Defining Research Problem

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY COURSE

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: DR VINEETH M

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

What is Research Problem?
• A research problem, in general, refers to some issue or difficulty which a
researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical
situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
• A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to
be improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that
exists in scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points to the need
for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation.
• A proper definition of research problem will enable the researcher to be on
the track whereas an ill-defined problem may create hurdles.
• Researcher should get clarity on questions like: What data are to be
collected? What characteristics of data are relevant and need to be
studied? What relations are to be explored? What techniques are to be
used for the purpose?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Conditions for a Research Problem to exist
(i) There must be an individual (or a group or an organisation), let us call it ‘I,’ to whom the problem can be
attributed.
(ii) The individual or the organisation, as the case may be, occupies an environment, say ‘N’
(iii) There must be at least two courses of action, say C1 and C2, to be pursued.
(iv) There must be at least two possible outcomes, say O1 and O2, of the course of action, of which one should be
preferable to the other.
(v) The courses of action available must provides some chance of obtaining the objective, but they cannot provide
the same chance, otherwise the choice would not matter.
(vi) If P (Oj | I, Ck, N) represents the probability that an outcome Oj will occur, if I select Ck in N, then P(O1| I , C1, N)
P(O1| I , C2 , N) .
(vii)‘I’ does not know what course of action is best
• In simple words, we can say that the choices must have unequal efficiencies for the desired outcomes.
• An individual or a group of persons can be said to have a problem which can be technically described as a research
problem, if the individual or the group, having one or more desired outcomes, are confronted with two or more
courses of action that have some but not equal efficiency for the desired objective(s) and are in doubt about which
course of action is best.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Components of a Research Problem
(i) There must be an individual or a group which has some difficulty or the problem.
(ii) There must be some objective(s) to be attained at.
(iii) There must be alternative means (or the courses of action), at least two, for obtaining the objective(s) one
wishes to attain.
(iv) There must remain some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the selection of alternatives. This
means that research must answer the question concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.
(v) There must be some environment(s) in which the problem exist.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Points to be observed by a researcher while
selecting a research problem
(i) Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen.
(ii) Researcher should try to avoid controversial subjects.
(iii) Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
(iv) The subject selected for research should be familiar and feasible so that the related research material or sources of research are
within one’s reach.
(v) A researcher should contact an expert or discuss with peers to confirm the feasibility and scope of the research problem.
(vi) A researcher must ask the following questions:
(a) Whether the researcher is well equipped in terms of his background to carry out the research?
(b) Whether the study falls within the budget the researcher can afford?
(c) Whether the necessary cooperation can be obtained from those who must participate in research as subjects or whether
adequate data is available?
If the answers to all these questions are in the affirmative, one may become sure so far as the practicability of the study is concerned.
(vi) The selection of a problem must be preceded by a preliminary study. This may not be necessary when the problem requires the
conduct of a research closely similar to one that has already been done. But when the field of inquiry is relatively new and does not
have available a set of well developed techniques, a brief feasibility study must always be undertaken.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Steps for defining Research Problem
(i) statement of the problem in a general way;
(ii)understanding the nature of the problem;
(iii) surveying the available literature;
(iv) developing the ideas through discussions; and
(v) rephrasing the research problem into a working proposition.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Points to be observed while stating a RP
(a) Technical terms and words or phrases, with special meanings used in the
statement of the problem, should be clearly defined.
(b) Basic assumptions or postulates (if any) relating to the research problem
should be clearly stated.
(c) A straight forward statement of the value of the investigation (i.e., the
criteria for the selection of the problem) should be provided.
(d) The suitability of the time-period and the sources of data available must
also be considered by the researcher in defining the problem.
(e) The scope of the investigation or the limits within which the problem is to
be studied must be mentioned explicitly in defining a research problem.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Which is correct?

“Why is productivity in Japan so much higher than in India”?

“What factors were responsible for the higher labour productivity of Japan’s manufacturing
industries during the decade 1971 to 1980 relative to India’s manufacturing industries?”

“To what extent did labour productivity in 1971 to 1980 in Japan exceed that of India in respect of
15 selected manufacturing industries? What factors were responsible for the productivity
differentials between the two countries by industries?”

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Literature Review

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Three ways of using lit review
• Preliminary Search (to identify and refine research idea)
• Critical Review (context and theoretical framework)
• Validating research findings (in discussion chapters)

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Literature Review Process

Saunders et al (2019)

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Four aspects of a critical approach
• critique of rhetoric;
• critique of tradition;
• critique of authority;
• critique of objectivity.

