Research Problem

RESEARCH PROBLEM:
The need to communicate what will be studied in clear, concise, and unambiguous terms. One or more sentences indicating the goal, purpose, or overall direction of the study
General characteristics
1. Implies the possibility of empirical investigation
2. Identifies a need for the research
3. Provides focus
4. Provides a concise overview of the research
Sources of Research Problems:
• Your own Experience and Clinical Fieldwork
• Patterns or trends
• Somebody Else’s Completed Research
• Your Intellectual and scientific Interest
• Theory
Types of Research Questions:
1. Factor-isolating
2. Factor-relating
3. Situation-relating
4. Situation-producing
Researchable and non-researchable problems
1. Researchable problems imply the possibility of empirical investigation
1. What are the achievement and social skill differences between children attending an academically or socially oriented pre-school program?
2. What is the relationship between teachers' knowledge of assessment methods and their use of them?
2. Non-researchable problems include explanations of how to do something, vague propositions, and value-based concerns
1. Is democracy a good form of government?
2. Should values clarification be taught in public schools?
3. Can crime be prevented?
4. Should physical education classes be dropped from the high school curriculum?

Writing Research Problems
• Four-step Approach
• Two-Stage Approach

Four-step Approach
1. Clearly state the discrepancy
2. Brainstorm all the plausible obstacles or constraint or explanations
3. Narrow the focus by selecting a few specific high-priority variables
4. Rephrase the problem in conceptual terms.

Hypothesis - is a prediction about the relationship between two or more variables.
Criteria for Hypothesis:
• Testable
• Justifiable
Types of Hypothesis:
• Simple
• Complex
• Directional
• Nondirectional
• Research hypothesis
• Statistical hypothesis