12 SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
P RACTICAL R E SEARCH 2
Module 2
The Research Problem
1 1
NegOr_Q3_Practical Research2_Module1_v2
NegOr_Q3_Practical Research2_Module 2_v2
What is It
What is a Research Problem?
A research problem is exactly that – a problem that someone
would like to research (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2010). A problem can be
anything that a person finds unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficult of
some sort, a state of affairs that needs to be changed, anything that is not
working as well as it might. Problems involve areas of concern to
researchers, conditions they want to improve, difficulties they want to
eliminate, questions for which they seek answers.
Research Questions
Usually, a research problem is initially posed as a question which
serves as the focus of the researcher’s investigation. The following
examples of possible research in education are not sufficiently developed
for actual use in a research project but would be suitable during the early
stage of formulating a quantitative research question.
• Do teachers behave differently towards students of different genders?
(Causal-comparative research)
• How can we predict which students might have trouble learning certain
kinds of subject matter? (Correlational research).
There are other kinds of questions, however, that cannot be answered by
collecting and analyzing data. The following are the examples:
• Should philosophy be included in the high school curriculum?
[This is a question of value. It implies notions of right and
wrong, proper, and improper- and therefore does not have any
empirical (or observable) referents.]
• What is the meaning of life?
[This is metaphysical in nature – that is beyond the physical,
transcendental. Answers to this sort of question lie
beyond the accumulation of information].
2
Characteristics of Good Research Questions
Once a research question has been formulated, researchers want
to turn it into as good question as possible. Good research questions
possess four essential characteristics (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2010).
1. The question is feasible (i.e., it can be investigated without
expending an undue amount of time, energy, or money)
2. The question is clear (i.e., most people would agree as to what the
key words in the question mean).
3. The question is significant (i.e., it is worth investigating because it
will contribute important knowledge about the human condition).
4. The question is ethical (i.e., it will not involve physical or
psychological harm or damage to human beings or to the natural
or social environment of which they are a part).
The Purposes of a Problem Statement
1. Introduces the reader to the importance of the topic being
studied. The reader is oriented to the significance of the study and
the research questions or hypotheses to follow.
2. Places the problem into a particular context that defines the
parameters of what is to be investigated.
3. Provides the framework for reporting the results and indicates
what is probably necessary to conduct the study and explain how
the findings will present this information.
Do not confuse a research problem with a research topic. A topic is
something to read and obtain information about whereas a problem is
something to solve or framed as a question that must be answered. A
good research question helps to- guide the research process; construct a
logical argument; write a literature review; plan thesis chapters; and
devise efficient search strategies. A well-defined research question has
six properties.
A research question is not the same as a thesis title, research
problem, hypothesis or research focus, although they are interrelated
and support one another.
• A research question summarizes the significant issue your
research will investigate.
• The title consists of the topic and outcome of a research project.
• The research problem explains the knowledge gap your research
will address.
• A hypothesis is a predicted answer to the research question that
can be tested and is based on prior research.
• A research focus specifies the scope or domain of inquiry.
3
The Value of Research in the Area of Interest
A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a
condition to be improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling
question that exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that
points to the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate
investigation. In some Social Science Disciplines, the research problem is
typically posed in the form of a question. A research problem does not
state how to do something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or present
a value question.
Any problem that is not significant to the nation or profession is
not worth consideration of the investigator. It is helpful for investigator
to keep in mind the following aspects while selecting the area of
problem forresearch –
• The problem to be chosen should be such as to be meaningfully
related to the interest of the investigator himself/herself.
• The problem having alliance with the chain of thinking or research
already in existence can be handled more confidently.
• The ambitious problems covering a wide range of area of interest
should be avoided and the problems of manageable size and limits
should be taken up.
• An important consideration for selecting the problem area relates
to its feasibility in terms of the application of scientific techniques,
availability of resources in terms of money, personnel, and
equipment. When the researcher considers the points mentioned
above, researcher is essentially trying to answer some such
questions as – Is the problem researchable, interesting, research
already in existence or manageable size? Is it a new problem or the
work on the problem has already in existence?
The sources for identification of problem are diverse and would
largely depend upon the area of interest of the investigator and the
nature of the problem under investigation. However, the problem can be
identified from – (a) Advanced study and critical reading.
(b) Analysis and interpretation of the already available evidence,
practices, trends or needs in a particular area.
4
Research Topics to be Avoided
1. Controversial topics
-These are topics that depend greatly on the writer’s opinion, which
tend to be biased or prejudicial. Facts cannot support
controversial topics
2. Highly technical subjects
-For a beginner, researching on topics that require an advance study,
technical knowledge and vast experience is very difficult.
3. Hard-to-investigate subjects
-A topic or a subject is hard to investigate if there is no available data or
reading materials about it and such materials are not updated
(obsolete).
4. Too broad subjects
-A subject or a topic that are too broad will prevent the researcher
from giving a concentrated or in-depth analysis of the subject
matterof the research paper.
5. Too narrow subjects
-The subjects are so limited or specific that an extensive or thorough
searching or reading for information about the subject is necessary.
6. Vague subjects
-Choosing topics like these will prevent you from having a clear
insight or focus on your study. For instance, topics like “Some
Remarkable Traits of a Negrosanon”, “Several Comments on a
Modular System in the Department of Education”. So, avoid
using indefinite adjectives such as some, several, many, etc.
