Chapter 3

The Research Process - The Broad

Problem Area and Defining the
Problem Statement

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1

www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 1
 Skill 4: Problem formulation
• Turn a problematic situation • SIR HD
into an interesting research
problem
• A problem should be
formulated in a simple and
crisp way
• Everybody, even non-expert
people, should be able to
understand it
• An unnecessary complex
formulation may hide the
essence of the problem and
also its solution
• Talk to others, define your
problem to them, get
feedback
 The Broad Problem Area
• Examples of broad problem areas that a
manager could observe at the workplace:
– Training programs are not as effective as
anticipated.
– The sales volume of a product is not picking up.
– Minority group members are not advancing in
their careers.
– The newly installed information system is not
being used by the managers for whom it was
primarily designed.
– The introduction of flexible work hours has
created more problems than it has solved in many
companies.
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 3
 Preliminary Information Gathering
• Nature of information to be gathered:
– Background information of the organization.
– Prevailing knowledge on the topic.

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 4
Selection and Formulation of
Research Problem
 Outline
• Why need to formulate the research problem
• Steps in formulating the research problem
• How to identify the research problem
• Formulation of problem statement
• Formulating research question / hypotheses
• Identify research objectives
• Scope of research
• Expected outcome of research
 The Research Idea

• Everyday life (Professional experience)

• Practical issues (Burning questions)
• Past research/Literature (Research often
generates more questions, Disagreements
among studies can lead to worthwhile
research)
• Professional meetings
• Discussions
 Research Topics
• Observations
• Behaviors
• Concepts
• Theories
• Testing of assessment and intervention
strategies
 Narrowing the research topic
• Idea → brainstorming
• Literature review
• Identify the variables for study
• Formulate research problems and
questions/hypotheses
 Number ONE Requirement…

• You need to have an inquisitive and

imaginative mind
• You need a Questioning attitude
• Wonder why?
 Answer the following preliminary
questions…

• Is the problem/topic significant enough?

• Is it feasible (practical/possible for me to do
it)?
• Is it free of unknown hazards/dangers?
• Is it clear (unambiguous)?
 Actively involve yourself (and other
experts) in NARROWING & REFINEMENT
of the problem
• Narrowing the focus
• Population
• Situation (time, condition, subject availability,
researcher’s readiness, resources available,
etc.)
• Measurements
• Issue(s) dealt with?
• Setting the scope of the problem (“this is my
line…I won’t go beyond it…”)
 Characteristics of good topics?
1. Interesting – keeps the researcher interested in it throughout the
research process

2. Researchable – can be investigated through the collection and analysis

of data

3. Significant – contributes to the improvement and understanding of

educational theory and practice

4. Manageable – fits the level of researcher’s level of research skills,

needed resources, and time restrictions

5. Ethical – does not embarrass or harm participants

 A Research Question Must Identify

1. The variables under study

2. The population being studied
3. The testability of the question
 Examples of good research problems (in the
form of questions)
• Does client-centered therapy produce more satisfaction in clients than traditional
therapy? (experimental design)

• Are the descriptions of people in social studies discussions biased? (grounded

theory design)

• What goes on in an elementary school classroom during an average week?

(ethnographic design)

• Do teachers behave differently toward students of different genders? (causal-

comparative design)

• How do parents feel about the school counseling program? (survey design)

• How can a principal improve faculty morale? (interview design)

 Your research problem
• What is your area of interest?

• Where could you look for help in deciding upon a specific

research problem?

• What criteria will you apply when deciding upon a specific

research problem?

• How could you narrow down your research problem?

• How might your value-judgments (preconceived ideas) affect

your research endeavors?
 What is a research question

~ is a statement that identifies the phenomenon

to be studied
 REASONS WHY RESEARCH
QUESTIONS ARE CRUCIAL
• GUIDE YOUR LITERATURE SEARCH
• GUIDE YOUR DECISIONS ABOUT THE KIND OF RESEARCH
DESIGN TO EMPLOY
• GUIDE YOUR DECISIONS ABOUE WHAT DATA TO COLLECT AND
FROM WHOM
• GUIDE ANALYSIS OF YOUR DATA
• GUIDE WRITING-UP OF YOUR DATA
• STOP YOU FROM GOING OFF IN UNNECESSARY DIRECTIONS
 Steps in formulating the research questions

