The document discusses key aspects of defining a research problem, including what constitutes a research problem, why it is important to define the problem, and examples of research problems. It also covers selecting a research problem by choosing a topic of interest that is manageable in scope. Finally, it discusses formulating the problem as a clear question and considering feasibility, clarity, significance, and ethics.

1. Educational research and
statistics

2. Research
Problem

3. What is a Research Problem?
• A term ”problem” means a question or issue to be
examined.
• Research problem refers to some difficulty/needs
which a researcher experiences in the context.
EXAMPLE:
At which age is it better to introduce phonics to
children—age 4 or age 5 ?

4. Why define the Research Problem
Defining your destination before
beginning a journey.
•It determines,
▫what you will do,
▫how you will do it, and
▫what you may achieve!

5. Selection

6. Selection
• You have to select something that you are
interested in.
• Pick a manageable topic and narrow your
focus.
• Pick a topic that you already have some
knowledge about.

7. Criteria For Problem selection
1. Interest:
Should be the most consideration in selecting a
problem.
2.Magnitude:
oHaving sufficient knowledge about the research
problem.
oNot too broad or too big.
oNot too narrow
3.Measurement of concept:
Make sure that you are clear about the indicator and
measurement concept

8. Sources

9. Sources
A researcher needs to be familiar with three
basic types of sources as he or she begins to
search for information related to the research
question.
• General references
• Primary sources
• Secondary sources

10. General References
• Most general references are either indexes,
which list the author, title, and place of
publication of articles and other materials, or
abstracts, which give a brief summary of
various publications, as well as their author,
title, and place of publication

11. Primary Sources
• Primary sources are publications in
which researchers report the results of
their studies. Most primary sources in
education are journals, such as the
Journal of Educational Research or the
Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

12. Secondary sources
• Secondary sources refer to publications
in which authors describe the work of
others. The most common secondary
sources in education are textbooks.

13. Some Other Sources of research
problems
• Resources person/professor
• Newspaper/TV/radio/media
• Seminars/workshop
• Discussions with fellows, colleagues ,friends
etc

14. Statement

15. Problem Statement
• A "Problem Statement" is a description of a
difficulty or lack that needs to be solved or at least
researched to see whether a solution can be found.
• A statement problem need not be long and
windy

16. A problem is formulated in the form
of a question;
Usually a research problem is initially posed as a
question, which serves as the focus of the
researcher’s investigation
EXAMPLES
At which age is it better to introduce phonics to
children—age 4 or age 5 ?

17. Good
Researcher

18. Characteristics of Good Research
Questions
Once a research question has been formulated,
researchers want to turn it into as good a
question as possible. Good research questions
possess four essential characteristics.
The question is feasible
The question is clear
The question is significant
The question is ethical

19. REVIEW OF
RELATED
LITERATURE

20. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
1. It helps or guides the researcher in searching
for or selecting a better research problem or
topic
2. It helps the investigator understand his topic
or research better.
3. It ensures that there will be no duplication of
other studies.

21. Purpose of Literature
Review

22. Purpose of Literature Review
To demonstrate knowledge of available sources .
To identify gaps in theories.
To check consistency and continuity of existing
studies and their results .
Enables to delimit the scope and to narrow down the
research problem .
To ascertain availability of expected data and
techniques for research problem.
To compare ones findings/ results with that of past
studies and to place the work in the context
To avoid duplication of work .

23. NEED OF REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATURE
It gives the researcher several ideas on how to
select and formulate his own research problem.
It helps the researcher identify studies that have
been done related to the topic he is interested in.
It avoids possible duplication of similar studies.

24. Need

25. Need
It guides the researcher on the possible theoretical
framework he can use for his current study.
It gives direction to the researcher on how he will
create his own conceptual framework.
It allows the researcher to brows several kinds of
research designs, sampling techniques ,
statistical procedures, questionnaires and
processes of presenting, analyzing, and
interpreting data , from where he could base his
own choice for his paper.

26. Note taking

27. Note taking
Note taking is the practice of writing down
pieces of information in a systematic way.
• Taking notes in a lecture or a discussion
• Taking notes in a processing/annotating
• Taking notes from reading / on the Web in
some systematic way.

28. Note Taking
 Why? - Keep track of information & abide by
academic integrity rules
 How? – Use note cards or electronic files with
unique numbers/letters for source information
 What? – Include text, photos, music, Internet pages,
etc. that support your research question and source
information

29. Note taking
• Purpose of making and taking notes
Save time and effort in :
Having to look for the original text; or
Having to look through massive piles of notes just to
retrieved the specific information that you need

30. Organizing

31. Organizing
The process of evaluating and organizing includes
analyzing and categorizing the literature into
major topics and sub topics there are many
strategies of organizing the structure of a review
a common one is to include summary table A
common one is to include summary tables to
provide readers with an overview of the research
related to:
(a) definitions of key constructs and measures
(b) differing research methods used in studies
examining the same research question.
(c) key study characteristics and findings

32. Citation

33. Citation
What is citation?
A "citation" is the way you tell your readers that certain
material in your work came from another source. It
also gives your readers the information necessary to
find that source again, including:
• information about the author
• the title of the work
• the name and location of the company that published
your copy of the source
• the date your copy was published
• the page numbers of the material you are borrowing

34. Cont.
• Citation styles differ mostly in the location and order of
information about references. The number and diversity
of citation styles reflect different priorities with respect to
readability, dates, authors, publications, and, of course,
style.
There are also two major divisions within most citation
styles:
documentary-note style
 parenthetical style.
• Documentary-note style is the standard form of
documenting sources. It involves using either footnotes or
endnote, information about your sources is available but
does not interfere with their reading of your work.
• .

35. APA Style
What is apa?
• The American Psychological Association
• Founded in July1892 at Clark University by a group
of 26 men.
First President was G.Stanley Hall
• There are currently 54 divisons and it is affiliated
with 60 state,territorial,and Canadian provincial
association.

36. Apa Style
• A widely accepted style of documentation
particularly in the social science area.
• Specifies multiple items within your paper:
 The names and order of headings.
 Paragraph formatting
 Organization of citation and references.
 Arrangement of tables, figures and appendices.