Abstract
As the editor of Human Resource Development Review (HRDR), I have the privilege to read a large number of manuscripts. In the process of reviewing these potential publications, I have found myself constantly asking why some research projects were conducted in the first place. My question was prompted by two issues I noticed: (a) the authors did not provide adequate justification for the need for their research and (b) the justification provided by many authors is not compelling. These are among the top reasons that cause a manuscript to be rejected. In fact, based on my experience as a journal editor, manuscript reviewer, and research professor, I find it a common struggle among many scholars, particularly novice researchers and graduate students, to address the “why” aspect of research. Even when they understand conceptually the importance of their research, the authors may still fail to make a convincing justification in writing. Therefore, in this editorial, I share an approach I have personally used, which has enabled me to identify research gaps and make a stronger case for my research. This approach involves asking five questions, which I will elaborate on, one by one.
Question 1: What Is the Practical Significance of Your Research Topic?
I am a firm believer that impactful research must address issues of practical concern. By this, I mean research that is relevant to the real world. This requires you to think carefully about your topic in the first place. Often times, the topics we choose to study are motivated by our personal interest and/or professional experience. However, just because you are personally passionate about a phenomenon does not mean it is worth researching. One simple way to find out if your topic is meaningful is to do a quick online scan to see if your topic represents one of the current research trends or top concerns in the world of practice. If you receive a large number of results, you know you may face a bigger challenge to “build your case.” However, if you get few or no hits, you might want to redress your decision to proceed why your topic has not received much attention. Another way that may help you determine the significance of your topic is to look at pop literature. For example, Deloitte has conducted an annual global human capital trends survey since 2013. Each survey has led to a list of human resource (HR) trends identified by leaders across the world. These trends represent concerns that matter most to businesses and industries and shed light on critical issues for future research.
Question 2: What Gaps Do You See Conceptually?
Once you determine there is a need for investigating your topic, the next question you may ask yourself is if there are knowledge gaps related to your research topic. This is when you decide what subject matters or aspects of your topic have been well studied, inadequately studied, or not studied at all. For example, “employee engagement” is a hot topic that has received a lot of scholarly attention in recent years, and a number of submissions to HRDR focus on examining this phenomenon. However, different authors have looked at this concept from different angles. Some studied antecedents of engagement, some explored engagement outcomes, and some looked at the opposite side of engagement—disengagement. By building a holistic understanding of the literature on your topic area, you will be able to see what dimensions of the concept have been studied, and therefore, identify areas that warrant further investigation.
Question 3: What Gaps Do You See Theoretically?
This question deals with the theoretical underpinning of a research study. In other words, what theories or theoretical frameworks have been used to guide the research on your topic? Answers to this question can be very helpful not only in testing the rigor of existing theories, but more importantly, in building new theories. In an applied field such as human resource development (HRD) where sound theories are in great need, any effort made toward theory development is meaningful. For example, in reviewing work–life balance literature, you may find that most previous studies on this issue were guided by career theories. However, few studies looked at this issue through a cultural lens—whether national or institutional culture has a direct impact on work–life balance. If this is the case, a study of work–life balance from a cultural perspective is likely to generate new insights.
Question 4: What Gaps Do You See Methodologically?
This question addresses the “how” aspect of research: How has your selected topic been studied by other researchers? This question consists of two aspects: research design (methodology) and research methods (techniques used for data collection and analysis). For example, in your review of literature, you may find quantitative approaches have dominated the study of your topic, or you may find a lack of diverse methods used for data collection or analysis. In addition, you may find your topic has been primarily investigated conceptually, not empirically. Another element is research sampling in terms of the context and population. In other words, where has your topic been studied? The context can be local, regional, national or cross-national. It may also focus on a specific sector (e.g., government, academic, and business) or a certain type of organization (e.g., private business, university, and charity). In terms of the sample population, you may find most of the studies on your topic focus on business professionals in the U.S. corporations, or male professionals, with little attention to professionals in other occupations or countries, or career women. Identifying the pattern in research methodologies and methods will help you determine what unique approaches you can adopt to generate different or additional data.
Question 5: What Do We Already Know About Your Topic?
To answer this question, you need to analyze findings from various studies on your topic. Use workplace incivility as an example. Based on my research, I have found that most of studies on this topic focus on the causes and consequences of workplace incivility. However, very few studies revealed strategies to prevent the occurrence of uncivil incidents, or strategies to minimize the impact of negative experiences. Furthermore, it is widely recognized that incivility can be triggered by power distance, meaning, people in power tend to demonstrate uncivil behaviors to people with less power. Therefore, many incivility studies have focused on subordinates being treated uncivilly by their supervisors; very few scholars have looked at this phenomenon from other perspectives, for example, what is a supervisor’s experience of being mistreated by his or her subordinates? What is a faculty’s experience of being mobbed by a group of students? Questions like these can help generate different insights into the same topic, thus expanding the current knowledge base.
The five questions above are not all inclusive; I am sure that there are other questions you can ask to help you justify the significance of your research. What I have shared in this editorial is one method I have used to help me determine if a new research project is worth pursuing. These five questions have helped me think in advance about the potential contribution of my work in terms of theory, research, and practice—both the “why” and “so what” questions. By answering these questions, I am better prepared to deal with the challenges raised later on by readers of my research work. To make your research product publishable, I invite you to take time to do the homework upfront by asking yourself critical questions like the ones I proposed above. The more you know how to answer these questions, the better you will be able to articulate the significance of your research, and the more likely your work will be considered for publication.