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1. ERS5900
RESEARCH
METHODS: Statement of
Problem, Objectives, &
Hypothesis
Siti Noormi Alias, PhD
Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education
Faculty of Educational Studies
Universiti Putera Malaysia

2. Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session, students are able to:
• Define, identify, and write research statement of problem / research gap
• Define, identify, and write research objective
• Develop research hypothesis
• Differentiate between conceptual and operational definition of terms
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3. How to Identify the Research
Opportunity?
• Opportunities for research can come from issues at
• workplace
• Institution
• personal experience
• literature from their field of study
• Desire to replicate the work of other researchers in an attempt to better
understand or explain a phenomenon.
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4. Background of the Study
• The genesis of the problem
• Provide general picture on what currently happening that
lead to the studied issue
• First, identify the context within which your study will be
conducted and give any background information needed to clarify
the context.
• Second, tell the reader why the study is important and timely.
• Third, build a case for the statement of the problem to follow.
• Finally, highlight the key theoretical constructs you will describe in
greater depth later in this chapter, and in more detail in Chapter
Two, “Review of the Literature.”
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5. Example: Background of Study
 In manufacturing industry, storing and retrieving are significant activities
influencing the productivity.
 The storage assignment will influence the efficiency of the order picking
(Chan, 2022).
 Factors such as warehouse layout, demand, location of items and picking
methods affect the efficiency of the system (Gattorna, 2021)
 Redesign the process, new equipment, layout or automation,
computerization of process and use operational policies are necessary to
increase system efficiency (Manzini, 2019) .
 The study is conducted at one of the apparel industry in Malacca which is
a multinational manufacturing company with worldwide operations.
 This study is about to assess the storage and retrieval system and propose
an alternative system that can increase the efficiency and thus reduce the
operating cost of the industry. This study is supported by theory of physical
system which postulated the productivity based on three main processes
of transformation, transportation, and storage as introduced by Sushil and
Jain (1988).

6. Research Statement of Problem
(SOP)
• All research starts out by identifying a meaningful problem or
opportunity about which we want to gain better knowledge or find a
solution.
• A research problem is a perplexing or troubling condition (Loiselle &
Profetto-McGrath, 2011, p. 92).
• Both qualitative and quantitative researchers identify a research
problem within a broad topic area of interest.
• The purpose of disciplined research is to “solve” the problem—or to
contribute to its solution—by accumulating relevant information.
• A problem statement articulates the problem to be addressed
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7. How to Identify SOP?
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Any Idea?
Ready?

8. 1. Reading the literature in your field
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Read…
Read…
Read…
Yeah…Keep reading.

9. 2. A problem based on experience
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Let’s suppose we’re working at a university where the attrition rate from the
doctoral program is higher than the historical average of doctoral programs
throughout the Malaysia; that’s clearly a problem we could investigate:
”Our school has an attrition rate greater than 50%.”
This type of problem is generally called a practical or applied
research problem because it focuses on an issue within an
organization.
SOP1

10. …cont.
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In another applied case, I might focus on a problem among
ERS5900 students I taught:
Regardless of the amount of exercise
they do, ERS5900 students do not score
in final exam.
SOP2

11. …cont.
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Finally, I might focus on a problem that many employers today
seem to be wrestling with:
Employees who smoke are less
productive than those who do not smoke.
SOP3

12. 3. Theoretical or basic research
problem
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For example, let’s say we have found conflicting research regarding how to support
dissertation students in an online environment; we could easily write a problem statement
such as:
”There is
conflicting
research on how
to support
dissertation
students in an
online
environment.”
This problem statement implies that multiple studies (i.e., literature focused directly on the
problem area) have been conducted about supporting online dissertation students; apparently
there is no consensus on the best approach.
For example, these studies may have been based on traditional learning theories such as
behaviourism and constructivism; our job would be to conduct further studies using the same
constructs to help better explain or support prior results.
We might actually attempt to replicate one or more of the studies to determine if the results
might be different using another population of students or different pedagogical tools based on
the same learning theories. We could also attempt to extend the work by investigating a different
approach.
Come from conflicts or contradictions in previous findings or a desire to extend the knowledge about a specific
problem area SOP4

