I agree that first you should select a topic (but you can refine it later if necessary). What interests you? If you wrote a Master's thesis, then can you continue with something similar? If not, then read some top journals in your field: do any articles interest you? Can you continue the work of these authors in some way (build on it and do something a bit different/more advanced)? Can you get access to the necessary data and can you use these methods? If not, then read some more articles.

The problem identification is the start and the justification of any research. When a researcher identifies a problem in work or any other place, s/he starts thinking of the other steps of the research.

Thank you Dr.Mahfuz Judeh actually I am stuck with that among many problems how to select an optimal problem kindly suggest

Perhaps the most important aspect of a Ph.D. thesis is to choosing an appropriate topic. Your supervisor must approve it and It’s rare to know the topic from the moment you start working with advisor. Some points to consider in choosing the topic:

• Are you fascinated by (interested in) the topic?
• Do you have all  the necessary research skills for the chosen topic?
• Can you complete the project in time?
• Will the research still be current when you finish?
• Do you have access to sufficient financial and other resources?

I think that the problem identification is the vital part of a research program. Please try to find out a gap between the existing research and the proposed ones and you attempt to fill that gap with your research.

Best wishes

Any knowledge, which is not written, is bound to be lost. If you have  ideas, you better write them down. Afterwards, do some literature survey to see which idea may work within the available means or tools & in the most likely correct duration of a research project. The supervisor(s) is (are) there to help in optimization of the selection process. Once you settle down about a specific path, then do your utmost to get all the relevant information related to the project. Don't worry; at a certain stage, no one on earth will have more knowledge than you on the topic which you navigated through. Research is not difficult once you start because one step will lead to another in a chain reaction. What is difficult  to find is the adequate instruments & support. Sometimes, the challenge is how to achieve a breakthrough when all the doors are closed. Positive insistence will open the doors ultimately.

Please see the attached link.

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Started-With-a-Research-Project

I agree that first you should select a topic (but you can refine it later if necessary). What interests you? If you wrote a Master's thesis, then can you continue with something similar? If not, then read some top journals in your field: do any articles interest you? Can you continue the work of these authors in some way (build on it and do something a bit different/more advanced)? Can you get access to the necessary data and can you use these methods? If not, then read some more articles.

Thank you Dr. Behrouz Ahmadi-Nedushan, Dr Ajay Singh and Dr. Nizar Matar  for the valuable input and thanks for wikihow article

Hi Prabhakar,

I agreed with both Prof Mahfuz & Behrouz on the importance of identifying the research problem and research topic as initial start.

You can crystalize your research problem through:

1) explore issues / problems within your domain knowledge which might significantly contribute to knowledge, researchable, no one has done it before / not reinventing the wheel and you have the passion for.

2) you can pursue the above #1 through doing some initial literature review through reading up some academic articles from journals & theses (especially their limitations & future research which potentially can be your research topic).  You can also do Internet searches as well as go thru RG website whereby you might find many fresh ideas / problems waiting to be researched.

3) during the literature review, note not only review subject matters / contents / theoretical frameworks, but also review their research methods like instruments / analytical tools etc so that you can re-use / adapt into your research

Once you have the research problem & high level research method documented, you can provide a title for your research topic (average around 10-15 words) to depict the research work you try to do.  Research topic is important because it sets as a boundary / delimit your research scope so that you will not do too small a research not contributing to knowledge or over boundary that you might not finish your PhD. Note also both the research problem & topic might need few rounds of iterations to crystalize the research problem / problem statement and narrow down the research topic.

Better still if you can document the above into few pages as research proposal before enrolling for your PhD.  You can be perceived as prepared researcher that rendering you to be assigned with a supervisor earlier.  All the best.

Regards,

Fung

Anything done without a project is nothing but a delirium. Ask yourself what contribution you can give to your community in your area of studies. Also write down all the ideas that pop up to your mind and again go according to the "manual" choosing objectives, bibliography etc.  Feel free to post here possible topics. We wish you a happy new year and a supervisor who is willing to be your best and unforgetful friend. Devote some quality time to your family and friends they will have to live with you, your stress, and your "mono topic discourse" for a long time. Don't go around in cicles and decide to go deep into it a few months before your deadline. This is just like delivering a baby. You will have the bliss of knowing a new life is being generated. You will feel the discomfort of the growing belly. You will have a tremendours pain and fear at the end and when everything finishes, you will be so happy that you will forget the whole pain and like women do, you will have the courage to do it again.  And mothers do not regret being mothers, exceptions are pathological behaviours only.

