RESEARCH PROBLEM
What is a research problem?
❖ The term ‘problem’ means a question or issue to be
examined.
❖ Research Problem refers to some difficulty /need
which a researcher experiences in the context of either
theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a
solution for the same.
HOW DO WE KNOW WE HAVE A
RESEARCH PROBLEM?
Customer complaints
Conversation with company employees
Observation of inappropriate behavior or
conditions in the firm
Deviation from the business plan
Success of the firm’s competitors
Relevant reading of published material (trends,
regulations)
Company records and reports.
HOW DO WE KNOW WE HAVE A
RESEARCH PROBLEM?
The first step in the research process – definition
of the problem involves two activities:
Identification / Selection of the Problem
Formulation of the Problem
IDENTIFICATION / SELECTION OF
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
This step involves the identification of a few
problems and selection of one out of them, after
evaluating the alternatives against certain selection
criteria.
SOURCES OF PROBLEMS
Reading
Academic Experience
Daily Experience
Exposure to Field Situations
Consultations
Brainstorming
Research
Intuition
CRITERIA OF SELECTION
The selection of one appropriate researchable problem out
of the identified problems requires the evaluation of those
alternatives against certain criteria. They are:
Internal / Personal criteria – Researcher’s Interest,
Researcher’s Competence, Researcher’s own Resource:
finance and time.
External Criteria or Factors – Researchability of the
problem, Importance and Urgency, Novelty of the
Problem, Feasibility, Facilities, Usefulness and Social
Relevance, Research Personnel.
DEFINITION / FORMULATION OF
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Formulation is the process of refining the research
ideas into research questions and objectives.
Formulation means translating and transforming the
selected research problem/topic/idea into a
scientifically researchable question. It is concerned
with specifying exactly what the research problem is.
DEFINITION / FORMULATION OF
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Problem definition or Problem statement is a clear,
precise and succinct statement of the question or issue
that is to be investigated with the goal of finding an
answer or solution.
There are two ways of stating a problem:
1. Posting question/questions
2. Making declarative statement/statements
CRITERIA OF A GOOD RESEARCH
PROBLEM
Clear and Unambiguous
Empirical
Verifiable
Interesting
Novel and Original
Availability of Guidance
ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
Research Objectives are the specific components of
the research problem, that you’ll be working to
answer or complete, in order to answer the overall
research problem. - Churchill, 2001
The objectives refer to the questions to be answered
through the study. They indicate what we are trying
to get from the study or the expected
results/outcome of the study.
ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
Research Objectives should be clear and achievable,
as they directly assist in answering the research
problem.
The objectives may be specified in the form of
either statements or questions.
Generally, they are written as statements, using the
word “to”. (For example, ‘to discover …’, ‘to
determine …’, ‘to establish …’, etc. )