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Topic 1.5 of Introduction to Research

Identifying and Defining a Research Problem

Why "IoT security" is a topic and not a research problem, what the Mirai botnet case shows about reframing a question, and how to split a problem into workable sub-problems.

~30 min total·4 quadrants of structured content

By the end of this topic, you will

State the four requirements a well-defined research problem must meet: specificity, answerability, non-triviality, and a stated boundary
Reframe a vague topic into a specific, bounded research problem
Split a research problem into a small number of independently researchable sub-problems
Compare how the WannaCry and Mirai cases each traced a global incident back to one preventable root cause

Quadrant 1 · e-Tutorial

Video lectures and walkthroughs

Quadrant 2 · e-Content

Articles and case studies

research-methodology

Identifying and Defining a Research Problem

"IoT security" is a topic. It is not a research problem. The Mirai botnet shows what reframing a question actually looks like -- and how splitting a big question into two or three sub-problems turns a news story into something you can actually answer.

11 min read

Quadrant 3 · Web Resources

Downloadable material and curated external links

Web resources coming soon.

Quadrant 4 · Self-Assessment

Test your knowledge — earn a certificate on first pass

Assessment coming soon.