Chapter Two

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Chapter two

Formulation of the research problem


Research Process steps
1. Selecting the research area and topic
2. Define research problem
3. Conducting the literature review
4. Setting research questions, objectives, and hypotheses
5. Choosing the study design
6. Carry out the Research Process(Actual experimentation)
7. Interpreting Research Data
8. Reporting the Research Findings/results
Research approach is another important element of research methodology that
directly effects the choice of specific research methods.
Research topics
• A research topic is an issue that a researcher is interested in when
conducting research.
• The most successful research topics are narrowly focused and
carefully defined.
Best representation of the paper
Generally not a sentence
Importance of right word order
No waste of words
• Finding the ideal research problem does not mean simply selecting a
topic from possibilities area.
Considerations in selecting the research topic
Interest :you must select a topic that interests you most.

Magnitude: you should have sufficient knowledge about the research process to be able to
visualize the work involved in completing the proposed topic.

Expertise: make sure you have an adequate level of expertise for the task you are
proposing.

Relevance: select a topic that is of relevance to you as a professional.

Data availability: if your topic requires collection of information from different sources
Generating research ideas
Useful Techniques
• Rational thinking
• Creative thinking
• Searching the literature
• Scanning the media
• Brainstorming
• Relevance Trees
• Exploring past projects
• Discussion
• Keeping an ideas on notebook
Research Problem
• If there is no problem there is no solution
• A research problem is a question that researcher wants to answer or a problem that a
researcher wants to solve.
• A Perceived gap between what is and what should be.

• A question that need to be answered

• concept the researcher wants to understand

• A crisis that need to resolved

• A situation that need to be changed

• A reason of dissatisfaction
Cont’d…

• Identification & formulation of a research problem is the second step of the


research process.
• This is the beginning activity of the research process and is the most difficult phase.
• The way we formulate the research problem determines every step that follows.
Type of study design that can be used
Type of sampling strategy that can be employed
Research instrument that can be used
Type of analysis that can be undertaken
Sources of research problem

1. Observation
2. Literature reviews
3. Professional conferences
4. Experts
5. Previous experience
6. Day to day experience
Steps in problem formulation
1. Identify the Broad Study Area
2. Dissect the Broad Study Area into Subareas
3. Review literature and the exploratory study
4. Selection of research area
5. Delimiting the research topic
6. Evaluating the research problem
7. Formulating the final statement of problem
8. Raise Research Questions
Conducting the literature review
• After obtaining a broad area for research the researcher needs to review the literature.

• A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic.

• Literature is reviewed to know what has already been done in this selected area of
research.

• Reviewing a literature provides an opportunity for the researcher to plan a research


problem to contribute towards either testing or development of a theory conceptual
model.
Cont’d…
There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research
project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic

• To ensure that you're not just repeating what others have already done

• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address.

• Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing
research and what new insights it will contribute.
Identify Resources
academic journals,
conference proceedings,
dissertations,
government report,
policy report,
Internet,
books, and
newsletters.
Assignment 1:
• Purpose of a Literature Review
• Why write Literature Review?
• How to review a literature?
Setting research questions, objectives, and hypotheses

• The overall purpose of the study, should be clearly and concisely defined.

• It describes concisely what the research is trying to achieve.


• Summarize the accomplishments a researcher wishes to achieve the objective.
• The objectives of a research summarize what is to be achieved by the study.
• These objectives closely related to the research problem.
• The general objective of a study states what researchers expect to achieve by
the study in general terms.
Cont’d…

• It is possible (and advisable) to break down a general objective into smaller,


logically connected parts; called specific objectives.
• Specific objectives should systematically address the various research
questions.
• They should specify what you will do in your study, where and for what
purpose.
Cont’d…

• A research hypothesis is a specific, clear, and testable proposition or


predictive statement about the possible outcome of a scientific research study.
• Hypotheses are tentative, intelligent guesses as to the solution of the problem.
• Research Hypotheses often states there is a pattern, or difference, or trend
among the variables.
• Example there a relationship between a person's age and learning.
Choosing the study design
• The research design is the blueprint or framework for fulfilling
objectives and answering research questions.
• It is a master plan specifying the methods and procedures for
collecting, processing, and analyzing the collected data.
• Specify the method used
• The way of getting data and processing the data
• The tool and technique used to analyzing data
Carry out the Research Process(Actual
experimentation)
• You need to know the effective techniques of data collection in order
to gather necessary and relevant information with regard to research.
• Target population, sample and sampling technique used if it is need in
the researched.
• The way experimentation handle
• The way of configuration handle
• Concepts and variables linkage with the research
Interpreting Research Data
• The collected data are useless unless findings are analyzed and the results interpreted in the
light of the problem at hand.
• Data analysis involves several steps:

1. Editing: First, the data collection forms must be scanned to be sure that they are complete
and consistent. This process is called editing.

2. Coding: Coding involves assigning numbers to each of the answers so that they can be
analyzed.

3. Tabulation: The final step in analyzing data is tabulation, the orderly arrangement of data
in a table or other summary format achieved by counting the frequency of responses to
each question.
Reporting Research Findings/results
• The end goal of a scientific study is to interpret the results and draw
conclusions.
• There are various forms of research reports: term papers, dissertations,
journal articles, papers for presentation at professional conferences
and seminars, books, and so on.
• The results of a research investigation prepared in any form are of
little utility if they are not communicated to others.
• The dissemination may be made through a conference, a seminar, a
report, or an oral or poster presentation.
Thank you

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