Chapter Two

Formulating a Research Problem

2.1 Meaning of research problem
In research processes, the first step happens to be identifying and properly defining a research
problem. The researcher must find any social, economic, business problem and formulate it into
research problem. The problem identified initially may be stated in broad general way and then
gradually the ambiguity will be resolved.

The feasibility of a possible particular solution has to be considered before formulating the
problem. The best way of understanding a problem is to discuss it with colleagues or those of
having some experiences in the matter.

What is a Research Problem?

A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty, which a researcher faces (experiences)
in the context of both theoretical and practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the
same.
We say a research problem exist, if the following conditions are met:
1. There must be an individual or group or organization which has some difficulty/the
problem
2. There must be some objectives to be attained at
3. There must be an alternative means or actions for obtaining the objective (s) one wishes
to attain. This means that there must be two or more means or actions available for/to
researcher for if he has no choice of means, he cant’ have a problem
4. There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the selection of
alternatives. This means that research must answer the question concerning the relative
efficiency of the possible alternatives.
5. There must be some environment (s) to which the difficulty pertains.
The problem statement is one sentence, accompanied by several paragraphs that elaborate the
problem. Accompanying statements may include:
 Persuasive arguments why the problem is important enough to study.
 The brief opinion of other researchers
 Explanations as to how the problem relates to business, social or political trends by
presenting data that demonstrates the scope and depth of the problem.
 Statement of the problem usually may end up with research questions.
1|Page
Topic and problem can be fixed in consultation with the research supervisor. Research supervisors
suggest a topic and state a problem in broad view. The researcher has to narrow it and define it in
operational form. If the researcher is not interested in the topic and problem assigned to him but is
working on it because of supervisor’s compulsion, then he will not be able to face and overcome
the obstacles which come at every stage in research. The starting point of a research is the
selection of a research topic and problem. Identifying a suitable topic for work is one of the most
difficult parts of a research. Before choosing a research topic and a problem the young researchers
should keep the following points in mind.
 Topic should be suitable for research
 The researcher should have interest in it.
 Topic should not be chosen by compulsion from someone else.

2.2 Sources of Research problems

 Reading  Brainstorming
 Academic Experience  Research
 Daily experience  Intuition
 Exposure to field situation  New-innovation
 Consultation

2.3 Nature of Research Problem

Formulating a research problem is the first and most important step in the research process. It is
like determination of the destination before undertaking a journey. Formulation of the problem
means defining the problem precisely. In other words, a problem well defined is half solved.
Formulation of problem is often more essential than its solution because when the problem is

formulated, an appropriate technique can be applied to generate alternative solutions. The

statement of the problem is the focal point of your research. It is just one sentence you can
easily identify the single sentence that is the core of your research problem. The following
statements are best describing research problem;
 A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved.
 A problem to be investigated must be defined in order to discriminate relevant
data from irrelevant

2|Page
  Ill-defined problem may create hurdle
 Defining a research is prerequisite for any study :
 Formulation a problem is often more essential than its solution
 It is only carefully detailing research problem that we can work out the research
design
2.3.1 Formulation of a problem involves the following steps/techniques:
 Statement of the problem in a general way
 Understanding the nature of the problem
 Surveying the available literature
 Developing the idea through discussion
 Rephrasing the research problem into a working proposition.

Statement of the problem in a general way:

First of all the problem should be stated in a broad general way, keeping in view either some practical
concern or some scientific or intellectual interest. For this purpose, the researcher must immerse himself
thoroughly in the subject matter concerning which he wishes to pose a problem. In case of social research,
it is considered advisable to do some field observation and as such the researcher may undertake some
sort of preliminary survey or what is often called pilot survey. Then the researcher can himself state the
problem or he can seek the guidance of the guide or the subject expert in accomplishing this task. Often,
the guide puts forth the problem in general terms, and it is then up to the researcher to narrow it down and
phrase the problem in operational terms. In case there is some directive from an organizational authority,
the problem then can be stated accordingly. The problem stated in a broad general way may contain
various ambiguities which must be resolved by cool thinking and rethinking over the problem. At the
same time the feasibility of a particular solution has to be considered and the same should be kept in view
while stating the problem.

