PROBLEM STATEMENT
By
Assoc. Prof. Dr.Hassan Ali
College of Business
Universiti Utara Malaysia
Hassan Ali PhD
Research Process
PO
Problem
Statement TF Hypothesis
LR
Research
D&C Findings Design
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Research Process (cont)
The “Theoretical” Stage
Pre-data collection involving constant
bibliographical work.
Identify research problem
Develop conceptual scheme
Postulate hypothesis
Operationalize variables
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Research Process (cont)
The “Empirical” Stage
Data collection stage
Research design
Sampling
Data source and collection
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Research Process (cont)
The “Analysis of Results” Stage
Post-data collection stage
Data analysis
Description of data
Hypothesis testing
Research report
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Problems
“In the beginning was not the ‘word’ but a
problem.”
Kempthorne
• This is how scientific inquiry is initiated.
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Problems
“The formulation of a problem is often more
essential than its solution, which may be merely a
matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To
raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard
old problems from new angle, requires creative
imagination and marks real advance in science”
Einstein & Infeld
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Problems
• Use novel concepts in familiar settings
• Ask novel questions that place old
phenomena in a new light, creating a new
context.
“What we observe is not nature in itself but
nature exposed to our method of
questioning”.
Heisenberg
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Problem Characterization and
Format
A problem is a statement usually
interrogative, about a relation between two
or more variables.
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Problem Characterization and
Format
• Two things to note:
To qualify as a problem the statement must make
reference to some kind of relation between at least
two variables.
“Relation” is not limited to situations in which no
distinction is made between independent and
dependent variables (eg. when the correlation
between two variables is calculated) but includes
also statements that refer to or imply effects of
independent variables on dependent variables.
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Format 1
What is the relation between mental ability
and academic achievement?
What is the relation between teaching style
and student academic achievement?
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Format 1 (cont.)
Statements are “noncommittal”
There is no explicit or implicit indication of
a distinction between independent and
dependent variable.
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Format 2
How do students of differing levels of
mental ability differ in academic
achievements?
How do students exposed to different
teaching styles differ in academic
achievements?
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Format 2 (cont.)
Distinction between independent and dependent variables
are implied.
Mental ability and teaching style are meant to be
independent variables in the two problem statements.
Teaching style is a manipulated variable that require an
experimental or quasi-experimental design.
Statement 1 and 2 requires a nonexperimental design.
Statements are ambiguous because it does not state
explicitly that differences in the dependent var. is due in
part, to the effects of the implied I/d var.
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Format 3
What is the effect of mental ability on
academic achievement?
What is the effect of teaching style on
students academic achievement?
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Format 3 (cont.)
Very clear which is the independent and
which is the dependent variables in each
problems.
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Problem Statement
The way a problem statement is formulated
or characterized will largely determine the
analytic approach.
Eg. Statement 1
Format 1: Pearson correlation coefficient
Format 2: ANOVA (categorize continuous
var).
Format 3: Simple regression analysis
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Problem and Substance
In research need to avoid “trivial” problems.
The question that begs asking is: What makes a
problem important and worth pursuing?
A problem encapsulates the puzzle one feels
impelled to solve.Therefore the problem should
be:
Important not trite
Meaningful not meaningless
Doable not not doable
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Problems and Substance
Although there are similarities between the
detective and a scientist, they differ in a
fundamental way.
“For the detective the crime is given, the
problem formulated … The scientist must,
at least in part, commit his own crime, as
well as carry out the investigation”.
Einstein and Infeld
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Problems and Substance
When a researcher has formulated a
problem, he/she should engage in self-
questioning.
“Why do I pose a given problem and ask
the questions I do regarding it?’
The greatest risk to the researcher is not
thinking at all about what one is doing.
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Issues Relevant to Problem
Formulation
Scope of Problem
Past Research and Literature Review
Problems and Methods
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Scope of Problem
• The most obvious aspect of problem formulation.
• Problems that are all encompassing or too broad, elude
meaningful solution.
• Eg. broad questions:
What are the causes of crime?
What makes organizations effective?
How should performance be measured?
• It is necessary to reduce broad questions to workable and
soluble problems focusing on relations among specific
variables.
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Problems and Methods
“Woe to that science whose methods are developed in
advance of its problems, so that the experimenter can see
only those phases of a problem for which a method is
already at hand”
Murphy
• There is a danger of technique determining the choice of
the research problem to be investigated.
• Understanding of method (measurement, analysis) is
crucial at the problem-formulation stage. But it becomes a
problem when the researcher’s exposure to methods is
limited. This is when the research becomes method-driven.
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Problems and Methods (cont.)
“The man of one method or one instrument
… tends to become method-oriented rather
than problem-oriented”.
Platt
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