Research gaps and research questions
A gap that nobody has filled and a gap that nobody wants filled look identical from the outside. Telling them apart, and phrasing the difference, is most of the work in the first year.
Updated
Two fears sit underneath almost every question in this cluster. The first is that the gap is not real, that the reason nobody has done this is that it does not need doing. The second is that someone is doing it right now and will publish first.
Both fears are reasonable and both are manageable. A gap becomes defensible when you can say what specifically is missing, why its absence matters, and what would change if it were filled. A gap stays fragile when it is stated as an absence alone, because "no one has studied X in Y" invites the reply "and for good reason".
These pages cover finding the gap, testing whether it is original, writing the statement, and shaping the research question that comes out of it. They also cover the situation nobody warns you about, which is what to do when the question changes in year two. It usually does. Handled openly, that is a sign the project is working rather than failing.
How do I identify a research gap in the literature?
How to identify a research gap in the literature, the different kinds of gap that exist, and how to tell a real one from a topic nobody has bothered to publish on.
Read the answer →How do I know if my research gap is original?
How to check that a research gap has not already been filled, what to do if someone publishes your idea first, and how thorough the originality check has to be.
Read the answer →How do I write a research gap statement?
How to write a research gap statement that holds up, which phrasings make a gap sound weak or overclaimed, and how long the statement should actually be.
Read the answer →How do I turn a research topic into a research question?
How to convert a broad research topic into an answerable research question, how narrow it needs to be, and the difference between a question and a research aim.
Read the answer →What makes a good research question in a PhD thesis?
What separates a doctoral research question from a masters one, how many questions a thesis should have, and whether sub-questions should map onto chapters.
Read the answer →What is the difference between a research question and a hypothesis?
The difference between a research question and a hypothesis, whether a qualitative study can have one, and when a project genuinely needs both.
Read the answer →Can a research question change during a PhD?
Whether a research question can change during a PhD, how to justify the change to a supervisor or committee, and what happens to work built on the old question.
Read the answer →How do I narrow down a research question that is too broad?
How to narrow a research question that is too broad, which parts of a question you can narrow on, and how to tell when you have gone too far the other way.
Read the answer →How do I choose a theoretical framework for my thesis?
How to choose a theoretical framework for a thesis, the difference between a theoretical and a conceptual framework, and whether you can use more than one.
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