IE 500
Dr. Addae
Alcorn State University
September 20th, 2020

Research problems are any educational issues, controversies, or concerns that guide the
need for conducting a study. Research problems are essential due to the token that it
allows educators to assist policy makers when they make decisions, assist teachers and
school officials solve practical issues, and provide researchers with a more indept
competence of educational issues.

A research topic is defined as the broad subject matter addressed by the study.
A research problem is defined as a general educational issue, concern, or controversy
addressed in research that narrows the topic.
A purpose is the major intent or objective of the study used to address the problem.
Research questions narrow the purpose into specific questions that the researcher would
like answered or addressed in the study.
All of the parts of research differ in terms of breadth from broad to narrow.

Research should be conducted if the study of the research potentially contributes to
educational knowledge or adds to the effectiveness of practice. The following questions
are enlisted as criteria stating whether or not research problems be conducted: Can you
gain access to people and sites? Can you find time, locate resources, and use your
skills? Time, Resources and skills are factors, as well.
There are five determinants to assess when you should research a problem.
1. Study the problem if your study will fill a gap or void in the existing literature.
2. Study the problem if your study replicates a past study but examines different
participants and different research sites.
3. Study the problem if your study extends past research or examines the topic
more thoroughly.
4. Study the problem if your study gives voice to people silenced, not heard, or
rejected in society.
5. Study the problem if your study informs practice.

Quantitative research revolves around explaining and predicting relations amongst
variables. Furthermore, quantitative research involves numbers; measurable variables,
assessing the impact of variables on an outcome, testing theories, applying results to a
large quantity of individuals is also utilized in quantitative research.
Qualitative research requires individuals to learn about the perspectives of individuals,
assessing a process over time, generating theories based on participant perspectives, as
well as obtaining detailed information about a few people or research sites.

The statement of a problem includes the actual research problem as well as four other
aspects:
1. The topic, which is the opening sentences of a statement of the problem that provides
a frame of reference for understanding the research topic.
2. The research problem which is the educational issue.
3. A justification of the importance of the problem as found in the past research and in
practice.
4. The deficiencies in our existing knowledge about the problem.
5. The audiences that will benefit from a study of the problem.
By identifying the five elements one can easily comprehend introductions to
research studies and write good introductions for one’s own research reports.

One strategy that can be utilized when constructing the statement of the problem section
is a template, which can be visualized as five paragraphs with each paragraph addressing
one of the five aspects of the section ( the topic, the research problem, the justification,
the deficiencies, and the audience).
Another writing strategy is to utilize frequent references to the literature throughout the
introduction passage.
A third strategy is providing references from statistical trends to support the importance
of studying the research problem.