ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Part 5 of 5: DEFINING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM - STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

‪#‎AcademicResearch‬

RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION

(CHOOSING A TOPIC)

Part 5 of 5: DEFINING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM - STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

√This provides a clear description of the problem that is to be investigated through research.

√It should clearly show the knowledge gap that the research intends to close.

√The questions that subsequently guide the research process are also included.

√A good statement of the problem should:

•Convey the specific research problem, usually in a few paragraphs, indicating its importance and context.

•Indicate the kind of researches that has been done, key issues and findings, and should identify knowledge gaps or an unsolved question, which appears to justify additional research.

•Be clearly written and be able to capture the reader’s interest.

•Be able to advance knowledge or be of interest to society.

•It should indicate the scope of the study and be objectively researchable.

•Give the purpose of the research.

Formats for writing Statement of the research problem

√The topic is broken down into logical statements by suggesting or enumerating reasons why a particular topic is chosen.

√The reasons can be restated into action-oriented statements which are then put together to provide a clear perspective of the problem to be investigated, ensuring that the knowledge gap is clearly defined

Illustration:
Suppose the Identified topic is: “youth unemployment in Kenya”.

√To guide writing the problem statement, the reasons for choosing the topic can be enumerated as:-

•Per cent of youths in the total population.

•Per cent of youth unemployment in the country.

•Effects of youth unemployment in Kenya
Production impact of youth unemployment.

•Need for mitigation measures.

√These reasons can then be restated into action-oriented expressions as follows:

"Youths comprise a large proportion of Kenya’s population.The 2009 census report revealed that 35 % of the youths in Kenya were unemployed.The high rate of unemployment has led to massive rural – urban migrations as many believe jobs are only available in the urban areas.
Continued lack of employment among the youths imply low national output, high dependency, rising crimes and despair.
There is need to understand the reasons for the high unemployment rates among youth in Kenya, to help in the design of effective strategies to reduce it."

√Another technique to be used especially in policy-oriented research is to state a problem using A BUT B statement.

•where A represents a goal or current situation,

•BUT indicates that the goal has not been met or that there is some limitation on the current situation.

•B indicates the obstacles that are in the way.

Examples of A BUT B statements:-

"The government of Kenya has over the years stressed the importance of reducing youth unemployment, BUT the rate of youth unemployment still remains high at 35%."

"There is need to prevent defoliation of large areas of tree species y by insect x in region b, BUT, there are no effective and economical control measures for this insect."

√Statement of research purpose conveys the focus of the study and should be spelt out in clear, direct and unambiguous manner.

√It is usually expressed in a declarative manner, starting with the phrase:

"The purpose of the study is ….," followed by neutral verbs such as, to investigate, to examine, to compare, to explore, to find out, to inquire, to determine, among others.

√The statement of purpose also suggests the design of the study by indicating the target population, the variables, and possible relationships among the variables.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH - Part 4 of 5:Steps in the formulation of a research problem.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

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RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION

(CHOOSING A TOPIC)

Part 4 of 5:Steps in the formulation of a research problem.

Steps 1: Identify a broad field or subject area of interest

√One should ask: “What is it that really interests me as a professional”?

√It is a good idea to think about the field in which you would like to work after graduation or in which you are currently working.

For example,

√If you are studying microeconomics, you might be interested in researching on consumer behaviour.

√If one works in the Human Resource department, he/she may want to research on aspects that are relevant to that department.

√The following should also be noted

•Avoid a topic calling for a background knowledge that you do not have.

•Choose an area where it is possible to get enough material to ensure thorough coverage.

•The topic must be that which addresses a felt need. That is, the topic can be justified on social, scientific or policy grounds.

Step 2: Dissect the broad area into subareas

√The broad area mentioned in step 1 e.g. consumer behavior, has many aspects.

√The broad area should be narrowed down to a specific problem.

√This will call for critical reading and inquiry into the problem area by:

•Reading relevant literature,

•Talking to those who might use the findings

•Consulting/brainstorming with those who have research and training experiences, or specialized knowledge of the research area.

√Dissecting the broad area helps one to clarify the problem so that the research can focus on a few questions.

An Example

•Broad Area: Domestic violence (DV)

√Examples of Subareas in Domestic Violence (DV)

•Extent of DV in a community

•Types of DV

•Impact of DV on children

•Services available victims of DV

•Effectiveness of the services offered to victims of DV.
•Profile of families in which DV occurs

•Profile of the victims of DV

Step 3: Select a sub area of the most interest to you.

√It is neither advisable nor feasible to study all subareas.

√Out of the listed subareas, one will select issues/ subarea for which he or she is passionate.

