After you have defined your general
research territory, the next step is to identify a research gap
worth exploring. In other words, you should explain to your
audience what kinds of problems/questions remain controversial or
unresolved in your field of study so that you can create a unique
research niche. Sentences 51-94 will help you do that.
51. ____ deserves more research attention.
52. Most _____ studies have focused mainly on ____
53. The vast majority of the work in this area has focused on ____
54. There [8] is limited research investigating ____
55. There is scant evidence that ____
56. To date [9], no study has looked specifically at ____
57. To the best of my/our knowledge, no study has focused on ____
58. Few studies have investigated the impact of ____
59. Little [10] research has been done on ____
60. Little is known about ____
61. Relatively little is understood about ____
62. To date, scant attention has been paid to ____
63. Since ____, little has been written about ____
64. Few attempts have been made to investigate the role of ____
On the use of active vs. passive voice:
Notice how sentences 59-64, which are in the passive voice, shift the focus away from the agent (i.e., “the doer”) toward the action. As a rule, in the humanities and social sciences, the fact that there is an agent often needs to be acknowledged, while in the natural sciences preference tends to be given to omitting the agent. Be sure to follow the guidelines set by your institution.
Previous research has largely overlooked [11] the…
65. role of ____
66. importance of ____
67. significance of ____
68. issue of ____
69. challenges associated with ____
70. ways in which ____
71. possibility that ____
72. Previous studies have disregarded ____
73. Research on ____ has relied primarily on ____
74. Previous research in the field of ____ has been restricted to ____
75. A limited number of studies have addressed ____
76. Existing research has focused on ____ but has failed to explore ____
77. Within the field of ____, a number of crucial questions remain unanswered.
78. Few studies in the field of ____ have sought [12] to examine ____
79. Remarkably few studies have been designed to ____
80. The evidence points to ____. However [13], the role of ____ is still poorly understood.
81. ____ is an important area of enquiry; however, relatively little is known about ____
82. Most scholars seem to agree that ____. However, there continues to be debate about ____
83. ____ has been the subject of research since ____. However, ____
84. A number of [14] studies have shown that ____. However, important questions regarding ____ remain unanswered.
85. Available data regarding ____ are contradictory.
86. Smith’s research is not without [15] controversy.
87. Smith’s study has been subject to a great deal of criticism.
88. Smith’s attempts to establish a link between ____ and ____ are questionable.
89. Critics of ____ argue that ____
90. The limitations of ____ are increasingly apparent.
91. There [16] remain many unanswered questions about ____.
92. While there has been a great deal of research on ____, very few studies ____
93. Although a considerable body of research has ____, less attention has been paid to ____
94. Despite [17] decades of research on ____, ____ has been less than satisfactory.