Formulating the research problem

formulating the research problem

In this tutorial, we will discuss formulating the research problem in research.

✰ This is the first stage of research process.

✰ The Research problem should be defined in a systematic manner.

✰ In this stage, general knowledge, experience, observations, belief, information and, etc., direct us to think about a new idea or a different way of understanding the phenomena.

The following steps are conducted to define a research problem:

1.Identifying a broad area of interest.
2. Dividing broad areas into subareas.
3. Focusing on and selecting an area of interest.
4. Identifying the gaps and raising research questions.
5. Formulation of broad objectives.
6. Assessing and reviewing objectives.

1) Identifying a broad area of interest:

✰ What really interests me as a professional? As a researcher, I might be interested in the area of Factors that affect weight loss or unemployment issue among people or study on student’s mental health.

2) Dividing broad areas into subareas

✰ Suppose I want to study Factors that affect weight loss.
It can have various subareas.
⇒ (1) effect of taking Green Tea in weight loss.
⇒ (2) effect of doing exercise.
⇒ (3) Duration of sleep.
⇒ (4) Duration of morning walk.
⇒ (5) taking warm water and so on.

3) Focusing on and selecting an area of interest

3) Focusing on and selecting an area of interest:

✰ The researcher may choose one or two areas for current research because it is not possible to pick many areas simultaneously. Delete the subareas in which you as a researcher do not have any interest and subsequently focus on the area you are passionate about.

4) Identifying the gaps and raising research questions:

✰ Within an area, list all the questions the researcher wants to find answers to.

5) Formulation of broad objectives:

✰ Objectives grow out of the questions.

6) Assessing and reviewing objectives:

✰ As a researcher narrows the research problem, the specific identification of the study population is crucial in order to select the appropriate respondents.

Extensive literature survey:

✰ Literature review is a crucial part of the entire research process.

✰ A brief summary of the problem should be written down, once the problem is formed. The researcher should undertake extensive literature survey related to the problem. For this purpose, the abstracting and indexing journals and published or unpublished bibliographies are the first place to go to.

✰ Bibliography given at the end of a project gives a clear and complete description of the sources that were used while preparing the report. Academic journals, conference proceedings, government reports, books, etc., must be tapped depending on the nature of the problem. In this process, it should be remembered that one source will lead to another. The earlier studies, if any, which are similar to the study in hand should be carefully studied. A good library will be a great help to the researcher at this stage.

✰Nowadays, researchers make extensive use of the internet sources for literature surveys and reviews, and at the same time, the researcher should be careful
about the authenticity of the contents.

Formulation of objectives:

✰ Objectives are the goals you set out to attain in your study. They inform the reader what the researcher wants to accomplish through the research work. The wording of the objective should be very precise and specific.

Objectives can be written under two headings:

1.Main objectives or aims.
2.Sub-objectives.

✰ The main objective is an overall statement of the study. It also states the main associations and relationships that we want to establish. The sub-objectives are the specific aspects of the topic that you want to investigate within the main framework.

⇒ They should be listed numerically.
⇒ The wording should be clear, complete, and specific.
⇒ Each objective should contain only one aspect of the study.
⇒ Use action-oriented words or verbs when writing objectives.

The objectives should start with words, such as ‘to determine’, ‘to find out’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to measure’, ‘to explore’, etc.

Example of main objective and sub-objectives

1.Main objectives or aims:

✰ The main objective is: the effect of taking Green Tea on weight loss.

2.Sub-objectives:

The sub-objectives are as follows:

⇒ To find out the duration of taking green tea that affects weight loss.

⇒ To compare the effect of taking green tea in the morning and in the evening, which affects most in weight loss.

⇒ To find out at which age green tea affect most in the weight loss journey.