COURSE:RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

Whati
sResear
ch?

Inal ay man’ sposi ti

on,resear chi mpl iespr obi ngi ntotheunknowni nor der
tof i
ndoutsomet hingordi scov eranewsi t
uat ion.Iti
sgener allytheactof
fi
ndi ngoutt hesol uti
ont oapr oblem orananswert oaquest i
on.Nat urall
y,
mani nt hecour seofhi sday -
to-dayact ivi
ties, constant l
yi ndul gesin
sear chingandsear chi
ngagai nandagai ni nor dert odiscov ernewf acts
obtai nabl einhi senv ir
onment ,pr ovideanswer st oexistingquest ionsor
solut i
onst oexi stingprobl ems.Tot hisend, r
esear chasanact ivi
ty,has
permeat edi nt
ov i
rtual
lyal laspect sofhumanendeav our s.Pr oblemsof
differentki ndsaboundi nal lwal ksofl i
f e:educat i
on,gov ernment ,
commer ceandi ndustry ,massmedi a, admi nistrati
on, heal thandsci ences,
arts, l
aw, etc.Itisbasical l
yt hr ought hepr ocessofr esear cht hatmanseeks
andobt ainssol utionst othepr obl ems’ situations.Bysodoi ng, man
i
mpr ov es, extendshi sknowl edgeanddev elopshi senv i
ronmentf orhi s
over allbenef i
tsandbet tersur vi
v al.Inast rictsense, andschol ar
lytoo,
resear chi smor et hanj ustsear chingf orsol ut i
onst opr obl ems.Thesear ch
mustf ol l
owanaccept able, planned, sy stemat icandobj ect i
vepr ocedur efor
i
tt obeacknowl edgedasr esear ch.Ont hisnot e,wecan, ther efore,define
resear chasanaccept abl e, planned, sy stemat i
candobj ect i
vei nvestigation
i
ntot heunknownmai nlyf orpur posesofdi scov eri
ngnewknowl edgeoft he
subj ectofst udy ,and/orappl icat i
onofknowl edget oobt ai nthesol ut i
ont o
anewpr oblem f ortheadv ancement ,ref i
nementandi mpr ovementofa
givensi tuation.

Gener
alChar
act
eri
sti
csofResear
ch

Intheconsi
derat
ionoftheaf
ore-
stat
ed,onededucesanumberof
charact
eri
sti
csassoci
atedwit
hresearchgener
all
y,namel
y:

1.Researchai
msatsolvi
ngprobl
em(s)
.Itpr
ovi
desanswer
stophy
sical
,
soci
al,educat
ional
ormanagementpr
oblems.
2.Activ
iti
esinv
olvedinr
esear
chareconduct
edinacaref
ul,
organi
zedand
systematicmanner,r
angi
ngsequent
ial
l
yfrom t
hei
ntr
oducti
ontothe
drawingofconclusi
ons.

3.Resear
chinsist
sonobjecti
vity.Thi
sisachievedthr
oughdeli
ber
ate
eff
ort
sinpreventi
ngtheresearcher’
spersonalprej
udi
ces/
biasesf
rom
aff
ecti
ngtheactiv
iti
esoftheresearch.

4.Researchi
srootedtoaccurat
eobservabl
eexperi
encesanddescri
pti
ons.
5.I
tisbasedonempi ri
calev
idence.Pr
edict
ionsandgener
ali
zat
ions
emanatingfr
om resear
chcanbev eri
fi
ed.

6.Resear
chgivesri
setothedevel
opmentofgeneral
i
zati
ons,pri
nci
ples,
l
aws, ort
heor
iesthatar
euseful
inpredi
cti
ngfut
ureoccur
rences.

Qual
it
iesofaGoodResear
cher

Char
act eri
sti
csofr esearchasdiscussedabov ehavefar
-r
eaching
i
mplicationsforar esear
che.Thef oll
owingconstit
utet
hebasicqual
i
tiesof
agoodr esearcher.Prospecti
ver esear
chersareexpect
edtoimbibet
he
qual
i
t i
esf orsuccessi nt
heirresearchacti
vit
ies.

