Chapter Two

DEFINING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESES FORMULATION

2.1 What is research problem?

In research process, the first and foremost step happens to be that of selecting and properly
defining a research problem. A researcher must find the problem and formulate it so that it
becomes susceptible to research. Like a medical doctor, a researcher must examine all the
symptoms (presented to him or observed by him) concerning a problem before he can diagnose
correctly. To define a problem correctly, a researcher must know: what a problem is?
A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty which a researcher experiences in the
context of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
Usually a research problem does exist if the following conditions are met with:
I. There must be an individual (or a group or an organization), to whom the problem can
be attributed. The individual or the organization, as the case may be, occupies an
environment which is defined by values of the uncontrolled variables,
II. There must be at least two courses of action to be pursued. A course of action is defined
by one or more values of the controlled variables. For example, the number of items
purchased at a specified time is said to be one course of action.
III. There must be at least two possible outcomes of the course of action, of which one
should be preferable to the other. In other words, this means that there must be at least
one outcome that the researcher wants, i.e., an objective.
IV. The courses of action available must provides some chance of obtaining the objective

Over and above these conditions, the individual or the organization can be said to have the
problem only if they do not know what course of action is best, i.e they must be in doubt about
the solution. Thus, an individual or a group of persons can be said to have a problem which can
be technically described as a research problem, if they (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.

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We can, thus, state the components of a research problem as under:
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. If one wants nothing, one cannot have
a problem.
III. There must be alternative means (or the courses of action) for obtaining the objective(s)
one wishes to attain. This means that there must be at least two means available to a
researcher for if he has no choice of means, he cannot have a problem.
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) to which the difficulty pertains.
Thus, a research problem is one which requires a researcher to find out the best solution for the
given problem, i.e., to find out by which course of action the objective can be attained optimally
in the context of a given environment. There are several factors which may result in making the
problem complicated. For instance, the environment may change affecting the efficiencies of the
courses of action or the values of the outcomes; the number of alternative courses of action may
be very large; persons not involved in making the decision may be affected by it and react to it
favorably or unfavorably, and similar other factors

2.2 SELECTING THE PROBLEM OR PROBLEM FORMULATION (TECHNIQUES AND

APPROACHES)

The research problem undertaken for study must be carefully selected. The task is a difficult one.
Nevertheless, every researcher must find out his own salvation for research problems. A problem
must spring from the researcher’s mind like a plant springing from its own seed. If our eyes need
glasses, it is not the optician alone who decides about the number of the lens we require. We
have to see ourselves and enable him to prescribe for us the right number by cooperating with
him. Thus, a research guide can at the most only help a researcher choose a subject. However,
the following points may be observed by a researcher in selecting a research problem or a subject
for research:
a. Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen.
b. Controversial subject should not become the choice of an average researcher.
c. Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.

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 d. 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.
e. The importance of the subject, the qualifications and the training of a researcher, the costs
involved, and the time factor are few other criteria that must also be considered in
selecting a problem.
f. 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.

In other words, before the final selection of a problem is done, a researcher must ask himself the
following questions:
 Whether he is well equipped in terms of his background to carry out the research?
 Whether the study falls within the budget he can afford?
 Whether the necessary cooperation can be obtained from those who must participate in
research as subjects?
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.

If the subject for research is selected properly by observing the above mentioned points, the
research will not be a boring drudgery, rather it will be love’s labor. The subject or the problem
selected must involve the researcher and must have an upper most place in his mind so that he
may undertake all pains needed for the study.

TECHNIQUE INVOLVED IN DEFINING A PROBLEM

Let us start with the question: What does one mean when he/she wants to define a research
problem? The answer may be that one wants to state the problem along with the bounds within
which it is to be studied. In other words, defining a problem involves the task of laying down
boundaries within which a researcher shall study the problem with a pre-determined objective in
view.

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The usual approach is that the researcher should himself pose a question (or in case someone else
wants the researcher to carry on research, the concerned individual, organization or an authority
should pose the question to the researcher) and set-up techniques and procedures for throwing
light on the question concerned for formulating or defining the research problem. But such an
approach generally does not produce definitive results because the question phrased in such a
fashion is usually in broad general terms and as such may not be in a form suitable for testing.
Defining a research problem properly and clearly is a crucial part of a research study and must in
no case be accomplished hurriedly. Hence, the research problem should be defined in a
systematic manner. The technique for the purpose involves the undertaking of the following
steps generally one after the other:
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.
A brief description of all these points will be helpful.
(i) Statement of the problem in a general way: First of all the problem should be stated in a
broad general way, keeping in view either some practical concern or some scientific or
intellectual interest. For this purpose, the researcher must immerse himself thoroughly in the
subject matter concerning which he wishes to pose a problem. In case of social research, it is
considered advisable to do some field observation and as such the researcher may undertake
some sort of preliminary survey or what is often called pilot survey. Then the researcher can
himself state the problem or he can seek the guidance of the guide or the subject expert in
accomplishing this task. At the same time the feasibility of a particular solution has to be
considered and the same should be kept in view while stating the problem.

