Blog Post #3: Research Gap

     Essentially, my entire research topic is a giant research gap. My research project is on the impact of Instagram book reviews on the sales of indie-published books. There is zero research that currently exists that addresses that question. Thus far, all of my research has been peripheral to this topic. I have focused on the importance of book reviews on sales, the use of social media as a marketing tool, and the particular challenges of publishing a book independently. All of these topics together will help to inform my research, but it is hard going into it with no foundation in this topic. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 5, 2021 at 7:02 PM

    What research methods will you incorporate in your research to close this gap?

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  2. Israel RamirezOctober 5, 2021 at 7:11 PM

    The problem you presented about having only peripheral research to try to connect these three topics is somewhat along the lines of what I am dealing with. I have found research on related fields of study, but nothing that directly researches what I want to answer with my research question. I will be conducting surveys, a baby step approach, with my research as this is a field that has not been investigated. I feel that it will be a great introductory step into research that has not been looked at. This could be something you can look into if you are still open to suggestions.

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  3. Delaney MarichOctober 12, 2021 at 11:59 AM

    I had the same difficulty with my topic! All of the research that I was able to find was entirely peripheral to my topic. For your own research, and any other future research on the topic, what do you suggest? Why do you find this topic so important? Were you able to find research on how instagram affected books published with a corporate publisher? I really like your topic and I'm intrigued to know more!

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  4. Dr. Florence Elizabeth BacabacOctober 13, 2021 at 8:15 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Dr. Florence Elizabeth BacabacOctober 13, 2021 at 8:17 PM

    Hi Allison,

    Great points raised here! After having read your lit. review assignment, I like the idea of a study specifically on Instagram/Bookstagram which utilizes the insights of readers and/or consumers (or if you have access to a couple book authors who used Instagram to market their books, that's also fine). There seems to be a dearth of research on this topic and as you said, you have a good opening/edge to pursue this all the more. Let me know if you want to set a quick Zoom meeting before your proposal is due -- am here.

    Dr. B

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