1.GoodTr
aini
ng

Anyresear
cherthati
sworthhisorhersaltmustbewell-
tr
ainedi
nthe
over
allpr
ocedur
esandactivi
ti
esofresearchi
nor dert
ocopewi t
hvar
ying
demandsofdiff
erentst
agesofresearch.

2.Cr
eat
ivi
tyandI
magi
nat
ion

Agoodr esear chermustpossessahi ghdegreeofcur iosit

y ,
creat
ivi
tyand
i
maginationst hatwoul dhelphim gr appl
ewitht hechallengesof
conducti
ngr esear ch,
par ti
cul
arl
yi nadev el
opingcount ry,l
ikeNigeri
a.
Possessionofcur i
osit
yi sofparamounti mpor t
ance.Thi sisbecauseitis
hi
scuriosit
yt hatenableshi mt oindulgeinaninv est
igationinthefi
rstplace,
probi
ngintot heunknownphenomenoni ncreativestylesandi maginat
ions,
withaviewtoest abli
shingitsexistence.
3.Pat
ience/
Endur
ance

Thisisanessent ialqual
ityofagoodr esearcher .Apatientr esearcheri
s
veryaccommodat ingandsot oler
at esdelaysandunwi l
lingr espondents;
sti
lli
nsist i
ngonusef ulr
esults.He/ shecanendur ei
nsi tuationsoff i
nanci
al
constraintsorv ariousdif
ficult
iesthatmayhi ndereasyaccessi bil
it
yof
i
nf or
mat ion.Whenr espondent sdisplaynegat ive/di
sturbi ngat t
it
udes,the
researcherpr esseson, maki ngposi ti
veat t
empt satr esol vi
ngt he
cir
cumst ances,forpurposesofsuccessf ulresults.

4.Abi
l
ityt
oCar
ryOutanI
ndependentSt
udy

Agoodr esearcherpossesses,t
ohiscredi
t,t
heint
ell
ectualabili
tythat
propel
shim/ hertoembarksuccessful
lyonanindependentst udy,wit
h
devoti
ongear edtowardsachiev
ingtheobj
ectiv
esofther esearcher.

5.Abi
l
ityt
oWor
kinaGr
oupofot
herResear
cher
s

Apartfr
om t heabi l
itytocarr
youtani ndependentst udy,agoodr esearcher
shouldalsopossesst heabili
tyandunder standi
ngneededi nagroupwor k
i
nv ol
vi
ngot herr esearchersofthesameordi ff
erentculturesanddiscipl
ines.
Toachiev ethi
s, heneedst hespiri
toftolerance,loveforoneanot herand
thejoyofwor kingt ogetheri
nagr oup,al
l forpurposesofr ecordi
ng
success,progressanddev elopmentinthechosenr esearcharea.

6.Obj
ect
ivi
ty

Thequali
tyofobject
ivi
tydemandsthatagoodr esearchershould,underno
cir
cumstances,
allowthei
rpersonalbackgr
ound,cult
ureorbiast oaffect
theact
ivi
ti
esoftheresearch.Theymustbeobjecti
vei nal
lrespects.

7.Ext
ensi
veReadi
ng

Successinanyacademi cr esear
chdemandsext ensivereading.Tothi
send,
agoodr esearchermustbeav oraci
ousreader
,readingeveryrelev
ant
materi
alinthecour seoftheirr
esearch,
withaviewt odiscoveri
ngnew
fact
sanddet ectinganylacunainknowledge.Besides,extensi
vereadi
ng
st
rengt
henst
hei
rint
ell
ect
ual
abi
l
ityandsoof
fer
smor
eav
enuesf
or
cr
eati
vi
ty.