13. …cont.
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In another example, one of my students was interested in using video to teach basic concepts in his undergraduate research
methods and statistics classes. He searched the literature and found that many studies had been conducted, with varying results,
in other disciplines; unfortunately, none of them dealt with research methods and statistics. Because the results of using video
might vary from field to field, it led him to state:
”There have been no studies
investigating the use of video in
undergraduate research methods and
statistics classes.”
SOP5

14. 4. Using suggestions for future
research
• Become an expert in your field. How?
• “Read, read, read and then read some more”
• Get to know the relevant literature in a field
• “Suggestions for Future Research,” “Articles of Interest,” “Future
Trends,” “Conclusions,” or other titles to that effect
• In that section, the article’s author points a doctoral researcher even more in
the direction they may want to go
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15. 5. Speaking with experts in the field
• Get experts for help
• Contact through email
• Discuss with expert
• i.e., permission to get a copy and to use instrument from original author
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16. 6. Attending conferences or professionals meeting
• Each year there are literally thousands of conferences dedicated to
almost any discipline
• Personally, I attend quite a few educational research conferences;
while I’m there I see many of the people whose names I recognize
from the literature I have read.
• There are several ways for students to learn more about a potential
problem area.
• Look at the conference program and identify sessions you are interested in
attending; at the end of the sessions there is usually an open period
where anyone can ask questions.
• approach an author outside of a formal session
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17. Problem Evolves from 4 Circumstances
According to Martin (1980):
1. Little or no research on a particular topic exists.
2. There is some research, but it has not been applied to enough
samples or in enough situations to be considered a reliable
phenomenon.
3. Research abounds, but the findings are contradictory
4. Two theories explain the same phenomena but recommend or
predict different outcomes.
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18. Types of Research Gap
• Research gap
• Evidence gap
• Knowledge gap
• Practical gap
• Theoretical gap
• Methodological gap
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19. Activity W2.1
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“What is your problem statement?”
“What is the exact focus of your research?”

20. Characteristics of a Good SOP
1. The problem is interesting to the researcher.
2. The scope of the problem is manageable by the researcher.
3. The researcher has the knowledge, time, and resources needed to
investigate the problem.
4. The problem can be researched through the collection and analysis
of data.
5. Investigating the problem has theoretical or practical significance.
6. It is ethical to investigate the problem.
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21. How to Write SOP?
• Clear and concise
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Is this a problem?

22. …cont.
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How about this?
It could be reworded to make it clearer:

23. …cont.
• Must Include All Variables to Be Considered
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E.g., if we wanted to investigate the relationship of different
piano manufacturers and perceived quality by musicians, would
there be anything wrong with this problem statement?
”Pianos from different manufacturers have different tones.”

24. …cont.
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Is the problem statement below valid if we are interested in
investigating the ability of a dog to be trained and whether the
dog was purchased from a breeder or from a pet store?
“There is a difference in the ability to be trained
between puppies that were purchased from a
breeder and puppies that were purchased from a
pet store.”

25. …cont.
• Should Not Interject the Bias of the Researcher
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For example, if I was arguing for the need for more technology
in our public schools, I might write:
”This study will prove that purchasing
computers to use in the elementary school
curriculum will increase achievement.”

26. …cont.
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What about the following one?
“Students who do not use computers as part of
their curriculum have lower achievement than
students who use computers as part of their
curriculum.”

