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PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH PROPOSAL:Problem Definition

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Research Methods ­STA630
VU
Lesson 11
PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The research process consists of a number of steps. The first step in any research is selecting the topic,
which could start from the broad area of interest. There is no set formula for the identification of a topic
of research. The best guide is to conduct research on something that interest you. Nevertheless, there
could be a variety of sources like: personal experiences, emerging curiosities from the issues being
reported in the mass media, developments in the knowledge, solving problems (relating to an
organization, a family, education, and economy), and "hot" issues pertaining to every day life.
Broad area of interest could be `labor unions.' As one could see from the literature, there is a large
number of books and perhaps thousands of articles covering various aspects of labor unions. These
articles and books have been written by researchers hailing from different subject specialties and using
variety of perspectives. Therefore the researcher should narrow down the topic to some specific aspect
of labor unions. For example, to what extent do the labor unions protect the rights of female workers?
Techniques for Narrowing a Topic into a Research Question
In order to narrow down the focus of research, try to get the background information from different
sources. For example:
1. Examine the literature.
Published articles are an excellent source of ideas for research questions. They are usually at an
appropriate level of specificity and suggest research questions that focus on the following:
a. Explore unexpected findings discovered in previous research.
b. Follow suggestions an author gives for future research at the end of an article.
c. Extend an existing explanation or theory to a new topic or setting.
d. Challenge findings or attempt to refute a relationship.
e. Specify the intervening process and consider linking relations.
2. Talk over ideas with others.
a. Ask people who are knowledgeable about the topic for questions about it that they have
thought of.
b. Seek out those who hold opinions that differ from yours on the topic and discuss
possible research questions with them.
3. Apply to a specific context.
a. Focus the topic onto a specific historical period or time period.
b. Narrow the topic to a specific society or geographic unit.
c. Consider which subgroups or categories of people/units are involved and whether there
are differences among them.
4. Define the aim or desired outcome of the study.
a. Will the research question be for an exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive study.
b. Will the study involve applied or basic research?
From the Research Question to Hypotheses
Tentative answers to the research question help in the identification of variables that could be used as
explanatory factors for building up the argumentation in the development of propositions relevant to the
topic. In our example the factors may be the prospects of membership of female workers of labor
unions, actual membership, support of their men folk for membership, participation in the general body
meetings, membership of the executive body of labor union, and so on. These very propositions
become the basis of testable hypotheses. Similarly, the inventory of the propositions is helpful in
developing the theoretical framework for the research project.
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Research Methods ­STA630
VU
Problem Definition
After the interviews and the literature review, the researcher is in a position to narrow down the problem
from its original broad base and define the issues of concern more clearly. It is critical that the focus of
further research be unambiguously identified and defined. Problem definition or problem statement is a
clear, precise, and succinct statement of the question or issue that is to be investigated with the goal of
finding an answer or solution. For example the problem could pertain to (1) existing business problems
where the manager is looking for a solution,(2) situation that may not pose any current problems but
which the manager feels have scope for improvement, (3) areas where some conceptual clarity is needed
for better theory building, or (4) situations in which a researcher is trying to answer a research question
empirically because of interest in the topic.
Sponsored Researches
So far we have been discussing research project primarily from the perspective that a researcher is likely
to carry the study on his/her own initiative. Although such an initiator can be a business manager or
Organizational Management trying to arrest some of the issues in the organization, yet the actual
researcher may be a hired consultant. In such a situation the researcher has to ascertain the decision
maker's objectives. There might simply be some symptoms, and just like the iceberg principle, the
dangerous part of many business problems is neither visible to nor understood by business managers.
These symptoms are the management dilemmas which have to be translated into management question
and then into research question(s). The management may hire the services of research specialists to do
this assignment. As a result the management dilemmas get identified and delineated in the Terms of
Reference, and consultants may be engaged to carry out the study. In such situations many of the steps
(review of literature, theoretical framework, and hypotheses) that have been discussed earlier may be
skipped. Certainly the management takes the research decisions keeping in view the urgency of the
study, timing of the study, availability of the information, and more importantly the cost benefit
equation of the study.
