Chapter 2

Formulating Research Problem

 What is Research Problem?
• Research problem is a topic we would like to address,
investigate, or study.
• It is an area of concern, a condition to be improved, a
difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that
needs for meaningful understanding and deliberate
investigation.
• Broadly speaking, any question that we want answered or
any assumption or assertion that we want to challenge or
investigate can become a research problem.
• It all begins with a question.
• The first hurdle facing a researcher is selecting a topic that
is appropriate for scientific inquiry.
 What is Research Problem?
• Sources of research problems:
– Curiosity
– Information gaps
– Literature review
– Replication
– Controversy
– Resource persons (e.g. professor)
– Dissertation
– Books/reports
– Newspapers/TV/ radio/media
– Seminars, workshops, conferences
– Observation
– …etc.
 Formulating research problem
• Research problem needs to be defined/formulated.
• Formulating a research problem enables us to make the purpose
of our study clear to ourselves and target readers.
• The formulation of a research problem is the first and most
important step of the research process.
• It is like the identification of destination before undertaking a
journey.
• In the absence of destination, it is impossible to identify which
route to take.
• In the absence of clear research problem, a clear and economical
plan is impossible.
• The way you formulate a research problem determines all
subsequent steps of the research journey.
• If research problem is well formulated, you can expect good
study to follow.
 Formulating research problem…
• The formulation of research problem is the most crucial
part of the research journey as the quality and relevance of
the research entirely depends upon it.
• Every step that constitutes the how part of the research
depends upon the way you formulate the research problem.
• The process of formulating a research problem requires a
series of steps.
1. Identify the Broad Study Area
2. Dissect the Broad Study Area into Subareas
3. Select what is of most interest to you
4. Raise research questions
5. Formulate objectives
6. Assess your objectives
7. Double-check
 Formulating research problem…
1. Identify the Broad Study Area
• The research journey begins with selecting a broad field
that interests you.
• Ask yourself ‘what really interests me as a professional?’
• It is good idea to think about the field which you would
like work after graduation.
• This will help you to find an interesting topic, and one
which may be of use to you in the future.
• For example, if you do postgraduate in Computer Science
with specialization in Cyber Security, you must decide
your research study area in Cyber security.
• You might choose problems related with cyber threats,
cyber crimes, cyber attacks, etc.
 Formulating research problem…
2. Dissect the Broad Study Area into Subareas
• In this stage, you will dissect and specify your research
broad study area into some subareas.
• The more you think or read about the area, the more
subareas you will identify.
• To identify the subareas, consult people who have
knowledge in the area and literatures on the subject area.
• Develop an exhaustive list of the subareas.
• For example, if you select Cyber security as your broad
study area, then dissect it into network security, web
security, database security related with cyber crime , etc.
 Formulating research problem…
3. Select what is of most interest to you
• It is not feasible to study all subareas
• You should select issues in which you are passionate
about.
• Your interest must be the most important determinant of
your research study.
• Go through the list and delete all subareas that you are not
very interested in.
• Continue deleting until you are left with something that is
manageable, considering the time available to you, your
level of expertise and other resources needed.
 Formulating research problem…
4. Raise research questions
• At this step, ask yourself “what is it that I want to find out
about this subarea?”.
• Define what research problem or question you are going to
study.
• List down all questions that come to mind relating to the
chosen subarea.
• If there are too many to be manageable, go through the
same process of elimination used in step 3.
 Formulating research problem…
5. Formulate objectives
• Based on the research questions, formulate both the main
and specific objectives.
• The main difference between objectives and research
questions is the way in which they are written.
• Objectives transform questions into aims by using action-
oriented phrases such as ‘to find out’, ‘to determine’, ‘to
examine’, ‘to ascertain’, etc.
 Formulating research problem…
6. Assess your objectives
• Now, you should evaluate your objectives to make sure the
possibility of attaining them through your research study.
• Assess your objectives in terms of time, budget, resources
and technical expertise at your hand.
• You should also assess your research questions in light of
reality.
 Formulating research problem…
7. Double-check
• Before you go on research work you should review all
steps in formulating a research problem and all the things
that you have done till now.
• Then, ask yourself about your interest.
• Do you have enough resources to step up?
• If you are quite satisfied, then you forward to undertake
your research work.
• You can change any of your plans in the light of reality if it
requires.
 Step 1 Step 2
Identify main subject area Dissect into subareas
Alcoholism 1. Profile of alcoholism
2. The cause of alcoholism
3. The process of becoming an alcoholic
4. The effect of alcoholism on a family
5. Community attitude towards alcoholism
Step 3 6. The effectiveness of the treatment model, etc.
Select subareas of interest to you
Effects of alcoholism in a family

