This document discusses research problems and types of educational research. It begins by defining a research problem as an area of concern, condition to be improved, or troubling question that requires investigation. The purpose of a research problem is to introduce importance, place the problem in context, and provide a framework for reporting results. The document then discusses three main types of educational research: historical research which investigates past events; descriptive research which describes current conditions without manipulation; and experimental research which manipulates and examines the effects of variables. Descriptive research includes field studies, ex-post-facto research, survey research, content analysis, and case studies. Key aspects and limitations of each type are outlined. Criteria for a good

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Module 1 RM
Research Problem
1) Meaning of research problem
Definition
A research problem is a statement about an area of concern, a condition to be
improved, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in
scholarly literature, in theory, or in practice that points to the need for meaningful
understanding and deliberate investigation. In some social science disciplines the
research problem is typically posed in the form of a question. A research problem
does not state how to do something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or present
a value question.
The purpose of a problem statement is to:
1. Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being studied. The reader
is oriented to the significance of the study and the research questions or
hypotheses to follow.
2. Places the problem into a particular context that defines the parameters of what
is to be investigated.
3. Provides the framework for reporting the results and indicates what is
probably necessary to conduct the study and e
5.2 Types of Educational Research
Any attempt to classify types of educational research poses a problem. The classification
made by Best and Kahn (1992) is scientific, wide and comprehensive, and all researches
are likely to fall under one of the following three types or a combination thereof.
i) Historical research: This is one which investigates, records, analyses and interprets
the event of the past for the purpose of discovering sound generalizations that are helpful
in understanding the past and the present and, to a limited extents in, anticipating the
future.
ii) Descriptive research: A descriptive research is one which describes records, analyses
and interprets the condition that exists. In such a research an attempt is made to discover
relationship between existing non-manipulated variables, apart from some comparison or

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contrast among these variables. Descriptive research basically describes ―what is‖. It is
also known as non-experimental research.
iii) Experimental research: In this, certain variables are controlled or manipulated and
their effects are examined upon some other variables. Thus experimental research
basically describes what will be, when variable are carefully controlled or manipulated.
A comparison of the characteristics and types of experimental, non-experimental
(descriptive) research is given below:
Despite dissimilarities in experimental and non-experimental (descriptive) research, focus
is to verify the postulated relationship between independent and dependent variables.
Researches in psychology, sociology and education are more of non-experimental. This is
because scope of experimentation and control of variables are difficult in these situations.
5.3 Non-Experimental or Descriptive Research
(i) Field studies: Any ex-post-facto scientific study which systematically discovers
relations and interactions among variables in real life situations such as a school, college,
factory, community etc. may be called a field study. An ex-post-facto study is one where
the investigator tries to trace an effect that has already been produced, to its probable
causes. In field experiment, the independent variables are manipulated and its impact
upon the dependent variable is examined whereas in field study the investigator does not
manipulate variables, rather he or she aims at discovery the relationship and interactions
among sociological, psychological and educational variable. According to Katz (1953),
field studies have been divided into two types:
(a) Exploratory field studies
(b) Hypothesis testing field studies.
variable in the field situation and finds out relations among those variables so that the
ground work for better and more systematic testing of hypothesis can be laid. Thus,
exploratory field study seeks what is; it does not rather seek to product relations to be
found later. For example, productivity of persons may be correlated with several factors
like age, education, attitude, values etc. But in this research no hypothesis are formulated
relating to the productivity and any of these variables.
then proceeds to test them. The research provides some concrete evidence for such testing
in order to predict relationships among variables. In field studies reliability and validity
are to be tested. The investigator, for example, formulates the hypothesis that an
unfavorable attitude may result in lower productivity. On the basis of the results obtained
in the study one can verify the truth of hypothesis. The hypothesis testing field study is
more popular than exploratory field study.