8.Logi
cal
Reasoni
ng

Ment alabili
tyforlogi
calthinking/r
easoningisaprerequisit
ef orany
meani ngful r
esearch.Anyr esearcherthatl
ackstheabili
tytot hi
nkand
reasonlogi call
ymayendupembar kingonil
logi
calanddi sorganized
acti
v i
ti
est hatlackcoherenceandmaynotdi scr
iminatebet weenusef uland
uselessinfor mati
on.Ther esultisdistor
tedexer
cise,abysmal f
ail
ure,a
wast eoftime, energyandr esources.

9.Di
l
igenceandOpt
imi
sm

Agoodr esearchermustbedi li
gent , posit
iveandopt imisti
catev eryst age
oft her esear ch.Iti
sadv i
sablet hathe/ sheemul at
esthedili
gentand
opt imisticst yl
esofThomasEdi son.Thi smeanshe/ sheshoul dneithergi v
e
upnorf eeldiscouragedasar esultofdi ff
icult
iesorfailur
esatdi ff
erent
l
ev el sofhi s/herinvestigations.Det er minati
onandper severanceshoul dbe
his/ herkeyandsof uel his/herdesi ret ocarryont heresearchunt il
success
i
sachi ev ed.Thispoi ntisi nli
newi tht heobser vati
onofacer tainwise
per son:Wheny oucankeepont ryingaf terthreefail
uresinagi ven
under t
aki ng,youmayconsi dery our selfacandi dateofaleader shi
pr olein
yourpr esentoccupat i
on.I fyoucankeepont r
y i
ngafteradozenf ai
lures,
theseedofgeni usisspr out i
ngi ny ou!Agoodr esearchermustnotal low
circumst ancesorobst aclest odef eathi swi l
li
ngnessanddet erminationto
roundof fhisinvesti
gat i
onssuccessf ul
ly.

10.Ti
meManagement

Agoodr esearcherknowst hattimeishismostpr eci

ouscommodi tyandso
valuesitevenabov ewealth.Effectiv
einv est
igati
onsdemandt hatthe
researchershouldpl anhi
st imewel l
,scheduletheiragendaappropri
atel
y
andav oidi
ngpr ocrasti
nat
ion.At rai
nedr esearcherseeswasteoftimeasa
capitalcri
me.Thi sisevenmor eessent i
al i
nacademi cresear
ch,wherea
specifi
cper i
odoft imeisallott
edt oresearchwor k.
11.Pr
epar
ati
on/
Planni
ng

Agr am ofpreparat
ioncansav etonsofagony .Successinanyinvestigat
ion
i
sdependentupont heinvesti
gators’
abilit
yforadequat
epr eparat
ion.In
otherwords,withoutpreparat
ion,t
her esearchi
ssuretofail.Tosucceed, a
resear
chershoul dfi
ndt i
met oplantheAt oZoft heacti
vit
iesofthe
resear
chf orsuccessfulhi
tch-f
reeexercise.

12.Sel
f-
Conf
idence

Lackofsel f
-conf i
denceis,usuall
y,t
her easonbehindtheacademicfraud
knownaspl agiarism.Agoodr esearchershouldbeli
evefir
mlyand
unfli
nchinglyi nhisabili
ti
estosucceedi nhisinvesti
gati
ons.Heshouldnot
all
owani otaofdoubtt ocreepintohisconfidence.Thi
sisessenti
al
becausey earswr i
nkl
etheskinbutlackofsel f-
confi
dencewrinkl
esthe
mind.Sel f
-conf idenceisthefi
rstpre-r
equisit
eforanyfruit
ful
exerci
se,
researchincl usive.

