Problem statement.. samples

How to write your Research Problem Statement


Ermm.. sometimes. our problem is dont know how to write our problem statement... Ha ha.. your problem is how to write a problem statement???????  ermmmmm...this is a guide on how to write a good problem statement..

Your Research Problem statement is the foundation and focus of your research report. It is a clear,
stand‐alone statement that makes explicit what it is you are aiming to discover or establish. Get this
right and you are setting yourself up for success.

If your Research Problem is poorly worded, unfocused or ambiguous, the rest of your research is likely
to go off‐track very early; you will do a great deal of unnecessary reading and writing, losing sight of
the big picture (and probably your mind!).
Writing your Research Problem Statement

1. First select your research topic, which is the issue or subject area that you intend to investigate
example... low adoption of new technology.. students not reading the books.. failure of the teachers..

2. Describe the business or management problem based on your topic that you intend to
research. Do this right at the beginning of your research proposal or report as laid out in the
templates (remember to reference any facts that you are basing your research on). This will
set the scene for your Research Problem statement, so that you can write a clear, stand alone
Research Problem.

3. A Research Problem is not the same as a business problem, ie it is not a “problem” in the
normal sense of the word; it is research jargon that happens to be a bit confusing. You can
think of your Research Problem as the unknown part of your business problem.

4. Verbs such as “understand”, “explore”, “investigate”, “examine” and “discuss” are poor verbs
as they describe processes, not outcomes, eg you can discuss something endlessly without
ever having to make recommendations, draw conclusions or offer a result. You might be
Carmichael, T. (2009), Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa 2
exploring, examining or discussing as part of your process, but they cannot be the end result of
your research, which should be more tangible.

5. If your Research Problem contains two or more concepts / ideas, then break it down into subproblems,
so that each sub‐problem consists of one idea only. Each sub‐problem should
contain key words that you can use in your literature search (using the electronic library
databases and Google Scholar) on that sub‐problem.

6. Your Research Problem statement should be your sub‐problems added together – no more
and no less. Do not introduce any new ideas when you write your sub‐problems. For example:
The Main problem is to
Analyse and evaluate the role of entrepreneurship in the establishment of small,
medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and ascertain the value of the economic
contributions of these firms in emerging markets.

Sub‐problem 1
Analyse and evaluate the role of entrepreneurship in establishing SMMEs in emerging
markets. (Here your key search terms for your literature review could be
“entrepreneurship”, “SMME” and “emerging markets”)

Sub‐problem 2
Evaluate the economic contribution of SMMEs to growth and development in
emerging markets. (Here your search terms could be “economic contribution”,
“economic growth”, “emerging market development”)
Your literature review would be likely to have headings similar or related to the search terms,
as well as other topic areas that you find and are relevant but that you may not have
anticipated – in fact you will find a lot of information and related topics that you won’t (and
cannot be expected to) have anticipated. Use the search terms both alone and combined with
each other.

Research topic and context (stated exactly as submitted by a student):
The large corporate companies need to be encouraged to assist small businesses in
empowering them with the necessary skills and resources to grow. Corporate Social
Responsibility is one avenue that small business can benefit from big business in this
regard. My aim in this research is to establish if large companies are using corporate
social responsibility to empower small business and, if not, how this can be done.
Carmichael, T. (2009), Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa 3
Therefore the topic of this research is to identify the role of corporate social
responsibility in empowering small business.

The Problem Statement was constructed by tightening up the context to eliminate repetition,
correcting the grammar, removing the personal pronoun “my” and rephrasing it in the passive
voice. In addition, the statement “. . . establish IF large companies . . .” was rephrased to
“whether and how” because “if” has a yes / no answer (not OK) and “whether and how”
requires a detailed, contextualised and rich response (OK).

Problem statement:
The intention of this research is to establish the purposes for which large corporate are
using their CSI / CSR programmes, with particular reference to whether and how they are
using such programmes to empower small businesses, and, further, to gather ideas to
expand such investments.

