Teory of Ogdan and Richart

What and how to find research gaps?

       Research gaps are the result of efforts to identify gaps or areas of knowledge that are either empty or need to be filled with new understanding or knowledge through research. An empty area or gap can be a topic that is poorly understood, or there is insufficient knowledge and information that prevents us from finding answers or conclusions on an issue or question.

A junior asked: "Bang, I work in the field of water and sanitation during disasters and I want to take a PhD in that field, bro. Approximately how? "Others asked:" Bang, I work in the field of trafficking, about how to continue my doctorate in the field of migration and human trafficking? Previously several asked: "Bang, I work in the field of climate change adaptation with NGOs, I'm interested in taking S3. What should I do, sir? Or a friend who is a crab research specialist, asks how to continue his doctoral research on crabs.

Well, this article is a continuation of what I've discussed: PhD Tips - How to formulate research questions? As previously discussed, the matter of tradition in further education at the doctoral level (S3) or PhD in developed countries, PhD is not a trivial matter in the lens of knowledge production systems. Each PhD thesis is expected to give birth to new knowledge or at least contribute to knowledge. And every PhD student must be able to find a knowledge gap that needs to be filled. Sometimes referred to as a 'research gap'.

The journey to find research gapsinformation might be illustrated in the following story or mental model. Imagine, you come to a new range that you encounter on a new island that you do not know. Two choices for you: First, you can act like a European when you come to the Americas or Australia. Your expansive mission makes you think you are the first person to arrive on the continent. No matter if there are already 50-80 thousand years of indigenous people, you arbitrarily claim your "new findings" Of course it's a joke! After all, you might have read a PhD thesis on governance in the public sector and at the end the author concluded that 'collaboration between all parties, government, NGOs, private sector, donors, universities and other actors' is needed. Isn't this a waste of time where after 4 years of study,Sounds familiar? Yes, it often happens.

This first mental model certainly needs to be corrected because the approach of the first model above cannot be justified. This approach can be called an egocentric approach - that is, a mental model that usually does not pay much attention to what other people are already working on in the area they are involved in. Just because you are interested and want to know, you start everything from scratch without wanting to know what happened before you. You also have the opportunity to waste time and money if someone has done previous research even though different places. Even though maybe in 100 years people have been researching a lot of things related to the above crab or refugee shelter .

But there is a second choice for you: Once you set foot on a new continent, you need to ask more honestly: has anyone set foot before this place? If yes, try to observe and map their areas while making a more humane square: where do you stand? Are you just standing on a site that someone else has built? Or do you have to create a new colony that does not necessarily mean a plunder (read: plagiarism). There are still many choices of course. You can negotiate and ask local residents that you have a new tool in exploring existing resources and that can be your contribution to the common good in the continent.

Of course, one effort to look for research gap gaps , can begin with the problematization of social and physical realities that we face everyday. Sometimes, research is a matter of looking for problems. But problems in the academic perspective are not congruent with social problems or problems. For true academics, the absence of social problems (like all people in a certain population is healthy and without crime), can be an academic problem. The process of academic problematization of reality does not require harsh reality. The aim is to gain knowledge about why everything is fine and how to be better than the current conditions or how to maintain a well-established and good situation.