13.Cl
ari
ty

Ar esearchcanonl yy i
eldsuccessf ul resul tift her esear cheri scr ystalclear
aboutt hetype/natureoft her esear cht heyar egoi ngt ounder t
ake.I sita
researchoneducat i
on, science, arts, soci al studi es, mat hemat i
cs, Engli
sh,
Geogr aphy,etc.
?Whatt ypeofr esear chi snecessar yf ort hesubj ect/t
opi c
ofthest udy?Isitabasi cr esear ch, appl iedr esear ch, act ionr esear ch,
descripti
ve,hist
or i
cal,orexper i
ment al resear ch?Agoodr esear cherasks
questionsandf indsanswer stot hesequest ionst ohel pt hem knowwher e
totargettheirpreparations/ pl
anni ngi nt hest ep-by -steppr ocedur esoft he
research.Resear cherswhopr obeai ml essl ynev ersucceed.Aper sonwho
doesnotknowwher etheyi sgoi ngt omi ghtmi sst heirdest ination.
Therefore,asar esearcherwhoi ntendst osucceed, withef fect i
ver esults,
decideont hepur poseofy ourr esear ch, targety ouri nv est igat i
onssuper bly
towardsachi evi
ngy ourobj ecti
ves.I ti sonl ybysodoi ngt haty oucanbe
sureoft hefruit
sofy ourl abour .Thesuccessofy ouri nv est i
gat ionsi s
rootedt otheclarit
yofy ourv i
sion.Ther ei snopoi nti nki cki ngt hebal lifyou
donotknowwher
ethegoal
posti
s.

Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionsofResear
ch

Ther eisnof ixedsy stem empl oy edint heclassifi

cat i
onofr esear chi nto
varioust ypes.Wemaydot hecl assificationaccor dingtot hepr ocesses
i
nv olvedi nt hei nvesti
gations, t
y pesordat aneeded, t
hemet hodofdat a
collection,anal ysisandi nterpretat i
onofr esults,objecti
v esoft her esearch
orcer tainot herf actors.Resear chmayal sobecat egori
zedont hebasi sof
thedi scipli
nebei ngst udied.Asar esult,wecanadopthi storical research
forhist ory
, philosophi calforphilosophyandsci entif
icforsci ences.These
ter
mscanal sobeusedi fwedoourcl assifi
cationsi naccor dancewi ththe
met hodsempl oyedint her esearch.I ft hemet hodi shistorical,anal ysi
sof
pastev ents, wegr oupi tashi stor i
calr esearch, i
fitisscientifi
cor
exper i
ment al wehav escientifi
corexper imental research.Ar esear chthat
adopt sadescr ipti
veappr oach, whosemet hodi st odescr i
besi tuationsand
event sast heyappear ,canbecl assifiedasdescr iptiveresear ch.

Besides,asalreadyhi ntedabov e,r esearchcanbecl assifi

edaccor di
ngto
theunderlyi
ngobj ecti
v esort heuset owhi chtheend- resultisintendedt o
beput .I
tisimpor t
antt oemphasi ze,atthisjuncture,thatther aisondetre
ofthiscourseisr esearchinChr istianTheol ogywi themphasi sonmet hods.
Weshal l
,therefore,centreourdi scussi onsonmeani ng, scope, and
methodsi nvolvedincar ryi
ngoutr esearchi ntheareasofChr istian
Theology.Weshal ldi
scussbr i
eflyaf ewoft heresearcht ypesl i
stedabov e,
drawingourexampl esf rom dif
ferentst udiesapplicablet oChr i
st i
an
Theology.

1.Basi
cResear
ch

Asalreadyindicated, basi
cresearch,alsor
efer r
edtoaspur eresearchor
fundamentalresear ch,isai
medatpr oduci
ngr esul
tsorfindi
ngswhi chwill
l
eadt othedev elopmentoft heor i
esorbasicpr i
nci
ples.Basi
cr esearchi
s
notconcernedwi t
ht heusefulnessofthefindingstopracti
calsituat
ions
butwithbuil
dingt heor i
estargetedtotheadv ancementofknowl edgeina
par
ti
cul
arf
iel
d.

2.Appl
i
edResear
ch

Unlikethebasicresearch,appli
edr esearchisi
nterestedintheusefulness
ofideasortheoriestopr acti
calsit
uations.I
tsmainconcer nisont esti
ng
theacceptabil
it
yoft heideasort heoriesinenv
ironment swheretheyar e
applicabl
eandnotont heoryformul at
ion.Basi
cr esearchandappl i
ed
researcharedependentoneachot her.Thetwotypesar eusefuland
cont r
ibut
esignif
icantl
ytot headvancementofknowl edgeinanysubj ect
areawher etheyareused.