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Due to large number of uncontrolled variables, precise measurement of variable is a
difficult task and this adversely affects the internal and external validity of field study. A
field study also suffers from lack of practicability, and it is time and cost consuming
activity.
ii) Ex-post-facto-research: An ex-post-facto research is one in which the investigator
attempt to trace an effect which has already occurred to its probable causes. The effect
becomes the dependent variable and the probable causes the independent variables. In ex-
post-facto research, the investigator has no direct control over the independent variables
whose manifestations occur first (as already occurred) and then their effects became
obvious. In this type of research it is difficult for the investigator to control the
independent variables either by manipulation or by randomization. For example, the
investigator wants to study the major determinants (factors) of academic achievement
among primary school children. The three factors, socio-economic status (SES),
motivation and intelligence are most likely to produce differences in academic
achievement. After analysis of the data it is found that upper SES children and middle
SES children. Similarly, higher motivation and higher intelligence are associated with
higher academic achievement. In this ex-post-facto study, the dependent variable is
academic achievement and the independent 9 variables are socio-economic status,
motivation and intelligence, over which the investigator has no direct control.
In ex-post-facto research, the investigator has no direct control over the independent
variable which occurs prior to the effect they produce and some variables are inherently
not directly or experimentally manipulable. Variables, like home background, school
environment, aptitude, intelligence, parental influence are not manipulable. The main
drawback of this type of research is that the prediction regarding the relationship between
the independent and dependent variables becomes obvious and the investigator may not
be able to provide a plausible explanation for the relationship between two types of
variables, and a spurious conclusion may be reached as because two factors go together,
one is the cause and the other is the effect. Despite the limitations ex-post-facto research
is a popular method for educational and sociological problems.
iii) Survey Research: This may be defined as a technique whereby researcher studies the
whole population with respect to certain sociological and psychological variables. For
example, if a researcher wants to study how many people of both sexes in Nigeria adopt
contraceptive device as a measure of birth control this shall constitute a survey research.
It is impossible to make an approach to each member of the population, or universe
because it requires a lot of time, money and resources. So, a convenient random sample,
which is considered to be representative of the whole universe, is selected and
subsequently an inference regarding the entire population is drawn from the population
for studying the relative incidence, distribution and relationship of psychological and
sociological variable, the method is termed as a sample survey.

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Survey research is dependent upon the following factors:
a group of individuals called a sample, direct contact with those persons must be
established by the researcher.
illingness and the cooperativeness
of the sample selected for the study.
intelligence, manipulative skill and research insight.
Depending upon the ways of collecting data, survey research can be classified into
different categories, namely, 10
Survey research remains at the surface and it does not penetrate into the depth of the
problem being investigated. This is a time consuming, costly method and demands
expertise, research knowledge and sophistication on the part of the research. Despite
these challenges, survey research is an important and indispensable tool for studying
social attitude, beliefs, values etc with maximal accuracy at the economic rate.
iv) Content/Document Analysis:This is a method of systematic examination of
communications or of current records or documents. Instead of questioning respondents
according to some scale items or observing their behaviour directly, the content analysis
takes the communications or documents generated by the respondents and systematically
finds out the frequently or proportion of their appearances.
In document or content analysis, the primary sources of data are: letters, diaries,
autobiographies, records, reports, printed forms, themes or other academic work, books,
periodicals, bulletins or catalogues, syllabus, pictures, films, cartons etc. This analysis is
applicable to a wide variety of issues such as creativity, attitude, ethnocentrisms,
stereotypes, curriculum charges, values, interest, religiosity, college budget etc. It can
also be used to examine the effect of experimental manipulation upon the dependent
variables. If the investigator wants to study the effect or practice upon the improvement
of handwriting of children, content analysis is an important and useful research design.

