IDENTIFYING THE MAIN PROBLEM AND SUBPROBLEMS FROM THE TOPIC

Understand Your Topic: Get a good grasp of what your research topic is about.

To understand your research topic thoroughly, you should follow these steps:

Define Your Research Topic: Clearly define your research topic in a concise statement. Ensure that it is
specific, focused, and not too broad. If needed, refine it to make it more manageable.

Literature Review: Start by conducting a literature review. Search for existing research, scholarly
articles, books, and other relevant sources related to your topic. This will help you understand what
has already been studied and what gaps exist in the current knowledge.

Define the Main Problem: Clearly state the big issue you want to investigate

Defining the main problem is a crucial step in any research project. The main problem, often referred
to as the research problem or research question, is the central issue you intend to investigate, explore,
or address in your study. It provides a clear focus and purpose for your research. To define the main
problem effectively: Be Specific: Make sure the problem statement is specific and well-defined. Avoid
vague or overly broad statements that lack clarity. You want a problem statement that can be
addressed through research.

Break Down the Main Problem: Identify its key parts or aspects.

Breaking down the main problem into its key parts or aspects is a fundamental step in the research
process. This helps you gain a deeper understanding of the problem and lays the foundation for
developing research questions, hypotheses, and a research design. To break down the main problem
effectively

Formulate Subproblems: Create smaller questions or issues for each aspect.

Formulating subproblems involves breaking down the main research problem into smaller, specific
questions or issues related to each aspect or component you identified in the previous step. These
subproblems will guide your research and help you address the main problem comprehensively.

Prioritize Subproblems: Decide which subproblems are most important.

Prioritizing subproblems is essential to focus your research efforts and allocate resources efficiently.
Not all subproblems are equally important

Consider the Main Research Objective: Begin by revisiting your main research objective. Which
subproblems are most directly aligned with achieving this primary objective?

Create a Hierarchy: Organize them with the main problem at the top.

Creating a hierarchy to organize the main problem and its associated subproblems is a useful way to
visually represent the relationship between these elements. Typically, the main problem is positioned
at the top, with subproblems branching out beneath it.

Check for Clarity: Make sure they're clear and directly related to your topic.
Ensuring that your main problem and subproblems are clear and directly related to your research topic
is essential for the success of your research project. Clarity in problem formulation helps you stay on
track and ensures that your research remains focused.

Finalize: Finalize and check the problems

Finalizing and thoroughly checking the main problem and subproblems is a critical step in your
research process.

the main problem statement must be clear, concise, and specific and the subproblems must be specific
and focused on addressing particular aspects of the main problem

DEVELOPING TESTABLE PROBLEM STATEMENT FROM A RESEARCH PROBLEM

Define the Problem: Clearly state the issue you're studying

Developing a testable problem statement from a research problem involves making your research
question or issue specific and precise so that it can be empirically investigated

Start by clarifying the research problem you want to investigate. Ensure that you have a clear
understanding of what the issue entails.

Determine the main variables or factors involved in the problem. These are the elements that you will
measure, manipulate, or investigate in your research.

Identify Variables: Find the important factors to study, and make sure they can be measured.

Variables are the specific factors or characteristics that you intend to study and measure in your
research

Start by identifying the main variables that are directly related to your research problem or question.
These are the central factors you want to study and understand.

Differentiate between independent and dependent variables. The independent variable is what you
manipulate or study to observe its effect on other variables. The dependent variable is what you
measure or observe to assess the impact of the independent variable.

Hypotheses (if needed): If you need predictions, state them.

Hypotheses are statements that make predictions or assertions about the relationships between
variables in your research. Whether or not you need hypotheses depends on the nature of your study
and your research design.

Review and Improve: Get feedback and refine your problem statement.

Constructive feedback can help you refine and improve your problem statement