√One way to decide what interests you most is to start with the process of elimination - deleting all those subareas in which one is not very interested.

√Towards the end of the process, it will become very difficult to delete anything further.

√Therefore the elimination procedure continues until one is left with something that is manageable considering:

•the time available for the study
•level of expertise and
•other resources needed to undertake the study.

NB: The selected subarea forms the topic of study

Step 4: Raise research questions.

√At this step the researcher asks: ‘What is it that I want to find out about in this subarea?

√Therefore, within the chosen subarea, one lists whatever questions for which answers are being sought.

√If the questions thought of are too many to be manageable, the researcher will again go through a process of elimination, to focus study on particular issues in the subarea

Step 5: Formulate objectives.

√The researcher formulates the main objectives and sub objectives for the study.

√The objectives grow out of the research questions.
√The main difference between objectives and research questions is in the way they are written.

•Research objectives are the research questions transformed into behavioural aims by using action-oriented words such as ‘to establish’ ‘to find out’, ‘to determine’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to examine’, ‘ to measure’, ‘to explore’, etc.

•Objectives are therefore the goals you set out to attain in your study. They inform a reader of what you want to achieve through the study, and should therefore be worded clearly and specifically.

√Objectives should be stated under two headings:

(i) Main objectives
(ii) Sub objectives or specific objectives
Research Objectives

√The main objective is an overall statement of the thrust of the study.
•It can also be thought of as a statement of the main associations and relationships that you seek to discover or establish.

√The sub-objectives are the specific aspects of the topic that you want to investigate within the main framework of your study.

They should be:

•Numbered using roman numbers.
•worded clearly and unambiguously.
•NB: Each sub-objective contains only one aspect of the study.

√Wording of Research Objectives.

•The way the main and sub-objectives are worded determines how your research is classified and the type of research design to be adopted.

•The objectives should be expressed in such a way that the wording clearly, completely and specifically communicates to the readers the research intention.

•There is no place for ambiguity, non-specificity or incompleteness

√If your study is primarily descriptive, the main objective should clearly describe the major focus of the study, even mentioning the organisation and its location unless these are to be kept confidential

Example:

“to describe the types of treatment programmes provided by …[name of the organisation] to alcoholics in … [name of the place]…or to find the opinion of the community about the health services provided by …[name of the health centre/department] in …[name of the place]…).

•NB: Identification of the organisation and its location is important as the services may be peculiar to the place and the organisation and may not represent the services provided by others to similar populations.

√If your study is correlational in nature, the wording of the main objective should also include the main variables being correlated.

Examples
•To ascertain the impact of migration on family roles.

•To compare the effectiveness of different teaching methods on the comprehension of students.

•If the overall thrust of your study is to test a hypothesis, the wording of main objectives, in addition to the above, should indicate the direction of the relationship being tested.

Examples.

•To ascertain if an increase in youth unemployment will increase the incidence of street crime.

•To demonstrate that provision of maternal and child health services to the Maasai people in Loitoktok will reduce infant mortality.

Step 6: Assess your objectives.

√In this step, the researcher examines the objectives to ascertain the feasibility of achieving them through the research endeavour.

√The objectives are assessed by considering the:-

•Time

•Resources (financial and human)

•Technical expertise at the researcher’s disposal.

Step 7: Double-check.

√Involves going back and giving final consideration to whether or not one is sufficiently interested in the study, and have adequate resources to undertake it.

√The question to ask is:
• “Am I really enthusiastic about this study?’, and
• “Do I really have enough resources to undertake it?’

√If the answer to one of them is ‘no’, then a re-assessment of the objectives is required.

NB:
√So far the focus has been on the basis of your study, the research problem.

√But every study has a second element, the study population, from whom the required information to find answers to your research questions is obtained.

√As you narrow the research problem, similarly you need to decide very specifically who constitutes your study population, in order to select the appropriate respondents.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH Part 3 of 5: Factors to Consider in selecting a research area/Topic

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

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RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION

(CHOOSING A TOPIC)

Part 3 of 5: Factors to Consider in selecting a research area/Topic

1. Interest

√This is the most important consideration in selecting a research problem.

√A research endeavour is time-consuming, and involves hard work and possibly unforeseen problems. √If one selects a topic which does not greatly interest him/her, it becomes extremely difficult to sustain the required motivation, and hence its completion.

2. Magnitude

√One should have sufficient knowledge about the research problem to be able to visualize the work involved in completing the proposed study.

√Narrow the topic down to something manageable, specific and clear.

√The topic chosen must be one that be can managed within the time and resources at your disposal.

3. Measurement of concepts

√Where a study involve use of concepts, one must make sure he/she is clear about its indicators and their measurement.

