Chapter Two

 FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND

HYPOTHESES

discuss the nature of decision makers’ objectives and the role they
play in defining the research problem;

understand that proper problem definition is essential for effective
business research;

Develop the art of mentally designing research problem for any
research topic

Produce research hypothesis for any research problem except
exploratory ones

understand the nature of hypothesis and hypothesis statement

discuss the influence of the statement of the business problem on
the specific research objectives;
 In research process, the first and foremost
step happens to be that of selecting and
properly defining a research problem.
 A researcher must find the problem and

formulate it so that it becomes susceptible

to research.
 The first step in the research process is the choice of suitable
problem for investigation. Problem is any question or matter
involving doubt, uncertainty or difficulty
 A research problem is any significant, perplexing and
challenging situation, real or artificial, the solution of
which requires reflective thinking.
 It is the determination of a problem area within a certain
context involving the, who, what, where, when and the
why of the problem situation.

The elements of research problems are

1. Aim or purpose of the problem for investigation. This answers the question
‗why‘ why is there an investigation, inquiry to study.
2. The subject matter or topic to be investigated. This answers the question what.

3. The place/local where the research is to be conducted. This answers the question
where? Where the study to be conducted?
4. The period or time of the study during which the data are to be gathered. This
answers the question when.
5. Population/universe from whom the data are to be collected. Answers the
question who or from whom.
 I. Systematic Immersion in the subject Matter through First-
hand Observation. E.g Pilot survey, preliminary survey, or
exploratory study.
 II. Study of Relevant Literature on the subject reports and
records
 III. Discussions with persons having rich practical experience in
the field of study. E.g Administrators', social workers, community
leaders, etc. are persons who have a rich practical experience in
different fields of social life.
 There are several steps to follow in formulating a Research
problem

1. Identify broad fields of study. In which area are you most

interested? E.g. Management, Logistics, Accounting, Economics or
Marketing
2. Dissect the broad area into sub-areas, E.g. HRM, Motivation, and
Leadership
3. Select the sub-areas which you are most interested within the
subject by considering your knowledge, time, budget…etc
4. Raise research questions in questionnaire or interview guides.
5. Formulate research objectives: Research objectives are drive from research
questions.
 Research objectives and research questions are the same except the way they are
written.
 Research questions are written in the form questions.
 Research objectives are written in the form of affirmative statement by using
action-oriented words, such as ―to examine, ―to ascertain‖, ―to measure‖,
―to investigate‖ etc.
6. Assess objectives- evaluating the objectives in the light of the time, budget,
technical and professional expertise about the subject and other related resources.
7. Double check- go back and make sure that you have sufficient interest, time,
resource and expertise, if you are happy, then you jumps to next step.
1. Everyday life: is one common source of research problem / idea,
Based on Questioning and inquisitive approach, you can draw
from your experiences, and come up with many research
problems.
2. Practical Issue:
3. Past research (literature):
4. Theory (Explanations of phenomenon):

 As such every research problem selected for research must

satisfy the following criteria.

1. The problem selected for the purpose of research should be original.

2. The problem taken for the research should not be too general or too specific.

3. The research problem must be operational and should not be too subjective
and no measurable.

4. The research problem undertaken should be feasible for implementation.

5. The selection of a problem must be proceeding by preliminary study.




 hypothesis is a kind of assumption that motivates or guides the researcher to
proceed with the research design and its implementation.
 Hypothesis is the statistical statement about the characteristics of population
made on the basis of sample evidence.

Hypothesis can be formulated in either of the following two ways:

 Null Hypothesis (Ho): hypothesis of no difference between statistical and
parameter.
 H is meaningful only it is being tested against a rival hypothesis

 Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Any hypothesis which is complementary to the

null hypothesis is called an alternative hypothesis.


 Professional Experience:
 Past Research or Common beliefs:
 Through direct analysis of data or deduction from existing theory:
 Technological and social changes:

Characteristics of a usable Hypothesis

A ''good'' usable hypothesis is the one which satisfies any of the following
criteria.

A hypothesis should be empirically testable.

A good hypothesis is in agreement with the observed facts.

A good hypothesis does not conflict with any law of nature,

A good hypothesis is expert.

 It should be so designed that its test will provide an
answer to the original problem,

It must be stated in final form early in
the experiment before any attempt at
verification is made.

The hypothesis must be conceptually
clear.

The hypothesis must be specific.
 Advisedly, the hypothesis should be related to a body
of theory or some theoretical orientation.
 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.”
 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?”
 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN (PLANNING

RESEARCH PROJECT)

Create analogy between a researcher and an architect in the
process of designing

Know and differentiate the different types of research designs

Develop art of visualizing the research process before the actual
research starts

Produce research question for any exploratory research problem -
Design the data and method in order to test a hypothesis
 A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection

and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to

the research purpose with economy in procedure.”
 Is the plan and structure of investigation so conceived as to
obtain answers to research questions.
 Is the program that guides the investigator in the process of
collecting, analyzing and interpreting observations.
 The plan is an overall scheme or program of the research process.

