RESEARCH PROBLEM QUESTIONS

RESEARCH PROBLEM

Research Problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be Improved, a difficulty to be eliminated or a troubling problem or situation in practice that points to or addresses the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate Investigation

RESEARCH QUESTION

Research questions are the specific queries researchers want to answer in addressing the research  problem. The research questions should be clear enough in such a way that its purpose is understood by the readers/ audience without any need for additional explanation

IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

Identification of Research problem refers to the  sense of awareness of a prevalent problem, a social phenomenon or concept that is significant/ worth to study or investigated and it is based on the sound observation, knowledge, wisdom or skill of the researcher. Identifying the research problem depends on the following skills

• Knowledge of the Researcher:
  • Ability to grasp the issues and situation
  • Aware of the current trends to be studied
• Need for Explanation:
  • Areas where existing explanation/ ideas are suspicious
  • Areas where more explanation is need to arrive/ draw conclusions
• Finding out Relationships: 
  • To identify the relationship between two or more variables
  • Areas where elaborate investigation of the relationships between the variables are needed

SOURCES FOR RESEARCH PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

• Research is a time consuming process, curiosity and interest about a topic are essential for successful completion of a research project.
• The research problem do not germinate in empty minds but rather need varied experiences and knowledge to enrich the mind.
• Reading Educational publications extensively will help to prepare an intellectual researcher in which problem ideas are likely to sprout.

THEORIES

Theories are set of Generalizations obtained by carefully analyzing & studying the phenomenon. Research and theory go together. If research is conducted without consulting a theory, it means that many essential aspects of theory that could guide and control the researcher efforts are ignored.

• Explains the phenomena under research proposed
• permits the prediction of the occurrence of the phenomena
• enables the investigator to postulate and eventually to discover unknown & unobserved phenomenon
• explains the relationship among various components, facts and principles
• pinpoints the crucial aspects to be investigated and crucial questions to be answered
• helps the researcher to structure and restructure the domain of understanding

EXPERIENCE

The best single way for the researcher to find a good research problem is from the dynamic work environment which increases the opportunities for finding & solving the Research Problem

• develops insight into sharpening the focus of research
• experiences the relative usefulness of various issues that emerge in the mind of researcher
• explores the context for innovative researches
• formulate the research problem more meaningfully and practically
• equips the researcher with understanding which aids to identify problematic situations,  behaviors and issues for which research is required

DISCUSSION/ BRAINSTORMING

Discussion works as a brainstorming exercise in settling a problem. While discussing with researchers, professors and other intellectual persons, open their mind and there is germination of a new research problem

• Contemporary research areas capture the mind of a researcher.
• Certain ambiguities that the researcher initially has get clarified.
• The researcher is helped with new academic inputs to reflect upon problem situations and to come out with a suitable research problem identification.
• Many unknown hazards that the researcher may experience while identifying a problem situation becomes evident
• The meaningfulness of the research problem in the mind is further judged
• The researcher may be able to make a clear classification

SOCIAL ISSUES

Sometimes topics are suggested by more global contemporary social or political issues of relevance to the health care community

• Any problem in the society/ community that becomes a dissatisfaction or a felt need of the researcher
• The inadequacies and incompatibilities create dissatisfaction within the researcher for which the researcher tries to identify the problem that clearly shows the direction to solve the problem
• An idea for a study may stem from a familiarity with social concerns or controversial social problems eg. The civil rights movement has led to research on minority health problems, access to health care, and culturally sensitive interventions.

LITERATURE

The review and survey of literature may help the researcher to expand the knowledge background, examine the new findings in their field, identify gaps in knowledge, discover contraindications in findings, the need for new research and their direction.

• Research articles can be helpful in alerting researchers to clinical trends and issues of importance in clinical settings.
• Published research reports may suggest problem areas indirectly by stimulating the imagination and directly by specifying further areas in need of investigation.
• Through various reading methods of literature, books, articles & journals the researcher gains knowledge on the concepts, theories that aids in formulation of problem for the conduct of study
• Familiarity with existing research, or with problematic and controversial nursing issues that have yet to be understood and investigated systematically, is an important route to developing a research topic.