ABSTRACT
When defining a research topic, change is the operative term. To conduct research is
to observe and measure change that occurs for reasons that may be described. Once the re-
searcher has a solid handle on the theory and the literature surrounding the issue area, a rea-
sonable description of what the research is all about needs to be composed. It starts with a
problem area that may surface either in the literature or in the real-life situation of the re-
searcher. One reason to read the research literature is to get to the bottom of this problem,
which may have been solved by other researchers. If it has not been solved sufficiently for the
researcher, then a structure to solve that problem needs to be organized. The first step in this
problem solving is to conceptualize the topic.