 The research designing decisions happen to be in respect of :-

What is the study and why is the study is being made?

Where will be the study being carried out and what types of data
are required?
Where can the required data be found and what techniques of data


collection will be used?

What time will the study be conducted and what will be the sample


design?
How will be the data analyzed?


In what style will the report be prepared?


In brief, research design must, at least contain
A clear statement of the research problem;
Procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;
The population to be studied; and
Methods to be used in processing and analyzing data.
A good design is often characterized by adjectives like flexible, appropriate,
efficient, and economical and so on.
Generally, a good research design is characterized, in respect of many research
problems, by;
◦ A design which minimizes bias about data.
◦ A design which maximizes the reliability of the data collected and analyzed .
◦ A design which gives the smallest experimental error.
◦ A design which yields maximal information.
◦ a design which provides an opportunity for considering many different
aspects of a problem.
 Researchers choose among different types of possible research designs
depending on such dimensions as purpose of the research, method of
data collection, control of variables, the time dimension, the research
environment, depth of the research, and the like.
 Purpose of Research is the first dimension of research design. As explained,
research has purpose of exploration, description or explanation or a
combination of them.
 Based on the ―purpose of research‖ dimension, there are at least three
classes of research designs: exploratory, descriptive and explanatory.
 Change of purpose, say from exploration to explanation, changes all components
of the research process.
 Method of Data Collection is the second dimension resulting in new classes of
research designs.
 Control of Variables is a third dimension that could result in additional classes of
research designs.
 The Time Dimension of the research is the fourth dimension of research design.
 Research Environment is fifth dimension of research design.
 Last but not least, Depth of Research is the sixth dimension of research design.

 Research design is unique to a methodology. Two broad methodology groups

can be used to answer any research problem.

 These are experimental and non-experimental.
 The main difference between these two methodologies lies in the control of
extraneous variables and manipulation of at least one independent variable by
the intervention of the investigator in experimental research.
 Research Design for Non- Experimental Research

1. Design for Exploratory

 The survey of concentrating literature:

 Experience Survey:

 Analysis of Insight (examining analogous situation):

 Research Design for Descriptive Study:

 Descriptive researches are those studies, which are concerned with describing the
characteristics or function of a particular individual, or of a group or a phenomenon.
 Descriptive research in contrast to exploratory research is marked by the prior
formulation of specific research problem (question) Investigator already knows a
substantial amount about the research, may be as a result of exploratory study, before the
project initiated.
 Most of the social research comes under this category.
 The design in such studies must be rigid and not flexible and must focus

attention on the following:

Formulating the objective of the study (what the study is about and why is it
being made?
Designing the methods of data collection (what techniques of gathering data will
be adopted?
Selecting the sample (how much material will be needed?
Collecting the data (where can the required data be found and with what time
period should the data be related?
Processing and analyzing the data.
Reporting the findings.
 Basic Principles of Experimental Research
1. The Principle of Replication
The researcher can divide students’ population in to two groups,
and one treatment (old teaching method) will be given to one group
and the new teaching method to another group.
2. The Principle of Randomization

To reduce the effect of extraneous variable, which is intelligence, a

researcher can randomly assign students in different groups or we

can apply different treatments randomly.
3. The Principle of Local Control

Students in each IQ level are divided in to two groups and each

group is given different treatment and results are compared. By

doing so the effect of extraneous variable (intelligence) is
controlled.
 Dependent Variable:
 Independent variable:
 Extraneous variable:
 Control:
 Confounded relationship:
 Experimental and control groups:
 Treatments:
 Experiment:
 Experimental Unit:








END OF CHAPTER -3
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH
PROPOSAL

Know the different parts of a research proposal

Develop theoretical and conceptual frameworks and hypotheses
thereof

Review related theoretical and empirical literatureusing APA Style
of referencing

Know different websites of funding sources

Prepare a full scale research proposal for funding purposes

Evaluate and criticize research proposals
 Research proposal is a written document of research plan
meant to convince specific readers whereas research design
deals with choosing a specific holistic research design from
among all possible research designs to address the research
topic.
 A research proposal is usually required when the research
project is to be commissioned and the researcher is
expected to compete with other researchers to get
research fund or else when the research project is a
requirement for partial fulfillment of an academic degree such
as BSc, MSc or PhD.
 Research proposal is a specific kind of document written for a
specific purpose. Research involves a series of actions and therefore
it presents all actions in a systematic and scientific way. In this way,
Research proposal is a blueprint of the study which simply outlines
the steps that researcher will undertake during the conduct of his/her
study.
 Proposal is a tentative plan so the researcher has every right to
modify his proposal on the basis of his reading, discussion and
experiences gathered in the process of research.
 A research proposal is a written statement of the research design
that includes a statement explaining the purpose of the study and a
detailed and systematic outline of a particular research
methodology.
 Research proposal is a blueprint of a study which outlines all the
steps a researcher should follow to undertake a given research
project
 To present the problem to be researched and its
importance
 To discuss the research efforts of others who have
worked on related problems. (If Any)
 To set forth the data necessary for solving the problem
 To suggest how the data will be gathered, treated and
interpreted

What the study is about?

