What Is a Research Gap? How to Identify and Write One in a Thesis

What Is a Research Gap in a Thesis

A research gap is a problem, relationship, or context that previous studies have not fully explained, tested, or agreed on. It gives you a basis for showing that your topic needs to be studied instead of simply repeating a topic that already has extensive results.

You can think of a gap as an unanswered part of the literature. For example, many studies may have tested the effect of perceived usefulness on the intention to use banking applications, while clear evidence is still lacking for students in a specific location. That untested part may become a direction for your thesis if you can collect the required data in practice.

A research gap does not mean that your topic must be completely unknown worldwide. In a quantitative thesis, the gap often concerns the context, population, mediator, moderator, measurement approach, or differences between previous findings. You can also see the section on theoretical foundations to connect the gap with your research model and concepts.

A good research gap must lead to a research objective, research question, or hypothesis. If your paragraph only says that “few studies have been conducted” without showing what is missing, how it is missing, and what data you will use to test it, the committee may ask you to clarify it immediately.

The Standard Structure of a Research Gap Section

In a thesis, the research gap usually appears at the end of the literature review or immediately before the research objectives, questions, and model. There is no mandatory length. For an undergraduate thesis, you can use about one to three paragraphs, followed by the objective and the way you will address the gap. If the literature is extensive and contains several groups of issues, this section can be longer, but each paragraph still needs to support the main argument.

Separate the “gap in the literature” from the “expected contribution of the study”. The gap describes what previous studies have not clarified. The contribution describes how your study will address that missing part. These ideas are connected, but you should not write as though your study is certain to create a major impact.

When you write about the literature, record the sources in your reference list and cite them correctly. You can consult how to cite references and how to write the reference list to keep in-text citations consistent with the list at the end of your thesis.

Steps for Writing a Research Gap

Step 1: Identify the Central Question of Your Topic

Before looking for a gap, write one sentence describing your topic using this structure: which population, in which context, is affected by which factors, and what outcome needs to be explained. For example: “Which factors influence students’ intention to use e-wallets in Ho Chi Minh City?”

This sentence keeps you from reading every paper that happens to contain a related keyword. You only need to focus on variables that may appear in your model, such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, perceived risk, and behavioral intention.

If your topic is still too broad, you can review undergraduate thesis topics to compare ways of narrowing the population, context, and research variables. A narrow topic with feasible data is usually easier to support with a research gap than a topic covering too many customer groups.

Step 2: Create a Literature Reading Table

Open the studies you have selected and create a separate table. You can use Excel or the SPSS Data Editor if you want to manage the information as data. Each row represents one study. Your columns should include the author, year, context, sample, independent variables, dependent variable, method, main findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

Do not record only the article title. A paper with a title similar to your topic may still use a different scale, sample group, or model. These details are what help you identify the missing part.

As you read, mark statements such as “future research”, “limitation”, “mixed findings”, and “underexplored context”, as well as passages where the authors say that the findings require further testing. These are signals to read more carefully. You still need to check whether the gap fits your topic and whether you can collect the necessary data.

Step 3: Classify the Type of Gap

You can classify the gap into the following groups so that your writing does not remain vague.

Context gap: A relationship has been tested in another country, industry, or population, but its meaning in your research context remains unclear. You need to explain why the new context is different enough to justify testing.

Population gap: Previous studies have focused on office workers or business customers, while students, new users, or small business owners have not been examined sufficiently.

Model gap: Previous studies have tested direct effects but have not examined a mediator or moderator that fits your question. The additional relationship needs a theoretical basis. Do not add a variable only because it makes the model look more complex.

Findings gap: Studies have reported different directions or levels of effect. In that case, present the inconsistency using specific sources and explain the conditions under which your study will test it.

Method or measurement gap: A concept has not been measured consistently, or a scale has not been tested in the context you selected. This point needs to be connected to your plan for testing the scale’s reliability and validity.

Step 4: Check Whether the Gap Can Be Studied with Quantitative Data

Ask yourself three questions. First, can the gap be converted into measurable variables and relationships? Second, can you collect questionnaires from the correct population? Third, are your sample size and remaining time sufficient to run Cronbach's Alpha, EFA, regression, or PLS-SEM according to your design?

A statement such as “users have different experiences” is not yet a complete quantitative gap. You need to turn it into a measurable question, such as the effect of experience on behavioral intention, or the moderating role of experience in the relationship between trust and intention.

Step 5: Turn the Gap into a Connected Argument

Write in this order: what previous studies have clarified, what remains missing, why the missing part matters, and how your study will address it. Each important claim should be connected to the relevant literature. Avoid presenting a long list of author names without synthesizing the findings.

After the gap paragraph, move to the research objectives and questions. If your topic uses a quantitative model, the gap should also lead naturally to the relationships in the model and the research hypotheses.

Reusable Sentence Templates

The sentences below are frameworks that you can replace with real information from your literature. Do not keep them unchanged if the context, variables, or findings in your study are different.