Sub‐problem 1:
Establish the purposes for which large corporates are using their CSI / CSR programmes
Sub‐problem 2
Identify ways in which large corporates are using CSI / CSR programmes to empower small
businesses, and further, to gather ideas for expanding such investments
8. Your sub‐problems should NOT be steps in the process of finding the solution to your Research
Problem. This is a common and understandable error. The example below shows the subproblems
to be steps in the process that the student intends to follow in the research (these
can be described in the methodology chapter). They are not invalid ‐ they are just not subproblems.
Main Problem
Compare the characteristics of the South African and Ghanaian home loan markets in
relation to consumer home loan choice criteria, home finance availability on both markets,
home loan administration, success and hindering factors, risks in pricing of home finance,
the status and causes of home loan default in both markets and to predict the way forward
for both markets.
Sub‐problems
1. Analyse consumer choice criteria in both home loans markets
2. Assess the availability and accessibility of home loans.
3. Establish the difficulties encountered in home loan administration
4. Identify the risks in home loan pricing and the effect of inflation on pricing
5. Determine the status and causes of home loan default
6. Forecast the future of the South African and Ghanaian home loan markets

Problem statement

Directions: As a Team, work through the boxes from top to bottom to craft a problem statement. The next page contains a completed sample of the Writing a Problem Statement worksheet. A blank copy of the worksheet appears on the last page.

Original problem or focusing question	Restate the initial problem that launched this inquiry process, or rewrite the focusing question or one of the clarifying question as a statement.
Stakeholders who are most affected by the problem	Who is most directly impacted by this problem? Alternately, who would benefit the most if this problem were resolved?
Type of problem	For example, skills, attitudes, knowledge, resources, or something else.
Suspected cause of the problem	Based on the data analysis and/or the root cause analysis, what does the Team think is the most significant cause(s) contributing to this problem? What, if addressed, would make the greatest impact on resolving the problem? (Include specific evidence).
Goal for improvement and long-term impact	The wishes, dreams, and general vision describing the target. The Team will write a clearer, measureable goal statement in Module 5.
Proposal for addressing the problem	High-level strategy that represents promising practices drawn from research, local knowledge, and local expertise. (Note sources if possible). This will become the basis for subsequent action planning.
Final problem statement	Tie the above statements into 3–5 coherent sentences that could be easily understood by a wide range of stakeholders.

Sample of Completed Writing a Problem Statement Worksheet

Original problem or focusing question	¨         Students are not reading at grade level by grade 3.
Stakeholders who are most affected by the problem	¨         Third grade students at our school.
Type of problem	¨         Resources: Without good information about where our kids are starting, we have no way of knowing if our goals may be unattainable for some of them.
Suspected cause of the problem	¨         Teachers don’t get sufficient training and support in our reading program. ¨         Students’ reading levels are not measured accurately in grades K–3.
Goal for improvement and long-term impact	¨         We want all our third graders to read at grade level or above.
Proposal for addressing the problem	¨         Start a teacher mentoring program in reading. ¨         Implement more rigorous reading assessments in grades K–3.
Final problem statement	¨         Many third grade students at our school do not read at grade level. ¨         We believe that this is a result of teachers not having sufficient training in our reading program and not accurately measuring students’ reading levels in grades K–3. ¨         We want all third graders at our school to read at grade level or above. ¨         We will start a teacher mentoring program focused on reading and implement more rigorous reading assessments in the primary grades.

Validity

There are many different types of validity. It is important to understand the differences. The
most basic types are covered here but there are ;

Content and Construct Validity

Construct validity means simply that a particular test actually measures the construct it is supposed to measure.

Convergent and Divergent Validity

In its most basic form, convergent validity is shown by using a “gold standard” measure to compare to the new test: this is criterion validity.The formal theory that is the basis for the test also provides information about the  relationship of the construct to other measureable variables, e.g., demographics or
individual traits. Standardized measures of such variables can be compared to the  new test with a priori hypotheses about the direction and magnitude of the resultant  correlations. These correlations can be significant and positive or negative (convergent validity) or non-significant (divergent validity).

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The Cronbach"s Alpha....

Research Proposal...Example

The purpose of writing a thesis proposal is to demonstrate  that

1.     the thesis topic addresses a significant environmental problem;

2.     an organized plan is in place for collecting or obtaining data to help solve the problem;

3.     methods of data analysis have been identified and are appropriate to the data set.

If you can outline these points clearly  in a proposal, then you will be able to focus on a research topic and finish it rapidly.   A secondary purpose of the proposal is to train you in the art of proposal writing.  Any future career in Environmental Sciences, whether it be in industry or academia will require these skills in some form.

We are well aware that the best laid out research plans may go awry, and that the best completed theses sometimes bear only little resemblance to the thesis planned during the proposal. Therefore, when evaluating a thesis proposal, we are not trying to assure ourselves that you have clearly described a sure-fire research project with 0% risk of failure. (If there was no risk of failure, it wouldn't be research.)