Step 5
Step 4 Formulate objectives
Raise research questions Main objective: to find out the effects of alcoholism on the
1. What impact does alcoholism have family
on marital relations? Specific objectives
2. How does it affect the various aspects 1. to ascertain the impact of alcoholism on marital relations
of children’s lives? 2. to determine the ways in which alcoholism affects the
3. What are the effects on family’s different aspects of children’s lives
finances? 3. to find out the effect of alcoholism on the financial
situation of family, etc.

Step 7 Step 6
Double-check Make sure
1. that you are really interested in the study Asses these objectives in light of:
2. that you agree with the objectives 1. the work involved
3. that you have adequate resources 2. the time available to you
4. that you have the technical expertise to 3. the financial resources at your disposal
undertake the study 4. your technical expertise in the area
 Literature Review
• One of the essential preliminary tasks for a research study is to go
through the existing literature in order to acquaint yourself with the
available body of knowledge in your area of interest.
• It is the process of searching the existing literature relating to your
research problem.
• It is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the
work that you are carrying out.
• Literature review is an integral part of research process and make a
valuable contribution to almost every operational step.
• It is important before the first step – to clarify research ideas, establish
theoretical roots of the study, and develop research methodology.
• Later on the research process – serves to enhance and consolidate your
knowledge in the subject area and helps to examine your findings in
the context of the existing body of knowledge.
• During write-up of research report – it helps to integrate your findings
with the existing body of knowledge i.e. to either support or contradict
 Literature Review…
• Literature review places your study in perspective to what others have
investigated about the issue.
• Literature review can help in four ways:
– Bring clarity and focus to your research problem
– Improve research methodology
– Broaden your knowledge base in your research area
– Contextualize your findings, i.e. integrate your findings with the existing
body of knowledge

1. Bring clarity and focus to research problem

• Literature review involves a paradox.
– On the one hand, you can’t effectively undertake literature search without
some idea of the problem you want to investigate.
– On the other hand, literature review can play an important role in
influencing your research problem thus influencing your choice of
research problem.
 Literature Review…
• A literature review normally falls into two parts.
• Initially, researchers explore the literature to look for a suitable
research idea and discover relevant material about any possible
research topics.
• or example, journals that regularly publish articles on the chosen
subject area, authors who are frequently cited in articles about the
problem and survey articles that review the previous work on a
particular topic and identify where more research is needed.
• This helps researchers to get a feel for the area and define a research
problem.
• The second part of the literature review begins once a topic is chosen.
• It carries on throughout the remainder of the research time, up to and
including writing the thesis or dissertation and preparing for a viva or
presentation — in case a paper relevant to your research is published at
the last minute.
• The aim is to gather and present evidence to support your claim that
you have created some new knowledge,
 Literature Review…

