8 Way to identify the research gap for your PhD and MS/MPhil:ย
A research gap is an unanswered question or problem in your field. Answering this question or solving this problem will be the objective of your PhD/MS research.
Here is one way to identify the gap.
๐. ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐๐:ย Before identifying the gap, you need to identify the area. This is quite easy. The area can either come from your previous interests or your supervisors can give it to you. For example, detecting cyber-attacks is a research area.
๐. ๐๐๐๐ ๐-๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐: Once the area is identified, search for 5-10 most relevant literature reviews/secondary studies in the area. These papers have already reported a summarized view of the existing primary studies. Read these papers carefully to understand what literature already exists in the area.
๐. ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฌ: While reading these 5-10 literature reviews, focus on the future research areas, open challenges, and discussion section. Identify 3-5 research directions from these literature reviews. Detecting data exfiltration attacks is a research direction.
Are you about to start writing your PhD thesis?
๐. ๐๐ก๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ: Just to make sure that you donโt end up doing something that already exists, search primary studies related to the research directions. Drop the ones where exactly similar works exist.
๐. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ: Make a few slides to present the remaining directions to your supervisors. From here, you should pick the direction where you and your supervisor see the most potential.
๐. ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: Once the direction is picked, do a literature review on the specific direction. If no paper exists at all in this direction, this could mean two things โ either the topic is not worth doing research or the topic is good but too new.
๐. ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: This literature review process should get you the crisp gap. However, it wonโt come automatically. While reading each paper, note down the points that you think could be worth future research. This will become part of your discussion or future research section. For example, detecting data exfiltration attacks in real-time is a gap.
๐. ๐๐ก๐๐๐ค ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฉ: Once you have identified the research gap, check what kind of resources, data, infrastructure, etc, you need to conduct this research. Make sure that you can have access to these resources before you start working on the gap.
Writer: Faheem Ullah
Assistant Professor
Computer Science, Australia