Understanding the nature of the problem:

The next step in defining the problem is to understand its origin and nature clearly. The best way of
understanding the problem is to discuss it with those who first raised it in order to find out how the
problem originally came about and with what objectives in view. If the researcher has stated the problem
himself, he should consider once again all those points that induced him to make a general statement
concerning the problem. For a better understanding of the nature of the problem involved, he can enter
into discussion with those who have a good knowledge of the problem concerned or similar other

3|Page
problems. The researcher should also keep in view the environment within which the problem is to be
studied and understood
Surveying the available literature:
All available literature concerning the problem at hand must necessarily be surveyed and examined before
a definition of the research problem is given. This means that the researcher must be well-conversant with
relevant theories in the field, reports and records as also all other relevant literature. He must devote
sufficient time in reviewing of research already undertaken on related problems. This is done to find out
what data and other materials, if any, are available for operational purposes.
“Knowing what data are available often serves to narrow the problem itself as well as the technique that
might be used.”This would also help a researcher to know if there are certain gaps in the theories, or
whether the existing theories applicable to the problem under study are inconsistent with each other, or
whether the findings of the different studies do not follow a pattern consistent with the theoretical
expectations and so on.
All this will enable a researcher to take new strides in the field for furtherance of knowledge i.e., he can
move up starting from the existing premise. Studies on related problems are useful for indicating the type
of difficulties that may be encountered in the present study as also the possible analytical shortcomings.
At times such studies may also suggest useful and even new lines of approach to the present problem.

Developing the ideas through discussions:

Discussion concerning a problem often produces useful information. Various new ideas can be developed
through such an exercise. Hence, a researcher must discuss his problem with his colleagues and others
who have enough experience in the same area or in working on similar problems. This is quite often
known as an experience survey. People with rich experience are in a position to enlighten the researcher
on different aspects of his proposed study and their advice and comments are usually invaluable to the
researcher. They help him sharpen his focus of attention on specific aspects within the field. Discussions
with such persons should not only be confined to the formulation of the specific problem at hand, but
should also be concerned with the general approach to the given problem, techniques that might be used,
possible solutions, etc.

Rephrasing the research problem:

Finally, the researcher must sit to rephrase the research problem into a working proposition. Once the
nature of the problem has been clearly understood, the environment (within which the problem has got to
be studied) has been defined, discussions over the problem have taken place and the available literature
has been surveyed and examined, rephrasing the problem into analytical or operational terms is not a
difficult task. Through rephrasing, the researcher puts the research problem in as specific terms as

4|Page
possible so that it may become operationally viable and may help in the development of working
hypotheses.

2.3.2 Importance of formulating a research problem

 It determines the research destine. It indicates a journey for the researcher. Without it a
clear and feasible plan is impossible.
 Research problem is like the foundation of a building. The type and design of the
building is dependent upon the foundation. If the foundation is well-designed and strong,
one can expect the building to be also.
 The research problem serves as the foundation of a research study: if it is well
formulated, one can expect a good study to follow.

2.3.3 How to Evaluate a Research Problem

Research problem shall be evaluated in terms of:
Specificity and clarity
Feasibility:
 Sufficient resources (time, money, skills…)
 levels of difficulty & potential reward
 access – groups /individuals /records
 ethical concern
 Provable or testable
Some problem cannot be effectively solved through the process of research.
Particularly research cannot provide answers to philosophical and ethical questions
that don’t show the relationship exiting between two or more variables.
Academically interesting/significant
 fill a gap in theory
 important (influential /critical/special/unique ) population
 unique methods or provide opportunities for a fruitful exploration with known
techniques
 implications for a wide range of practical problems
 repeat a study: with a different groups of respondents,
 timely

5|Page
While selecting a research problem/topic there is a number of considerations to keep in mind
These considerations are:
• Interest • Level of expertise
• Magnitude (sufficient knowledge • Relevance
in the area) • Availability of data
• Measurement of concepts • Ethical issues

2.4 Steps in formulating Problems

The formulation of a research problem is the most crucial part of the research journey on which
the quality of the entire project depends. Steps include:
 Identify a broad filed or subject area of interest: What is it that really interest me as a
professional? This will help you to find an interesting topic and one which may be of
use to you in the future.
 Dissect the broad area in to subareas- Exhaustively list the subareas from the various
sources
 Select what is of most interest to you-it is neither advisable nor feasible to study all
subareas.
 Select one with which you are more passionate about. Your interest should be the
most important determinant for selection