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v) Case Study: This is a one way method of organizing social data for the purpose of
viewing social reality. It tends to examine a social unit as a whole. The unit may be a
person, a family, a social group, a social institution or even a community (Goode and
Hatt, 1981 and Best and Kahn, 1992).
Since case study is a descriptive research, no variable is manipulated. The researcher
tends to study the aspects of what and why of the social unit, which means he/she not
only tries to explain the complex behavioural pattern of the social unit but also tries to
locate those factors responsible for such complex behavioural pattern. In case study, the
researcher gathers data usually through methods of observation, interview, questionnaire,
opinionaire, checklist and other psychological tests. Analysis of recorded data from
newspapers, government agencies as well as interviewing the suspects, friends, relatives
is also common. 11 Based upon the number of individuals, the case study and the
community case study may be of two types – the individual case study and the
community case study. In individual case study, as the social unit consists of one
individual or person, it emphasizes in- depth analysis and is fruitful in developing some
hypothesis to be tested, but it is not useful in making broad generalizations. The
community case study is one in which the social unit is not a person, rather, a family or a
social group. Such case study is a thorough observation and analysis of a group of people
who are living together in a particular geographical territory. The community case study
tries to deal with different elements of the community life such as location, prevailing
economic activity, climate and natural resources, historical development, social structure,
life values, health education, recreation, religious expression, impact of outside world etc.
The main advantage of case study method is that it provides sufficient basal facts for
developing a suitable hypothesis regarding the social unit being studies (Goode and Hatt,
1981). This is possible because of the in-depth analysis of the concerned social unit. The
opinion is that case study provides the opportunity of careful examination of all the
relevant facts and data on the basis of which a questionnaire or an opinionnaire or any
psychological test is to be developed. The main problem in case study is the response of
the researcher himself/herself. The researcher may come to feel a false sense of certainty
about the conclusions arrived at. The subjective bias of the researcher is a constant threat
to objective data gathering in case study. As a consequence, the conclusion may lose its
dependability and validity, and the study becomes questionable. It is also a costly method
in terms of time and money, and cause and effect relationship is not established. Despite
these limitations, case study is a useful method of organizing research observations in
social sciences.
vi)Ethnographic Studies: Ethnographic study is a method of field observation or
observation of behaviour in natural setting. It consists of participant observation,
conversation and the use of informants to study the cultural and social characteristics of
primitive people, whose numbers are small and who are geographically and culturally
isolated. It is sometimes known as cultural anthropology or more recently as naturalistic
inquiry. Nowadays such observation and conservation have been extended to the study of
different social groups also. In ethnographic studies, major emphasis is put on language

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analysis, marriage, child-rearing practices, religions beliefs and practices, social relations,
political institutions, etc. To effectively conduct ethnographic study –
of time to become an integrated member of the social group. He or she should also learn
the native language of the tribe for better communication and adjustment with the people;
concepts, feelings and values and at the same time supplement his or her own judgment
in making objective interpretation of observation‘
field data in the tribe‘s own language and cultural perspective.
1. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY is conducted in real-life setting and natural
behaviour is observed. The external validity of ethnographic study is generally
high and so its generation is valid and sound. But sometimes the researchers or
their informants may fail to maintain the position of neutrality and may be
overwhelmed by the strong feeling and emotion of the subjects. This may defeat
the basic purpose of the study and invalidate the conclusions of the study. Besides,
such study requires trained personnel as well as much time and patience on the
part of the researchers who have to live with the tribal community.
2) SOURCES OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
In its purest form, research should address unanswered questions and unsolved
problems. The research then is to find answers and solutions. If you know the
answer to every question, then you're stuck. But no one does. One good source of
topics is the "Areas of Future Research" that usually occur at the end of most
research papers.
Another source is your academic advisor or teachers. They should be senior
enough to know what are the open (and interesting) questions in your field. This
does not apply to most people, but another good source of research topics are
funding agencies. Government and non-government organizations frequently send
out announcements of funding for research topics. The National Science
Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
NASA, NIH and NIMH are ones I have worked with in the past. For someone
trying to devise, say, a science fair project, it is harder because almost everything
has been answered. Pick a topic that is of interest to you, because doing a project
is a lot of work and if the topic is not interesting, keeping your motivation up will
become taxing.

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A. Sources of research problems
1. Casual observation
 The relationships between the cognitive and affective realms
 The effect of positive and negative reinforcement
2. Deductions from theory
 Use of math manipulatives
 Learning and instructional style congruence
3. Related literature
 The use of math manipulatives in secondary schools
 The comparison of state and national dropout profiles
4. Current social and political issues
 Gender and race equity
 Inclusion policies
5. Practical situations
 Evaluating a specific instructional program
 Evaluating a specific school restructuring effort
6. Personal interests and experience
 Teaching statistics from an applied perspective
 Effectiveness of non-threatening classroom assessments
7. Replication of previous studies
 Checking the findings of a major study
 Checking the validity of research findings with different subjects
 Checking trends or changes over time
 Checking important findings using different methodologies
8. Clarification of contradictory research results

