Research problem

Educational research and

statistics

Research

Problem

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 ?

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!

Selection

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.

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 narrow3.Measurement of concept:Make sure that you are clear about the indicator and measurement concept

Sources

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

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

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.

Secondary sources

• Secondary sources refer to publications

in which authors describe the work of

others. The most common secondary

sources in education are textbooks.

Some Other Sources of research

problems

• Resources person/professor

• Newspaper/TV/radio/media

• Seminars/workshop

• Discussions with fellows, colleagues ,friends

etc

Statement

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

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 ?

Good Researcher

Characteristics of Good Research

QuestionsOnce 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

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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.

Purpose of Literature

Review

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 .

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.

Need

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.

Note taking

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.

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

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

Organizing

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

Citation

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

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.

• .

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.

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.