2.4.1 How do you Assess whether the defined Problem as a Good Problem?
A problem in its first definition may not be appealing. It may require redefinition in order to
make it a good problem. That is, by suitably rewording or reformulating the chosen problem, it
can be made to meet the criteria of a good problem. This is also important to solve the problem
successfully. To this end a researcher can ask a series of questions on the problem. Some are:
(1) Is the problem really interesting to him and to the scientific community?
(2) Is the problem significant to the present status of the topic?
(3) Is there sufficient supervision/guidance?
(4) Can the problem be solved in the required time frame?
(5) Are the necessary equipment, adequate library and computational facilities available?
If the answers to these questions are satisfactory, then the researcher can initiate work on the
chosen problem. In addition, discuss the problem with the current doctoral students and obtain
the scope of the problem and other related aspects. Example of a problem statement:
6|Page
2.5. What Kind of Business Problems Might Need a Research Study
Most work in business organizations, in whatever sector or ownership will require research
activities. The idea that business research in the context of this course is likely to involve some
theory or concept as well as purely practical questions such as “how does the product rage
compare in terms of contribution to profit?” or “which method of training has produced more-
output-coaching or a group training course?” Both these questions have potential for theory
application as well as simple numerical survey, but some research problems are more obviously
underpinned by theoretical ideas.
When we choosing an area for research we usually start either with broad area of management
or accounting, which particularly interests us e.g. marketing or operations management; financial
management or auditing or we start with a very practical questions which need answers to help
with managerial decision making.
2.6. How Does Literature Relate to Research problem?
After Defining a problem, the researcher has to do literature survey connected with the problem.
Literature survey is a collection of research publications, books and other documents related to the
defined problem. It is very essential to know whether the defined problem has already been
solved, status of the problem, techniques that are useful to investigate the problem and other
related details. One can survey
(1) The journals which publish abstracts of papers published in various journals,
(2) review articles related to the topic chosen
(3) journals which publish research article
(4) advanced level books on the chosen topic
(5) proceedings of conferences, workshops, etc.,
(6) reprint/preprint collections available with the supervisor and nearby experts working on
the topic chosen and
(7) Internet.
No research shall be complete unless we make use of the knowledge available in books, journals
and internet. Review of the literature in the area of research is a preliminary step before
attempting to plan the study.
2.6.1 Literature survey helps us;
(1) Sharpen the problem, reformulate it or even leads to Defining other closely related problems,
7|Page
(2) Get proper understanding of the problem chosen,
(3) Acquire proper theoretical and practical knowledge to investigate the problem,
(4) Show how the problem under study relates to the previous research studies and
(5) Know whether the proposed problem had already been solved.
Through survey one can collect relevant information about the problem. Clarity of ideas can be
acquired through study of literature. Apart from literature directly connected with the problem,
the literature that is connected with similar problems is also useful. It helps formulate the
problem in a clear-cut way. A review on past work helps us know the outcome of those
investigations where similar problems were solved. It can help us design methodology for the
present work. We can also explore the vital links with the various trends and phases in the
chosen topic and familiarize with characteristic precepts, concepts and interpretations. Further, it
can help us formulate a satisfactory structure of the research proposal.
2.6.2 Effective Literature Searching
A brief summary of previous research should be given so that the researcher and reader may be
familiar with what is already known and with what is still unknown and untested. The effective
research is based upon past knowledge, this step helps to eliminate replication of what has been
done and provides useful basis for the formulation of hypotheses and deciding the methodology
of the study. An effective review of related literature should conclude with a comment of area of
agreement and disagreement in findings.
In Effective literature reviewing Academic journals, Conference proceedings, Government
reports, Books, monographs (MSc. thesis and PhD dissertations) etc., must be looked into
depending upon the nature of the problem formulated for the specific topic
While Reviewing the Literature Focus on:
o Literature concerning the concepts and theories
o Empirical findings consisting studies made earlier
Effective literature searching helps to have
o Knowledge about available data and other materials on the theme of the research.
o A more sophisticated and clearer statement of specific questions
o Clear picture of the nature of data that would help tackle the research questions.
o Well integrated and feasible or realistic research design

8|Page
Sources of Research problem
There are some important sources of problems, which are helpful to a researcher for selecting a
problem. These include the following
Professional experience: One of the sources of problem for beginner researcher is his own
experience as a professional in a given field. The day-to-day observation of the incidences is the
working place and out of the working environment, which includes the experience of his
colleagues, their attitude, home environment, social-economic status and motivation level
provide rich sources of the problem.

Inference from theory. A research problem can be derived from a critical look into different
theories. In other words application of some general principles involved in different theories to
specific situation makes an important starting point of research.

Technological and social changes: Technological and social change directly or indirectly exerts
an influence in the function of an organization. All such change brings about new problems for
research. For instance, change may affect policy issues in which case they may arouse interest in
investigating new policies among the policy analysts or other concerned personalities.

The following points may be considered in selecting a research problem.

 A subject that is overdone should not be normally chosen, for it will be a difficult task to
throw any new light to such a case.
 Governmental subjects should not become a choice of an average researcher.
 Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
 The subject selected for research should be familiar and feasible so that the related
research material or source of research is within one’s reach.
 The importance of the subject, the qualification and the training of researcher, the cost,
the time factor are the few points that must be considered in selecting a problem.
Example for Business research questions Translated into Research Objectives.
Business problem/question:
Should the organization offer outplacement?
Research questions:
1. Are managers aware of outplacement services?
2. What are the benefits of each outplacement service?
9|Page
Research objectives:
1. To determine managers' awareness of outplacement services
2. To identify perceived benefits and perceived disadvantages of each outplacement service.