Research Background
Research background is a brief outline of the most important
studies that have been conducted so far presented in a chronological
order. Research background should also include a brief discussion of
major theories and models related to the research problem. When
writing research background, you also need to demonstrate how your
research relates to what has been done so far in the research area.
Once the research area is selected, the literature review is
commenced in order to identify gaps in the research area, and the
research aims, and objectives need to be closely associated with the
elimination of this gap in the literature.
5
Example:
Background of the Study
Learning is an interaction process between students and
teachers and study material in teaching learning process (UUSPN No.20,
2003). In other word, learning is a process to help the students to study
well. The media and the method of learning process in transferring the
material will be an important factor to get the best result. The methods
of delivery to students there are different kinds, one of them the lecture
method. The lecture method is explanation and narrative verbally by
teacher in the class, while the role of student is listening carefully, and
noted of which presented by the teacher (Surahmad, 2003). The lecture
method has disadvantage that the interaction to be centered on teachers
so teachers cannot know with certainty how far students understand
about the material (Muhammad, 2011). Seen here that the lecture
method is learning more dominated by teacher as the "the transferor"
science, and students were more passive as the "recipient" of science.
The material of the solar system actually is complex, such as
discusses about all of planets in the solar system and satellite. It also
discusses about meteors, comets, asteroids, and space objects other
(Prihantono, 2013). This material is usually presented using textbook.
The material of solar system presented in form of images and text that
dominated with theory explanation. To clarify the understanding of the
solar system material, need information technology support that can
be applied to this material. It was difficult we find in the past before the
rapidly growing information technology. The sophistication technology
lies in the ability of technology to combine real and virtual condition
which the results are displayed in real- time.
Because of that, the writer tries to make an application as an
interactive media to help elementary school students to study about
solar system based on android mobile. Researcher chose android
because Android is the one desired society platform besides blackberry
platform and IOS that most popular of Smartphone. Almost all of ages
used android platform, from young until old ages (antaranews.com,
2011). This application consists of solar system materials like: planet,
space objects, earth, and moon movement that applied in interesting
graphic to support learning process, so it will raise the student’s desire
in understanding the material. To support this application the writer
also makes interactive questions, to know how far the student’s
capability in understanding the material by using this application.
6
The scope and delimitations of a thesis, dissertation or research paper
define the topic and boundaries of the research problem to be investigated.
The scope details how in-depth your study is to explore the
research question and the parameters in which it will operate in relation
to the population and timeframe.
The delimitations of a study are the factors and variables not to be
included in the investigation. In other words, they are the boundaries the
researcher sets in terms of study duration, population size and type of
participants, etc.
Sample phrases that help express the scope of the study:
The coverage of this study…
The study covers…
The focus of the study is…
Source: https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/scope-and-delimitations
Example: SCOPE AND DELIMITATION
Out of 189 second year accounting students at Saint Mary’s University, 100
students were used as a sample in conducting the survey.
This study limits its coverage on the second-year accounting students only.
Its main purpose is to identify the common problems that they encounter and to
propose possible solutions regarding this problem.
This study considers every aspect of students’ personal information that has
animpact on their academic performances such as their parents educational
background, their parents’ income, their gender, age, and home location. Each of the
respondents are given same questionnaires to answer. And this study focuses on
the current second year students at the present school year, 2008-2009
Source: https://www.scribd.com/doc/12760820/Scope-and-Delimitation
7
What I Can Do
Task Let us prove it…
Directions. Based on the chosen topic of your interest, write the backgroundof
your study, statement of the problem, and the scope and delimitation of your
study. Use a short-sized bond paper.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
(Title)
Background of the Study
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Statement of the Problem
The study generally aims
to____________________________________________________________________________ Specifically,
it aims to answer the following questions:
1. _________________________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________________________________
Scope and Delimitation
This study focuses on… (identify what kind of group, how many, area, and other
aspects that distinguish the samples from others)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
8
Assessment
Directions: Read each item carefully. Write TRUE if the statement is true and
write FALSE if the statement if false. Write your answers in your Activity
Notebook/ Activity Sheets.
1. One of the characteristics of good research questions is not
feasible.
2. “A comparison between the identical twins….” is a good example
of research title.
3. The sources for identification of problem are diverse and would
largely depend upon the area of interest of the investigator.
4. Research questions should be clear, concise, and as simple as
possible, focused and empirically answerable.
5. The problem statement provides the framework for reporting the
results and indicates what is probably necessary to conduct the
study and explain how the findings will present this information.
6. Good research question is practicable.
7. A good research question helps to- guide the research process;
construct a logical argument; write a literature review; plan thesis
chapters; and devise efficient search strategies.
8. The purpose of research question is to introduce the reader to the
importance of the topic being studied.
9. A hypothesis is a predicted answer to the research question that
can be tested and is based on prior research.
10. An important consideration for selecting the problem area relates
to its feasibility.
Glossary
Delimitation - the action of fixing the boundary or limits of something.
Empirical - relying on experience or observation alone often
without due regard for system and theory an empirical basis for
the theory.
Scope - the extent of the area or subject matter that
something deals with or to which it is relevant.