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3) CRITERIA/CHARACTERISTICS’ OF A GOOD RESEARCH
PROBLEM
Because it is very important that you have a good research problem we give you 8
criteria for a good research problem. You will notice that some of the criteria overlap.
1. Question mark?
The research problem can be in a declarative or in a question form (Smith & Spitzer,
2006). We recommend you to formulate your research problem as a question. This gives
you (and the reader) something to hold on to during the rest of your thesis because it is
simple: there is a question and in the text you look for an answer.
2. Possibility to respond
Some questions are impossible to answer in a scientific way, for example: ‘how beautiful
is the color yellow’. We don’t have the scientifically justified instruments to answer this
question. It must also be possible to answer the question in a practical way so it must be
researchable, meaning you have to be able to collect evidence that will answer the
question (NCSALL, 1998).
3. Relevance in connection to the research goals
The research problem and the research goals are closely connected to each other. If an
answer to the problem doesn’t meet the goal of the research, one of them should be
adapted. For example: It’s wrong to connect a describing problem (ex: ‘Which
Vietnamese Universities serve chicken during lunchtime?’) to an advising goal (ex:
‘Creating a menu with more diversity in CTU’).
4. Attainability
The problem must be one that can be solved during the amount of time you have. So it
can’t be too broad (ex: ‘How can we have world peace?’). But it also can’t be too narrow
(ex: How does my neighbor think about Americans?’).
5. Open question
The research problem should be an open question. That means it cannot be answered by
“yes” or “no”. But also with open questions you should watch out for the possibility of a
shallow answer.
6. Unmistakability

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Your research problem must be clear and there has to be only one way to interpret it. For
example: The question ‘What do Vietnamese people think about the West?’ is un
mistakable because it is not clear what is meant by ‘the West’, it can be a lot of things.
7. Punctuality
The problem must be clearly specified. For example: Don’t write ‘How can prejudices
against Americans be combated?’ if you mean: ‘How can prejudices that live among
Vietnamese students for American businessmen be combated?’
8. Brevity
Although your research problem should be as punctual and specific as possible, not all
fencings must be placed in your research problem. It must be a brief and fluent sentence.
You can specify your terms with definitions in a commentary.
Characteristics of Good Research Questions
 Are specific.
 Are clear.
 Refer to the problem or phenomenon.
 Reflect the intervention in experimental research.
 Note the target group of participants
4) ERRORS IN SELECTING A RESEARCH PROBLEM
Theimportanceofformulating theresearchproblem
According to Kumar (2005:40) research formulation is like the indentation of a
destination before undertaking journey. As in the absence of a destination, it is
impossible to identify the shortest-or indeed any –route in the absence of a clear research
problem, a clear economical plan is impossible. A research problem is like the foundation
of a building. The type and design of a building is dependent upon the foundation of a
building.
SOURCESOFRESEARCHPROBLEMS
Kumar (2005:41) writes that most research in the humanities revolves around four Psthus
People,Problems,Programs,andPhenomena
CONSIDERATIONSINSELECTINGARESEARCHPROBLEM
According to Kumar (2005:43) there are a number of considerations to keep in
mind when selecting a research problem/topic. These considerations are; interest,

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magnitude, measurement of concepts, level of expertise, relevance, availability of data
and ethical issues. Bailey (1982:19) is of the contention that there are six factors affecting
problem selection. These factors are; the sociological paradigm, the researcher’s values,
the degree of reactivity inherent in a particular method deemed appropriate for gathering
data, the researcher’s methodology, the unit of analysis chosen (small or big) and time
factor thus, whether the study deals with a cross section of the population at cone point in
time or is a longitudinal study conducted over time. Thus it can be deduced that a
handful of considerations and factors should be considered when selecting a research
problem.
STEPSINTHEFORMULATIONOFTHERESEARCHPROBLEM
According to the following are Steps involved in formulating aresearch problem: 1.
Identify a broad area of interest in your academic /professional field.2. Dissect the broad
area into sub-areas by having a brain storming session with your colleagues.3. Select the
sub-area in which you would like to conduct your research through the process of
elimination.4. Reverse the research questions that you would like to answer through your
study This can be after formulation of the objectives of can lead you to the formulation of
theobjective.5. Assess these objectives to ascertain the feasibility of attaining them in the
light of time and other issues like finances and human resource expertise.
IDENTIFYNGVARIABLES
The following working definitions of variable can be outlined;
An entity that varies from one observation to the next, an empirical property that is
capable of taking two or more values
A property that takes on different values (Kumar 2005:56) Thus from the above
definitions it can be deduced that a variable is a measurable factor that can assume more
than one value, hence age ,income, gender, pay ,job satisfaction can be classified as
values .Considering the statement below as an example;
The terms remuneration and turnover represents variables because both can as
sumet wo or more values while impact is a concept. Concepts are mental images or
perceptions and therefore their meanings vary markedly from individual to individual
,whereas variables are measurable, of course with varying degrees of accuracy.
Measurability is the main difference between a concept and a variable. A concept cannot
be measured whereas a variable can be subjected to measurement by crude/refined or
subjective/objective units of measurement (Kumar 2005:56).In some cases the researcher
might expect a causal relationship to exist between variables, where a variation in one
results in a variation in the other.
Taking the above example, the amount of remuneration of municipal employees may
result in a variation of the rate at which the employees leave(turnover)the municipality
.Leedy and Ormrod (2001:233) are of the opinion that when we investigate cause-and-
effect relationships, we are, of course, looking at the extent to which one variable(the