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Forms of Critical Review
• Integrative review (critiques and synthesises representative literature)
• Theoretical review (establish what theories exist and the relationships
between them)
• Historical review (evolution of research on a particular topic over a period
of time)
• Methodological review (research approaches, strategies, data collection
techniques or analysis procedures)
• Systematic Review (locating, critically appraising, analysing and
synthesising existing research to arrive at conclusions on what is known)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Structure of Review
• a single chapter;
• a series of chapters (in case of a larger research project);
• occurring throughout the project report as you tackle various issues.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Main Sources of Literature
• Refereed (peer-reviewed) academic journal
• Non-refereed academic journal
• Professional journals
• Trade journals/ magazines
• Books and e-books
• Newspapers
• Conference proceedings
• Reports
• Theses

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Research Design

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What is Research Design
• Research design is the conceptual structure within which research is
conducted; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection,
measurement and analysis of data.

(i) It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information relevant to the
research problem.
(ii) It is a strategy for gathering and analysing the data.
(iii) It also includes the time and cost budgets.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Good Research Design must contain…
• (a) a clear statement of the research problem;
• (b) procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information;
• (c) the population to be studied;
• (d) methods to be used in processing and analysing data.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Parts of Research Design
• Sampling Design (the method of selecting items to be observed)
• Observational Design (the conditions under which the observations
are to be made)
• Statistical Design (how many to be observed, how to gathered and
how to analyse)
• Operational Design (how sampling, statistical and observational
designs can be carried out)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Features of a Good Design
A research design appropriate for a particular research problem, usually involves
the consideration of the following factors:

• the means of obtaining information;

• the availability and skills of the researcher and his staff, if any;
• the objective of the problem to be studied;
• the nature of the problem to be studied; and
• the availability of time and money for the research work.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS RELATING TO RESEARCH DESIGN

• Dependent and Independent variables

• Extraneous/ Control variable
• Confounded relationship
• Research Hypothesis
• Experimental and Non-experimental hypothesis testing
• Experimental and Control groups
• Treatments
• Experiments
• Experimental Units

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Different Research Designs
• Research design in case of exploratory studies
• Research design in case of descriptive or diagnostic studies
• Research design in case of hypothesis-testing research studies

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RD in case of exploratory studies
• The main purpose of such studies is that of formulating a problem for more
precise investigation or of developing the working hypotheses from an
operational point of view.
• Flexible design
• Three methods:
i. the survey of concerning literature: researcher should review and build upon the
work already done by others
ii. the experience survey: survey of people who have had practical experience with
the problem to be studied.
iii. the analysis of ‘insight-stimulating’ examples: In areas where there is little
experience to serve as a guide, this method of intensive study of selected
instances of the phenomenon in which one is interested is conducted.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

RD in case of descriptive or diagnostic studies
• clearly defined research
• adequate methods for measuring
• clear definition of ‘population’ of the study
• protection against bias and must maximise reliability
• The design in such studies must be rigid and not flexible

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Exploratory vs Diagnostic Research Design

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RD in case of hypothesis-testing research
studies
• the researcher tests the hypotheses of causal relationships between
variables.
• Reduce bias and increase reliability
• permit drawing inferences about causality
• Ronald Aylmer Fisher, “the founder of modern statistics”, is credited
with experimental RD.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Three Principles of Experimental Designs
The three principles of experimental designs by R A Fisher:
i. the Principle of Replication;
ii. the Principle of Randomization; and
iii. the Principle of Local Control.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M

Experimental Designs
Informal experimental designs:
• Before-and-after without control design.
• After-only with control design.
• Before-and-after with control design.

Formal experimental designs:

• Completely randomized design (C.R. Design).
• Randomized block design (R.B. Design).
• Latin square design (L.S. Design).
• Factorial designs.

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‘Before-and-after without control’ design

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‘After-only with control’ design

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‘Before-and-after with control’ design

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Completely randomized design (C.R. design)
• Two-group simple randomized design

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Random replications design

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Randomized block design (R.B. design)

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Latin square design (L.S. design)

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Factorial Design: Simple

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M
Factorial Design: Complex

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M
Content Source:
• Kothari, C. R. (2014). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (2nd ed.). New
Delhi: New Age International Publishers.

• Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2011). Research Methods for Business Students
(5th ed.). New Delhi: Pearson Education Ltd.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - DR VINEETH M