Methodological and Developmental Tools

Action 2: Identifying the topic

Field of research:

NEMO – negative emotions

The claim process from the company’s point of view – how to take advantage of negative discussions on social media/ how to take advantage of negative emotions in customer service.

Now that the field of research has been chosen, the scope of research is narrowed down, and it is easier to draw an outline in order to identify the specific topic. Choosing the topic is part of the problem formulation process[footnoteRef:1]. [1: Business Research Methods by Krishnaswami, O.R. and Satyaprasad, B.G.; Himalaya Publishing House; 2010; Chapter 2; page 23]

The topic can simply be formulated as the title of the article. The topic could be formulated in an informal, relaxed, possibly non-academic manner for the first draft, as in 99% of the cases, the final title will differ from this one as the research gets re-oriented and the article gets improved. What’s important is that for any reader the topic makes sense and is fully understandable and give little risks of misunderstanding.

The topic expresses the issue addressed by the research work in the field of research identified in Action 1. It may include the actual issues/challenges themselves and some, or an hypothesis to be proven, as well as rarely all, but more often some of the following elements: field of research, context, target populations, constraints, theories, methodological approach, variables and/or cause to effect relationships investigated. The goal being not to drawn the reader under complexity but to use as little as possible information without losing comprehensiveness of the research purpose.

Research article topic:

How to benefit from negative emotions in customer service?