SUBJECT MATTER OF THE

INQUIRY OR RESEARCH
Subject Matter of the
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 on finalizing your mind on one topic
among several choices.
 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
Guidelines in Choosing a
Research Topic:
1. Interest in the Subject Matter
 Your interest in a topic may be caused by your
rich background knowledge about it and by its
novelty. Your real interest in a subject pushes
you to research, investigate, or inquire about it
with full motivation, enthusiasm, and energy.
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 a part and parcel of any
research work.
 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.
3. Timeliness and Relevance of the 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.

4. Limitations on the Subject

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

 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.
RESEARCH TOPICS
TO BE AVOIDED!!!
CONTROVERSIAL
these are the topics that depend
greatly on the writer’s opinion
which may tend to be biased or
prejudicial.
Facts cannot support topics like
these.
HIGHLY TECHNICAL SUBJECTS
 For a beginner, researching on
topics that require an advanced
study, technical knowledge, and
vast experience is a very difficult
task.
HARD-TO-INVESTIGATE SUBJECTS

 A subject is hard to investigate

if there are no available reading
materials about it and if such
materials are not up-to-date.
TOO BROAD SUBJECTS
 Topics that are too broad will
prevent you 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 into smaller one.
TOO NARROW SUBJECTS
These subjects are so limited
or specific that an extensive
or thorough searching or
reading for information
about these is necessary.
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 of a Filipino” or
“Several People’s Comments on the RH
Law,” are vague enough to decrease the
reader’s interest and curiosity.
SOURCES OF
RESEARCH TOPICS
MASS MEDIA
COMMUNICATION - Press
1. Newspapers
2. Advertisements
3. Television
4. Radio
5. Films
6. Etc.
 Books
 Internet
 Peer – Reviewed Journals
 Government Publication
PROFESSIONAL PERIODICALS
 College English Language Teaching Forum
English Forum
The Economist
Academia
Business Circle
Law Review
GENERAL PERIODICALS
 Reader’s Digest
 Women’s Magazine
 Panaroma Magazine
 Time Magazine
 World Mission Magazine
Previous Reading
Assignments in your other
Subjects
WORK EXPERIENCE
 Clues to a researchable topic from
full-time or part-time jobs
 OJT (On-the-Job Training)
 Experience
Fieldwork
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!!!