The Research Problem
PE 357
Selecting the problem
• Can be for research or a literature review
- To break the problem down more …
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needs to be of interest to you
can ask professors
go with your own hunches
read text books
Once the basic problem is defined..
• You need to do a literature search for
background information
• Search conceptual literature – written
material by experts or authorities
• Search related research – studies to learn
what is known on the subject
Does the problem need
further study?
• 1) Is it still interesting?
• 2) is it worthwhile?
• 3) is it manageable?
• Best way to do research is to develop an outline
A research proposal consists of
three chapters
• 1) Introduction
• 2) Review of Literature
• 3) Methodology
Title
• often the last decision
• takes crafting
– can’t be too long but also needs to be long
enough to get the content across
General rules for titles
· 1) Keep it clear and descriptive for indexing
• 2) Identify key variables and scope
– (I.e., does the title precisely identify the
problem
• 3) Avoid unnecessary phrases: “effect of”,
“relationship between”, “analysis of”, “a
review of”
Introducing the problem
• leader paragraphs
• hour glass approach
• specify the problem
• provide rationale (why is it important?)
Introducing the Problem Cont...
• use broad references but leave the literature review
to the literature review section
• the introduction can be quite short
• provide the purpose (why) and problem (what)
statement
• watch the term “the study investigated…”
Developing the hypotheses
• Expected results based on theory or
experience
• Stated as outcomes
• Null hypotheses
– No significant differences or relationships
– Used for statistical tests
More on Hypotheses
• 1) should be based on theory or previous
findings
• 2) should state a relationship between at least
two variables
• 3) simple statement
• 4) can be tested
• 5) can be refuted
• 6) related to design, procedures, and statistical
technique
Writing the Introduction
• Omit technical jargon.
• Know who you are writing for.
• Write introduction after the problem,
purpose, and hypotheses.
• Catch the reader’s attention!
significance of the study
(I.e., why?)
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knowledge gaps
more and better knowledge is needed
present knowledge needs validation
present knowledge needs clarification
solution to the problem needs to be found
Define
• Independent variables (IV)
• Dependent variables (DV)
• Extraneous variables (EV)
Making Your Problem
and Hypotheses Clear
• Operational definitions
– Key terms with specific meaning
• Assumptions
• Limitations
– Possible shortcomings
• Delimitations
– Characteristics imposed by the researcher
Examples of limitations
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Research design
sampling problems
uncontrolled variables
faulty independent variables
faulty dependent variables
How do we control for Extraneous
Variables?
• Random Selection
• Matching
• Removal
• Statistical Control