"1.What exactly are you being asked to produce? (how long/structure/ sections/ how many/ what goes in them/presentation)2. Why are you doing it? (external reasons: to get a degree/ foryour employer; internal reasons; personal interest) 3. Who are you writing for? (what are your examiners lookingfor/ who will help you) 4. When are your deadlines? (draft/ final/ meetings withsupervisor) 5. Where will you do your research? (primary data collection/permissions/ contacts) 16 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Until you have selected a topic, you cannot get yourresearch underway.Selecting a topic: Can be difficult to do Can be time-consuming Can lead to several dead-ends before settling on atopic Begin with your own interests: ? A topic you have previously encountered in your studies ? A topic which relates to your work in which you have apersonal interest17 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17Browse through books and journals to see whatcaptures your interest and what doesn’t captureyour interest Search for ‘gaps’ in the literature: isthere a lack of evidence or unresolved debates? Browsing literature outside of your own subjectarea may generate ideas that can then be linked toyour subject You may want to replicate some research and applyit to a setting different than the original setting.You may want to ‘update’ a piece of research thatwas done 30 years ago. 18 Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/171. Theoretical (presents models and theories forexplaining patterns in practice) 2. Previous Research (describes systematic enquiries intopolicy and practice) 3. Reports (written by informed professionals whoevaluate each other’s practice and by practitioners who evaluate their own practice) 4. Policies (devised by policy makers) e.g. Do international hotel chains take CSR seriously? ? policies and practices on hotel websites ? CSR ? strategic management Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 19What exactly are you trying to find out? start: “I’m trying to find out…” and finish the sentence. Nomore. write down in plain language test it out (Is it clear to you? Is it short? A single sentence?Is it specific? Does it have a single focus? Does it point youto two or three different areas of literature?) Reconsider your question if… It has lots of bits to it (some of these maybe sub-questionswhich you can include as objectives but take them out ofyour main question) It is too broad or general (a more specific question willenable you to achieve more depth) You are not happy with it e.g. How do international hotel chains implement CSR in their businessplans? Dr Nataliya Shiraz 2016/17 20"