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cause) influences another variable(the effect).ln an experimental study, the researcher in
some ways changes, or manipulates, one or more variables in the environment and then
measures the effects that such changes have on something else .ln research in the social
sciences and education ,the “something else” being affected is often some form of human
behavior .ln medical research, it might it might be people’s physical healthy or well-
being.
TYPESOFVARIABLE
Independent and dependant are two most important types of variable. Variables
may have particular roles in a certain problem. Thus the common types of variables can
now be discussed.
INDEPENDENTVARIABLES
Independent variables (indicated by IV) as variables influencing other variables,
thereby determining the values of these affected variables. Leedy and Ormrod (2001:233)
define an independent variable as a variable that the researcher manipulates. Taking the
earlier example,
Remuneration is the manipulated value which can influence the behavior of
employees.
DEPENDANTVARIABLES
Indicated by DV, are variables whose values are influenced by the value of other
values
Leedy and Ormrod (2001:233) define dependent value as a variable that is
potentially influenced by the independent variable, because it is influenced by, and thus
to some extent depends on the independent variable. Also considering the example
turnover is the dependant variable because it depends on the other variable (independent)
which is remuneration.
EXTRANEOUSVARIABLES
Kumar (2005:60) defines extraneous variable as several other factors operating in
a real-life that may affect changes in the dependant variable. These factors, not measured
in the study may, may increase or decrease the magnitude or strength of the relationship
between independent and dependant variables. Considering the same example as in above
apart from remuneration influencing turnover some factors like working hours, working
environment, career growth may also have an influence even though they are not being
investigated.

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TYPESOFMEASUREMENTSCALE
Measurement is essential to an enquiry especially when it is scientific. Stevens
(1978:52) in Kumar (2005:67) classified the different types of measurement scale into
Four categories namely; nominal or classificatory scale, ordinal or ranking scale.
Interval scale and lastly ratio scale.
NominalScale
A nominal scale enables the classification of individuals, objects or responses
based on common/shared property or characteristic for example gender can be classified
into two sub-categories; male and female. Similarly citizens in The Republic of South
Africa can be classified into two main sub-categories: the First economy and the second
economy.
OrdinalScale
The ordinal scale has all the properties of a nominal scale plus one of its own. The
simplest ordinal scale is a ranking. When a market researcher asks one to rank 5 types of
beer from most flavourful to least flavourful, he/she is asking one to create an ordinal
scale of preference. There is no objective distance between any two points on your
subjective scale. For you the top beer may be far superior to the second preferred beer
but, to another respondent with the same top and second beer, the distance may be
subjectively small. An ordinal scale only lets you interpret gross order and not therelative
positional distances. Ordinal data would use non-parametric statistics. These would
include: Median and moderank order correlationnon-parametric analysis of variance.
Interval
The standard survey rating scale is an interval scale. When you are asked to rate
your satisfaction with a piece of software on a 7 point scale, from Dissatisfied to
Satisfied,you are using an interval scale. It is an interval scale because it is assumed to
haveequidistant points between each of the scale elements. This means that we
caninterpret differences in the distance along the scale. We contrast this to an ordinal
scalewhere we can only talk about differences in order, not differences in the degree of
order.Interval scales are also scales which are defined by metrics such as logarithms. In
these cases, the distances are not equal but they are strictly definable based on the
metric used.
RatioScale
A ratio scale is the top level of measurement and is not often available in social
research. The factor which clearly defines a ratio scale is that it has a true zero point .The
simplest example of a ratio scale is the measurement of length (disregarding any
philosophical points about defining how we can identify zero length). The best way to