2.7 Formulation of Research Hypotheses

Once the selection and definition of the problem have been accomplished, the derivation of
working hypothesis is the most important step in the research process.

The word hypothesis is a compound of two words, ‘hypo’ and ‘thesis’. Hypo means, under or
below and thesis means a reasoned theory or national viewpoint.

The term hypothesis is defined as a proposition that is stated in a testable form and predicts a
particular relationship between two or more variables.

RESEARCH PROBLEM: “Factors that contribute to lower achievement of female students

than males in ESLCE in A.A”
The following hypotheses could be derived from the above research problem:

H1. Female Students receive significantly less support to their education than that of their male
counterpart.
H2. Female Students sustain significantly higher stereotypes in textbooks than do their male
counterpart.

It should be noted that these hypothesis are taken as a tentative solutions to the problem with the
understanding that the investigation in due course may lead either to their retention or rejection.

Establishing a hypothesis should follow rules like:

 The variables must be clearly specified and measurable by some techniques we know
 The relationship between them must be stated precisely.

Importance of hypothesis
A well-grounded hypothesis provides the following advantages:

 Represents specific objective, which determine the nature of the data needed to test the
proposition
10 | P a g e
  Offer basis for selecting the sample, the research procedure, and the statistical analysis
needed
 Keeps the study restricted in scope thereby preventing it from becoming too broad
 Sets a framework for reporting the conclusion of the study

Source of Hypothesis
The inspection for hypothesis comes from a number of sources w/h includes the following:

1. Professional Experience: The daily life experience or the day to day observation of the
relationship (correlation) between different phenomena leads the researcher to
hypothesize a relationship and to conduct a study if his/ her assumptions are confirmed.
2. Past Research or Common beliefs: Hypothesis can also be inspired by tracing past
research or by commonly held beliefs.
3. Through direct analysis of data or deduction from existing theory: Hypothesis may also
be generated through direct analysis of data in the field or may be deducted from a formal
theory. Through attentive reading, the researcher may able to get acquaintance with
relevant theories, principles and facts that may alert him or her to identify valid for
his/her study
4. Technological and social changes: Directly or indirectly exerts an influence in the
function of an organization. All such changes bring about new problems for research.

Forms of Hypothesis
Statement of research hypothesis can take a declarative (positive) form, negative form, the null
form, or the question form.

Positive: Students who learn in small class size will perform significantly better in mathematics
test than those who learn in large class size.
Negative: Students who learn in small class size will not perform significantly better in math’s
test than those in large class size.
Null Form: There is no significances difference between students who learn in small class size
and those who learn in large class size in their mathematics performance.

11 | P a g e
Question Form: Is there significant difference between students who learn in small class size
and those in large class size in their math’s performance?
In general, when a researcher makes a positive statement about the outcome of the study, the
hypothesis takes declarative forms. When the researcher negates about outcome of the study, the
hypothesis takes the negative form.
When the researcher makes a statement that no relationship exists, the hypothesis takes the null
form. In the question form hypothesis, a question is asked as to what the outcome will be instead
of stating what outcome is expected. It should also be noted that a working proposition stated
either in declarative, negative, null, question form is a matter of preference by the researcher.

Characteristics of a Useable Hypothesis

A fruitful hypothesis is distinguished by the following characteristics:
1. A hypothesis should be empirically testable- its concepts must have clear empirical
correspondence and should be explicitly defined in a way it can be proved or disproved .e.g
Bad parents beget bad children. Bad cannot be explicitly defined.
2. The hypothesis should be conceptually clear- the concepts should be clearly defined,
operationally if possible, and the definitions should be commonly accepted and
communicable rather than the production of the researcher himself. An ambiguous
hypothesis characterized by undefined or ill deigned concepts cannot be tested.
3. The hypothesis should be closest to things observable- It should provide conditions for
comparison with empirical facts.
4. The hypothesis must be specific- It should be concrete and objective and predictable rather
than subjective.
5. The hypothesis should be related to a body of a theory or some theoretical orientation. The
theoretical gains of testing the hypothesis should be justified so that the research outcome
will help to qualify, support, correct or refute a theory. Moreover the function of research
may be elaborating, extending and improving a theory.
6. The hypothesis should be related to the available techniques its research ability may be
determined by available analytical techniques and the hypothesis should be formulated after
duly considering the methods and techniques of researches.

12 | P a g e