Research Problem &

Research Question
Lesson 6
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
After this lesson, you should be able to;
1. Expand your vocabulary;
2.Communicate your worldviews using newly learned words;
3. Define a research question and a research problem;
4. Give the relationship between research problem and research
question;
5. Formulate correct research questions;
6. Identify the sources of research problem and research question;
and
7. Justify the essence of having background knowledge of the
problem.
Research Problem Vs. Research Question
MEANING OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

The ultimate goal of the research is not only to propose ways of

studying things, people, places, and events, but also to discover
and introduce new practices,strategies, or techniques in solving
a problem. The word “problem” makes you worry and pushes
you to exert considerable effort in finding a solution for it. When
you feel perplexed or anxious about what to do about
something you are doubtful of or about a question you are
incapable of answering, you then come to think of conducting
research, an investigation, or inquiry. You consider research as
the remedy for gettingover any problem.
When you decide to do research, you begin with a problem
that will lead you to a specific topic to focus on. For instance,
you are beset by a problem of year-by-year flash floods in
your community. This problem drives you to think of one topic
you can investigate or focus on for the solution to your
community’s flood problem.Perhaps, you can research only
one aspect of the flood problem, like examining only the
neighborhood lifestyle in relation to floods in the area, the
need to construct anti-flood structures, or the practicability of
more footbridges in the area. (Gray 2013)
 B a c k g ro u n d o f t h e P ro b l e m
You must not rush into gathering ideas and information
about your topic. First, spend time getting background
knowledge about the problem that triggered off your
research topic to discover its relation to what the world,
particularly the experts, professionals, and learned
people know about your topic. Also, reading for rich
background ideas about the problem is also another way
to discover some theories or principles to support your
study. (Braun 2014; Woodwell 2014)
Research Question
The research problem enables you to generate a set of research questions.
However,your ability to identify your research problem and to formulate the questions
depends on the background knowledge you have about the topic. To get a good idea of
the problem, you must have a rich background knowledge about the topic through the
RRL (Review of Related Literature), which requires intensive reading about your topic.
Apart from having a clearer picture of the topic, it will also help you in adopting an
appropriate research method and have a thorough understanding of the knowledge
area of your research.

A research problem serving as an impetus behind your desire to carry out a research
study comes from many sources. Difficulties in life are arising from social
relationships,governmental affairs, institutional practices, cultural patterns,
environmental issues,marketing strategies, etc. are problematic situations that will lead
you to identify one topic to research on. Centering your mind on the problem, you can
formulate one general or mother problem of your research work. (Punch 2014)

To g i v e y o u r s t u d y a c l e a r
direction, you have to break
this big,overreaching,general
question into several smaller
or specific research
questions. The specific
questions, also called sub-
problems, identify or direct
you to the exact aspect of
the problem that your study
has to focus on. Beset by
many factors, the general
question or research problem
is prone to reducing itself to
several specific questions,
seeking conclusive answers
to the problem.
T h e f ol l ow i n g s how s y ou t h e l i n k a mo ng t he f ol l ow i ng : r es ear c h
pr obl em, r es ear c h t o pi c , r es ear c h qu es t i on , and t he c ons t r uc t i o n
of o ne gener al q ues t i o n a nd s pec i f i c ques t i ons i n a r es ea r c h
pap er.
Re s e a r ch P r o b l e m : T he need t o hav e a s af er, c omf or t a bl e,
and he al t hf ul w al k or t r ans f er of s t ud ent s f r om p l ac e t o pl ac e i n
t he U S T c ampus
Re s e a r ch To p i c : T he C o ns t r u c t i on of a C ov e r e d P at hw ay i n
t he U S T C ampu s
Ge n e r a l Qu e s t i o n : W hat k i nd of c ov er ed pa t h s ho ul d U S T
c on s t r u c t i n i t s c a mp us ?
S p e c i f i c Qu e s t i o n s :
1. W hat mat er i al s ar e n eeded f or t he c on s t r uc t i on of t he
c ov er ed pat hw ay i n t he U S T c ampus ?
2. W hat r oof i n g mat er i a l i s appr op r i at e f or t he c o v er ed pat h?
3. I n w hat w ay c an t he c ov e r e d p at h w a y l i nk a l l bui l di ngs i n t he
c ampu s ?
4. W hat i s t he w i dt h and hei ght o f t h e c ov er ed pa t h?
5. H ow c an t h e c ov er ed pa t h r eal i z e gr een ar c h i t ec t ur e?
Research Question
Research questions aim at investigating specific aspects of the research problem.
Though deduced from the general or mother question, one specific question may lead
to another sub-problem or sub-question, requiring a different data-gathering technique
and directing the research to a triangulation or mixed method approach. Referring to
varied aspects of the general problem, a set of research questions plays a crucial part
in the entire research work. They lay the foundation for the research study.
Therefore,they determine the research design or plan of the research. Through sub-
questions, you can precisely determine the type of data and the method of collecting,
analyzing, and presenting data. Any method or technique of collecting, collating, and
analyzing data specified by the research design depends greatly on the research
questions. The correct formulation of research questions warrants not only excellent
collection, analysis, and presentation of data, but a credible conclusion as well.
(Layder 2013) Hence, the following are things you have to remember in research
question formulation. (Barbie 2013; Litchman 2013; Silverman 2013)
 Guidelines in Formulating Research Questions
1. Establish a clear relation between the research questions and the problem or topic.

2. Base your research questions on your RRL or Review of Related Literature because existing
published works help you get good background knowledge of the research problem and help
you gauge the people’s current understanding or unfamiliarity about the topic, as well as the
extent of their knowledge and interest in it. Convincing solutions to research problems or
answers to research questions stem from their alignment with what the world already knows or
what previous research studies have already discovered about the research problem or topic.

3. Formulate research questions that can arouse your curiosity and surprise you with your
discoveries or findings. This is true for research questions asked about a problem that was
never investigated upon.

4. State your research questions in such a way that they include all dependent and independent
varivables referred to by the theories, principles, or conceptsunderlying your research work.

5. Let the set of research questions or sub-problems be preceded by one question expressing
the main problem of the research.
 Guidelines in Formulating Research Question

6. Avoid asking research questions that are answerable with “yes” or “no”
and use the “how” questions only in a quantitative research.
7. Be guided by the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic,time-bound) in formulating the research questions. Applying
SMART, you must deal with exact answers and observable things, determine
the extent or limit of the data collected, be aware of the timeframe and
completion period of the study, and endeavor to have your research study
arrive at a particular conclusion that is indicative of what are objective,
factual, or real in this world.ed to by the theories, principles, or concepts
underlying your research work.
Thank you