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contrast interval and ratio scales is to look at temperature. The Centigrade scale has a
zero point but it is an arbitrary one. The Fahrenheit scale has its equivalent point at-32o.
(Physicists would probably argue that Absolute Zero is the zero point for temperature but
this is a theoretical concept.) So, even though temperature looks as if it would be a ratio
scale it is an interval scale. Currently, we cannot talk about
No temperature- and this would be needed if it were a ration scale)
HYPOTHESESFORMULATION
Hypotheses, though important, are not essential for a study. A perfectly valid
study can be conducted without constructing a single hypothesis. There are however
many definitions of a hypothesis but for the purpose of this assignment the following
definitions can be given;
… a conjectural statement of the relationship between two or more variables
(Kerlin 1986:17).
… a tentative assumption or preliminary statement about the relationship between
two or more things that needs to be examined
… Tentative statement about something, the validity of which is usually unknown
(Black and Champion 1976:126).
… a proposition that is stated in a testable form and that predicts a particular
relationship between two (or more) variables .ln other words, if we think that a
relationship exists, we first state it as a hypothesis and then test the hypothesis in the field
(Bailey 1978:35).Thus from the given definitions it can be deduced that a hypothesis is a
premade statement of the results of an investigation indicating the relationship between
two or more variables that awaits verification.
4.1FUNCTIONSOFAHYPOTHESIS
Hypotheses are important for bringing clarity, specify and focus to a research
study (Kumar 2005:79). Hypotheses do so by exposing; the specific aspects of a research
problem, important data to a study, focus and finally may enable the researcher to add to
the formulation of theory. Hypotheses may only add to the formulation of theory after
they have been proven to be true.
4.2CHARACTERISTICSOFAHYPOTHESIS
Kumar (2005:75) outlines four major aspects of a hypothesis. Firstly a hypothesis
should be simple, specific and conceptually clear .Secondly, it should be capable of
verification .Thirdly, it should be related to the existing body of knowledge and lastly it
should be operational is able thus expressible in terms that can be measured.

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4.3TYPESOFHYPOTHESIS
Broadly, there are two categories of hypothesis namely, the research hypothesis
and the alternate hypothesis. The research hypothesis is the basis of an investigation and
is usually indicated by H1.The alternate hypothesis there to explicitly specify the
relationship that will be considered true if in case the research hypothesis proves to be
wrong.
4.4ERRORSINTESTINGAHYPOTHESIS
Incorrect conclusions about the validity of a hypothesis can be reached if; the
study design selected is faulty, the sampling procedure adopted is faulty, the method of
data collection is inaccurate, analysis is wrong, statistical procedures applied are
inappropriate and conclusions drawn are incorrect .There are two common errors when
testing a hypothesis. The first error involves rejection of a null hypothesis when it is true
and this is called Type 1 error.
The second error involves acceptance of a null hypothesis when it is false and this
is called Type 11 error
(Kumar 2005:79) .Thus when testing a hypothesis especially when more
numerical figures are involved, it is essential that every step should be approached with
utmost discreetness or else Type 1 or 11errorsmay occur.
5.CONCLUSION
The research problem is the heart of the research process hence cannot be selected
in a vacuum thus some considerations and factors have to be considered. Sources of
research problems revolve around the four P’s, People, Problems, Programs, and
Phenomena. Formulation of a research problem is a process thus involves following
steps. Variables are measurable factors that can assume more than one value and three
types of important variables can distinguished; independent, dependant and extraneous
variables. Nominal scale, ordinal scale, interval scale and ratio scale are the different
types of measurement scale which we use to classify variables. A hypothesis is a tentative
statement of the results of an investigation indicating the relationship between two or
more variables that awaits verification. Hypotheses enable there searcher to add the
formulation of theory if proved to be true. The research hypothesis and the alternate
hypothesis are the most important when carrying out or analyzing research process.
However errors myoccur when testing hypothesis, Type 1 and Type 2 errors are the
common errors. Conclusively a research problem is vital to the research process, and
each problem will always variables whose relationship is expressed in the research
hypothesis, thus there is a close relationship between the research problem, the variables
and the hypothesis.
Howtoselectaresearchproblem?