3.Act
ionResear
ch

Actionr esearchi st het ypeofr esearchwhi chi sdirectedtowar dssolvi

ng
speci fi
cpr oblemsi nagi vensi tuation.Theemphasi sherei snotont he
dev elopmentoft heor ies.Itisal sonotonobt aininggener ali
zable
knowl edgebutmai nlyondev elopingknowl edge–concer ningsubjects
i
nv olvedi nthest udy .Inot herwor ds, acti
onr esear chisdirectl
yconcerned
withapr oblem t hatexi st
sher eandnowi nal ocal si
tuat
ion.Thef i
ndingsof
ther esearchar et obeev aluat edinaccor dancewi ththeirlocalappl
icabil
i
ty
andnotuni v
er sal validity
.Thi smeanst hatsuchf indingsar enot
gener ali
zablet oot hersi t
uat i
ons.

4.Resear
chandDev
elopment

Thistypeofr esear ch,si

mpl yabbrevi
atedasRandDi srelati
vel
ynew.Iti
s
diff
erentfr
om mostschol arl
yresearches.Iti
spar ti
cular
lyemployedin
educationandusedt odev el
opmor eeducat i
onal pr
oductssuchas
textbooks,curricul
arorequi pmentort otesttheef f
icacyofthosealr
eady
developed.Ar esear chwhichistargetedtodev elopinganef f
ecti
ve
textbookforbet terteachi
ngofChr i
sti
anRel i
giousEducat i
oninNigeri
an
primaryschool s,isundert hi
scategory.

5.Ev
aluat
ionResear
ch

Ev
aluat
ionr
esear
chi
sint
erest
edi
nmaki
ngdeci
sionsconcer
ningt
hewor
th
ofamat er
ial
,method, pr ogramme, etc.basedonempi ri
caldat
a.I
nl i
newith
Nwor gu,1991,evaluationr esearchisdefinedas“asy stemati
cprocessof
col
lectingpert
inentdat a, onthebasisofwhi chdecisionscouldbemade
aboutani ndi
vidual,apr ogramme, materi
alsormet hods”.Thepurposeof
thi
sty peofresearchi stopr ovideimportantinf
ormat i
onont heoperat
ions
ofasy stem,withav iewt odetermini
ngi t
sef f
ecti
veness.

6.Hi
stor
ical
Resear
ch

Manuseshi storytoappr eci

atet hepastandt ounder standt hepr esentin
thelightoft hepastwi t
hf ut
ureant i
cipat
ions.Histori
cal researchdeal swith
thepastandmaybedef inedast heappl icat
ionofsy stemat i
zedand
object i
vemet hodt ot hedescriptionandanal ysi
sofev ent s,devel
opment s
andexper i
encesoft hepast.Hi stori
cal r
esearchismost lyapplicableinthe
fi
eldofhi story.Buti nrecenttimes, it
susehasbeenappl iedtoot her
discipli
nesf orinvestigati
ng,recor di
ngandi nter
pr et
ingt heev entsoft hei
r
pastf ortheov erallpurposeofdi scov eri
nggener ali
zati
onst hatarehel pf
ul
i
nunder standingthepastandpr esentand, toalimitedext ent,
in
anticipati
ngt hefuture.