Count on us!!! We will try to be your non anonimous friends.

Observation, hypothesis and how to solve the problems. So you can start your new project.

Students that start with a PhD often do not know the available literature in detail. Supervisors therefore may help defining a PhD topic which may evolve in the course of the PhD formation.

Ideas to be tested could come from PhD work from others or published literature accepted by referees that judged the publications. The advantage working on existing published ideas is that the ideas have been formulated after at least 3-4 years of work and thinking by others. The question of course is whether the ideas produced by others apply to new model systems you will start to work on?

Following points should be available in the search:

1. The idea which type of innovation, even if they previously shown but can provide a new vision of her.

2. The possibility of implementation of currently available devices.

3.Solve a realistic problem in the community.

Dear @Prabhakar, many good answers to the threads attached will bring fine facts about your question! Good luck!

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_Research_Problem

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientists_have_a_project_including_theoretical_and_experimental_parts_How_to_start

First ask yourself what field you in love. Then choose an optimum selection with respect to "love". Then be sure that everything shall go well!

The first step is to define the objectives. When you will define objectives then study previous literature. Make your goals more concise. Start your work upon research project by designing questionnaire and then by writing project.

I think one should start a research when and only when  he/she is able to identify a problem in the surrounding related to his/her area or subject of interest, because that problem which you yourself have identified based on your knowledge and experience from the surrounding (i.e. social, economic or political), will not only make your research interesting but also it will give you a huge amount of confidence and also you are spending your time to find the answer of your own question, not the question identified from the literature or from any other source.

Thanks

I think, you may be running some projects in your institution. The same you can convert as a Ph.D thesis. Only the thing is to identify a guide and read the literature.

First thing is to collect the topic related to your field and find the interesting one to you. Search literature related in that topic from the beginning to the latest one and  think what you can do further. And then, how to proceed it will be the next steps...

Following steps you may take:

First, identify your broader area based on specialisation.

Second, identify problem in your area.

Third, Set your objectives and hypotheses based on your problem and literature.

Fourth, Complete your proposal- how to take up your objectives.

Fifth, If it is primary data based, prepare questionnaire and collect data.

Sixth, analyse your data by applying relevant statistical tools.

Seventh, Write your results, conclusions, implications, etc.

Eighth, complete your research.

I think that you have first to search for the open problem to be sure that the research is not done by others. Thereafter, you have to search for possible formations of the open problem and be sure the task is reachable and deserves research.

When professors are overloaded with administrative tasks and preparation of teaching courses, a thesis topic proposed to a student might be mainly curiosity-driven. Perhaps the proposition of a thesis topic is guided by one exciting discussion with a colleague, one oral presentation with high communication value, or one well-written review paper? Perhaps professors use information from own university courses or use discussions with invited visitors to get inspired, independent from in depth literature searches? Many students guided by professors therefore might start to work with biological models they do not really know or understand? This might be acceptable for students willing to learn, but not always acceptable for students willing to publish. Researchers that focus on a small number of topics have access to more base-line information or have more experience with model systems. Experienced focused researchers therefore might be more efficient in guiding students willing to publish research conducted in the framework of university formations?

The number of topics addressed in education is obviously much larger than in focused research programs. The education approach conducted by specialists and non-specialists therefore might differ. A thesis program might be defined as an education tool to form future researchers or professors. In a thesis prepared by future scientific researchers, a simple sentence might summarize the content of the thesis manuscript based on a series of interconnected chapters and publications all contributing to the formulation of the title or conclusion. Alternatively, a thesis aimed to form future professors might consist of different scientifically unconnected chapters revealing students’ willingness to explore new techniques or to explore different research topics.

Identifying the  research topic.

Questions to ask in choosing a topic

• Can it be enthusiastically pursued?
• Can interest be sustained by it?
• Is the problem solvable?
• Is it worth doing? 
• Will it lead to other research problems?
• Is it manageable in size?
• What is the potential for making an original contribution to the literature in the field?

Hi My Dear Prabhakar Purushothaman; Yes as @Mahfuz Judeh mentioned at the time of taking admission you have to have start thinking about the problem to research in your field. As soon as a problem finalized other steps comes automatically. Thanks

Here is my suggestion: Choose a topic, analyze it, narrow down your subject, formulate an argument, and write it down, evaluate your primary and secondary sources, write an outline, revise it, get your first draft and then double check on your bibliographical list! Your new work should be a major original addition to an on-going dialog.