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1. Prevention of unnecessary duplication. The problem must not have been
investigated before. If the problem is investigated before, it may be the subject of
another study but with different assumptions, different methods, or different ways
of analyzing data.
2. Practical value of the problem. The result of the research study should use to
improve practices and concepts. It can use of those who may want to make use it.
3. Researcher’s interest in the problem. The researcher should select a problem not
because of research popularity or someone wants him to investigate it but because
it appeals to his interest.
4. Availability of data on the problem. A fruitful results yield if data on the
problem is available.
5. Special qualification of the researcher to attack the problem. The researcher
whose field is medicine is eminently qualified to investigate problems in
medicine; we cannot say that he is qualified to undertake research in other field.
6. Time required to investigate the problem. The research should be conducted
within a reasonable period of time.
7. Cost of investigating the problem. Conducting a research project needs the
expenditure of money such as questionnaires, tools, Xerox, etc. The cost should be
reasonable meaning it is within the means of the researcher.
4) Scope and objectives of research problem
The Research Problem
Clear marketing research objectives arise from a clear explanation of the research
problem.
Often, clients do not have a clear idea about the research problem. In fact, poorly defined
research problems cause most marketing research failures in consumer research.
So, the first questions you need to ask are about the research problem. You diagnose the
problem.
Here are six questions to diagnose and clarify the research problem.
1. What is the circumstance that demands research?
2. Who are the stakeholders in the decision?
3. What decisions will the research information support?
4. What does management want to learn that they don’t know already?
5. What specific information does management need?
6. What will the research report look like?

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Whenever you start a project, ask the six research problem questions to clarify the
research problem. Spend enough time until you and your sponsors or clients agree on the
research problem.
How to Identify Major Topics
Once you understand the research problem at a general level, you define major topics you
want to cover.
Here is how to do it. Ask,
1. What is the single most important question the research must answer?
2. What is the second most important question the research must answer?
3.
4. What is the third most important question the research must answer?
And so on. Now you have your major topics for your interview guide.
Stick to three to five major topics for a focus group or depth interview.
More than five topics take time. You will not have time to explore each topic in depth.
Some typical examples of topics are brand awareness, product use, buying behavior,
brand positioning, and switching. The example is not exhaustive.
Then write a research objective for each major topic. Once you identify the major topics,
define the research objectives for each topic as follows:
How to Define Research Objectives
Define objectives in three-steps.
1. Write a sentence that specifically describes the interview action. What needs to
be done (action) and with whom (segment)?
2. Write a second sentence about the information you need.
3. Write another sentence that describes how managers will use the information.
In summary, you describe the interview action, the information you seek, and the how the
information will be used.
Clear Example
Here is an example of an objective from the mobile phone industry.
Interview Action:
Get reactions of college students, who use wireless smart phones, to four different mobile
multimedia concepts.
Information Needed:
Find out their preferences, rationale, feelings, and beliefs about each concept.

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Information Use:
Product managers will use the findings to screen concepts for further product
development and quantitative research surveys.
When you write your objectives, be specific. Start your action sentence with an action
verb.
Identify the segment. Specify the information you need. Then describe how you will use
the information.
Write an objective for each major topic. List the objectives in order of importance to
management or your client.
Ask your sponsors if they agree with the objectives. This is important. Avoid
misunderstandings down the road, by getting agreement at this stage.
Poor Example
Here are some examples of poorly written objectives. They are too general.
Talk to consumers about our new product ideas.
Ask telecom-purchasing managers what they think about buying VOIP telephones.
Ask Webmasters what they think about smash up.
Conclusion
Writing clear objectives is the most important step in designing qualitative marketing
research.
By applying thoughtful work at this stage, your objectives will emerge, and your
prospects of successful research will increase.
Follow the steps in this article. And practice.
Objectives
To critically assess bulky waste operations by local authorities, including
volumes/types of materials arising and current disposal/recovery routes.
To classify and evaluate the operation of furniture recovery schemes nationally.
To make recommendations to improve the operational effectiveness of, and to
maximize recovery opportunities of bulky waste collection.
Aims and Objectives should:
 Be concise and brief.
 Be interrelated; the aim is what you want to achieve, and the objective describes
how you are going to achieve that aim.
 Be realistic about what you can accomplish in the duration of the project and the
other commitments you have

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 Provide you and your supervisor(s) with indicators of how you intend to
o Approach the literature and theoretical issues related to your project.
o Access your chosen subjects, respondents, units, goods or services.
o Develop a sampling frame and strategy or a rationale for their selection.
o Develop a strategy and design for data collection and analysis.
o Deal with ethical and practical problems in your research.
Aims and Objectives should not:
 Be too vague, ambitious or broad in scope.
 Just repeat each other in different terms.
 Just is a list of things related to your research topic.
 Contradict your methods - i.e. they should not imply methodological goals or
standards of measurement, proof or general is ability of findings that the methods
cannot sustain.