How to write this in your thesis

You can adapt the following paragraph: “Although previous studies have examined [topic] in [earlier context], evidence concerning [specific gap] among [population] in [location] remains limited. Therefore, this study develops a model including [variables] and uses survey data from [expected sample size] to test [research objective].”

In this paragraph, [earlier context], [specific gap], and [variables] must be replaced with information supported by sources. Enter [expected sample size] only after you have determined your sampling approach and analysis method. Do not insert an arbitrary number simply to make the paragraph look specific.

A Short Research Gap Example

Suppose you are studying “Factors influencing students’ intention to continue using e-wallets in Ho Chi Minh City”. After reading the literature, you notice that previous studies often test perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust. Some studies survey users as a general group, but few focus on students who already use e-wallets in a market where several platforms compete.

You could write the following shortened paragraph:

“Previous studies have indicated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust may be related to the intention to use or continue using digital services. However, many studies treat users as a single group, while students differ from other customer groups in income, transaction frequency, and sensitivity to incentives. In addition, the relationship between trust and the intention to continue using e-wallets in a context where users have several platform choices requires further testing. Therefore, this study proposes a model testing the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust on students’ intention to continue using e-wallets in Ho Chi Minh City.”

This is an illustration of the argument structure, not the result of a completed study. When you include it in your thesis, replace the claims with findings synthesized from real sources, place citations correctly, and describe the planned sample clearly.

This gap could be developed into hypotheses, but you should not write a hypothesis based only on the statement that “no studies have been conducted”. You need a theoretical basis for the direction of the effect, clear variable definitions, and appropriate scales. If you use TAM, TPB, or UTAUT, explain the model’s logic before moving to H1, H2, and the following hypotheses.

Common Problems That Make the Committee Ask Follow-Up Questions

Saying “no studies have been conducted” before checking enough literature. This is a very broad claim and can be challenged by an article you failed to find. Use a limited formulation such as “the studies reviewed suggest that evidence remains limited in...” and state the scope of your search.

Treating a new topic as the same thing as a research gap. A new location does not automatically create a meaningful gap. Explain which characteristics of the location, population, or research conditions could make the results different from previous studies.

Only listing the limitations of previous papers. A limitation is a starting point. The gap must show what your study will test or add. If you do not have the variables, sample, and method needed to address it, that limitation may not be suitable as your research gap.

Adding variables to make the model look original. Each new variable increases the requirements for definition, measurement, sample size, and theoretical explanation. A smaller model with a clear argument is usually easier to defend than a large model assembled from unrelated papers.

Writing the research gap after running the analysis in the preferred direction. Establish the research argument and model before viewing the results so that you do not adjust the story around the p-value. The data may not support your hypothesis, and that is a result that needs to be reported honestly.

Failing to connect the gap to the conclusion and recommendations. At the end of the thesis, return to the question of which part of the gap your study addressed, which results support that conclusion, and what limitations remain. Recommendations should follow from variables with effects in the surveyed context. They should not become general advice for every business.

Frequently asked questions

What is a research gap, and does it have to be completely new?

A research gap is an area of knowledge or evidence that is incomplete, inconsistent, or untested in a relevant context. You do not need to create a topic that has never appeared in any country. For a thesis, testing a model with a new population or context can be appropriate if you explain the difference and have suitable data.

Where can I find a research gap?

Look in the literature review, results, limitations, and suggestions for future research in relevant papers. Do not simply copy the phrase “future research”. Check the paper’s entire model, sample, scales, and findings, then compare them with your research question.

How long should a research gap be?

There is no fixed length for every institution. For a quantitative thesis, one to three paragraphs may be enough if you synthesize the literature, identify the missing part, and connect it to the research objective. A longer section is not more convincing if its sentences only repeat author names or restate the topic.

Can Vietnam be used as a research gap?

Yes, but you need to explain why Vietnam or a specific population in Vietnam deserves separate testing. Simply changing the survey location from another country to Vietnam is a weak argument. Identify relevant characteristics involving behavior, the market, policy, service use, or measurement conditions, then specify which data will test the relationship.

How is a research gap different from a research problem?

A research problem is the question or phenomenon you want to explain. A research gap is the reason from the literature showing that the question has not been answered sufficiently. For example, “Will students continue using e-wallets?” is a research problem, while “Evidence concerning the role of trust in continued use intention among students in a specific location remains limited” is a gap that can lead to that problem.

What should I do if I cannot find a research gap?

Narrow the question by population, location, time, variable, or method. At the same time, create a literature reading table so that you can compare studies instead of reading them separately. If the model and context still completely overlap with many studies and you have no reason to add anything, consider adjusting the topic before collecting data.

Open your literature review file, create a table with the author, year, sample, variables, findings, and limitations, then write one gap paragraph using the structure “known, missing, to be tested”. When you need to connect this section to the model, hypotheses, and method using your own data, you can use DoThesis M3 for the model, hypotheses, scales, and questionnaire.