√Example

In a study to measure the effectiveness of a health promotion programme, one must be clear as to what determines effectiveness and how it will be measured.

√A researcher should not use concepts in a research problem he/she is not sure how to measure

4. Level of expertise

√The researcher must have an adequate level of expertise for the task proposed.

√NB: Although one will learn during the study and may receive help from research supervisors and others, the researcher will have to do most of the work by self.

5. Relevance

√Select a topic that is of relevance to you as a professional.

√The study need to add to the existing body of knowledge, bridge current gaps or be useful in policy formulation.

√This will help you to sustain interest in the study.

6. Availability of data

√If your topic entails collection of information from secondary sources (office records, client records, census or other already-published reports, etc) ensure that these data are available in the required format before finalizing the topic,

7. Ethical issues

√Consider also the ethical issues involved in the type of study e.g. how the study population would be affected by some of the questions (directly or indirectly); deprived of an intervention; expected to share sensitive and private information; or expected to be simply experimental ‘guinea pigs’.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH Preliminary pages

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Preliminary pages includes:
(this may vary from institution to institution)

√Title page

√Declaration

√Dedication

√Acknowledgement

√Table of contents

√ List of tables

√List of figures

√Operational Definition of terms

√ Abbreviation and Acronyms

√ Abstract

ACADEMIC RESEARCH The Structure

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

The Structure: Different institutions have different structures for their thesis/project. However the general structure is as below:

1. Preliminary pages
2. Chapter One: Introduction
3. Chapter Two: Literature Review
4. Chapter Three: Research Methodology
5. Chapter Four: Data Analysis
6. Chapter Five: Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendices

Items 1,2,3,7,8 are referred to as the research proposal and are written in future tense.

Items 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 are the research project and reporting language is used when writing them.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH. Research Project or Thesis?

ACADEMIC RESEARCH.

Research Project or Thesis?

Its essentially the same thing and most academic institutions require students to write either and submit on a partial qualification to their diploma, degree or advanced degrees.

The structure of both is the same but different universities and colleges have their own specific structure.

However a thesis/project submitted by doctoral students is much more detailed.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH Defination

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

√Research is carrying out a diligent inquiry or a critical examination of a given phenomenon.

√Research involves a critical analysis of existing conclusions or theories with regard to newly discovered facts i.e. it’s a continued search for new knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

√ Research is a process of arriving at effective solutions to problems through systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data.

√It is a systematic inquiry whose objective is to provide information to solve managerial problems

(Cooper and Schindler, 2003).

ACADEMIC RESEARCH Title page

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
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Title page

√It includes the research title, author’s name and affiliation.

THE TITLE

√A brief and to the point statement of the main topic and should identify both the independent and dependent variables.

√The scope of the study should be clear.

√ The title should be a reflection of the contents of the thesis/project.

√ The title should be fully explanatory when standing alone.

√Should not contain abbreviations

√Scientific names should be in italics.

√Should contain maximum of 15 to 21 words.

RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION (CHOOSING A TOPIC) Part 1 of 5: Introduction

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

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RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION

(CHOOSING A TOPIC)

Part 1 of 5: Introduction

√Problems in research are unresolved questions that call for an investigation

√Formulating a research problem requires considerable preliminary work, knowledge, and a logical analysis of the problem.

√It entails asking a previously unanswered question(s) for which an answer(s) is sought.

√It also entails stating clearly:

~the research objectives and hypotheses,

~defining precisely all key terms and concepts and,

~describing the research procedures to be applied.

RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION Part 2 of 5: Sources of Research Problem

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

‪#‎AcademicResearch‬

RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION

(CHOOSING A TOPIC)

Part 2 of 5: Sources of Research Problem

√Personal experiences: Own observations, questions or hunches for which no satisfactory explanation exists may suggest research questions.

√Previous research: From previous research one may identify gaps, which appear to justify additional research.

√Current social and political issues: Contemporary issues, debates, concerns or movements may lead to a research. The attempt may be to gain more knowledge about recent changes.

√Related literature: Reading textbooks and articles on an area of interest gives the reader an insight into various issues that could be studied or replicated.

√Deductions from theory: Existing theories can suggest research problems. A research may arise in an attempt to challenge what existing theories postulates.

√Practical situations: Your day-to-day work may suggest the need for a research to unravel or manage a new situation.

√Research themes given by funding agencies such as UNDP, OSSREA, Association of African Universities, GTZ, The World Bank, The IMF, USAID, among others.

√Researcher’s interest: Carefully observing existing practices in one’s area of interest at work, at home, at workshops, seminars among others.

√Declarations (such as world declaration of the Rights of children), conferences (such as NEPAD, AU), workshops and seminars

√Advanced graduate courses taught in Universities.