• It helps to understand the subject area better and thus

helping you to conceptualize the research problem clearly
and precisely.
• It helps you to learn
– what aspects of your subject area have been investigated by others
– what they have found out about these aspects
– what gaps they have identified and
– what suggestions they have given for further research.
• It will help you gain greater insight into your research problem
and give you clarity and focus.
• It will also help you to focus your study on areas where there are
gaps in the existing body of knowledge, and where you can add
to the existing body of knowledge thereby enhancing your
research’s relevance.
 Literature Review…
2. Improve research methodology
• Going through the literature acquaints you with the
methodologies that have been used by others to find answers to
research questions similar to the one you are investigating.
• It can tell you
– if others have used procedures and methods similar to one
you are proposing,
– which procedures and methods have worked well for other
researchers,
– what problems other researchers faced with these procedures
and methods.
• By becoming aware of any problems and pitfalls, you will be in
a better position to select a good methodology for your study.
3. Broaden your knowledge base in your research area
• The most important function of literature review is to ensure
you read widely around the subject area in which you intend to
conduct your research study.
• It is important to know
– what other researchers have found with regard to the same or
similar questions,
– what theories have been put forward and
– what gaps exist in the body of knowledge
4. Contextualize your findings
• Literature review helps you understand how the findings of your
study fit into the existing body of knowledge.
• How do answers to your research questions compare with what
others have found?
• Does it confirm or contradict with existing body of knowledge?
• What contributions have you made to the existing body of
knowledge?
 Literature Review…
• There are four sources for bibliography:
– Books
– Journals
– Conference papers
– The Internet
Books
• Books are a central part of any bibliography.
• They explain a field and the main approaches or theories used within
it, and they give guidance on particular methods or techniques.
• The materials published in books are usually important and of good
quality, and the findings are integrated with other research to form
coherent body of knowledge.
• The main disadvantage of books is that the material is not completely
up to date, as a year or more may pass between the completion of work
and its publication in the form of a book.
 Literature Review…
Journals
• Academic journal articles are where you should find information on
the current thinking and research in your area of interest.
• Journals provide the most up-to-date information, even though there is
often 2-3 years gap between the completion of research and its
publication in a journal.
• If you are able to identify any useful journals and articles, prepare a list
of those you want to examine.
• Start with one of these journals and examine the latest issue and try to
see if there is article that is relevant to your topic.
• If you feel that a particular article is of interest to you, read its abstract
to determine its relevance to your topic.
• An academic journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship
relating to a particular academic discipline is published.
• Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the
presentation, scrutiny, and discussion of researches.
 Literature Review…
• Journals containing refereed articles are rated more highly than those
with non-refereed articles.
• ‘Refereed’ means that articles have been ‘peer reviewed’: academics
unknown to an article’s authors assess its suitability and quality before
a decision is made to publish it or not.
• Some highly rated journals in computing
– ACM Computing Surveys
– Communications of the ACM
– Digital Creativity
– IEEE Transactions
– Information Systems Research
– MIS Quarterly
 Literature Review…
Conference papers
• Another source for literature to review is the papers presented at
professional conferences.
• These can provide you with the most recent research in the area.
• Try to get copies of these papers and review them.
• Proceedings do have their disadvantages.
– First, it can be difficult for research student to know the standard of a
conference
– Second, it can be hard to obtain copies of conference and workshop papers.
Internet
• The Internet is a very useful resource to researchers.
• Online databases and catalogues are an important tool in
searching for relevant publications.
• They have speeded up the whole business of literature searching.
 Literature Review…
• Search engines such as Google or Bing can also help you find web-
based material.
• There are also meta-search engines — they use a number of other
search engines and sort the combined results.
• Some search engines focused on scholarly search.
• For example, Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) searches only for
online academic publications.
• Journal publishers and conference organizers are increasingly putting
copies of articles and papers online; the abstracts if not the whole text.
• However, there are some problems with the Internet:
– First, there are few restrictions on what is placed on the web —
anyone can put material there.
– This means you have to look carefully at the authorship, credibility
and authenticity of anything you find on the web, particularly if
you found it via an all-purpose search engine such as Google.
– When using websites, it is easy to follow links to other sites and
end up becoming side-tracked from your original purpose.
 Literature Review…
• The review process:
1. Select topic
2. Search and choose the literature
3. Analyze and interpret the literature
4. Write the review
 Literature Review…
1. Select a Topic
• Choose a research area that interests you.
• From the research area, select a research topic.
• E.g. The Effect of Chewing Khat on the mental health of older people.

