Framework for Identifying Research Gaps for Future Academic Research

Abstract

Wang, Wang, Chen, and Yang (2016) defined research gaps as a region where the ability to infer a particular question is constrained by a lack of knowledge. It is an area where the methods and insufficient research data have limited the capacity to get to a fully reliable judgment on a research subject. Therefore, academics need to situate their objectives in the research gap of the subject field. Particularly research gaps are those research questions that have not been addressed properly beforehand. This not only indicates the study's relevancy but also the considerable contribution it could bring to the field of study (Issah, Hamza, & Prosper, 2022). According to Ajemba and Arene (2022) posing questions and finding new research areas based on previous studies are the first steps in doing research. The limitations of the study's design, the use of inadequate instruments, or other factors that the researcher could or could not control led to the development of a research gap. For new and inexperienced researchers, it might be challenging to explore the research gap due to a limited amount of criteria or established methodologies, making research gap analysis confusing and equivocal. For example, if the researcher is investigating a broad region and then going to pick a more specific field might contribute to the description of a statement of the problem. This study's goal is to offer a methodology for determining research gaps. It will make recommendations based on each aspect of the research gap analysis framework.