Lec # 4

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

The Broad Problem Area and
Defining the Problem Statement

Dr Sadaqat Ali
 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

[Link] How Problem Areas Can Be Identified.

[Link] How Primary And Secondary Data Help The Researcher To

Develop A Problem Statement.

[Link] Research Problems Clearly And Precisely.

 Steps 1 to 3

• The broad problem area

• Preliminary data gathering
• Problem definition
The Research Process
 Broad Problem Area
• Broad problem area refers to the entire situation
where one sees a possible need for research and
problem solving.
• Such issues might pertain to:
– Problems currently existing in an organizational setting that
need to be solved
– Areas that a manager believes need to be improved in the
organization
– A conceptual or theoretical issues that needs to be
tightened up for the basic researcher to understand certain
phenomena
– Some research questions that a basic researcher wants to
answer empirically
 The Broad Problem Area

• Examples of broad problem areas that a

manager could observe at the workplace:
– Training programs are not as effective as
anticipated.
– The sales volume of a product is not picking up.
– Minority group members are not advancing in their
careers.
– The newly installed information system is not being
used by the managers for whom it was primarily
designed.
– The introduction of flexible work hours has created
more problems than it has solved in many
companies.
6
 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION

(STEP # 2 IN HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVE METHOD)

The nature of data to be gathered could be classified under

three (3) following headings:

[Link] information of the organization Secondary Data

[Link] knowledge on the topic

[Link] Data Collection

 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION
(STEP # 2 IN HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVE METHOD)

SECONDARY DATA

●Secondary data are data that already exist and do not have to be collected by the

researcher again.

●Some secondary sources of data are government publications, information published or

unpublished and available from either within or outside the organization, library records,

data available from previous research, online data, web sites, and the Internet.
 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY DATA

●Data gathered for research from the actual site of occurrence of events are first time

is called PRIMARY DATA.

●Information such as the perceptions and attitudes of employees are best obtained

by talking to them; by observing events, people, and objects; or by administering

questionnaires to individuals.
 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION

Background Information of the Organization (The contextual factors)

The background details of the company can be obtained from available

published records, the web site of the company. Company policies,

procedures, and rules can be obtained from the organization’s records and

documents. Data gathered through such existing sources are called

secondary data.
 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION

Prevailing knowledge on the topic

●Relevant findings from previous research in context of problem. Also know as

Literature Review.

●A literature review should help the researcher to identify and highlight the

important variables that are related to the problem.

●Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the

published and unpublished work from secondary sources of data in the areas of

specific interest to the researcher.

 SOURCES OF LITERATURE REVIEW

● The library is a rich storage base for secondary data through

books, journals, newspapers, magazines, conference

proceedings, doctoral dissertations, master’s theses,

government publications, and financial marketing, and other

reports.

● The computerized databases is now readily available and

accessible, which makes the literature search much easier,

and can be done without entering the portals of a library

building.
 REASONS FOR THE LITERATURE REVIEW

[Link] to find the important variables that are likely to

influence the problem situation are not left out of the
study.
[Link] the development of the theoretical framework
and hypotheses for testing.
[Link] problem statement can be made with precision and
clarity.
[Link] and replicability of the findings of the current
research are enhanced.
[Link] does not run the risk of wasting efforts on trying to
rediscover something that is already known.
[Link] problem investigated is perceived by the scientific
community as relevant and significant (Applied Research).
 CONDUCTING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review needs to be done in three (3) steps

process.

[Link] First step in this process involves identifying the various

published and unpublished materials that are available on the

topics of interest, and gaining access to these.

[Link] Second step is gathering the relevant information either

by going through the necessary materials in a library or by

getting access to online sources.

[Link] Third step is writing up the literature review.

 DATA SOURCES

o Textbooks

o Academic and professional journals

o Theses: PhD theses and Master theses.

o Conference proceedings

o Unpublished manuscripts

o Reports

o Newspapers

o The internet
 SEARCHING FOR LITERATURE
There are three (3) forms of databases:

[Link] BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES, which display only the

bibliographic citations, that is, the name of the author, the title of the

article (book), source of publication, year, volume, and page numbers.

[Link] ABSTRACT DATABASES, which in addition provide an

abstract or summary of the articles.

[Link] FULL-TEXT DATABASES, which provide the full text of the

article.
 DOCUMENTING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of the literature Survey/Review is:

●To identify and highlight the important variables.

●To document the significant findings from earlier research that will serve

as the foundation on which the theoretical framework for the current

investigation can be built and the hypotheses developed.

Such documentation is important to convince the reader that:

[Link] researcher is knowledgeable about the problem area.

[Link] theoretical framework will be structured on work already done and will

add to the solid foundation of exiting knowledge.

 DEFINING THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

● After the literature review, the researcher is in position to

narrow down the problem from its original broad base and

define the issues of concern more clearly.

What makes a good problem statement?

● The problem statement introduces the key problem that is

addressed in the research project.

● Problem statement is a clear, precise, and short statement

of the specific issue that a researcher wishes to investigate.

 3 KEY CRITERIA FOR PROBLEM STATEMENT

● There are three key criteria to assess the quality of the

problem statement:

[Link] should be relevant

[Link] should be feasible

[Link] should be interesting

 FROM AN ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE,
RESEARCH IS RELEVANT, IF

[Link] is known about the topic.

[Link] is known about the topic, but the knowledge

is scattered.

[Link] research on the topic is available, but the

results are contradictory.

[Link] relationships do not hold in certain

situations.
 A PROBLEM STATEMENT IS FEASIBLE

[Link] you are able to answer the problem statement within the

restrictions of the research project.

[Link] restrictions are possibly related to time and money and the

expertise of the researcher (a problem statement may be too

difficult to answer).

[Link], it is important that you develop a narrowly defined question

that can be investigated with a reasonably amount of time and

efforts.
 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT IS

INTERESTING
● Because research is a time-consuming process

and you will go through many ups and downs

before you present a final version of your research

report. It is therefore vital that you are interested in

the problem statement that you are trying to

answer, so you can stay motivated throughout the

entire process.
 EXAMPLES OF WELL-DEFINED PROBLEM
STATEMENTS

● To what extent do the structure of the organization and type of

information systems installed account for the variance in the

perceived effectiveness of managerial decision making?

● To what extent has the new advertising campaign been successful

in creating the high-quality, customer-centered corporate image

that it was intended to produce?

● How has the new packaging affected the sales of the product?

● What are the effects of downsizing on the long-range growth

patterns of companies?
 RESEARCH PROPOSAL
CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING:

● Key elements:
o Purpose of the study

o Specific problem to be investigated.

o Scope of the study

o Relevance of the study

o Research design:
 Sampling design
 Data collection methods
 Data analysis

o Time frame

o Budget

o Selected Bibliography