(ii) Understanding the nature of the problem: The next step in defining the problem is to
understand its origin and nature clearly. The best way of understanding the problem is to discuss
it with those who first raised it in order to find out how the problem originally came about and
with what objectives in view. If the researcher has stated the problem himself, he should consider

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once again all those points that induced him to make a general statement concerning the problem.
For a better understanding of the nature of the problem involved, he can enter into discussion
with those who have a good knowledge of the problem concerned or similar other problems.

(iii) Surveying the available literature: All available literature concerning the problem at hand
must necessarily be surveyed and examined before a definition of the research problem is given.
This means that the researcher must be well-conversant with relevant theories in the field, reports
and records as also all other relevant literature. He must devote sufficient time in reviewing of
research already undertaken on related problems.
(iv) Developing the ideas through discussions: Discussion concerning a problem often
produces useful information. Various new ideas can be developed through such an exercise.
Hence, a researcher must discuss his problem with his colleagues and others who have enough
experience in the same area or in working on similar problems. This is quite often known as an
experience survey. People with rich experience are in a position to enlighten the researcher on
different aspects of his proposed study and their advice and comments are usually invaluable to
the researcher. They help him sharpen his focus of attention on specific aspects within the field.

(v) Rephrasing the research problem: Finally, the researcher must sit to rephrase the research
problem into a working proposition. Once the nature of the problem has been clearly understood,
the environment (within which the problem has got to be studied) has been defined, discussions
over the problem have taken place and the available literature has been surveyed and examined,
rephrasing the problem into analytical or operational terms is not a difficult task. Through
rephrasing, the researcher puts the research problem in as specific terms as possible so that it
may become operationally viable and may help in the development of working hypotheses.

2.3 NECESSITY OF DEFINING THE PROBLEM

Quite often we all hear that a problem clearly stated is a problem half solved. This statement
signifies the need for defining a research problem. The problem to be investigated must be
defined unambiguously for that will help to discriminate relevant data from the irrelevant ones.
A proper definition of research problem will enable the researcher to be on the track whereas an
ill-defined problem may create hurdles. Questions like: What data are to be collected? What

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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? and similar other questions crop up in the mind
of the researcher who can well plan his strategy and find answers to all such questions only when
the research problem has been well defined. Thus, defining a research problem properly is a
prerequisite for any study and is a step of the highest importance. In fact, formulation of a
problem is often more essential than its solution. It is only on careful detailing the research
problem that we can work out the research design and can smoothly carry on all the
consequential steps involved while doing research.

2.4 RESEARCH QUESTION AND HYPOTHESES

RESEARCH QUESTION
A research question is a problem or statement in need of a solution or answer.
Example: How can we get our customers satisfied?
How can we get SMS in local languages on the Mobile infrastructure?
Identifying research questions may involve review of the literature (reading quite a lot) before
you even know what is not known;
Critical Issue:
– Questions must be in principle answerable;
• Specific;
• Refer to something you can look at or find an answer for;
– Questions can also be general guiding questions;
General research questions
– Guide our thinking
– Are of great value in organizing the research project
– Are not specific enough to be answered
Specific research questions
– Direct empirical procedures
– Are the questions actually answered in the research
It is useful to identify and separate the general and the specific questions.
Research area
– Is a general field of inquiry
– It is NOT a research question

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 – Contains many researchable questions (both general and specific)
Hierarchy of the concepts
Research Area
Research topic
General research questions
Specific research questions
Example: Area: Performance Evaluation
• Topic: Effectiveness/Efficiency Measures
• Research question:
- Is there any performance difference between systems A, B or C?
- Specific question: Is system A better than system B?
The Role of Research Questions
 Organize the research project and give it direction and coherence
 Delimit the research project – show the boundaries
 Keep the researcher focused
 Indicate the data that will be needed
 Provide a framework for writing up the project
Good research questions are:
 Clear
 Specific
 Answerable
 Interconnected
 Substantively relevant

HYPOTHESES
It is often convenient to structure a research problem in terms of a hypothesis to be tested. The
hypothesis must be agreed upon by both the manager and the researcher, although the formal
statement is primarily the responsibility of the researcher. In this use of the word, a hypothesis is
simply a statement about the universe. It may or may not be true; the research is designed to
ascertain the truth. Consider the following pair of hypothesis.
H0: At least 10 % of the viewing audience for "children's" TV shows consists of adults.

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H1: Less than 10 % of the viewing audience for "children's" TV shows consists of adults.

First, it should be noted that these hypotheses are worded in such a way that either one or the
other is correct. They cannot both be correct, and they cannot both be incorrect. Second, in order
for these two hypotheses to be useful in a research decision making situation, the decision maker
should choose first act if the first is true and a second act if the second act is true. Both
statements are characteristic of all situations in which a research problem is properly structured
in terms of hypothesis testing.
Hypothesis is a predicted answer to a research question.