Finding problems!
To do serious research | NooB Research Lab #1
Hi all! (and to many amateur researchers who secretly scrawled in since they are about to start a research as well)
Well, the question we were asked to solve is ‘what is your research problem?’
But the real problem was actually ( I’m pretty sure many would agree on this)
How to find a research problem?
Yeah google it! Well, you will get all sort of suggestions and punch me on my face if those are not teaching you how to ‘define or write a research question’.
There are many ways! Like Super Mario can go through many paths to reach his princess, there are many ways!
1. Survey like always
I conducted a small survey! It asked the usual age and education information but also other very important questions such as asking their daily struggles like below
Well yeah these questions sound so vague and might be unrealistic but these responses gave me the domains that I can focus on where there are issues.
You can further refer the questions here
2. Daily conversations with people
This is not magic! You do this every day! Listen to what they say, they fuss about and sometimes they even mention a solution that they imagine of!
This is cheaper than scheduling coffee shop interviews right? And people like when they are problems are being heard.
3. Meet your supervisors and lecturers
They have ongoing research where they would like your contribution. You can be creative and present your own ideas to them. This way is good when you know in which domain you are focussed to work in. (Example: If you are interested in researching in database management, then find a lecturer who’s also specialized in this area)
4. Know what’s happening around you!
This is how I found my research problem finally!
You don’t have to watch the news or read the newspaper. It is all over the internet, right?
I watch ted talks to be aware of new inventions and different opinions.
I subscribed to random news sites in Facebook and also some gossipy kinda ones. ( No kidding you will find so many problems in them for sure)
This way of finding problems is very quick.
It is not an old problem but something that needs to be solved now and it really matters. (otherwise, would it even be on headlines right?)
5. There is no 5!
I listed only 4 methods that I went through. So now it is your turn to find the next way to find problems! Comment your suggestions to share with others!