2. Search and choose literature

• Find materials relevant to the research subject.
• Where can the appropriate literature be found?
• Literature can be found from primary sources such as
– academic journals,
– conference proceedings,
– theses,
– dissertation, and
– government pamphlets
 Literature Review…
3. Analyze and interpret the literature
• Once you obtained and assessed a literature source, you need to
read it.
• And when reading the literature, you should also critically
evaluate it and its relevance to your own research.
• This means that you think about what the text offers you
– Is it useful to you and why?
• You also have to consider whether there are flaws or omissions.
• Are there parts you disagree with and why?
• Do you feel the conclusions are justified on the basis of the
evidence presented, or is there some false logic or unwarranted
assumptions?
• Developing our argument and critiquing the literature to ensure
that it supports our thesis.
 Literature Review…
4. Write the review
• The written literature review becomes a work that accurately
conveys the research that can be understood by the intended
audience.
• The critical literature review is not, though, a summary of
everything you have read.
• It is gathering and presenting evidence to support your claim
that you have created some new knowledge.
• This involves composing, molding and refining the literature.
• A common mistake is to make a critical literature review
‘author-centric’, that is, structured around the authors. For
example:
Jones (1995) found A, Smith (1996) found B, Atkins (1996) found both A
and B and Bell (2000) proposed C, though she offered no empirical
evidence for C.
 Literature Review…
• Instead, the critical review should normally be structured around
concepts, for example:
Evidence for A has been found (Atkins, 1995; Jones, 1996), and for B
(Atkins, 1996; Smith, 1996), and more recently C has been proposed, but
without any empirical evidence for C (Bell, 2000).
 Literature Review…
Plagiarism
• Plagiarism means that you have used someone else’s words or
ideas without giving them credit.
• Plagiarism is presenting other people’s ideas, thoughts, words,
figures, diagrams or results without referencing them, as if their
work were your own.
• You must credit people with their ideas.
• It is a serious misdemeanor, and if found guilty of it research
students will probably be failed.
• A good test for whether you are in danger of plagiarizing
another author’s words is
– whether you are able to write your discussion of a paper
without having to refer frequently to the author’s original.
 Literature Review…
• The more you find your eves going back and forth from the
keyboard or screen to the original paper, the more likely it is
that you might plagiarize.
• Copying and pasting from electronic sources is also plagiarism.
• There are a number of tools available to examiners that can be
used to assess whether or not work has been plagiarized.
• One example is turnitin (see www.turnitin.com)
• This tool ‘enables institutions and staff to carry out electronic
comparison of students’ work against electronic sources
including other students’ work.
 Referencing
• A citation is a way of giving credit to individuals for their
creative and intellectual works that you utilized to support your
research.
• It can also be used to locate particular sources and combat
plagiarism.
• Typically, a citation can include the author's name, date,
location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI.
• A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation
and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and
other formatting.
• There are many different ways of citing resources from your
research.
• The citation style sometimes depends on the academic discipline
involved.
 Referencing…
• Using sources without citing them is considered plagiarism.
• Authors must provide enough information so that readers can go
to the original sources and review them.
• By using citations and references, you acknowledge the work of
others and show how their ideas have contributed to your work.
• It is also a way of demonstrating that you have read and
understood key texts relating to the area you are writing about.
• When you quote from another source of information in your
work, you must provide a citation to it, which then leads to a
reference giving the full details of the resource.
• Hence, you will end up with a citation within the text, and a
reference list at or at the end of the report.
• The way that citations appear (the format) depends on the
citation style used.
• Citation style is a set of established rules and conventions for
documenting sources.
• Citation styles can be defined by an association (such as the
Modern Language Association (MLA)), publisher (such as the
University of Chicago Press), or journal (such as The New
England Journal of Medicine).
• Some common citation styles are:
– APA (American Psychological Association) is used by Education,
Psychology, and Sciences
– MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used by the
Humanities
– Chicago/Turabian style is generally used by Business, History, and
the Fine Arts
– IEEE style is used mainly in engineering, computer science and
information technology.
 Referencing…
• There are two aspects to referencing.
– how to use references correctly within the body of your report
