CHAPTER TWO: THE RESEARCH

PROBLEM
 Problem formulation
2.1 Meaning of Research problem
 It refers to some difficulty, which a researcher experiences in the
context of either a theoretical or a practical situation and wants to
obtain a solution for the problem.

 Generally, a research problem exists when there is /are.

 An individual or group, which has some difficulty or problem
 Some objectives to be attained
 Alternative measures
 Unanswered questions
 Problem formulation
2.2 Sources of research problem
 Some potential source of research topic which may be helpful to a
researcher for selecting a research problem may be suggested.

 Own professional experience is the most important source.

 Contacts and discussions with research oriented people, attending

conferences, seminars and listening to the learned speakers

• Inferences from theory and professional literature:

• Technological and social change: New developments bring forth new

development challenges for research. New innovations and changes
need to be carefully evaluated through the research process.
 Problem formulation
 In general a preliminary literature search is important in order to find
out:

• What other researchers have to say about the topic

• Ensure that no one else has already exhausted the questions that
you aim to examine

• See how the topic has been discussed within the computing
theoretical framework.

• Make sure there is enough material available for you to work with
productively.
 Problem formulation
2.3 Definition and the statement of the problem:
 The next step is to clearly define the problem in unambiguous
manner, i.e., explaining the problem in a clear and unambiguous
term.

 “A problem clearly defined is a problem half solved. If the problem is

well defined” it helps the researcher to:

• Discriminate relevant data from irrelevant ones

• To lay boundaries within which to study

• To be on the right track

 Problem formulation
 The statement of the problem is the focal point of your research.

 It is just one sentence (with several paragraphs of elaboration).

• You are looking for something wrong

  ....or something that needs close attention  

 ....or existing methods that no longer seem to be working.

 Problem formulation
 While the problem statement itself is just one sentence, it is always
accompanied by several paragraphs that elaborate on the problem.

 Present persuasive arguments why the problem is important enough

to study.

 Include the opinions of others (politicians, futurists, other

professionals).

 Explain how the problem relates to business, social or political trends

by presenting data that demonstrates the scope and depth of the
problem.

 Try to give concrete illustrations of the problem.

 Problem formulation
Recommended steps in defining the research problem:
a)Statement of the problem in general way
b)Understand the nature of the problem more clearly i.e., by
discussing it with others more acquainted or experienced people.  
c)Survey of the available literature, this would lead to review both
empirical and theoretical literature this enables the researcher to:
• Find out what data are available for operational purpose
• Find out if there is gaps in theories
• Find out whether the existing theory is applicable to the
problem under study.
d)Developing the ideas through discussion
• It produces useful information
• It sharpens your focus of attentions on a specific aspects of the study
• Also called experience survey.
 Problem formulation
e) Rephrasing the research problem:

 This helps to put the research problem in specific terms, as possible

so that it may become operationally viable and may help in
developing new hypothesis;

 e.g: research problem in broad terms “Why is productivity in

Ethiopia lower than in other countries”,
 this has many ambiguities as to which set of productivity?

 Land, capital, labor….?

 With what industries is it related?
 With what period of time the productivity is being talked about?
 Problem formulation
2.4 The Research Question:
Usually the topics chosen are broad at first.

It lacks focus for conducting research.

Therefore it should be narrowed properly and focused into specific question. So, that the
next step is to narrow down.

Techniques that help us to narrow a research topic into research question:

•Examining of the past and present literature

•Discussing the idea with other people

•Applying the topic to specific context (specific time period, society or geographical unit or
subgroups or categories etc)
 Problem formulation

An example would be:

The research questions for this study will be:

    1. What are the attitudes of...

    2. Is there a significant difference between...
    3. Is there a significant relationship between
 Problem formulation
2.5 Objectives of the study:
 The next step after the statement of the problem is setting up the
objective;
 it is the most important task in conducting research.

 It is here that the research can exactly determine what data is to be

collected. Thus:
• Set the general objective of the study

• Split the overall objectives in to smaller segments known as sub-

objectives

• State the sub-objectives clearly and precisely/concisely

 Problem formulation

Example:
The objectives of this study are to:
 ... Describe factors that affect ..

 ... To explain the causes or effects of .

 ... provide a new interpretation of ...

 
 Problem formulation
2.6 Research Hypothesis:
 Definition: Hypothesis is a tentative intelligent guess postulating from
the purpose of directing the researcher towards the solution of problem.

