Defining the boundaries of your thesis research problem

A common issue faced by many research students when writing their proposal, or starting their thesis or dissertation, is how to define the scope of their research. If you describe your research problem clearly, you will have a distinct task to focus on. If you, however, express it poorly, you could end up with vague aims and objectives, complex research questions or ambiguous hypotheses. When you have a well-defined research problem statement, you explicitly situate your thesis within its disciplinary field; one that is delineated by clear-cut borders. So, define a boundary for your research!

To ensure your research is confined to its discrete disciplinary field is to spend some time, early on, exploring and examining where the boundary for your research should lie. This boundary marks the outline of a ‘container’. One that separates what is relevant to your research (that is, the interior of the receptacle), from what is less relevant, or irrelevant (that is, the exterior). It highlights the parts of an issue, problem or situation that are significant for the study, while simultaneously downplaying those elements that are less important, or immaterial.

We can learn about setting boundaries from the great innovative thinker, Edward de Bono. In his seminal book, Lateral Thinking, de Bono suggested five simple steps to help you to define your boundary clearly:

• Step one is to write down an initial statement of the problem, or issue, in plain English. For example, ‘In what ways might we help people to do X?’. It is recommended not to think too deeply about this, as some of the best initial statements are often the first phrases that pop into your mind.
• Step two is to underline the key words, especially the verbs and nouns, from the initial statement. For example, continuing with the previous example, the key word is ‘help’.
• Step three is to examine each key word for any potential hidden assumptions. A useful way to do this is to replace the word in the sentence with a synonym or near-synonym. For example, to substitute ‘help’ with words like assist, boost or improve. This could be done using an online tool like thesauraus.com.
• Step four is to explore the choice of words that affect the meaning of the statement. For example, consider if the word ‘encourage’ makes more sense than ‘help’.
• Step five is to redefine the statement, using these synonyms, in a more effective manner. For example, ‘How can we encourage managers to improve X?’

The two statements are similar (that is, ‘in what ways might we help people to do X’ versus ‘how can we encourage managers to improve X?’). The latter statement is more precise than the former. This has been achieved by revising the original key words in a structured and systemised way. For instance, ‘in what ways might’ has been replaced with ‘how can’; ‘help’ has been reworded to ‘encourage’; and ‘do’ to ‘improve’.

In many cases, you may be trying to make the boundary lines of your research problem even more detailed and specific. This usually involves making the sentence shorter and paraphrasing, but you can also add phrases. For instance, denoting what is signified by the word ‘X’ (such as, in A company, in the B sector, in C country, over X date to Y date).

If you feel your boundary has become too exact or tight, you may want to loosen the parameters or relax the criteria. Some useful ways to widen the scope and broaden your definition are by:

• Using brainstorming to generate lists of issues or problems that might expand the boundary. For example, ‘what are the best ways to encourage in general?’
• Not-ing, that is, converting each key word to its negative. For example, ‘how can we not encourage?’
• Employing antonyms. For example, ‘how can we discourage?’

In practice, you may need to repeat de Bono’s five steps several times before you come up with a research problem statement that you are happy with. Bear in mind, as you do so, the intention is not to simply alter the statement. It is to bend meaning, so that you understand more clearly how the wording of the problem, or issue, affects the assumed boundary.

Need assistance with defining the boundaries of your thesis or dissertation research problem? Sue and Mark, the Directors of Thesis Upgrade, can help. So, contact us now!