The research process: the

broad problem area and

defining the problem statement
Chapter 3
The Broad Problem Area
• A “problem” does not necessarily mean that something is seriously
wrong with a current situation that needs to be rectified immediately.
• A problem could also indicate an interest in an issue where finding the
right answers might help to improve an existing situation.
• Thus, it is fruitful to define a problem as any situation where a gap
exists between the actual and the desired ideal states.
Once we have identified the broad problem area, it needs to be
narrowed down to a specific problem statement after some preliminary
information is gathered by the researcher. This may be through
interviews and literature research.
Examples of broad problem areas that a manager
could observe at the workplace are as follows

1. Training programs are perhaps not as effective as

anticipated.
2. The sales volume of a product is not picking up.
3. Minority group members in organizations are not advancing
in their careers.
4. The newly installed information system is not being used by
the managers for whom it was primarily designed.
5. The introduction of flexible work hours has created more
problems than it has solved in many companies.
Preliminary Data Gathering
• Unstructured interviews, structured interviews, and a review through
existing sources of information will help us to narrow the broad
problem area and to define a specific problem statement.
• Although the exact nature of the information needed for this purpose
depends on the type of problem we are addressing, it may be broadly
classified under two headings:
1. Background information on the organization – that is, the
contextual factors.
2. Prevailing knowledge on the topic – that is, relevant findings from
previous research
Some Information Vital for Research
• Background Information on the Organization: Contextual Factors
• Prevailing knowledge on the topic
Background Information
• Certain types of information, such as the background details
of the company, can be obtained from available published
records, the website of the company, its archives, and other
sources.
• Other types of written information, such as company
policies, procedures, and rules, can be obtained from the
organization's records and documents.
• Data gathered through such existing sources are called
secondary data.
Background Information
• Such background information might include:
1. The origin and history of the company – when it came into
being, business it is in, rate of growth, ownership and control,
and so on.
2. Size in terms of employees, assets, or both.
3. Charter – purpose and ideology.
4. Location – regional, national, or other.
5. Resources – human and others.
Background Information
6. Interdependent relationships with other institutions and the
external environment.
7. Financial position during the previous five to ten years, and
relevant financial data.
8. Information on structural factors (for instance roles and
positions in the organization and number of employees at
each job level, communication channels, control systems,
workflow systems).
9. Information on the management philosophy.
Prevailing Knowledge on the Topic
• A literature review should help the researcher to identify and highlight the
important variables that are related to the problem.
• It ensures that the research is structured on work already done and that it
builds on the foundation of prevailing knowledge.
• A review of the literature ensures that no important variable that has in the
past been found repeatedly to have had an impact on the problem is
ignored in the process of defining the problem statement.
• Indeed, it is possible that some of the critical variables are never brought
out in the interviews you administer, either because the employees cannot
articulate them or are unaware of their impact, or because the variables
seem so obvious to the interviewees that they are not specifically stated.
Prevailing Knowledge on the Topic
• If there are variables that are not identified during the interviews but
influence the problem critically, then research done without
considering them is an exercise in futility.
• In such a case, the true reason for the problem will remain
unidentified even at the end of the research.
• To avoid such possibilities the researcher needs to delve into all the
important research relating to the particular problem area.
Primary Data
• Certain other types of information are best obtained by observing events,
people, and objects, or by administering questionnaires to individuals.
• Such data gathered for research from the actual site of occurrence of
events are called primary data.
• It is often beneficial to simultaneously gather primary and secondary data.
• On the one hand, secondary data can help you to focus further interviews
more meaningfully on relevant aspects found to be important in the
literature.
• On the other hand, the interviews may help you to search for relevant
topics in secondary sources.
Literature Review
• Reasons for the Literature Review
• Conducting the Literature Review
Literature Review
• A literature review is a step-by-step process that involves the
identification of published and unpublished work from secondary data
sources on the topic of interest, the evaluation of this work in relation to
the problem, and the documentation of this work.
• We have just explained how a literature review helps the researcher to
develop a good problem statement: it ensures that no important
variable is overlooked in the process of defining the problem.
• A review of the literature also serves some other functions.
• For instance, sometimes the investigator might spend considerable time
and effort in “discovering” something that has already been thoroughly
researched.
Literature Review
• A literature review would prevent such a waste of resources in
reinventing the wheel.
• A survey of the literature also facilitates the creative integration of the
information gathered from the structured and unstructured
interviews with what has been found in previous studies.
• In other words, it gives a good basic framework to proceed further
with the investigation.
• A good literature review thus provides the foundation for developing
a comprehensive theoretical framework from which hypotheses can
be developed for testing.
Literature Review
In sum, a good literature review ensures that:
1. Important variables that are likely to influence the problem situation are not left out of the
study.
2. A clearer idea emerges as to what variables will be most important to consider (parsimony),
why they are considered important, and how they should be investigated to solve the problem.
Thus, the literature survey helps the development of the theoretical framework and
hypotheses for testing.
3. The problem statement can be made with precision and clarity.
4. Testability and replicability of the findings of the current research are enhanced.
5. One does not run the risk of “reinventing the wheel”; that is, wasting effort on trying to
rediscover something that is already known.
6. The problem investigated is perceived by the scientific community as relevant and
significant.
Conducting the Literature Review
• The first step of the literature review involves the identification of the
various published and unpublished materials that are available on the topic
of interest, and gaining access to these.
• Data sources
• Textbooks
• Journals
• Theses
• Conference proceedings
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Reports, Newspapers & Internet
Identifying Relevant Sources
Extracting the Relevant Information
Writing up the Literature Review
Problem Definition
The Research Proposal
Managerial Implications
Ethical Issues
Appendix:
• Online Databases
• Bibliographical Indexes
• Referencing in the APA Format
• Referencing and Quotation in the Literature Review Section