• Ask these questions

– Do I known the field and its literature well?
– What are the important research questions in my field?
– What areas need further exploration?
– Could my study fill a gap? Or lead to greater understanding?
– Has a great deal of research already been conducted in this topic
area?
– Has this study been done before? If so, is there room for
improvement?
– Is the timing right for this question to be answered? Is it a hot topic, or
is it becoming obsolete?
– Will the study have a significant impact on the field?
 Research Questions and
Hypotheses
A process of asking a question, or a series of
related questions, and then initiating a
systematic procedure to obtain valid answers to
that question.
 Formulating research question /
hypotheses
• A well-thought-out and focused research question leads
directly to your hypotheses.
• Hypotheses are more specific predictions about the nature
and direction of the relationship between two variables.
• Hypotheses,
– Gives insight into a research question
– Are testable and measurable by the proposed
experiments
• Each hypothesis is matched with a specific aim and has
rationale.
 research objectives
• The research objectives pursued in order to
answer the research questions.
 Scope of research –
masters vs PhD
• Amount of research work
• Standard of writing
• Level of independency
 Expected outcome of research
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
•State clearly why this research is important, what the benefits
will be and how your work will contribute to knowledge in your
field. This may include commercial benefits, changes in current
practice, a new perspective on an old issue or other benefits to
the community. You need to
•indicate why it is significant and how it advances understanding
of the issues under discussion.
 Literature Review
• A good literature survey:
– Ensures that important variables are not left out
of the study.
– Helps the development of the theoretical
framework and hypotheses for testing.
– Ensures that the problem statement is precise and
clear.
– Enhances testability and replicability of the
findings.
– Reduces the risk of “reinventing the wheel”.
– Wiley
© 2009 John Confirms
& Sons Ltd. that the problem is perceived as relevant
www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran
and significant. 25
 Data sources
• Textbooks
• Academic and professional journals
• Theses
• Conference proceedings
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Reports of government departments and
corporations
• Newspapers
© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
• The Internet
www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran
26
 Searching for Literature
• Most libraries have the following electronic
resources at their disposal:
– Electronic journals
– Full-text databases
– Bibliographic databases
– Abstract databases

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 27
 The Problem Statement
• Examples of Well-Defined Problem Statements
– To what extent do the structure of the organization and type of
information systems installed account for the variance in the
perceived effectiveness of managerial decision making?
– To what extent has the new advertising campaign been successful in
creating the high-quality, customer-centered corporate image that it
was intended to produce?
– How has the new packaging affected the sales of the product?
– What are the effects of downsizing on the long-range growth patterns
of companies?

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 28
 The Research Proposal
• Key elements:
– Purpose of the study
– Specific problem to be investigated.
– Scope of the study
– Relevance of the study
– Research design:
• Sampling design
• Data collection methods
• Data analysis
– Time frame
– Budget
– Selected Bibliography

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran 29
 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND THE RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
Learning outcomes:

• To understand that proper problem definition

is essential for effective business research.
• To discuss how formulation of research
questions and hypotheses adds clarity to the
problem definition.
• To explain the purpose of the research
proposal.
• To outline a research proposal.
 Problem definition
• importance of proper problem definition
- managers realize a problem but may have only vague ideas about
the situation (sales decreases, morale declines at the company, job
turnover goes up)
- business researcher should provide the clear definition of the
problem
• problem definition indicates a specific business decision area that will
be clarified by answering the research questions

• Steps in problem definition

1. ascertain the decision maker’s objectives
- unfortunately, objectives are seldom clearly given to the researcher
- objectives should be “extracted” by the researcher (questioning the
manager or exploratory research)
 Problem definition

2. Understanding the background of the problem

- gathering background details about the problem (e.g., from other
experienced managers)

3. Isolating and identifying the problem not the symptoms

- easier to say than to do
(an example:
of a 20-year old neighborhood swimming association
- symptoms: new water park moved into the neighborhood
- problem definition based on symptoms: residents prefer the
expensive water park
- true problem: demographic changes, children have grown up)
 Problem definition
4. Determine the unit of analysis
- what is the level of investigation (e.g., individual employees)
5. Selection of the relevant variables
- variable: something which is empirically observable and can
take different values
(e.g., salaries of office workers in the company)
- categorical variable can take limited number of distinct values
(dummy variables: 0,1)
- continuous variable: can take infinite number of values
- dependent variable: that is to be explained
- independent variable: expected to influence the dependent
variable
 Problem definition
6. State research hypotheses and research objectives
A. hypothesis: empirically testable proposition
examples:
H1: voluntary turnover will be higher among employees who perceive
themselves to be inequitably paid than among employees who perceive
themselves to be equitably paid
H2: increasing competition in the job market increases turnover
H3: participation-oriented management style increases job satisfaction and
decreases turnover

B. research objective: the purpose of the research in measurable terms; the

exact definition what the research should accomplish
examples:
- To study whether perceived inequitable payment has a negative effect on
job turnover
- To determine the extent to which increasing competition affects job
turnover
- To clarify whether participation-oriented management style decreases job
 Research proposal

• The research proposal

a written statement of the research design that includes an explanation of the
purpose of the study and a detailed outline of a particular research methodology

It should consist of the following parts:

1. The intended title of the dissertation

2. The aim of the underlying research as well as the clearly stated
motivation for the research
3. The preliminary structure (table of contents) of the
dissertation
4. Literature review, i.e. review of the state of the art in the literature
5. Outline of research design and motivation for the
research methodology to be applied
6. Data sources and description of the sample
design
7. Time schedule of the research
8. List of references
Evaluate the statement of the business problem in each of the following situations:

1. The producer of the television show:

“We have a problem: The program’s ratings are low. We need to learn how to improve
our ratings.”

2. A soft drink manufacturer:

“The problem is that we do not know if our bottlers are more satisfied with us than
our competitors’ bottlers are with them.”

3. A women’s magazine:
“Our problem is to document the demographic changes that have occurred in recent
decades in the lives of women and to put these changes in historic perspective ; to examine
several generations of American women through most of this century, tracking their roles as
students, workers, wives, and mothers and noting the changes in timing, sequence, and duration
of these roles; to examine at what age and for how long a woman enters each of the various
stages of her life: school, work marriage, childbearing, divorce. This documentation will be
accomplished by analyzing demographic data over several generations.”
“If you do not know where you are going to, any
road will take you there.”
(adage)