Defining the Research 25

Problem problem is like a statement which is to be solved, a difficulty that

A research
needs to be resolved, or a gap that needs to be fulfilled that demands to be
understood and investigated. The main issues that are faced by the researcher
while defining the research problem are: How best to generalize the problem,
understand it's nature and origin, to fully review and investigate the literature
review, and finally discussion to fully understand the meaning of the research
problem. Defining the research problem is half the work done. The following
example can be taken to understand it better: Say for example there is a cereal
company which wants to cater to the needs of middle age men and women
whose main problem is to get the daily prescribed nutrients without overeating.
Defining the research problem would include, Understanding and generalizing
the problem. Reviewing the already present data of market research. Having an
extensive discussion with the marketing team. And finally rephrasing the
problem into a more analytical and operationally viable statement.

Definition of Research Problem

A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to
be improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in
scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points to the need for
meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation. In other words, it is a
clear, concise, and arguable statement of the issue to be investigated.
Main Issues in Formulating a Research Problem
When formulating a research problem, a researcher should pay attention to the
following issues:
1. Clarity and Precision: The problem should be clearly defined and
unambiguous. It should be specific enough to allow for research to be
conducted and not so broad that it becomes difficult to scope the study.
2. Relevance: The problem should be relevant to the field of study and
contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
3. Researchability: The problem should be researchable. It should be
possible to collect data that can address the problem.
4. Feasibility: The problem should be feasible to study. This means
considering the time, cost, and resources required for the research.
5. Ethical Considerations: The problem should be ethically sound. The
research should not harm participants or be biased.
Examples
Here are some examples of well-formulated research problems:
1. In Education: "What impact does the use of technology in the classroom
have on students' learning outcomes?"
This problem is clear, precise, relevant to the field of education, researchable
through surveys or experiments, feasible, and ethically sound.
 Defining the Research 26
Problem
2. In Psychology: "How does exposure to violent video games affect
aggression levels in teenagers?"
This problem is specific, relevant to psychology, researchable through
observational studies or experiments, feasible, and ethically sound.
3. In Business: "What effect does employee motivation have on
organizational productivity?"
This problem is clear, precise, relevant to business studies, researchable
through surveys or interviews, feasible, and ethically sound.
Remember, a well-formulated research problem is the foundation of a
successful research project. It guides the research, the methodology, and the
analysis of the findings.

2 way of answering

WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROBLEM?

A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty which a researcher experiences in the
context of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
Usually we say that a research problem does exist if the following conditions are met with:
(i) There must be an individual (or a group or an organisation), let us call
it ‘I,’ to whom the problem can be attributed. The individual or the
organisation, as the case may be, occupies an environment, say ‘N’,
which is defined by values of the uncontrolled variables, Yj.
(ii) There must be at least two courses of action, say C1 and C2, to be
pursued. A course of action is defined by one or more values of the
controlled variables. For example, the number
of items purchased at a specified time is said to be one course of action.
(iii) There must be at least two possible outcomes, say O1 and O2, of the
course of action, of which one should be preferable to the other. In
other words, this means that there must be at least one outcome that
the researcher wants, i.e., an objective.
(iv) The courses of action available must provides some chance of
obtaining the objective, but they cannot provide the same chance,
otherwise the choice would not matter. Thus, if P (Oj | I, Cj, N)
represents the probability that an outcome Oj will occur, if I select Cj in
N,
then P (O 1 | I , C 1, N ) P (O
1 | I , C2 , N ) . In simple words, we can
say that the choices
must have unequal efficiencies for the desired outcomes.
 Defining the Research 27
Problem

SELECTING THE PROBLEM

The research problem undertaken for study must be carefully selected. The task is a difficult one,
although it may not appear to be so. Help may be taken from a research guide in this connection.
Nevertheless, every researcher must find out his own salvation for research problems cannot be
borrowed. A problem must spring from the researcher’s mind like a plant springing from its own
seed. If our eyes need glasses, it is not the optician alone who decides about the number of the
lens we require. We have to see ourselves and enable him to prescribe for us the right number by
cooperating with him. Thus, a research guide can at the most only help a researcher choose a
subject. However, the following points may be observed by a researcher in selecting a research
problem or a subject for research:
(i) Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen, for it will be
a difficult task to throw any new light in such a case.
(ii) Controversial subject should not become the choice of an average
researcher.
1
R.L. Ackoff, The Design of Social Research, Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1961.
 (iii) Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
(iv) The subject selected for research should be familiar and feasible so that
Defining the Research
the related research material or sources of research are within one’s28
Problem
reach. Even then it is quite difficult to supply definitive ideas
concerning how a researcher should obtain ideas for his research. For
this purpose, a researcher should contact an expert or a professor in
the University who is already engaged in research. He may as well read
articles published in current literature available on the subject and may
think how the techniques and ideas discussed therein might be applied
to the solution of other problems. He may discuss with others what he
has in mind concerning a problem. In this way he should make all
possible efforts in selecting a problem.
(v) The importance of the subject, the qualifications and the training of a
researcher, the costsinvolved, the time factor are few other criteria
that must also be considered in selecting a problem. In other words,
before the final selection of a problem is done, a researcher must ask
himself the following questions:
(a) Whether he is well equipped in terms of his background to carry out
the research?
(b) Whether the study falls within the budget he can afford?
(c) Whether the necessary cooperation can be obtained from those
who must participate in research as subjects?
If the answers to all these questions are in the affirmative, one may become sure so far as
the practicability of the study is concerned.
(vi) The selection of a problem must be preceded by a preliminary study.
This may not be necessary when the problem requires the conduct of a
research closely similar to one that has already been done. But when
the field of inquiry is relatively new and does not have available a set
of well developed techniques, a brief feasibility study must always be
undertaken.
If the subject for research is selected properly by observing the above mentioned points, the
research will not be a boring drudgery, rather it will be love’s labour. In fact, zest for work is a
must. The subject or the problem selected must involve the researcher and must have an upper
most place in his mind so that he may undertake all pains needed for the study.