7.Descr
ipt
iveResear
ch

Whi l
ethehi st ori
cal researchai msatdescr i
bi ngandi nt erpret i
ngt hepast
events, thedescr iptiveresear chdescr ibesandi nterpretst hepr esent
events.I tsfocusi soncondi tionsorr elationshi pst hatexi st, practicesthat
prevail
, belief s,
poi ntofv i
ewsorat ti
tudest hatar eheld; pract i
cest hatare
goingon, eff ectst hatarebei ngf eltortrendst hatar edev elopi ng.
Descript i
ver esear chisalsoknownasnon- exper i
ment al r
esear chandas
statedabov ecanbecl assif
iedi nto:Sur veyr esear ch,cor relational studi
es,
casest udi es, ex-post -
factost udiesanddev elopment al studi es.Itinvolves
gatheringandt abul ati
onoff act sori nformat ionaswel l asint erpretati
onof
themeani ngorsi gnifi
canceofwhati sdescr ibed.Besi des, descr ipti
ve
researchmaybeusedt oident i
fygoal sandobj ectivesandt heway s
throughwhi cht heymaybeat tai
ned.
8.TheSur
veyResear
ch

Thisisat y
peofdescri
pti
veresear
chinwhichagr oupofpeopleoragr oup
ofit
emsi sstudi
edthr
oughtheprocessofcol
lect
ingandanalysingdata
from onl
yaf ewpeopl
eorfewitemsconsider
edtobear epresentat
iveof
theentir
egroup.

9.Cor
rel
ati
onal
Study

Correl
ationalstudy,asst
atedabove, i
salsoat ypeofdescr ipti
veresear
ch.
It
saimi st oestabli
shthenatur
eofr el
ationshipthatexist
sbet weent woor
morev ariabl
es.Thedegr eeofr
elat
ionshipisexpr essedasacor r
elat
ion
coeffi
cient.Worthyofemphasisherei sthatcorrelat
ionalstudyisonly
i
nterestedinindicati
ngwhetherornotr el
ationshipexist
s.Itisnot
concernedwi ththecausesofsuchr el
at i
onship.

10.ACaseSt
udy

Thi
sisanothertypeofdescr ipt
iveresearch.I
tisolatesindivi
duals,
groups
ofi
ndivi
dual
s,insti
tutionsorcommuni t
iesfori
nv estigat
ions.I
nmostcases,
acasestudyisgener atedasar esul
tofpr obl
emsemanat i
ngf r
om the
i
ndiv
idual
s,groups,instit
uti
onsorcommuni ti
esbei ngstudied.

Casestudi
esprovi
dethorough,i
n-depth,compr
ehensiv
e, andwell-or
dered
i
nfor
mat i
onconcerni
ngthesocialgroupunder-
study
.Asar esul
t,case
st
udiesdif
ferf
rom sur
veysintermsoft hedegr
eeofintensityanddepthof
i
nvesti
gati
on.

11.Ex-
Post
-Fact
oResear
ch

Anotherform ofdescripti
veresearchisex- post -
factoresearch.Some
authorsrefertoitascausal-
compar at
iveresear ch.Itai
msatdi scover
ing
thefactorsthatareresponsi
bleforcer tai
noccur rence,out
comes,
conditi
onsort ypesofbehaviourbyt heanal ysisofpastev ent soralr
eady
exist
ingconditi
ons.Ar esear
cheradopt i
ngt hiskindofdescr ipti
veresearch,
usually
,hasnocont rolovert
hev ariablesofi nterestandsocannot
manipulatethem, si
ncetheyalreadyexi st
.Itisuneconomi cal,unethi
calor
practical l
yimpossi blet omani pulatethev ariablesi nvolved.Agood
exampl eisast udyont heinf l
uenceofgenderonst udent s’ performancei n
C.R.Kexami nations( WASCEorUME)ort heef fectsofl ocat iononst udents’
atti
tudest owardsC. R.K.Int heseexampl es, thestudent shav ealr eadybeen
assignedt oappr opriatelev elsofgender( mal eorf emal e)orl ocat ion
(urban, semi -
urbanandr ural)nat ur
ally.Ther esear chhasnopowert o
mani pul atethem, todeci dewhobecomesamal eorf emal eorwhocomes
from ur ban,semi urbanorr ur all
ocat i
ons. Agai n,i
nanex- post -
fact ost udy
ont hecausesofhi ghr ateoff ai
lureinC. R.K.ofWAECexami nation,t he
resear chercannotar rangest udentst of ailtheexami nationi nor dert o
studyt hecausesoft hefail
ur e.Ratherhewoul dbei nterest edint he
condi t
ionsassoci atedwi tht hef ail
uret hathav ealreadyoccur r
edi nthe
past.Suchcondi t
ionsl ikepoorr eadinghabi ts, unqual if
iedt eacher s,poor
teachingmet hods, poorcl assr oom condi tions, poorr eadi ngenv i
r onment ,
unav ailabil
it
yoft extbookset c.
,canf orm sour cesoft her esearcher ’
sdat a.