27. Research Problem Phrasebank
• The problem of this study is…..
• There has been little evidence…..
• So far, there has been little agreement on about…
• There is little published research on….
• Data about efficacy and safety of X are limited.
• A search of literature revealed few studies which…
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28. Research Questions (RQ)
• Research questions are the specific queries researchers want to
answer in addressing a research problem.
• Research questions guide the types of data to be collected in the
study.
• The type of research you are conducting will influence the RQ you ask
• A good research question should also be specific and clear about the
concepts it addresses
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29. Quantitative Research Questions
• Types of quantitative research question
• Descriptive questions – Quantitative descriptive questions will often ask for
figures such as percentages, sums, or averages.
• Descriptive questions may only include one variable, such as mean score of employee
engagement and percentage of employee score low on their work engagement.
• When asking a descriptive question, we cannot investigate causal relationships between
variables.
• Explanatory questions – Quantitative explanatory question tries to build
nomothetic causal relationships. They are generalizable across space and
time, so they are applicable to a wide audience
• Must contain an independent variable and dependent variable and they should ask
about the relationship between these variables.
• Example: What is the relationship between work-family conflict and work engagement
among operators in manufacturing industry?
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30. …cont.
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Sample question
Question’s strengths
Question’s
weaknesses
Proposed alternative
What are the internal and external
effects/problems associated with children
witnessing domestic violence?
Written as a question Not clearly focused
How does witnessing domestic violence
impact a child’s romantic relationships in
adulthood?
Considers relationships
among multiple concepts Not specific and clear about
the concepts it addresses
Contains a population
What causes foster children who are transitioning
to adulthood to become homeless, jobless,
pregnant, unhealthy, etc.?
Considers relationships
among multiple concepts
Concepts are not specific
and clear
What is the relationship between sexual
orientation or gender identity and
homelessness for late adolescents in foster
care?
Contains a population
Not written as a yes/no
question
How does income inequality predict ambivalence
in the Stereo Content Model using major U.S. cities
as target populations?
Written as a question Unclear wording
How does income inequality affect
ambivalence in high-density urban areas?
Considers relationships
among multiple concepts
Population is unclear
Why are mental health rates higher in white foster
children then African Americans and other races?
Written as a question Concepts are not clear
How does race impact rates of mental
health diagnosis for children in foster care?
Not written as a yes/no
question
Does not contain a

31. Qualitative Research Question
• Qualitative research questions seek to explore or describe phenomena, not provide a
neat nomothetic explanation
• They may include only one concept, or more than one.
• Instead of asking how one variable causes changes in another, we are instead trying to
understand the experiences, understandings, and meanings that people have about the
concepts in our research question.
• Qualitative questions usually look different than quantitative questions because they
search for “idiographic” causal relationships
• Characteristics of Qual RQ
• Qualitative research questions often ask about lived experience, personal experience,
understanding, meaning, and stories.
• Qualitative research questions may be more general and less specific - Instead of asking how one
concept causes another, we are asking about how people understand or feel about a concept
• They can change over the course of a study. Qualitative research is a reflexive process, one in
which the researcher adapts their approach based on what participants say and do
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32. …cont.
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Quantitative Research Questions Qualitative Research Questions
How does witnessing domestic violence impact a
child’s romantic relationships in adulthood?
How do people who witness domestic violence
understand how it affects their current relationships?
What is the relationship between sexual orientation or
gender identity and homelessness for late adolescents
in foster care?
What is the experience of identifying as PLHIV at the
workplace?
How does income inequality affect ambivalence in
high-density urban areas?
What does racial ambivalence mean to residents of an
urban neighborhood with high income inequality?
How does race impact rates of mental health
diagnosis for children in foster care?
How do indigenous population (e.g., orang asli)
experience seeking help for mental health concerns?

33. What is Research Objective?
• A sentence that states what the study is investigating.
• Allows the reader to quickly identify the research topic for the study.
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34. Quantitative Statement of
Objective/Purpose
• Purpose statements for quantitative studies focus on the variables,
participants, and, the specific location where you are going to
investigate your problem area.
• Quantitative purpose statement allows us to identify the unit of
analysis.
• As explained by Babbie (2012), this is the “who” or “what” you are studying;
it’s the things we are examining that allow us to create summaries or make
inferences based on them.
• These might include individuals, groups, organizations, or the like.
• While you will not specifically state the unit of analysis, it’s critical that it is
inferred and related to what you want to measure in order to keep from
making invalid or erroneous conclusions.
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35. …cont.
• Purpose statements also identify the independent and dependent
variables in our study.
• For now, we’ll just consider our independent variable to be the
“cause” we are investigating; the dependent variable can be
described as the “effect” we want to measure.
• To write a purpose statement, you simply begin with this: “The
purpose of this study is to . . .”
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36. Example
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Variables
Independent Different types of feedback (i.e.,
graphical and traditional report cards)
Dependent Students’ motivation
and achievement
Respondents Fifth-grade students
Unit of analysis Students
Location An elementary school in Dade County, Florida.