called citing.
– how to present these references correctly at the end of your report.
• Generally speaking, there are two ways to cite references
– the parenthetical system and the numeric system.
• There are numerous variations on these techniques that have
their own idiosyncrasies.
• For example, Harvard style, Chicago is a form similar to
Harvard, MLA-style and CBE-style are forms based on the
numeric system.
• The parenthetical system uses the name of the author(s) and the
year of their publication to uniquely identify each reference
within a report.
 Referencing…
IEEE Referencing Style
• IEEE referencing style is a numerical style designed by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
• It is used in technical fields such as engineering, computer
science and information technology.
• Referencing in the IEEE style is a two-part process:
– In-text citation: a numerical reference in the text, relating to a
numbered reference in the reference list. The citation number
should be placed directly after the reference and should be
included inside the punctuation within a sentence.
– Reference list: a complete list of all the cited references, numbered
sequentially and with full bibliographic details.
• An IEEE in-text citation is just a number in brackets, pointing the
reader to the relevant reference.
• You may also mention the author’s name in your sentence, but you
don’t have to.
 Referencing…
• For online article
[#] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, “Title of article in sentence
case,” Abbreviated Title of Journal in Title Case and Italics, vol.
xxx, no. xxx, pp. starting page of article–ending page of article,
Abbreviated Month and year published [Online]. Available: DOI or
URL
• Example:
[1] G. Sanico and M. Kakinaka, “Terrorism and deterrence policy
with transnational support,” Def. Peace Econ., vol. 19, no. 2, pp.
153–167, Apr. 2008 [Online]. Available:
https://doi.org/10.1080/10242690701505419
• For printed article
[#] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, “Title of article in sentence
case,” Abbreviated Title of Journal in Title Case and Italics, vol.
xxx, no. xxx, pp. starting page of article–ending page of article,
Abbreviated Month and day published, year.
• Example:
[4] W. Q. Wang and H. Shao, “High altitude platform multichannel
SAR for wide-area and staring imaging,” IEEE Aerosp. and
Electron. Syst. Mag., vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 12–17, May 2014.
• Print Book: multiple authors
[#] A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, Title of Book in
Title Case and Italics. Place of Publication: Publisher, year.
• Example:
[3] A. H. Cordesman, A. Mausner, and D. Kasten, Winning in
Afghanistan: Creating Effective Afghan Security Forces.
Washington, DC, USA: Center for Strategic and International
Studies, 2009.
• Chapter in Edited Book: multiple authors, multiple editors
[#] A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, “Title of chapter in
sentence case,” in Title of Book in Title Case and Italics, D. D. Editor, Ed.
Place of Publication: Publisher, year, pp. starting page of chapter–ending
page of chapter.
• Example:
[2] A. H. Cordesman, A. Mausner, and D. Kasten, Introduction, in
Winning in Afghanistan: Creating Effective Afghan Security Forces, J.
Smith, Ed. Washington, DC, USA: Center for Strategic and International
Studies, 2009, pp. 4–5.
• Electronic Book
[#] A. A. Author, Title of Book in Title Case and Italics. Place of
Publication: Publisher, year [Online]. DOI or URL or Book Provider or
Name of Database in Title Case
Example:
[1] M. E. Bonds, Absolute Music: The History of an Idea. New York, NY,
USA: Oxford University Press, 2014 [Online]. Available:
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199343638.003.0004
• Book: Series, Section, or Volume
[#] A. A. Editor and B. B. Editor, Eds., Title of Book in Title Case and
Italics (Title of Series volume number). Place of Publication: Publisher,
year.
• Example:
[1] M. Abramowitz and I. A. Stegun, Eds., Handbook of Mathematical
Functions (Applied Mathematics Series 55). Washington, DC, USA:
NBS, 1964.
[#] A. A. Author, “Title of chapter in sentence case,” in Title of Book in
Title Case and Italics, vol. xxx, B. B. Editor and C. C. Editor, Eds. Place
of Publication: Publisher, year.
• Example:
[3] R. L. Myer, “Parametric oscillators and nonlinear materials,” in
Nonlinear Optics, vol. 4, P. G. Harper and B. S. Wherret, Eds. San
Francisco, CA, USA: Academic Press, 1977.
[#] A. A. Author, Title of Book in Title Case and Italics, edition number.
Place of Publication: Publisher, year, ch. xxx, sec. xxx.
• Example:
[2] B. Orend, Morality of War, 2nd ed. Tonawanda, NY, USA: Broadview
Press, 2013, ch. 2, sec. 3.
• Conference proceedings: online
[#] A. A. Author, B. B. Author, C. C. Author, D. D. Author, and E. E.
Author, “Title of article in sentence case,” in Abbreviated Name of
Proceedings or Collection in Title Case and Italics, (location is optional),
year published [Online]. Available: DOI or URL or Name of Database in
Title Case
• Example:
[2] J. W. Morentz, C. Doyle, L. Skelly, and N. Adam, “Unified Incident
Command and Decision Support (UICDS) a Department of Homeland
Security initiative in information sharing,” in 2009 IEEE Conference on
Technologies for Homeland Security, 2009 [Online]. Available:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5168032