12.Exper
iment
alResear
ch

Thisi st hemostpower f ul
,sophisticat edandv alidmet hodofr esear ch,
whi chcanbeusedt oidentif
yconf ident lythecauseofanygi venef fect .The
processher einvol vest hemani pul at i
onorar rangementofcer tainv ariables
soast odet er
mi net hecause- effectr elati
onshi p.Themai nfocusof
exper i
ment alresear chist ofi
ndoutwhatwi llhappenwhencer tainf actors
orv ari
abl esar ecar eful
lycont r
olledormani pulat ed.Toobt ainananswer ,
ther esear cherort heexper i
ment erdel i
berat elyandsy stematically
mani pul ates/arrangescer t
aininfluencesorv ariablesandcar efullynot esor
obser veshowt hecondi ti
onort hebehav i
ouroft hesubjectunder
exper i
menti saf fect edorchanged.Ther esear cheri susuallycar eful t
o
i
sol atet hev ari
abl esi nsuchawayt hathecanber easonablycer tai
nt hat
theef fectsobser vedcanbeat t
ribut edt othev ar i
ableshehasmani pulated
rathert hant osomeot heruncont r
ol ledi nfluences.

Poi
ntst
oConsi
derwhi
leChoosi
ngaResear
chTopi
c

Forsuccessf
ulchoi
ceofar
esear
chabl
etopi
c,y
oushoul
dputt
hef
oll
owi
ng
i
ntoconsi
der
ati
on:

1YourKnowl
edgeoft
heTopi
c

Donotchooseatopi
cy ouknownothi
ngabout
.Iti
simportantt
hatyou
possesssomer
easonableknowl
edgeoft
hetopicyoui
ntendtochoosefor
yourproj
ect
.

2YourI
nter
est

Donotwr it
eonanyt opicthatdoesnotar ouseyourinterest.I
fy oudo,
y ou
canhar dlysti
mulatetheinterestofanotherper
son/yourr eader.Your
researchwoul dbesuccessf ulifyoudealwit
hapr oblem thatisofyour
i
nterest.Thisisbecauseinterestprovi
desundisputablemot iv
ationwhich
cansust ainyouri
nterestuntilyouroundofftheexercise.

3Av
ail
abi
l
ityofMat
eri
al

Youmustensureyouhav
esuf
fi
cientmater
ial
sthatwil
lhel
pyoutoproduce
agoodwork.Thi
sdemandsanextensi
veuseoftheli
brar
ymater
ial
sand
thei
nter
netf
acil
it
ies.

4PageLi
mit

Yourpr ojectshoul dnotexceedt heacceptablepagel i

mi tforan
under graduateorMast erofArts’degreest
udi es.Onlydoct oraldegr
ee
student saref reetopr oduceanynumberofpagesoft heirwork,no
restr
ictions.Asar esult,i
fy ouarenotadoct oral candidate,youmust
chooseat opi cy ouwoul dbeabl etohandleef fecti
velywi t
hinthepageli
mit
prescribedf orpr oj
ectwr iti
ngintheDepar t
mentofChr ist
ianTheologyof
yourinst i
tut
ion.Usual ly,iti
s45t o60pagesf orunder graduatesand120to
150f ormast er’sdegreecandi dates.Theli
mitv ar i
esaccor di
ngt o
i
nstitutionsandt hei
rrequi r
ement s.

