The Sources of research
problem is the situation that causes the researcher to feel apprehensive,
confused and ill at ease. It is the demarcation of a problem area within a
certain context involving the WHO or WHAT, the WHERE, the WHEN and the WHY of
the problem situation.
There are many problem
situations that may give rise to research. Three sources usually contribute to
problem identification. Own experience or the experience of others may be a
source of problem supply. A second source could be scientific literature. You
may read about certain findings and notice that a certain field was not
covered. This could lead to a research problem. Theories could be a third
source. Shortcomings in theories could be researched. Research can thus be
aimed at clarifying or substantiating an existing theory, at clarifying
contradictory findings, at correcting a faulty methodology, at correcting the
inadequate or unsuitable use of statistical techniques, at reconciling
conflicting opinions, or at solving existing practical problems. Usually we say
that a research problem does exist if the following conditions are met with:
There
must be an individual (or a group or an organisation), let us call it ‘I,’ to
whom the problem can be attributed. The individual or the organisation, as the
case may be, occupies an environment, say ‘N’, which is defined by values of
the uncontrolled variables, Yj.
There
must be at least two courses of action, say C1 and C2, to be pursued. A course
of action is defined by one or more values of the controlled variables. For
example, the number of items purchased at a specified time is said to be one
course of action.
There
must be at least two possible outcomes, say O1 and O2, of the course of action,
of which one should be preferable to the other. In other words, this means that
there must be at least one outcome that the researcher wants, i.e., an
objective. ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION
{"citationID":"VGZ5j6ly","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Lechtenberg,
n.d.)","plain Citation":"(Lechtenberg,
n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":11,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/3TrClyoq/items/R499DM39"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/3TrClyoq/items/R499DM39"],"itemData":{"id":11,"type":"webpage","title":"Research
Guides: Organizing Academic Research Papers: The Research
Problem/Question","abstract":"Research Guides: Organizing
Academic Research Papers: The Research
Problem/Question","URL":"https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185918","title-short":"Research
Guides","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Lechtenberg","given":"Ula"}],"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",8,20]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}
(Lechtenberg, n.d.)
The
courses of action available must provide some chance of obtaining the
objective, but they cannot provide the same chance, otherwise the choice would
not matter. Thus, if P (Oj | I, Cj, N) represents the probability that an
outcome Oj will occur, if I select Cj in N, then PbO1| I , C1, Ng ¹ PbO1| I ,
C2 , Ng . In simple words, we can say that the choices must have unequal
efficiencies for the desired outcomes.
Over and above these
conditions, the individual or the organization can be said to have the problem
only if ‘I’ does not know what course of action is best, i.e., ‘I’, must be in
doubt about the solution. Thus, an individual or a group of persons can be said
to have a problem which can be technically described as a research problem, if
they (individual or the group), having one or more desired outcomes, are
confronted with two or more courses of action that have some but not equal
efficiency for the desired objective(s) and are in doubt about which course of
action is best. We can, thus, state the components of a research problem as
under:(“Sources
of Problems to Solve,” n.d.)
There must be an
individual or a group which has some difficulty or the problem.
There must be some objective(s) to be attained at.
If one wants nothing, one cannot have a problem.
There
must be alternative means (or the courses of action) for obtaining the
objective(s) one wishes to attain. This means that there must be at least two
means available to a researcher for if he has no choice of means, he cannot
have a problem.
There
must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the selection
of alternatives. This means that research must answer the question concerning
the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.
There
must be some environment(s) to which the difficulty pertains.
Definition
of a Research Problem
Figure
1.Research Problem
The Research Problem is
one which requires a researcher to find out the best solution for the given
problem, i.e., to find out by which course of action the objective can be
attained optimally in the context of a given environment. There are several factors
which may result in making the problem complicated. For instance, the
environment may change affecting the efficiencies of the courses of action or
the values of the outcomes; the number of alternative courses of action may be
very large; persons not involved in making the decision may be affected by it
and react to it favourably or unfavourably, and similar other factors. All such
elements (or at least the important ones) may be thought of in context of a
research problem.
A
research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty which a researcher
experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical situation and
wants to obtain a solution for the same.
Characteristics of Research Problem(Darrin, 2014)
The
variables in the problem must be clear
It
should be limited in scope and should be specific,
It
must have a goal
It
should be free from ethical constraints
Good
research problem must be researchable.
Sources of Research Problems
Social
problems like unemployment, crimes, female genital mutilation, etc
Theory
deduction
Funding
agencies
Past
researches and literature review
Casual
observation
Related
literature
Current
social and economic issues
Personal
interest and experience
Replication
of previous studies
Clarification
of contradictory research
What are some sources of research
problems in education?
Observe your surroundings. Or recollect
your own difficulties from your school level onwards. Without being a good
observer one cannot become a good researcher.
Search literature for similar work and
see how people were able to project a problem, analyze it, suggested a way out
etc.
Go through vast number of books and
literature to enhance your database so that you can analyze a problem from 4–5
different perspectives. Monopoly will lead to no invention.
Discuss with as many people as you can
to improve the logic in your argument. Hiding knowledge will reduce your
understanding level and creativity.
If you miss any one of the above four,
your research will be without life, and become a mechanical hectic job rather
than a pleasant wild curious journey.
And remember in research “The journey is
more important than the final result.”
Examples and Nonexamples of Good
Research Questions
Table.1
Examples
Nonexamples
Do students in Algebra I classes who engage in
the XYZ curriculum perform significantly
differently on state tests than students who do
not
participate in that curriculum
This one is good. It is specific and clear. One
knows who the participants will be, and one
knows that student performance on state tests is
The problem.
Why do students seem so apathetic?
This is not specific or clear, nor does it reflect
an
intervention, if one is planned, or a target group
of
Participants. Better questions might be: Are
science
students more engaged in class discussions when a
Response strategy is used (experimental)? What are
the reasons for apathy among various groups of
High school students (descriptive)?
Do general education teachers evaluate student
homework differently than special education
Teachers, based on five criteria?
Assuming this is descriptive research, the problem
is evident, the target participants are noted, and
the question is pretty clear.
Does computer practice improve state test scores?
Even though an intervention is mentioned and a
way of measuring performance is implied
(i.e., state test scores), the problem and target
group are unclear
Does the use of metacognitive strategies predict
reading performance on standardized tests for
Immigrant Chinese children?
This one is clear and quite specific, notes the
target participants, and nicely alludes to the
Variables that will be studied.
What strategies improve student understanding of
Main ideas in history texts?
The problem is pretty clear, but the target group
is
not. In addition, there is no specific reference
to
an intervention, important if this will be
Experimental research. If this will be descriptive
Research, on the other hand, that is moot.
Conclusion
A research problem is a problem that
someone would like to research. A problem can be anything that a person finds
unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficulty of some sorts, a state of affairs
that need to be changed, anything that is not working as well as it might.
Problems involve areas of concern to researcher, condition they want to
improve, difficulties they want to eliminate, questions for which they seek to
answer.
Reference
Darrin, D. (2014,
December 7). Identifying a Research Problem. Retrieved August 20, 2019, from
Educational research techniques website:
https://educationalresearchtechniques.com/2014/12/07/identifying-a-research-problem/
Lechtenberg,
U. (n.d.). Research Guides: Organizing Academic Research Papers: The Research
Problem/Question. Retrieved August 20, 2019, from
https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185918
Sources
of Problems to Solve. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2019, from
http://www.jsu.edu/depart/psychology/sebac/fac-sch/rm/Ch4-2.html