 Or it is a statement which predicts the relationship between two or more

variables.

 It is necessary link between theory and investigation, usually stated after

an extensive survey of the literature.

 A Proposition is a statement about concepts that may be judged as true

or false to observable phenomena.

 When a proposition is formulated for empirical testing, it is a hypothesis.

 Problem formulation
Importance of research Hypothesis:
 It is an indicator of the type of data needed

 It gives direction to the research objectives

 It gives direction to data gathering techniques (procedures)

 It facilitates the extension of knowledge because it links theory and

investigation.

 It guides the researcher by delimiting the area of research and keeps it

on the right track.
 Problem formulation
Formulation of research hypothesis:

 Usually it is derived form the deductive logic of the objectives under

investigation.

 A one-to-one correlation might exist between the objectives and

their corresponding hypothesis.

 Thus there could be as many research hypotheses as there are

objectives.

 There are also objectives that do not need formulation of hypothesis.

 Problem formulation
The main approach to develop a working hypothesis includes:
 Discussions with colleagues and experts about the problem, its origin
and objective in seeking a solution

 Examination of data and records if available concerning the problem

for possible trends, peculiarities and clues

 Review of similar studies in the area of the studies on similar

problems and

 Exploratory personal investigation which involves original field,

interviews on a limited scale, with interested parties and individuals
with a view to secure greater insight in to the practical aspects of the
problems.
 Problem formulation
Note that a hypothesis can appear in your report on either:
– Deductive form: makes positive statement about the outcome of the study.
– It can come in the form of directional or non-directional way.
 Directional: stipulates the direction of the expected result. Eg: The
performance of young employees is significantly higher than those who are
experienced and old.
• Non- directional: Does not specify the direction of expected difference or
relationship.
Eg: There is a difference in performance of employees who are young and those who
are old and experienced.
– Null Form: Makes a statement that states no relationship.
Eg: There is no significant difference in the performance of employees between those
who are young and old.
• Question form: Put the hypothesis in question form.
Eg: Does the change in the experience of the employees affect the performance of
employees
 Problem formulation
Alternative hypothesis:

 This signifies a statement written opposite to the null form, i.e.,

when the final decision is made at a given significance level

 if the null hypothesis is rejected alternative hypothesis gets

accepted,

 Eg: Aa: There is significant difference in the performance of

employees between those who are young and old

 Ho: There is no significant difference in the performance of

employees between those who are young and old
 Problem formulation
Descriptive hypothesis
 These are propositions that typically state the existence, size, form,
or distribution of some variable.
 Examples:
 Eighty percent of company “A” stakeholders (case) favors the
company’s cash dividend (variable)

 Do a majority of high school- educated students aware of HIV/AIDS.

Descriptive hypothesis format has several advantages;

 It encourages researcher to think about the implications of a

supported or rejected finding.

 It is useful for testing statistical significance.

 Problem
Relational hypothesis
formulation
 It is a statement that describes a relationship between two variables
with respect to some case.
e.g. financial accessibility (variable) has a significant effect on the
performance (variable)of business
 Correlational hypothesis state merely that the variables occur
together in some specified manner without implying that one causes
the other.
E.g. There is a significance relationship between age and weight
 Explanatory (causal) hypothesis is an implication that the existence
of, or a change in one variable causes a change in other variable
 The causal variable is called the independent variable (IV) and the
other is the dependent variable (DV).
E.g. An increase in advertisement (IV) expenditure leads to an increase
in sales of the product (DV).
 Problem formulation
2.7 Significance of the study:

 It is to mean the importance of conduct the research.

 This section creates a perspective for looking at the problem.

 It makes the purpose worth pursuing.

The significance of the study answers the questions:

 Why is your study important?

     
 To whom is it important?

     
 What benefit(s) will occur if your study is done?
 Problem formulation
The significance of conducting a research may be:

 To alert decision makers

 To fill the gap in the existing studies

 To resolve some inconsistency in previous research

 To show direction to for further study

 To provide basic data about the problem

 Problem formulation
2.8 Delimitation of the study:
 It is also known as the scope of the study.

 In many research projects, researchers cannot treat all aspect of the

research problem.

 The researcher, therefore, should carefully state the boundary of the

problem to be investigated.

 This will be undertaken by specifying areas of all variables which will

be considered in the study or by eliminating all aspects and factors
which will not be considered in the study.
Operation Definition / glossary of terms:

 It is a list of words or phrases (terms or concepts)

.
 It is important to define all unusual terms and concepts that should be
misinterpreted (or misunderstood).

