Crafting Effective Problem Statements for Research Studies

FORMULATING TOPIC

WHAT IS A PROBLEM STATEMENT where you introduce the reader to why your particular study is necessary and important. It s not the same as a research question, but a definition of a very specific problem and a proposal as to how it can be researched. Research questions guide your study, but their sole purpose is to help you reach knowledge about the problem you presented, and propose novel ways on how to handle it.

Start by asking these three questions: What is the overriding problem? Where is the problem found? What needs to be done to solve the problem?

IDENTIFYING PROBLEM There are no easy answers here, but start by looking for inequities in society and take advantage of your astonishment in something you noticed: Access to services, media, or technology Discrimination (e.g. gender, age) Gaps in social status or class

ANALYZING THE SITUATION The complexity of many reports and the amount of work involved put a premium on carefully analyzing the situation before you begin to write. Pay special attention to your statement of purpose, which explains why you are preparing the report and what you plan to deliver in the report. (See Fig 1)

PROBLEM STATEMENT VS PURPOSE STATEMENT PROBLEM STATEMENT Our company's market share is steadily declining. PURPOSE STATEMENT To explore new ways of promoting and selling our products and to recommend the approaches most likely to stabilize our market share. Our current computer network lacks sufficient bandwidth and cannot be upgraded to meet our future needs. We need $2 million to launch our new product To analyze various networking options and to recommend the system that will best meet our company's current and future needs. To convince investors that our new business would be a sound investment so that we can obtain desired financing. To justify the closing of the Newark plant and the transfer of East Coast operations to a single Midwest location in order to save the company money Our current operations are too decentralized and expensive

Writing a Problem Statement Why write a problem statement? What makes a good problem statement? Problem statement examples

Why write a problem statement? Focus effort Provide a measure of success

What Makes a Good Problem Statement? Concise Leaves room for multiple solutions Does not imply a solution Specific enough to be solvable in the given time frame and with available resources Answers the questions: Who has the problem? What exactly is the problem? Where does the problem exist? When has it happened and for how long? How prevalent is the problem (statistics)? Is the problem valid? (Who says there is a problem?)

Problem Statement Example 1 Lots of people go fishing for red fish and do not catch anything. There aren t as many red fish as there used to be. Game fishermen fishing in the lower Laguna Madre of Texas reported between 2002-2007 a decrease of 20% in red drum (i.e., sciaenops ocellatus). This loss can be attributed to premature death due to mouth infections caused when undersized fish are caught and released. Who? When? What? How Many? Where?

Problem Statement Example 2 Car accidents are occurring because the intersection needs to be redesigned. What are some issues with this problem statement? Only cars or all vehicles? Are vehicles hitting vehicles? Other objects? Pedestrians? What is the current design of the intersection? Does the intersection really need to be redesigned, or could the solution involve the lights, speed limits, lane configurations, traffic violation enforcement, etc.? .Revise the problem statement

Writing a Problem Statement Why write a problem statement? What makes a good problem statement? Problem statement examples

Image Resources iStockphoto.Retrieved December 7, 2009, from http://www.istockphoto.com/index.ph p