The Research Proposal
A research proposal is a document that presents a plan for a project to reviewers foe evaluation. It can
be a supervised project submitted to instructors as part of an educational degree (e.g. a Master's thesis
or a Ph.D. dissertation) or it can be a research project proposed to a funding agency. Its purpose is to
convince reviewers that the researcher is capable of successfully conducting the proposed research
project. Reviewers have more confidence that a planned project will be successfully completed if the
proposal is well written and organized, and carefully planned.
The proposal is just like a research report, but it is written before the research project begins. A
proposal describes the research problem and its importance, and gives a detailed account of the methods
that will be used and why they are appropriate.
A proposal for quantitative research has most of the parts of a research report: a title, an abstract, a
problem statement, a literature review, a method or design section, and a bibliography. It lacks results,
discussion, and conclusions section. The proposal has a plan for data collection and analysis. It
frequently includes a schedule of the steps to be undertaken and an estimate of the time required for
each step.
For funded projects the researchers need to show a track record of past success in the proposal,
especially if they are the going to be the in charge of the project. Proposals usually include curriculum
vitae, letters of support from other researchers, and record if past research.
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Research Methods ­STA630
VU
Research Proposal Sections
Introduction
-  Background of the study
-  Objectives
-  Significance
Research Design
-  Data collection technique (survey, experiment, qualitative technique)
-  Population
-  Sample
-  Tool of data collection
-  Data Gathering
-  Data processing and analysis
Report writing
Budget
Time Schedule
Team of Researchers
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION, DEFINITION & VALUE OF RESEARCH
  2. SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF RESEARCH & ITS SPECIAL FEATURES
  3. CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH:Goals of Exploratory Research
  4. THEORY AND RESEARCH:Concepts, Propositions, Role of Theory
  5. CONCEPTS:Concepts are an Abstraction of Reality, Sources of Concepts
  6. VARIABLES AND TYPES OF VARIABLES:Moderating Variables
  7. HYPOTHESIS TESTING & CHARACTERISTICS:Correlational hypotheses
  8. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:Where to find the Research Literature
  9. CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW:Write the Review
  10. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:Make an inventory of variables
  11. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND RESEARCH PROPOSAL:Problem Definition
  12. THE RESEARCH PROCESS:Broad Problem Area, Theoretical Framework
  13. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH:Ethical Treatment of Participants
  14. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH (Cont):Debriefing, Rights to Privacy
  15. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS:Conceptualization
  16. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Operationalization
  17. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS (CONTINUED):Scales and Indexes
  18. CRITERIA FOR GOOD MEASUREMENT:Convergent Validity
  19. RESEARCH DESIGN:Purpose of the Study, Steps in Conducting a Survey
  20. SURVEY RESEARCH:CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION MEDIA
  21. INTERCEPT INTERVIEWS IN MALLS AND OTHER HIGH-TRAFFIC AREAS
  22. SELF ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES (CONTINUED):Interesting Questions
  23. TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:Guidelines for Questionnaire Design
  24. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE:Discovering errors in the instrument
  25. INTERVIEWING:The Role of the Interviewer, Terminating the Interview
  26. SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TERMINOLOGY:Saves Cost, Labor, and Time
  27. PROBABILITY AND NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Convenience Sampling
  28. TYPES OF PROBABILITY SAMPLING:Systematic Random Sample
  29. DATA ANALYSIS:Information, Editing, Editing for Consistency
  30. DATA TRANSFROMATION:Indexes and Scales, Scoring and Score Index
  31. DATA PRESENTATION:Bivariate Tables, Constructing Percentage Tables
  32. THE PARTS OF THE TABLE:Reading a percentage Table
  33. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH:The Language of Experiments
  34. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):True Experimental Designs
  35. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (Cont.):Validity in Experiments
  36. NON-REACTIVE RESEARCH:Recording and Documentation
  37. USE OF SECONDARY DATA:Advantages, Disadvantages, Secondary Survey Data
  38. OBSERVATION STUDIES/FIELD RESEARCH:Logic of Field Research
  39. OBSERVATION STUDIES (Contd.):Ethical Dilemmas of Field research
  40. HISTORICAL COMPARATIVE RESEARCH:Similarities to Field Research
  41. HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH (Contd.):Locating Evidence
  42. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION:The Purpose of FGD, Formal Focus Groups
  43. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION (Contd.):Uses of Focus Group Discussions
  44. REPORT WRITING:Conclusions and recommendations, Appended Parts
  45. REFERENCING:Book by a single author, Edited book, Doctoral Dissertation