• Conference proceedings: print
[#] A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, “Title of chapter in
sentence case,” in Abbreviated Name of Proceedings or Collection in Title
Case and Italics, (location is optional), year, pp. starting page of chapter–
ending page of chapter.
• Example:
[3] I. Katz, K. Gabayan, and H. Aghajan, “A multi-touch surface using
multiple cameras,” in Adv. Conc. for Intell. Vis. Sys.: 9th Intl. Conf.,
• Thesis / Dissertation: print
[#] A. A. Author, “Title of thesis/dissertation in sentence case,” M.S.
thesis or Ph.D. dissertation, Abbreviated Department, Abbreviated
Institution, Location of Institution, year published.
• Example:
[1] J. Rivera, “Software system architecture modeling methodology for
naval gun weapon systems,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Comp. Sci.,
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA, USA, 2010.
• Thesis: from an institutional archive
[#] A. A. Author, “Title of thesis/dissertation in sentence case,” M.S.
thesis or Ph.D. dissertation, Abbreviated Department, Abbreviated
Institution, Location of Institution, year published [Online]. Available:
DOI or URL or Name of Database in Title Case
Example:
[2] T. D. Moon, “Rising dragon: Infrastructure development and Chinese
influence in Vietnam,” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Natl. Sec. Aff., NPS,
Monterey, CA, USA, 2009 [Online]. Available:
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/4694
• Technical report: author name given (print)
[#] A. A. Author, “Title of technical report in sentence case,” Abbrev.
name of company, Place of Publication, Rep. xxxxxxx, year.
• Example:
[2] K. A. Abdulatipov and F. Ramazonov, “The absorption rate of E. coli
in cats,” Dept. Vet. Stud., Madison, WI, USA, Rep. 17-59, 2012.
• Technical Report: Organization as author (online)
[#] Organization Name, “Title of technical report in sentence case,” Place
of Publication, Rep. xxxxxxx, year [Online]. Available: DOI or URL or
Name of Database in Title Case
• Example:
[3] National Toxicology Program, “Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies
of trimethylolpropane triacrylate (CASRN 15625-89-5) in F344/N rats
and B6C3F1/N mice (Topical Application Studies),” Washington, DC,
USA, Rep. TR-576, 2012 [Online]. Available:
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/results/pubs/longterm/reports/longterm/tr500580?
/listedreports/tr576/index.html
• Website / Webpage: author and date given
[#] A. A. Author, “Title, section, or page name in sentence case,” Name of
Website in Title Case, full date of publication or modification [Online].
Available: URL
• Example:
[1] R. Roth, “75 years ago, the Doolittle Raid changed history,” CNN,
April 18, 2017 [Online]. Available:
https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/us/75th-anniversary-doolittle-
raid/index.html
• Website / Webpage: Organization as author
[#] Name of Website in Title Case, “Title, section, or page name in
sentence case,” full date of publication or modification [Online].
Available: URL
• Example:
[3] Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Forging papers to sell fake art,”
April 6, 2017 [Online]. Available:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/forging-papers-to-sell-fake-art
 Referencing…
• The reference list would look like this:
• [1] M. Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four
Meals. New York, NY, USA: Penguin, 2006.
• [2] W. Q. Wang and H. Shao, “High altitude platform multichannel
SAR for wide-area and staring imaging,” IEEE Aerosp. and
Electron. Syst. Mag., vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 12–17, May 2014.
• [3] A. H. Cordesman, A. Mausner, and D. Kasten, The effect of
rugged terrain, in Winning in Afghanistan: Creating Effective Afghan
Security Forces, J. Smith, Ed. Washington, DC, USA: Center for
Strategic and International Studies, 2009, pp. 4–5.
• [4] S. V. Effendi and X. Vilhjálmsson, “The absorption rate of potatoes
in salmonella,” Dept. Vet. Stud., Madison, WI, USA, Rep. 17-59, 2009
[Online]. Available: https://vetstudies.edu/donteatthosefries.html
• [5] J. Rivera, “Software system architecture modeling methodology
for naval gun weapon systems,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Comp.
Sci., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA, USA, 2010.
• Example: IEEE in-text citation
Flann [11] argues strongly in favor of this method. However, as
mentioned earlier [1], [3], [7]–[9], several objections have been made
regarding …
• Example: IEEE in-text citations treated as nouns
[11] argues strongly in favor of this method. However, as mentioned
earlier, [1], [3], and [7]–[9] object to …
• Example:
Jones [6], and Zheng and Rogers [7] have stated …
Azzarello et. al. [3] stated that they were unable to determine why …
• Direct quotes are used to support an argument showing the exact
words and phrases of an author according to the original source.
• Enclose quotes in double quotation marks and provide the citation in
square brackets after the quotation along with the page number(s).
• Examples of a short direct quote:
Baez et al. have noted that "full 3D stacking can potentially offer
additional advantages for memory and processor applications" [7, p. 14].
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses

• Objectives define specific goals we set out to achieve in

our research study.
• The objective directs us to what we want to reach through
our study.
• Therefore, it is inevitable to describe objectives as clearly
and specifically as possible.
• It is very important to set them clearly and specifically.
Specification of objectives and hypotheses…

• Both the main and specific objectives needs to be

formulated based on your research questions.
• The main difference between objectives and research
questions is the way in which they are written.
– Research questions are written in question form
– Objectives are written in action form
• Objectives transform research questions into behavioral
aims by using action-oriented terms such as ‘to determine’,
‘to examine’, ‘to find out’, etc.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
• In qualitative studies the statement of objectives is not as precise
as in quantitative studies.
• In qualitative studies you should simply mention an overall
objective of the study, as your aim is to explore as much as
possible as you go along.
• The strength of qualitative research is in flexibility of approach
and the ability to incorporate new ideas while collecting data.
• Having structured statements that bind you to a predetermined
framework of exploration is not a preferred convention in
qualitative research.
• Statements that you intend to explore is enough in case of
qualitative study.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
• Statements that you intend to explore
– ‘what it means to have a child with ADHD in the family’
– ‘how it feels to be a victim of domestic violence’
– ‘how people cope with racial discrimination’
– ‘the relationship between resilience and yoga
– ‘reconstructing life after a bushfire’
• These are sufficient to communicate your intent of objectives in
qualitative research.
• More detailed objectives, if need be, can be developed after a
study is complete.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
• On a study titled “Impact of immigration on a family”, here is
the main and specific objectives.
• Main objective:
– To ascertain the impact of immigration on the family.
• Subobjectives:
– To determine the impact of immigration on husband/ wife
roles as perceived by immigrants.
– To find out the impact of immigration on marital relations.
– To ascertain perceived changes in parental expectations of
children's academic and professional achievement.
– To determine perceived changes of attitude towards
marriage in the study population.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
• Hypotheses are suppositions that are tested by collecting facts
that lead to their acceptance or rejection.
• They are not assumptions to be taken for granted neither are
they beliefs that the investigator sets out to prove.
• They are "refutable predictions".
• Hypothesis can be called provisional formulations or tentative
solutions/answers to the problem we have chosen.
• When we get the results of our data, we examine them against
the hypothesis we had formulated.
– If they match, we accept the hypothesis and we say the
hypothesis is proved.
– If not, we reject the hypothesis.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
• Hypothesis must meet one criterion: it must be stated so that it is
capable of being either refuted or confirmed.
• A hypothesis must be testable and it must always be possible to
disprove, or falsify, the hypothesis.
• A hypothesis that is untestable removes the problem from the
realm of science.
• The hypothesis to be tested is often a function of the literature
review, although hypotheses are also frequently formulated
from theory.
• Theories guide research, and one of the ways in which they do
so is by making predictions of possible relationships among
variables.
• Hypotheses also come from reasoning based on casual
observation of events.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…

Null hypothesis
• A null hypothesis is a non-directional hypothesis that
proposes no difference or no relationship.
• A null hypothesis stipulates that there is no difference
between two situations, groups, outcomes, or the
prevalence of a phenomena.
• Null hypothesis is designated by H0 or HN which is
pronounced as “H oh” or “H-null”
• Example:
There is no significant difference between the performance of
two groups of students, one following the conventional system
of education and the second following distance-mode of
education.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…
Alternative hypothesis
• If the null hypothesis is found false, then what hypothesis would
be true? The alternative hypothesis.
• The alternative hypothesis, denoted by H1, must be true when
H0 is false.
• It is the opposite of Null Hypothesis.
• It is only reached if H0 is rejected.
• Alternative is the actual desired conclusion of the researcher.
• Possible alternate hypothesis for the education mode are:
– H1: The performance of the conventional system of
education is better than the distance mode of education.
– H2: The performance of the distance education is better than
the conventional mode of education.
 Specification of objectives and hypotheses…

• A distinction must be made between the research

hypothesis and the null hypothesis.
• The research hypothesis is the researcher’s predicted
relationship among the variables being investigated.
• The null hypothesis is a statement of no relationships
among the variables being investigated.
• In a research study, we would not test the research
hypothesis.
• In any study that relies on statistical hypothesis testing, it is
the null hypothesis that is tested.