Instead, what we're interested in seeing is if you have a clear handle on the process and structure of research as it's practiced by our discipline. If you can present a clear and reasonable thesis idea, if you can clearly relate it to other relevant literature, if you can justify its significance, if you can describe a method for investigating it, and if you can decompose it into a sequence of steps that lead toward a reasonable conclusion, then the thesis proposal is a success regardless of whether you modify or even scrap the actual idea down the line and start off in a different direction. What a successful thesis proposal demonstrates is that, regardless of the eventual idea you pursue, you know the steps involved in turning it into a thesis.

II. Structure of a thesis proposal

Your thesis proposal should have the following elements in this order.

• Title page
• Abstract
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Approach/methods
• Preliminary results and discussion
• Work plan including time table
• Implications of research
• List of references

The structure is very similar to that of a thesis or a scientific paper. You will be able to use a large fraction of the material of the thesis proposal in your final senior thesis. Of course, the state of the individual projects at the end of the fall will vary, and therefore also the format of the elements discussed below.

Title page

• contains short, descriptive title of the proposed thesis project  (should be fairly self-explanatory)
• and author, institution, department, resreach mentor, mentor's institution, and date of delivery

Abstract

• the abstract is a brief summary of your thesis proposal
• its length should not exceed ~200 words
• present a brief introduction to the issue
• make the key statement of your thesis
• give a summary of how you want to address the issue
• include a possible implication of your work, if successfully completed

Table of contents

• list all headings and subheadings with page numbers
• indent subheadings

Introduction

• this section sets the context for your proposed project and must capture the reader's interest
• explain the background of your study starting from a broad picture narrowing in on your research question
• review what is known about your research topic as far as it is relevant to your thesis
• cite relevant references
• the introduction should be at a level that makes it easy to understand for readers with a general science background, for example your classmates

Thesis statement

• in a couple of sentences, state your thesis
• this statement can take the form of a hypothesis, research question, project statement, or goal statement
• the thesis statement should capture the essence of your intended project and also help to put boundaries around it

Approach/methods

• this section contains an overall description of your approach,  materials, and procedures
• what methods will be used?
• how will data be collected and analyzed?
• what materials will be used?
• include calculations, technique, procedure, equipment, and calibration graphs
• detail limitations, assumptions, and range of validity
• citations should be limited to data sources and more complete descriptions of procedures
• do not include results and discussion of results here

Preliminary results and discussion

• present any results you already have obtained
• discuss how they fit in the framework of your thesis

Work plan including time table

• describe in detail what you plan to do until completion of your senior thesis project
• list the stages of your project in a table format
• indicate deadlines you have set for completing each stage of the project, including any work you have already completed
• discuss any particular challenges that need to be overcome

Implications of Research

• what new knowledge will the proposed project produce that we do not already know?
• why is it worth knowing, what are the major implications?

List of references

• cite all ideas, concepts, text, data that are not your own
• if you make a statement, back it up with your own data or a reference
• all references cited in the text must be listed
• cite single-author references by the surname of the author (followed by date of the publication in parenthesis)
• ... according to Hays (1994)
• ... population growth is one of the greatest environmental concerns facing future generations (Hays, 1994).
• cite double-author references by the surnames of both authors (followed by date of the publication in parenthesis)
• e.g. Simpson and Hays (1994)
• cite more than double-author references by the surname of the first author followed by et al. and then the date of the publication
• e.g. Pfirman, Simpson and Hays would be:
• Pfirman et al. (1994)
• cite newspaper articles using the newspaper name and date, e.g.
• ....this problem was also recently discussed in the press (New York Times, 1/15/00)
• do not use footnotes
• list all references cited in the text in alphabetical order using the following format for different types of material:
• Hunt, S. (1966) Carbohydrate and amino acid composition of the egg capsules of the whelk. Nature, 210, 436-437.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1997) Commonly asked questions about ozone. http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs/grounders/ozo1.html, 9/27/97.
• Pfirman, S.L., M. Stute, H.J. Simpson, and J. Hays (1996) Undergraduate research at Barnard and Columbia, Journal of Research, 11, 213-214.
• Pechenik, J.A. (1987) A short guide to writing about biology. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 194pp.
• Pitelka, D.R., and F.M. Child (1964) Review of ciliary structure and function. In: Biochemistry and Physiology of Protozoa, Vol. 3 (S.H. Hutner, editor), Academic Press, New York, 131-198.
• Sambrotto, R. (1997) lecture notes, Environmental Data Analysis, Barnard College, Oct 2, 1997.
• Stute, M., J.F. Clark, P. Schlosser, W.S. Broecker, and G. Bonani (1995) A high altitude continental paleotemperature record derived from noble gases dissolved in groundwater from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Quat. Res., 43, 209-220.
• New York Times (1/15/00) PCBs in the Hudson still an issue, A2.
• it is acceptable to put the initials of the individual authors behind their last names, e.g. Pfirman, S.L., Stute, M., Simpson, H.J., and Hays, J (1996) Undergraduate research at ......

