Reference no: EM133554105

Question

1. Define your research puzzle. It should be something that you are curious about to explore. Consider the following model research scenario: "It is a commonly accepted fact that the bigger a country's military and the more developed its economy are, the easier it should defeat a smaller and a weaker opponent. However, sometimes the stronger countries lose to their weaker counterparts";

2. Define the research question based on the research puzzle. In the same model example above, you may come up with the following question, "Why do big countries lose wars against the smaller enemies?";

3. Come up with a solid work hypothesis that would give provisional explanation(s) of the phenomena you are interested in. The following could be one of the work hypothesis in the model scenario above, "The weaker party uses non-conventional tactics of guerilla warfare, which the stronger country's military is not used to. "...[T]he guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win." (Henry Kissinger).

4. Pick a theory that would provide tentative frameworks of reference for operationalization of your project. From our example, "Asymmetric warfare is the best explanation of the losses the strong conventional military may suffer against non-conventional weaker insurgents."