5. Too narrow subjects – are limited or specific that an extensive or
thorough searching or reading for information about these are
necessary.
6. Vague subjects – choosing topics like these will prevent you from
having a clear focus on your paper.
For instance, titles beginning with indefinite adjectives such as
several, many, some, etc., as in “Some Remarkable traits” or “Several
People’s Comments on the RH Law” are vague enough to decrease the
readers’ interest and curiorisity.
Sources of Research Topics
1. Mass media communication – press (newspapers, ads, TV, radio, films, etc.)
2. Books, Internet, peer-reviewed journals, government publication
3. Professional periodicals like College English Language Teaching Forum,
English Forum, The Economist, Academia, Business Circle, Law Review, etc.
4. General periodical 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 from full-time or part-
time jobs, OJT experience, fieldwork, etc.