5Nov
elt
y

Youmustdecideonatopicthati
snov el
.Iti
struethatt
her
eishardl
yany
probl
em t
hathasnotbeeninvest
igat
ed.Extensiv
ereadi
ngconfi
rmsthi
s
fact
.Butpr obl
emst hathavesomer esembl ancemaydi ffermarkedlyi
nthe
cir
cumst ancesunderwhicht heyar
est udi
ed.Thedi fferencesin
cir
cumst ancescanbei nter
msoft ime, pl
aceormet hodsofi nvest
igat
ion.
Inchoosingat opi
c,iti
sadvisablet
haty oudonotgoaboutr epeati
nga
workalreadytreat
edbysomebodyel se.Ther emustbesomet hi
ngnewi n
yourtopicbeforei
tisconsideredworthyofi nvest
igation.

6Cont
ri
but
iont
oKnowl
edge

Thetopicofyourchoicemustmakesomecont ri
buti
on,nomat terhowlit
tl
e,
toknowledge.Aresearchworki
nChrist
ianTheol
ogyissaidt ohave
contr
ibut
edt oknowledgeift
hefi
ndi
ngsl eadt
otheorybuil
ding,i
mpr ov
ethe
“st
ateoftheart”
,addt oorfi
l
lagapinthebodyofli
terat
ure,sol
v esome
knott
yproblemsintheareaofChri
sti
anTheology.

7Ti
meLi
mit

Ensureyour estr
ictyourtopictoamanageabl econt extsothat,
apartfrom
adheri
ngt ot hepagelimit,
youcanconv eni
entl
yinvestigat
eitwithi
nthe
peri
odallottedforprojectwrit
ing.Yourbound( completed)proj
ectshould
bereadyf orsubmi ssi
on( t
hroughy oursuperv
isor)beforeyoustartyour
fi
naldegreeexami nati
ons.

8.Rel
ati
onshi
ptoy
ourCour
seofSt
udy

Yourt opi ci
sr elatedt oChrist
ianTheology,ifitsf i
ndi ngswi l
l contr
ibute
somet hi ngnew, nomat terhowsmal l
,tothef i
eldoft heChr isti
anTheol ogy.
Forinst ance,at opi cwhichsay s“TheHi st
oricalDev elopmentofChr ist
ianit
y
i
nNi ger ia”i
squi t
er esearchable.I
tisalsopossi blet haty oumaybev er
y
conver santwi thi tandsoi tmaycapt ureyourint erest .Butat opicsuchas
“TheHi st or
icalDev el
opmentofEngl ishLanguagei nAnambr aState”can
hardlybeappr ov edf oryouasapr oj
ecttopicint heDepar t
mentofChr i
stian
Theologyev ent houghi tmaybeahott opi
cinEngl ishDepar tment.

9Si
gni
fi
cance

Agoodt
opi
cforr
esear
chshoul
dbeonet
hatwi
l
lgui
det
her
esear
cher
t
hroughmaki
ngav
aluabl
econt
ri
but
iont
ohi
sfi
eldofr
esear
ch.

CONCLUSI ONResearchisadi f
fi
cultbutinter
estingchall
enge.Athorough
understandi
ngofresear
chpr ocessesequipsar esearcherwit
hthev ar
ious
processesassoci
atedwithresearch.Thenecessi t
yofmast er
ingresearch
processesismademor eimpor t
antbyt hefactthatthesubmissionofa
thoroughlyr
esear
chedwor kisoneoft heconditionsnecessaryf
orthe
awar dofanyuniv
ersi
tydegree.

Thiscoursehasexposedy outothemeaningofresearch,
char
acteri
sti
cs
ofr
esearch,thenatureofresearchinChri
sti
anTheologyaswellasthe
var
iousclassi
ficat
ionsofresearch.Youwereal
soshownt hequali
ti
esthat
makeagoodr esearcher
.

Ol
owooker
eDav
idFemiPhD

Pr
ofessorofBi
bli
cal
Her
meneut
ics