![Presenting Research Gaps
Highlight some of the prior research
Identify gaps
Previous research has addressed several aspects of ____________________: (1)
______________ (cite two to three relevant articles), (2)_____________ (cite two to three
relevant articles), and (3) _____________ (cite two to three relevant articles) [Summers, 2001]
However, in addition, _____________ encompasses several unexplored dimensions that lately
have attracted research attention in other disciplines (cite two to three relevant articles)
[Summers, 2001]
Some of these unexplored________ appear to be important and worthy of investigation in the
context of ___________________________.An investigation of these issues is important
because ____________________________.Furthermore, previous empirical research has
focused primarily on _________________ .Very little research has been done on
______________ [Summers, 2001]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/researchgapph-210403121327/85/Research-Gap-Situating-Your-Inquiry-within-the-Study-of-the-Topic-22-320.jpg)
Research Gap: Situating Your Inquiry within the Study of the Topic
- 1. Research Gap: Situating Your Inquiry within the Study of the Topic Dr. Richa Srishti GD Goenka University
- 2. Contents What is Research Gap? Significance of Research Gaps Types of Research Gaps Identifying Research Gaps Challenges and Limitations Framework to Identify Research Gaps Presenting Research Gaps Common Mistakes in Presenting Research Gaps
- 4. Research Gap A question or a problem not been answered by any of the existing studies or research within your research area An area that is unexplored or under-explored A concept or idea not studied
- 5. Research Gap Research gap arises “when the ability of the systematic reviewer to draw conclusions is limited.” Robinson et al. (2011) According to Müller-Bloch and Kranz (2014) a research gap functions as a starting point for research. While Robinson et al. (2011) emphasise that research gaps represent an output (of literature reviews), Müller-Bloch and Kranz (2014) consider them as an input as they can motivate further research.
- 6. Significance of Research Gap Provides a direction for significant and novel contribution to to your field (need of your proposed research) Removes any chance of redundancy Establishes credibility (by situating your line of inquiry within a broader area in your field) Primary basis in the investigation of any problem, phenomenon or scientific question
- 7. Research Gap: Types Robinson, Saldanha, and McKoy(2011) - research gaps types: (a)Population (b)Intervention (c)Comparison (d)Outcomes and (e)Setting (PICOS) Müller-Bloch and Kranz (2014) - consisted of six gaps: (a)Contradictory Evidence Gap (b)Knowledge Void Gap (c) Action- Knowledge Conflict Gap (d) Methodological Gap (e) Evaluation Void Gap; and (f)Theory Application Void Gap Miles (2017) - seven core research gaps:(a) Evidence Gap (b)Knowledge Gap (c)Practical-Knowledge Conflict Gap (d) Methodological Gap (e) Empirical Gap and (f)Theoretical Gap (g) Population Gap
- 9. Research Gap: Types Evidence Gap: little or no evidence/ inadequately addresses the question Knowledge Gap: 1. knowledge may not exist in the actual field 2. it might be the case that results of a study differs from what was expected
- 10. Research Gap: Types Practical-Knowledge Gap: when professional behaviour or practices deviate from research findings or are not covered by research Methodological Gap: A variation in research methods is needed to have new insights or to avoid misleading findings
- 11. Research Gap: Types Empirical Gap: research findings need to be evaluated or empirically verified Theoretical Gap: theory should be applied to certain research issues to generate new insights; theory is lacking, so a gap exists Population Gap: is the type of research regarding the population that is not adequately represented or under- researched in the prior research (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age etc.)
