CHAPTER-2

FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND STEPS OF RESEARCH

By DR. PRASANT SARANGI

Key concepts:

Formulation of Research Problem Components of Research problem Factors of problem identification Nature of the problem Sources of identifying research problem Process of formulation of research problem Criteria for a good research problems Problem of research in India Linking research to practice Steps of research Research ethics Performance monitoring in research

Formulation Of Research Problem

What makes a good research problem?
Research Questions for Theory Development Research Questions for Practical Application

Turning research problems into testable hypotheses

Defining Research Problems

What is a problem?
an interrogative sentence or statement that asks: What relation exists between two or more concepts? A problem can be restated in one or more ways to produce testable hypothesis. A good research problem often produces more than one testable hypothesis.

Characteristics of good research problems

Should state the concepts or variables to be related clearly and
unambiguously

Should be testable

Should be feasible, given resources

Three Specific Criteria for a Research Problem

What are we going to learn as the result of the proposed project that we
do not know now?

Why is it worth knowing? How will we know that the conclusions are valid?

The Research Question

Common mistakes in defining research questions

Very broad area of interest Too narrow Cannot be measured Problem is trivial or already understood

So, what is a good research problem statement?

The research problem is to investigate the presumed effect of A, B and C

on X and Y in (population).

Justifying Research Problems

Explain what is not known about the problem.

Why does the problem matter?

Provide documentation that this is actually a problem.
Available statistics? Available literature shows that this is a needed area of inquiry?

What is not a Justification?

No one has looked at it before. Literature has failed to address the issue. You think its interesting.
If it is interesting then there is probably a justification buried in there, but you have to spell it out.

Sources of Identifying Research Problem

Researchers Own Interest Contemporary Interests of the Researcher Identifying Unexplored Areas

Researchers Own Interest: Researcher(s) with different values tend to choose different topics for investigation. It is always advisable and better to select the problem based on the own interest of the researcher itself. A researcher may select a problem for research from a given situation or circumstances or existing theory as per his/her area of interest.

Contemporary Interest of the Researcher: In the busy world, a researcher may come across various problems which require a specific study. Beside personal interest, social and or business environmental conditions do often shape the preference of investigators in order to identify research problem (s). Since societies and/or business environments differ in respect of the premium they place on the work in different fields, hence, these differences affect the choice of research topics.

Gap in the Existing Theories: Analyzing the existing gap in the available theories or principles in
literatures. Irrespective of rapid expansion of communication, there still exists gap between what is known and what is unknown. This identification of gap between the two is the task of the researcher while selecting a research problem.

Linking Research to Practice

Researchers must pay greater attention to the production of their

research findings in a flexible range of formats in recognition of the varied needs of readers. Research is about both generation and enunciation of findings. An enunciate policy is the expression of a research institutions mission and values to its staff members and to the public. It establishes a common vision and the values and measures that can be engaged to achieve accessibility to information content.

Steps of Research

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Identification of the research problem. Scan the existing environment Fix the objectives/alternatives of study Scan the existing literature Formulate the hypothesis Develop the research plan

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Planning of sampling design Collect the required information Tabulation and execution of data Testing the hypothesis Finding the relevance Preparation of the report or if necessary, calling public opinion and Presentation of the results and findings

Research Ethics

Research ethics refers to a complex set of values, standards and

institutional schemes that help to constitute and regulate scientific activity. Ultimately, research ethics is a codification of ethics of scientific research. It is based on general ethics of scientific research, just as general ethics is based on commonsense and morality.

 Research must be regulated by ethical standards and values, at least

where there is disagreement about which ethical standards apply? Views about what is ethical are not entirely clear in some fields. Confusion and conflicts can arise. In such cases, the research community bears a special responsibility for helping to clarify ethical problems.

Performance Monitoring in Research

The research results can be used in monitoring the performance of
researchers, their institutions and disciplines. One way of achieving this objective is through organization of publications in bibliographies to guide colleagues and interested personnel in tracking and matching new publications.

Bibliographies versus Citation Index: Bibliographies in the research work are usually consisting of lists of
publications used in the study as well as it also provide some information about the authors. Assessment of the preference of a research work with the help of bibliographies cannot be treated as a standard measure of preference appraisal of a research work.

 In this connection, Nwagwn has suggested an index called as Citation

Indexes (CI). A CI is a structured list of references in a given collection of documents, containing information about the use and even quality of the publications, in addition to having all the attributes of a bibliography. This infrastructure is already at their advanced stages of development and use sophistication in many developed countries, and their application to assess the preference is universalized.

Processes:
To provide information on research already performed in order to support
ongoing research, because researchers often want to build on what has been done To provide information to the scientific community for the management of science. To provide information on the evolution of scientific knowledge

Conclusion:

A researcher before going to research in any field of knowledge should go thoroughly into the various steps/ process of research and has to design his research work. This may act as a guideline in the research process. All research disciplines are subject to some research ethics and obligations, i.e., requirements for interesting and relevant research issues, verifiable documentation, impartial discussion of conflicting opinions, and insight into ones own fallibility.