III. Order in which to write the proposal

.  Proceed in the following order:

1.     Make an outline of your thesis proposal  before you start writing

2.     Prepare figures and tables

3.     Figure captions

4.     Methods

5.     Discussion of your data

6.     Inferences from your data

7.     Introduction

8.     Abstract

9.     Bibliography

This order may seem backwards. However, it is difficult to write an abstract until you know your most important results.  Sometimes, it is possible to write the introduction first.  Most often the introduction should be written next to last.

IV. Tips

Figures

• "Pictures say more than a thousand words!" Figures serve to illustrate important aspects  of the background material, sample data, and analysis techniques.
• A well chosen and well labeled figure can reduce text length, and improve proposal clarity.  Proposals often contain figures from other articles.  These can be appropriate, but you should consider modifying them if the modifications will improve your point.
• The whole process of making a drawing is important for two reasons.  First, it clarifies your thinking.  If you don�t understand the process, you can�t draw it. Second, good drawings are very valuable.  Other scientists will understand your paper better if you can make a drawing of your ideas.  A co-author of mine has advised me: make figures that other people will want to steal.  They will cite your paper because they want to use your figure in their paper.
• Make cartoons using a scientific drawing program.  Depending upon the subject of your paper, a cartoon might incorporate the following:
• a picture of the scientific equipment that you are using and an explanation of how it works;
• a drawing of a cycle showing steps, feedback loops, and bifurcations: this can include chemical or mathematical equations;
• a flow chart showing the steps in a process and the possible causes and consequences.
• Incorporate graphs in the text or on separated sheets inserted in the thesis proposal
• Modern computer technology such as scanners and drafting programs are available in the department to help you create or modify pictures.

Do we need theory in research????

If you are using the quantitative approach... surely you need a theory...Really???? Yes of course...... So??? Where should i get the theory that related to my research????? Ermmm....

Dear students.....
If you done you literature review... you wont asked this question.... Hahahahaha.. why????
Coz.. when you do you literature reviews.... you will see that.. the paper that you read will have  variables that represent the theory they used... the variables may come from theory or combination a 2 or 3 theories...

Ahaaaaaa.. beside that... since you are using a quantitative approach.. which are positivism...  the theory will lead us for hypothesis development... for more actions after that...... ha ha ha... 

Introduction and Research Background

Goals of the Introduction

If someone reads only one section of your dissertation, it’ll be the introduction, so the introduction’s primary goal is to demonstrate the importance, interest and originality of your research project. Above all, it should include a statement of the research question that your project investigates. This statement should give readers a broad sense of the current research on your topic, what’s at stake in learning more about the topic and how your specific project changes what people know about the topic. The introduction’s tone should be confident without being arrogant or dismissive. Finally, the introduction should define key terms you’ll use throughout the study, as well as map out the rest of the dissertation.

Goals of the Background

The background section is often called the literature review. “The literature” refers to other research on your topic. The background synthesizes current knowledge on your research question in far greater detail than your introductory section does. Its goal is to articulate patterns within the literature and to describe unresolved issues or questions, then to show how your study fits into the larger body of work in your field. You can organize your overview of other research in several ways, including in chronological order, by significant issues, or from broad information about your field to specific studies on your topic.

Separate Introduction and Background

Some disciplines organize the introduction and background as separate sections of the dissertation. Dissertations in the social sciences, for instance, frequently have an introduction followed by a literature review. The hard sciences also tend to follow this format, with each subsequent chapter representing a published article related to the broad research question.

Background Within the Introduction

In many humanities disciplines, the introduction will include a section called “Background” or “Literature Review,” which provides a history of criticism on your topic. Individual dissertation chapters then contain further discussion of the criticism related to specific texts that the chapter investigates. It’s crucial to consult your adviser to find out how you’re expected to organize the introduction and background.

Pearson correlation in SPSS

Introduction to SPSS

Welcome to new researchers...

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