Why is the study made?

What is its scope?

What are the objectives of the study

What are the prepositions to be tested?

What are the major concepts to be defined operationally?

On the basis of what criteria or measurements, the operational
definitions to be made?

When or in what place the study will be conducted?

What is the reference period of the study?

What is the typology of the design?

What kinds of data are needed?

What are the sources of data?

What is the universe form which the sample has to be drawn?

What is the sample size?

What sampling techniques can be used?

What methods are to be adapted for collecting data?

How the data are to be processed?

What techniques of analysis are to be adapted?

What is the significance of the study?

To what target audience the reporting of the findings is meant?

What is the type of report to be prepared?

What is the time period required for each stage of research work?

What is the limit within which the whole work should be
completed?

What is the involved?
 Importance to the sponsor

It allows the sponsor to assess the sincerity of your purpose, the
clarity of your design, the extent of your background material,
and your fitness for undertaking the project.

It demonstrates your discipline, organization and logic. A poorly
planned, poorly written, or poorly organized proposal damages
your reputation more than the decision to submit one.

It provides a basis for the sponsor to evaluate the results of a
research project
 It serves as a catalyst for discussion between the researcher and
the managers.
• Importance to the researcher
• A proposal is more beneficial for the beginning researcher to have a tentative
work plan that charts the logical steps to accomplish the stated objectives.
• It allows the researcher to plan and review the project‘s steps. Literature
review enables the researcher to assess the various approaches to the problem
and revise the plan accordingly.
• It enables the researcher to critically think through each stage of the research
process.
• After acceptance the research proposal serves as a guide for the researcher
throughout the investigation. Progress can be monitored and milestones noted.
• It forces time and budget estimates.
 Research proposals can be generally classified into student, internal and

external. Student research proposals range between term paper and senior
essay that are least complex to MSc thesis and PhD dissertation that are
most complex.
 External research proposals are either solicited or unsolicited. Solicited
research proposals are when the customer asks for a proposal
 In fact research proposal is usually a mandatory requirement to get PhD
scholarship.
A. The preliminaries
.Title or cover page
Table of contents
 Abstract
B. The body

1.The problem and its Approach

1. Introduction
2. Statement of the problem
3. Objectives of the study
4. Signification of the study
5. Delimitation of the study
6. Definition of used terms
7. Researches Methodology
8. Organization of the study
 2. Review of the related Literature
 C. The supplemental
 1. Budget Breakdown
 2. Time Schedule
 3. Bibliography (Reference)
Title: The title is the most widely read part of your proposal.
It should be long enough to be explicit but not too long so that
it is not too tedious usually between 5 and 25 words.
. Titles may sometimes be too short to be clear.
It should contain the key words the important words that
indicate the subject.
I. Generally, there are three kinds of Title
1. Indicative Title: - This type of title states the subjects of the research (proposal) rather
than the expected outcome. Example the role of Agricultural credit on alleviating poverty
in low potential Areas of Ethiopia.
2. Hanging Title: The hanging tile has two parts: a general first part followed by a more
specific second part. It is useful in rewording an otherwise long clumsy and complicated
indicative title. E.g. Alleviation of poverty in low potential Areas of Ethiopia: The impact
of Agricultural credit.
3. Question Title: Question title is used less than indicative hanging title. It is, however
acceptable where it is possible to use few words say less than 15 words. E.g. does
Agricultural credit alleviate poverty in a low potential area of Ethiopia ?
2. Table of contents: The table of contents usually headed simply
CONTENTS (in full capital). List all the parts except the title page which
precedes it. No page numbers appear on the title page.
3. Abstract: It is summary, which reflects the whole content of the proposal
(most of the time less than 300 words).
Abstract should be concise, informative, and should provide brief information
about the whole problem to investigate.
Abstract of a proposal should contain the following points:
Title or topic of the research

Statement of the problem and objective

Methodology of Investigation

Expected result (tentative only if a researcher starts with a formulated

hypothesis)
1.The problem and its Approach
1.1. Introduction: The introduction should start with a clearly
articulated statement to make the reviewer or sponsor interested
in supporting the problem.
1.2. Statement of the problem: The problem statement contains
the need for the research project the problem is usually
represented by a management question or originating question.
 Clarity in statement of the problem is important for the following

three basic reasons:

It is the foundation for the development of research problems
•

It enables the researcher to describe the problem practically to think

•

about its importance, priority and to point out all the necessary points.

It provides the researcher with the basis for the discussion with
•

people in the community, the relevant government agency and/or the

potential funding agency.
1.3. Objective of the study