37. Example
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Variables
Independent Corporal punishment (i.e., whether or
not a student was subjected to corporal punishment)
Dependent Overall achievement of high school students
Respondents Students
Unit of analysis groups; we’re looking at the
overall achievement of high school students falling into
one group or the other
Location A high school in Middleburg, TN

38. Quantitative Purpose Statement Script
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39. Qualitative Statement of
Objective/Purpose
• In qualitative studies, you will include the participants and location but instead of
focusing on a specific set of variables, your focus will be on the major issue; we
call this the central phenomenon that you want to investigate.
• E.g., if you were interested in better understanding why there are so few female
undergraduate math majors, your script could include:
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40. Qualitative Purpose Statement Script
•
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41. Example
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Central phenomenon Reasons females choose to major in math
Respondents Female math majors
Unit of analysis Individual female math majors
Location Pleasantville University

42. Example
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Central phenomenon Perceptions of online relationship websites
Respondents Widowed or divorced senior citizens
Unit of analysis Individual widowed or divorced senior citizens
Location This is implied but it would be the location where the data
were collected;
this might be online, in a focus group, through surveys, etc.

43. Types of Research Objective
• General research objective
• E.g., The general objective of this study is to examine factors that influence
individual safety behavior at work
• Specific research objective
• E.g., The specific objective of this study include:
• To determine level of individual safety behavior at work among employees in a
manufacturing company
• to determine level of training and preventive action and competence among employees
in a manufacturing company
• To determine the relationships between training and preventive action and competence
with individual safety behavior at work among employees in a manufacturing company
• To examine the influence of training and preventive action and competence with
individual safety behavior at work among employees in a manufacturing company
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44. Characteristics of Research Objectives
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45. Some Language Expressions for Statement
of General Purposes
• The research is designed to study the ……
• The purpose of this study is to learn ….
• It is the aim of the current research to determine whether ….
• The research is desired to investigate/ to highlight/ to examine the …
• This study intends to find out the …..
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46. Research Hypothesis
• Is a requirement in quantitative research
• A hypothesis is nothing more than a statement expressing the
researcher’s beliefs about an event that has occurred or will occur.
Once stated, hypotheses are tested by collecting and analyzing
numeric data (Terrel, 2012)
• There are different ways for stating hypotheses depending on the
type of study we’re conducting;
• We also need a good understanding of the direction of hypotheses as
well as learn why statisticians always test hypotheses stated in the
null format.
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47. Purposes of Hypothesis in
Quantitative Research
• The hypothesis brings together information to enable the researcher to
make a tentative statement about how the variables in the study may be
related.
• Because hypotheses propose tentative explanations for phenomena, they
stimulate a research endeavor that results in the accumulation of new
knowledge.
• The hypothesis provides the investigator with a relational statement that is
directly testable in a research study.
• The hypothesis provides direction to the research.
• The hypothesis provides a framework for reporting the findings and
conclusions of the study.
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49. Characteristics of a Usable
Hypothesis
• A hypothesis states the expected relationship between variables
• A hypothesis must be testable
• A hypothesis should be consistent with the existing body of
knowledge
• A hypothesis should be stated as simply and concisely as possible
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50. Types of Hypothesis
Research/ Alternative hypothesis
• Symbolized as 𝐻𝑎
• Developed from observation, related literature, and/or the theory described in the study.
• A research hypothesis states the relationship one expects to find as a result of the research.
• It may be a statement about the expected relationship or the expected difference between the variables in
the study.
• i.e., “There is a positive relationship between IQ and anxiety in elementary schoolchildren” or “Children
classified as having high IQs will exhibit more anxiety in the classroom than children classified as having low
IQs.”
• Research hypotheses may be stated in a directional or nondirectional form.
• A directional hypothesis states the direction of the predicted relationship or difference between the variables.
