Pinning Down A Research Problem Correctly: A Practical Guide

Good research solves a problem. Incidentally, it begins with a well-defined problem statement and ends, hopefully, with a preferable solution to the problem. The research problem or the problem statement of your academic research, dissertation, or study, is the defining attribute that remains unchanged entirely. It’s the one constant.

There are some steps and tips that you should know to pin down the research design problem and write it down correctly. In this practical guide, we’ll be looking into those with the help of a hands-on approach.

What does a good problem statement look like?

The ideal problem statement looks concise and feels concrete. It’s a summary, yes, but it’s comprehensive without beating around the bush. For well-defined problems, the research problem is so short and to the point that it barely takes more than a few sentences to get it across correctly.

But that’s not the case in every paper.

In fact, more often than not, you’re likely to run into some trouble when trying to correctly write down the problem statement for your paper. It’s one of the most important parts of your research design.

There are no components of a research problem. It’s a definition of an indivisible construct—the problem.

In the following sections, we’re going to look into what makes an ideal research problem and explain how to identify, determine, and write a great one.

What is the context?

You start with determining the context. At this stage, it’s more for your own clarification than writing down in the paper. It’s important to make a mental note of what we already know to fully contextualize the problem.

Once you’re clear about this, you’ll find that you have a tangible structure of the problem. This will help you frame the first draft of the problem. Include when, where, and how does the problem arise. Also, mention who it affects, what attempts have been made to solve it (both successful and unsuccessful), and what is generally believed to be a solution (if any).

Things are a little more meticulous in theoretical research. Problem statements here should describe the geography/domain, time, existing literature, and so on in detail.

What is the issue that the research addresses?

The next step is refining the draft by establishing the issue that the research address. You need the problem statement to clearly tell what is it that you’ll be solving. Maybe there are many aspects to the research problem – but you’re not going to solve all of them.

Show that it’s indeed a problem that’s feasible to solve. In other words, show that your topic is researchable, to begin with. There should be no scope for any confusion.

You can also flesh out your problem statement’s issue that your research will address by supplementing it with the significance of solving the problem. Why is it needed to address and potentially solve this problem? Why does it matter in the first place? What happens if the problem isn’t solved? What are the consequences and who will feel them? Why are those consequences bad?

All of that should be answered concisely in the problem statement itself.

What is the relevance of the problem?

Show the larger context or relevance of the problem. Who does it affect? What has existing literature done so far? Are there similar issues in other fields? Are the effects of the problem far-reaching?

Founding the relevance of the problem statement is important for the rest of your research design to make sense.

You can keep it within the domain or go wider. Ultimately, it depends on what the research problem is and how you wish to tackle the research.

How will the problem be solved?

What are the objectives of the research?

The purpose of your research should be summarized within the problem statement. This comes at the very end. It tells what you’ll be doing throughout the rest of the study.

Explain what and how you’re going to:

·        Identify,

·        Collect,

·        Measure,

·        Determine,

·        Explore, or

·        Investigate

The problem at hand. If your research aims to better understand how humans process reactions of some kind, for example, then you should write something along the lines of “This study aims to better our understanding of how people process reactions to their experiences regarding [enter your topic here].”

There is no “right” way to do this. You just have to make sure that the problem statement has to be to-the-point.

Wrapping up

The problem statement is one of the most important aspects of your research design. If it’s poor, insufficient, or inaccurate then your research and conclusions will be diminished in a big way.

Regardless of what kind of research you’re doing and in which domain – it’s important to write a well-defined and concise problem statement for your research.