In addition to standard methods like reading the materials and identifying research gaps, there are some techniques that a student can use to foster creative thinking:

1. Brainstorming: When reading and reflecting on research, write down ideas that may not make complete sense. (This points towards the usefulness of carrying a research notebook in which ideas can be recorded.)

2. Outside the discipline: Try to think outside your discipline and training in your academic area. This is often accomplished by questioning assumptions; that is, asking what would be true if we did not have any preconceptions or assumptions.

3. Partner: When thinking of a research topic, run it by someone that is completely out of your area. A good idea is something that makes for a good story. If you can explain the idea to a “layman” or a person outside your field and have it make sense, it is more likely that your idea is logically sound.

4. Ask “Why”: Continually ask both yourself and others the question “Why?” By having a partner outside your area ask why, he or she may challenge some issues that you have taken for granted from within your discipline.

5. Talk about it: If you talk an idea through, you will find that you conceptualize the how’s, the why’s, the where’s, the who’s, etc. Often we think we understand a problem, but talking about it forces us to piece loosely knit ideas into a cohesive package.

6. Drawing is fun and effective: While not all research can be visualized, often concepts can be drawn. Graphical representations help you collapse complex ideas into manageable nuggets that can be more easily understood. For most models, if you can draw it you can understand it. In addition, the very model that is drawn may raise new issues to be addressed.

7. Think of things you are interested in: These ideas could be within your area of research or completely unrelated. Good research starts with what the author is interested in, thus buffering against becoming discouraged and uninterested in the research later in the process. 

Source:

Luse, A., Mennecke, B. E., & Townsend, A. M. (2012). Selecting a research topic: A framework for doctoral students. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, 143-152.

Take classes in the field of study and/or read articles from that area. After a while doing that, the student should be able to identify some question of interest. Most fields of study have a lot of open questions left (a lot of research articles explicitly state some of them in the Introduction and Discussion sections), so once a student is familiar with the field of study she should be aware of many potential research topics.

How should a novice researcher select a research topic?

Suggesting the following approach in which not necessary they must be taken in sequence, some of them can be taken concurrently or repeatedly.:

What are the key features of a good research topic?

Please refer to above #5 & #6.

When deciding on a topic, there are a few things that one will need to do:

• brainstorm for ideas
• choose a topic that will enable you to read and understand the literature
• ensure that the topic is manageable and that material is available
• make a list of key words
• be flexible
• define your topic as a focused research question
• research and read more about your topic
• formulate a thesis statement

https://www.umflint.edu/library/how-select-research-topic

- Look your environment and explore the sector that can be helpful and contribute for the science

- review the literature to be sure to have more information and insights (using key words)

- contact some researchers in your domain of research (some of your teachers)

- discuss with others classmates

- search for books or articles that explain how to do preliminary research for beginners

based on your area of expertise, and your education level you can move to the next step. most researchers have at least master degree. at this stage, you may need to talk to colleagues, advisor, RG will help as well.

In addition to standard methods like reading the materials and identifying research gaps, there are some techniques that a student can use to foster creative thinking:

1. Brainstorming: When reading and reflecting on research, write down ideas that may not make complete sense. (This points towards the usefulness of carrying a research notebook in which ideas can be recorded.)

2. Outside the discipline: Try to think outside your discipline and training in your academic area. This is often accomplished by questioning assumptions; that is, asking what would be true if we did not have any preconceptions or assumptions.

3. Partner: When thinking of a research topic, run it by someone that is completely out of your area. A good idea is something that makes for a good story. If you can explain the idea to a “layman” or a person outside your field and have it make sense, it is more likely that your idea is logically sound.

4. Ask “Why”: Continually ask both yourself and others the question “Why?” By having a partner outside your area ask why, he or she may challenge some issues that you have taken for granted from within your discipline.

5. Talk about it: If you talk an idea through, you will find that you conceptualize the how’s, the why’s, the where’s, the who’s, etc. Often we think we understand a problem, but talking about it forces us to piece loosely knit ideas into a cohesive package.

6. Drawing is fun and effective: While not all research can be visualized, often concepts can be drawn. Graphical representations help you collapse complex ideas into manageable nuggets that can be more easily understood. For most models, if you can draw it you can understand it. In addition, the very model that is drawn may raise new issues to be addressed.

7. Think of things you are interested in: These ideas could be within your area of research or completely unrelated. Good research starts with what the author is interested in, thus buffering against becoming discouraged and uninterested in the research later in the process. 

Source:

Luse, A., Mennecke, B. E., & Townsend, A. M. (2012). Selecting a research topic: A framework for doctoral students. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 7, 143-152.

Muayyad, I always advise that students begin from a desire to study a subject that genuinely interests them. Guidance from his/her supervisor gently follows on from this.

How should I select a research topic?

Dear Zaib,

Following the problem solving logic, there is a systematic way for selecting a research topic:

1. Collecting Data. As it is presented by the previous colleagues, this stage can be done by reading/reviewing literature, brainstorming with the others, consultation with the supervisors or attending to the academic events (e.g., seminars, colloquiums, or conferences), in order to collecting data. Just collect, store, and manage the collected data.

2. Identification the research interest. With regard to the collected data, try to identify what are the interested topics by considering the availability of the student's resources (for example, his/her skills, interests, time, money, etc.) and the thesis requirements. In this stage, try to identify several alternative topics.

3. Initiation the topic. Based on the identified topics, make a simple matrix/table for initiating the appropriate topic in respect of their research resources.

In my experience,most students know what is their interested topic, but they just need to justify that the topic is appropriate to their research resource ownership and the requirements. Despite the fact that the condition may complex, but the simple-systematic way can help the students for breaking the complexity of their thoughts.

What are the key features of a good research topic?

I believe, one of the key features of a good research topic is the resource availability of the researchers. At least, the availability will affect the researchers for finishing their researches. 

May help,

Regards,

Reading research report