If you are a student with a rather fresh master or bachelor degree, it is very unlikely that you will have any serious experience from research activities. You may have read some research papers, because they were part of the material to read in a course, or you read some papers because you had to in order to complete your bachelor or master thesis. This does, however, not really prepare you enough to do your own research.

Usually someone who enters a PhD student program is required to teach to some degree, while he/she at the same time take a (long) series of more and more advanced postgraduate courses. This is where you become more and more ready to contribute to science. In the best of cases, these things can happen partly in parallel - you learn to teach better at the same time as you master your basic subject better through your own postgraduate courses, and hence you can better and better understand the research question that you are to tackle. These things go hand in hand.

I understand fully that depending on the field of study that the PhD student will tackle, it takes a very different amount of time to get to the point where you can contribute to science. In pure math it will take you MANY courses, while in some other subjects it may take much less. The important thing is to be prepared to have a RATHER long study period before you can really contribute to science yourself. 

As a fresh PhD student I would advise you - in order to get a better feel for what research is like - to go to many research seminars, even if the topic is advanced. This is where you get inspiration from more experienced researchers, and also where you learn what research discussions are like. Argumentation is important - and you will in this way have a chance to learn the tricks of the trade before you have to defend yourself. :-)

Good luck! 

Dear Behrouz,

How do you know in advance the answers to following questions you raised before the start of a PhD?

Questions to ask in choosing a topic

Can it be enthusiastically pursued?

Can interest be sustained by it?

Is the problem solvable?

Is it worth doing?

Will it lead to other research problems?

Is it manageable in size?

What is the potential for making an original contribution to the literature in the field?

Dear all,

Thank you very much for wonderful guidance, advice, encouragement and support really it was a great help to me

New year wishes to all

Kind Regards

Prabhakar P

Please follow - Start Your Research, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San José State University, website - it has various optional menus to offer.

https://library.sjsu.edu/start-your-research

However, whatever, whenever are not important; the most important is that you give a trial and do not give up. BE PATIENT!

Dear Prabhakar,

Find the attached file which is a good research book. It is quite helpful..

It is Heartening to note that you have developed Interest on Research and you are Welcome.

If you want to undertake Research for obtaining a Research Degree, First you have to decide whether you can go as a Full Time Scholar, getting Sponsorship from your Organization or whether you will be permitted to go on Study Leave with a lien on your Position in your Organization so that you can Rejoin Duty after Submission of your Thesis. Or else one has to search for a job again, which is not Advisable under the Present Situation.

Otherwise, you can think of Pursuing your Research work as a Part Time Research Scholar, for which too you have to get Permission from your Employer to avoid Complications in Service and also the Research Institutions insist on getting the Application Forwarded by your Organization to consider you for Part Time Research.

Each University has its own Criterion for Admission to Research Degree. Some Universities conduct Entrance Examination and Short list the Candidates for Interview before Admission.

It will be better if the Candidate has some earlier Publication or atleast done some work in the Proposed Area of Research to get selected easily.

Some Universities allot the Guide after Selection.

Some Universities prefer if the main Guide or Supervisor is already fixed up. Some Universities insist that the Main or Co-Supervisor be a Eligible Faculty Member from the concerned University. In such cases it will be better if the Candidate contacts the Supervisor willing to Guide in that Area.

Institutes like I.I.Ts / I.I.Sc., Bangaluru do not take Candidates employed in Educational Institutions as Part time Research Scholars. They want such candidates to come as Full time Research Scholars under Schemes like Quality Improvement Program,

After getting the Admission, Tips on how to do Research can be found in my Ppt. Presentation, titled, ”Amusing Musings on Research by a Re-Searcher”. The Presentation is available in Researchgate under the Heading ‘Contributions’ in my Profile Page.

Even if one wants to undertake Research Work for Research sake also the above Presentation will be Useful.

Get your Work Published only in Standard Journals as Quickly as Possible,to ensure Ownership of your Work and also any Comments by the Reviewer or Readers may help you improve your Work.

With Regards and Best Wishes.

P.S.

I would like to add a few more suggestions on the Topic.

Please do not go for Online Research Degree. It is Not Recognized by Many Universities and Organizations.

Do not go for getting your work Published by Journals which Publish immediately, on Payment.