The preceding two hypotheses about IQ and anxiety are directional.
• A directional hypothesis is stated when one has some basis for predicting a change in the stated direction.
• A nondirectional hypothesis, in contrast, states that a relationship or difference exists but without specifying
the direction or nature of the expected finding—for example, “There is a relationship between IQ and anxiety
in children.”
• The literature review generally provides the basis for stating a research hypothesis as directional or
nondirectional.
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51. …cont.
• Null Hypothesis
• Symbolized as 𝐻0
• This is the hypothesis that is tested statistically.
• It is called the null hypothesis because it states that there is no relationship/
no difference between the variables in the population.
• A null hypothesis states a negation (not the reverse) of what the
experimenter expects or predicts.
• What is the point of the null hypothesis?
• A null hypothesis lets researchers assess whether apparent relationships are
genuine or are likely to be a function of chance alone.
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52. …cont.
• It states, “The results of this study could easily have happened by chance.”
• Statistical tests are used to determine the probability that the null hypothesis is true.
• If the tests indicate that observed relationships had only a slight probability of occurring by
chance, the null hypothesis becomes an unlikely explanation and the researcher rejects it.
• Researchers aim to reject the null hypothesis as they try to show there is a relationship between
the variables of the study.
• Testing a null hypothesis is analogous to the prosecutor’s work in a criminal trial.
• To establish guilt, the prosecutor (in the U.S. legal system) must provide sufficient evidence to
enable a jury to reject the presumption of innocence beyond reasonable doubt.
• It is not possible for a prosecutor to prove guilt conclusively, nor can a researcher obtain
unequivocal support for a research hypothesis.
• The defendant is presumed innocent until sufficient evidence indicates that he or she is not, and
the null hypothesis is presumed true until sufficient evidence indicates otherwise.
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53. Hypothesis for Specific Statistical Test
• Hypothesis on relationships/ effect
• E.g., Objective: to investigate whether adding moving pictures to a
presentation will improve pupils’ memory of the key content of the
presentation.
• 𝐻𝑎: adding moving pictures will improve pupils’ retention of the content.
• 𝐻0: adding moving pictures will not improve pupils’ retention of the content.
• Hypothesis on difference
• If the research concerns whether one method of presenting pictorial stimuli
leads to better recognition than another,
• 𝐻𝑎: Different methods of presenting pictorial stimuli resulted in significant
different in recognition (μ1 ≠ μ2)
• 𝐻0: There is no difference between methods (μ1 = μ2 ).
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54. 2 Basic Rules for Hypothesis
• The Direction of Hypotheses
• We expect a “greater than” or “less than” relationship in our results
• We expect one group perform better than the other group
• Non-Directional Hypotheses
• We expect a difference in our results but we do not know if it will be a
“greater than” or “less than” relationship
• We expect one group is different than the other group
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55. Additional Notes on Hypothesis
• Hypothesis only applicable when you are testing on the different
treatment or relationships between variables
• Hypothesis only applicable for research objectives that intend to use
inferential statistics as their analysis and do not applicable for
objectives that intend to use descriptive statistics as their analysis
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56. Significance of the Study
• This section is a more detailed explanation of the why of your study.
• Does it explore an important issue, meet a recognized need, or fill in a gap in the knowledge base?
• You must build an argument for the worth or significance of your research—how it should be useful to knowledge, practitioners,
and policy makers.
• You have to convince your reader of the need for this particular study.
• To support your argument, you can summarize writings of experts who identified your problem as an important one and urged
that research be conducted about it.
• Second, you can show specific data that indicate the severity of the problem and the need to resolve it.
• Ogden (1993) provided some important points to remember about writing this section.
• First, she stated, "The rationale should be understandable to any reasonably educated individual, not just to people in your field."
• Second, she cautioned you not to "oversell the contribution to the field." It will not necessarily solve a national problem.
• Finally, she pointed out that "no matter which way the results come out, the value of this study could be defended" (Ogden, 1993, p. 86).
• Creswell (2009) provided additional insight into writing the significance section of your dissertation. In designing this section, he
advises including the following:
• Three or four reasons that the study adds to the scholarly research and literature in the field