 The technical terms, words, or phrases having special meaning should

be defined operationally.

Limitation of the study:

 It refers to the gap of your study .
 It could be methods gap
 It could be variable gap
 Problem formulation
2.9 Literature Review
 Secondary sources of information are useful in research. `

 The literature that is searched depends on the problem being

addressed.

 In a literature search, the major emphasis is on the discovery of ideas

and tentative explanations of the phenomenon.

 In most cases, the exploration phase will begin with a literature search-
 a review of books as well as articles in journals or professional
literature that relate to the problem.

 A literature search requires the use of library’s online catalog and one
or more bibliographic databases or indexes.
 Literature Review
Literature review has five steps:
 Define the problem

 Consult encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks and textbooks to

identify key terms, people, or events relevant to the question.

 Apply key terms, people, or events in searching indexes,

bibliographies, and the web to identify specific secondary sources.

 Locate and review specific secondary sources for relevance.

 Evaluate the value of each source and its content.

 Literature Review
Levels of information
 In exploring the problem or topic, different types of information sources are to be
considered.
 Information sources are generally categorized into three levels;
• Primary sources
• Secondary sources
• Tertiary sources 
1. Primary sources
 Primary sources are original works of research or raw data without interpretation
that represent an official opinion or position.

 Included among the primary sources are memos, letters, complete interviews or
speeches.
 Primary sources are the most authoritative because the information has been
filtered or interpreted by a second party.
 Internal sources of primary data include inventory records, personnel records,
purchasing requisition forms, statistical process control charts etc.
 Literature Review
2. Secondary sources
 Secondary sources are interpretations of primary data.
 Encyclopedias, textbooks, handbooks, magazine and newspaper and
articles are considered secondary information sources.
 All reference materials fall into this category. E.g. sales analysis
summaries and investor annual reports are examples of secondary
sources as they are compiled from a variety of primary sources.

 A firm searching for secondary sources can search internally or

externally.
3.
 Literature Review
3. Tertiary sources
 Tertiary sources may be an interpretation of a secondary source but generally
are represented by indexes, bibliographies, and other finding aids. (E.g. Internet
search engines).

Areas to find tertiary sources

1. Indexes and bibliographies
 Indexes and bibliographies are the mainstay of any library because they help to
identify and locate a single book or journal article.

 The single most important bibliography in any library is its online catalog.

 There are many specialized indexes and bibliographies unique to business

topics.

 These can be very useful in a literature search to find authors and titles of prior
works on the topic of interest.
 Literature Review
2. Dictionaries
 There are many specialized business dictionaries that define
words, terms, or jargon unique to a discipline.
 Most of these specialized dictionaries include in their word lists
information on people, events, or organizations that shape the
discipline.
E.g. Dictionary of Business and Management. Information from
dictionaries and glossaries may be used to identify key terms for a
search of an online or printed database.
3. Encyclopedias
 It is used to find background or historical information on a topic or
to find names or terms that can enhance search results in other
sources. They are helpful in identifying the experts in a field and
the key writings on any topic.
.
 Literature Review
4. Handbooks
 A handbook is a collection of facts unique to a topic.
 It often includes statistics, directory information, a glossary of terms,
and other data essential to a field.
 The best handbooks include source references for the facts they
present
5. Directories
 Directories are used for finding names and addresses as well as other
data.

 While many are available and useful in printed format, directories in

digitized format that can be searched by certain characteristics or
sorted and then downloaded are more useful.
 Literature Review
Importance of literature review:
 Helps us to know whether the problem has been studied or not.
 Is the problem new?
 Shows the path of prior research and how current project is linked its
relationship to your study.
 To get and summarize what is known in the area (Research gap)
 helps us to know the data collection rule,
 helps us to select appropriate method of data collection and
 helps us to know whether it is up to date.
 To avoid an intentional duplication of well investigated problems
 To Identify the tools and instruments of data collection, to get
supportive idea for discussion of the problem
 To get basis for formulating hypothesis
 To know about the recommendations of the previous research for
further study which they have listed in the studies.
 Finding a research problem

1. Consider your organization/your work and identify a problem related

to that.

2. Conceptualise the problem into a research topic.

3. Write your research problem briefly.

4. Write your research questions

5. Write your research objectives.