- 12. Some Pre-requisites Figure out a viable research area Focus and narrow down your research area Provide a clear theoretical framework Read articles related to your research questions and hypothesis Plan the details of literature (make a chart) Conduct and exhaustive literature review (critically read)
- 13. Identifying Research Gaps Insufficient studies (geographical gap, population gap etc.) Lack of understanding Problems/limitations in previous studies Question everything
- 14. Identifying Research Gaps Read specifics sections - Introduction, Aim & Justification,Conclusion, and Future Research/Limitations Read Systematic Review articles Read State of the Art papers Read Meta-analyses
- 15. Identifying Research Gaps While you go through the research papers, look for sentences like: - has/have not been…(studied/reported) - is required/needed… - the key question remains/is… -it is important to address…
- 16. Identifying Research Gaps What is the significance of that research to your work or the broader field? How can this article help you in formulating your research questions? Does the author’s argument need more clarification? What issues or questions has the author not addressed? Is there a different perspective that you can consider? What other factors could have influenced the results? Are the methods or procedures used outdated or no longer considered valid in your field? Is there scope for you to test the findings using more a current approach? Note: Prioritise the gaps (e.g. population, scope, methods, analysis etc.)
- 17. Identifying Research Gaps Research papers, Review Papers, Journal Websites (usekey words) etc. Keeping track of new literature: Essential Science Indicator developed by Thomson Reuters Google Trends - regional index, related searches Social Mention, Springer, Google Ads, Elsevier’s Scope, PubCrawler, Feedly, and BroadReader
- 18. Challenges An enormous amount of information: Leads to unanswered questions and confusion Setting the boundaries: Include or exclude Challenging the established ideas: Leads to hesitation
- 19. Framework to Identify Research Gaps Localisation: To classify sets of information as gaps after using chart method/concept matrix for synthesising literature Characterisation: To classify research gaps owing to the reasons of their existence Verification: To ensure the existence of research gaps
- 20. Framework to Identify Research Gaps Chart Method/Concept Matrix (Based on Webster & Watson 2002) - “according to predetermined categories” (Imel 2011) !
- 21. Presenting Research Gaps ! Müller-Bloch, C. & Kranz, J. (2014)
- 22. Presenting Research Gaps Highlight some of the prior research Identify gaps Previous research has addressed several aspects of ____________________: (1) ______________ (cite two to three relevant articles), (2)_____________ (cite two to three relevant articles), and (3) _____________ (cite two to three relevant articles) [Summers, 2001] However, in addition, _____________ encompasses several unexplored dimensions that lately have attracted research attention in other disciplines (cite two to three relevant articles) [Summers, 2001] Some of these unexplored________ appear to be important and worthy of investigation in the context of ___________________________.An investigation of these issues is important because ____________________________.Furthermore, previous empirical research has focused primarily on _________________ .Very little research has been done on ______________ [Summers, 2001]
- 23. Common Mistakes in Presenting Research Gaps Lack of Detailed Reading Directly Jumping to Conclusion Lack of Justification for Addressing the Gap Not Giving Credit to the Earlier Research Lack of Academic Writing Style
- 24. References Clark, I. L. (2007). Writing the successful thesis and dissertation: Entering the conversation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Imel, S. 2011. "Writing a Literature Review," in The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing, T. S. Rocco and T. Hatcher (eds.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 145–160 Miles, D.A. (2017). “A Taxonomy of Research Gaps: Identifying and Defining the Seven Research Gaps.” Doctoral Student Workshop: Finding Research Gaps - Research Methods and Strategies, Dallas, Texas, 2017. Moeini. S. (2014). “Approaches to identify research gaps and generate research questions.” Retrieved from https:// www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140912150946-275561203-6-very-useful-approaches-to-identify-research-gaps-and-generate- research-questions Müller-Bloch, C. & Kranz, J., (2014). “A Framework for Rigorously Identifying Research Gaps in Qualitative Literature Reviews.” The Thirty Sixth International Conference on Information Systems, Fort Worth 2015, pp. 1 – 19. Robinson, K., Saldanha, I. & McKoy, N.A. (2011). “Development of A Framework for to Identify Research Gaps Systematic Reviews.” Journal of Epidemiology, 64(1), pp. 1325-1330. Summers, J. (2011). “Guidelines for Conducting Research and Publishing in Marketing: From Conceptualisation Through the Review Process.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,29(4), pp. 405-415. Webster, J. & Watson, Richard T. (2002). “Analysing the Past to Prepare for the Future.” MIS Quarterly, Vol. 26(2), pp. 13-23.
- 25. Thanks