• Three or four reasons about how the study helps improve practice
• Three or four reasons as to why the study will improve policy (p. 107)
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57. Assumptions
• Assumptions are just as they sound; things we believe to be true, but
cannot verify.
• For example, if I conducted a survey asking people their annual salary,
I would assume they would tell me the truth.
• It’s obvious that false assumptions could lead to spurious results.
While we cannot control for it, we simply tell the reader that
we know the possibility exists that some respondents would not tell
us the truth, but there’s nothing we can do about it.
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58. Scope of the Study
• Define the topic and boundaries of the research problem to be investigated
• based on the researcher’s decision of what to include and what to exclude.
• To identify the scope, you need to address not only the problem or issue
that you want to study but the population that you want to examine.
• For example, assume your research strives to study the impact of sleep
quality on productivity.
• Who will you study when examining productivity?
• Are you interested in worker productivity, student productivity, or general
productivity?
• What demographic do you want to examine?
• You might ultimately decide that you want to study student productivity for students
between the ages of 18 and 19.
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59. Limitations
• Limitations are constraints outside of the control of the researcher and inherent
to the actual study that could affect the generalizability of the results.
• Relate to the validity and reliability of the study - They are characteristics of the research
design or methodology that are out of your control but influence your research findings.
Because of this, they determine the internal and external validity of your study and are
considered potential weaknesses
• For example, in Chapter One, I stated a hypothesis that read:
• In this case, several limitations might exist; things such as the location of the
study or the math results status of the students may affect the generalizability of
the results.
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60. Example of Limitations
• Issues with sample and selection,
• Insufficient sample size, population traits or specific participants for
statistical significance,
• Lack of previous research studies on the topic which has allowed for
further analysis,
• Limitations in the technology/instruments used to collect your data,
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61. Conceptual & Operational Definitions
• A conceptual definition is the abstract, theoretical meaning of a concept being
studied (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011, p. 30).
• Even seemingly straight forward terms need to be conceptually defined by
researchers.
• Example, concept of “spirituality”
• Chiu et al. (2004) did a comprehensive review of how spirituality was conceptually defined in
the research literature and found that current definitions revolve around four distinct
themes: existential reality, transcendence, connectedness, and power/force/energy.
• Researchers undertaking studies of spirituality need to make clear which conceptual
definition of spirituality they have adopted.
• In qualitative studies, conceptual definitions of key phenomena may be a major end product,
reflecting the intent to have the meaning of concepts defined by the participants themselves.
• In quantitative studies, however, researchers clarify and define research concepts at the
outset because they must indicate how variables will be observed and measured.
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62. …cont.
• An operational definition specifies the operations that researchers must perform to collect the
required information on a particular concept (Loiselle & Profetto-McGrath, 2011, p. 30).
• Operational definitions should be in line with conceptual definitions.
• Example, weight.
• Operational definition: the amount that an object weighs in kilograms, to the nearest kilogram.
• this definition designates that weight is determined by one measuring system (kilograms) rather than another
(e.g., pounds).
• There are multiple methods of measuring most variables, and researchers must choose the
method that best captures the variables under study.
• Example, anxiety, which can be defined in terms of either physiologic or psychological functioning.
• For researchers choosing to emphasize physiologic aspects of anxiety, the operational definition might involve
measurement of extent of sweating through the Palmar Sweat Index.
• If, on the other hand, researchers conceptualize anxiety as a psychological state, the operational definition
might involve a paper-and-pencil measure such as the State Anxiety Scale.
• Even if there may not be full agreement in the research or clinical community in terms of the chosen
conceptual and operational definitions in a particular report, still, these definitions must be spelled out clearly
in the report.
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63. Example of Operational Definition
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64. References
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