Even if one is in Industries or other non academic Institutions, always it will be better to go for Higher Qualifications, Such Persons may get additional remuneration or preferred over others, for Elevation in Position on account of Higher Qualification, all other criteria being Equal.

Once a person in Field work gets a Ph.D , on retirement he stands a chance of getting accommodated in a higher Position in an Academic Institution with Higher Emoluments even, because of his vast Industrial Experience and a Ph.D with Publications or Publications Equivalent to Ph.D. work, as the age of Retirement for the Post of Professor is Seventy now. As on date there are many such persons in the Academic Field now.

P.S.

Identify research problem, read some good related research papers, consult your research supervisor and final it, and go ahead. Good luck!

Read nicely, have good updates, identify some gaps, identify some novelty or originality, have a team spirit, and execute in a nice way - filled with hard works, sincereity, honesty and sincerity -- added with enthusiasm 

If you able to collect a summary of all important answers from RG members, if managed it, you got your inquiry.

It is suggested that kindly finalize the field in which you are going to do the Ph.D., Find the right institution and supervisor. Invest the time to get in-depth knowledge in the area. Start proceeding.Good Luck. All the best.

Performing quality research like any other field needs patience and perseverance. Most important is the passion to do research. If any one likes to learn swimming, he/she need to get in to swimming pool and learn. 1) So, you discover in which research topic your aptitude lies and approach the appropriate supervisor and the institute. 2) The problem can be given by the supervisor or if you have thought about it, you may suggest the same in your chosen field of interest. 3) After the problem is well defined, then comes the facility required: a) Experimental or b) Theoretical/computational. 4) One should posses the knowledge of previous work (literature) and the proper understanding of the subject matures with experience and time, but this only comes if you have interest and passion. 5) The due respect to the previous research work is essential such that one remains humble to learn further and understanding the limitations of the subject is also necessary since every thing can not be explained clearly. 6) The communication skills both oral and written are important requisites of a good researcher. 7) But, Mr. Prabhakar, a caution to exercise is that do not be in a dream world that one has to perform wonderful path breaking research. Initially, it is better to learn step by step. However, if the ideas follow and path breaking research comes on the way, please do pursue.

In essence it is just PASSION and all the other necessary ingredients can be acquired with time by hard work, patience and perseverance.

Best wishes.

Starting the research: I have answered my view point on how to start and go about doing research work in any chosen area of interest close to their heart. This is to begin with. Then comes the journey in case you take up research as your profession.

Journey: In any field, one likes to Excel. In the long run, the benefit you get and the accomplishments you achieve depends on many factors. These are to say;- the technical quality of persons with whom you work like the supervisor and co-researchers, the facilities, the institute and your efforts, etc. Do not forget the ethics aspects in scientific publishing. Also, in my opinion, how much one enjoyed the travel is as important as how much one traveled.  This I feel gives self satisfaction as it is measured by you. So, do not give up. If success is in store, it will be conferred upon. If otherwise, let the posterity decide.

Quote by Galileo and Shakespeare: I like these quotes. 

"I would rather discover a single fact, even a small one, than debate the great issues at length without discovering anything at all " by Galileo Galilei.

"Nothing succeeds like  success". by William Shakespeare  (Julius Caesar — IV, 3)

Best wishes,

C. Phaniraj

How do I start my research?

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/usingarchives/howdoistartmyresearch.aspx

Finding a good and important research topic is not so simple. An important requirement is that one has already been incorporated into a topic and found problems in the literature, which is unresolved. It is better yet with a supervisor to discuss various topics and then decide for a task. For many of today's research tasks, it is also necessary to have many contacts with partners working in the border areas. According to my judgment, it is also necessary to enter or be installed in a well-functioning team.

Something more on Identifying a Research Topic, Choosing a Topic, Testing the Topic with a Search....comes from Cornell!

http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu/tutorial/dpl3100.html

Thank you very much to all

Day by day the answers are  very interesting, encouraging and motivating and also I am happy that all of the answers will be helpful to upcoming researchers

I got confidence to start my research from all of you dear research gate friends it is really a great help for me from you

Selection of topic is the first criterion. Then comes applicability of the study. Searching literature and to consult with the initial workers also form integral parts of starting a research work. 

By a comprehensive literature survey in a particular area. 

Dear you should interest in a particular area, read widely in this area of interest and from there you will discover a problem that has not been solved and from there you understand how you will tackle the problem and systematically you will address the problem calling for attention.