2. General Objectives:
• At the end of this session the participant would
be able to explain about formulation of
research problem
3. At the end of this session the participant would
be able to:
State selection of a research problem.
State Review literature and theories
State Delimiting the research topic
State Evaluating the research problem
4. Formulation of research problem is a complex and
long process, which includes following steps:
1.Selection of a research area: formulation of
research problem begins with selection of a board
research topic from personal experience, literature,
previous research, and theories in which the researcher
is interested and has the significance for nursing
profession.
for example, a researcher gets an idea to conduct a
study on the female fetocide . Therefore , he or she
initially begins with such broad research topic.
5. 2.Reviewing literature and theories: after getting a
broad idea for research, he or she needs to review the
nursing literature and theories.
Literature is reviewed to know what has already
been done in this selected area of research.
Therefore, a researcher can plan a research topic to
further expand the existing body of knowledge in the
respective area of research.
6. The review of nursing theories provides an
opportunity for nursing researchers to plan a
research problem to contribute towards either
testing or development of a theory/conceptual
model.
7. In this step, researcher proceeds from a general
research area of interest to a more specific
topic of research to conduct a study.
8. Once the researcher is clear about the specific
research problem, next the research problem
must be carefully evaluated for its
significance, research ability, and feasibility.
Feasibility of the research problem should be
evaluated for time, cost, availability of
subjects and resources, administrative and peer
support, ethical consideration, and researcher’s
competence and interest.
9. After establishing the significance,
researchbility, and feasibility, the researcher
finally formulates a final statement of a
research problem.
A statement of research problem could be in
declarative or interrogative format.
10. Substantive Issues
Does the problem have significance to the
nursing profession?
Does the problem spell out the purpose of
conducting study ?
Does the problem have any relationship with
theories and models?
11. Does the problems statement clearly identify the
research variables in measurable terms?
Does the problem identify the nature of
population which as to be studied?
Does the problems clearly define type or design
of study?
Does the problem describe research setting, place
and time?
Does the problem comprise appropriate phrases?
12. Is the problem statement complete, concise
and clear in a declarative form and clearly
suggesting answers to be questioned?
Was the problem statement introduced
promptly?
13. Does the research problem require the use of
human participants?
Does the problem imply potential risks for
those participants
14. Has the researcher appropriately delimited the
scope of the problem, or the problem too big
or complex for a single investigation?
Is the researcher able to manage the resources,
man, money, material and appropriate
permissions from authorities?
15. After establishing the significance,
researchbility and feasibility, the researcher
finally formulates a final statement of the
research problem.
A statement of research problem could be in
declarative or interrogative format.
16. In this format, a research problem is stated in
declarative statement.
For example:
A descriptive study on prevalence of bedsores
among unconscious patients admitted in inten
sive care units of PGIMER, Chandigarh.
17. In interrogative format, a research problem is
stated in question form.
For example:
What is the influence of the level of
hemoglobin on pin site infection among
patients with external skeletal fixators?
18. What is the effect of ginger on morning
sickness symptoms on pregnant women?
The choice of either of these two types of
format for the formulation of a research
problem depends on the researcher's
preference and institutional policies; however,
declarative format is much more popular
among researchers .
19. However, for the formulation of a research
problem, it is preferable if it fulfills the
following features:
Research problem is clearly, precisely and
concisely articulated.
20. It clearly states the variables, population and
research setting under study.
Variables are expressed in measurable terms.
The type of study also may be included in the
statement of research problem.
21. A descriptive study on the prevalence of pin
site infection among patients with external
skeletal fixation admitted in orthopaedic
wards of Nehru Hospital, PGIMER,Chandigarh.
22. It is an example of declarative form of the
statement of problem,
where it is precisely and concisely stated and
includes most of the required components of a
research statement.
Some of these components are listed below:
Research study design: Descriptive
23. Variable(s): It has only one research variable
prevalence of pin site infection
Population: Patients with external skeletal
fixation
Research setting: Orthopaedic wards of Nehru
Hospital, PGIMER, Chandigarh
24. There are no fixed rules to write a research
statement or research question, but following
three basic components are recommended to
be used for writing a research statement or
research question, that is,
(1) study design
(2) variable(s) and
(3) study population.
25. Furthermore, study setting and year of study
may added for epidemiological studies.
The clinical experimental/international study
or randomized controlled trials uses
'PICO' (P; Patient population;
I: Intervention;
C: Control or comparison group and
O: Outcome variables) format to write the
research questions.
26. -Denise F. Polit,C.T. Beck,Nursing research Generating and
Assessing Evidence for Nursing practice,9th edition Wolters
Kluwar Lippincott William and Wilkins
2013,(73)(84)(741)(50-52)745
-S.Suresh,National Nursing Research and statistics 2nd
edition,Thomson press India Pvt. Ltd,2016,63-66,39,68-69
-BK Maharjan,Methods in Biostatistics for medical students
and research workers,7th edition Jaypee Brothers medical
publishers,2010,p(9)
-Statology,Statistics simplifies Extraneous variables,2020 sept
14[cited 2023 may 3]https://www.statology.org/extraneous-
variable/#:~:text=An%20extraneous%20variable%20is%20an
y,their%20average%20points%20per%20game
-https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/confounding-
variables/
