CHAPTER II

Defining Research Problem and

Hypothesis Formulation

2.1. What is a research Problem?

• The focal point of every research activity is a research
problem.
• It takes place when there is a problematic situation and
a need to solve the problem.
• But what is a research problem?
• According to Kothari (2004), a research problem refers
to some difficulty which a researcher experiences in the
context of either a theoretical or practical situation and
wants to obtain a solution for the same.
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Why is it important to define the problem well?

“ a problem clearly stated is a problem half solved”

saying by Chicago scholar-Brande
Because a clear statement of the problem:
• Is the foundation for further development of the
research proposal
• Makes it easier to find information and reports of
similar studies from which your own study design can
benefit.
• Enables you to systematically point out why the
proposed research on the problem should be undertaken
and what you hope to achieve with the study results.

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 2.2. Problem Formulation, Research
Objective, Question and Hypothesis

1. Problem Formulation
• The identification of a research problem is
an important phase of the entire research
process.
• It requires a great deal of time, energy,
and logical thinking on the part of the
researcher.
• Therefore, a considerable care must be
taken while selecting a research problem. 3
 Criteria for selecting a problem
Internal External
• Researchability i.e., (problems
• researcher’s interest having solutions)
• Importance, urgency, usefulness and
• researcher’s social relevance, i.e., relative
importance and significance of
competence problem visa -a -vis utility of
• researcher’s own expected findings
• Novelty or originality
resources i.e., finance, • Feasibility
time, etc. • Availability of data
• Suitable methodology
• Cooperation of organizations and
individuals
• Available time
• Facilities /infrastructure

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Criteria…
Some important sources for selecting a problem:

• Professional Experience

• Contact and Discussion with People

• Inference from theory

• Professional Literature, and

• Technological and Social Changes.

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 Considerations in selecting a research
problem
• Interest-it is important to select a topic that greatly
interests you, otherwise it can be hard to sustain
interest and motivation in the study
• Magnitude- select a topic that you can manage in the
time available and to suit your resources and
knowledge ; narrow the topic down to something
manageable, specific and clear
• Measurement of concepts –make sure you know how
to measure all concepts included in the study problem

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• Level of expertise-make sure you have adequate
expertise for the proposed research task
• Relevance- select a topic that is relevant to your
professional discipline and adds to the existing body
of knowledge
• Availability of data-make sure the required data will
be available to you in the format you want
• Ethical issues-consider ethical issues that may arise
during and out of the study and anticipate how to
overcome them.

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Steps in formulating a research problem

1. Identify a broad area of interest in your

academic /professional field.
2. Dissect the broad area in to sub areas
(brainstorm).
3. Select the sub area in which you have decided to
conduct the research (process of elimination).
4. Raise research questions that you
would like to answer through the study.
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5. Formulate objectives for the study (one main
aim/objectives and three or four sub objectives).
6. Assess objectives to make sure that they
can be attained in time available, and with
financial human resources and technical
expertise available.
7. Double check you are sufficiently interested
in the study and have adequate resources for
doing it.

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2. Research Objectives.
A research problem is explained in the form of:
• Objective of the study
• Basic Research questions
• Hypothesis
• Kumar (2011) notes that ‘objectives are the specific goals you
set out to attain in your study’.
• It is extremely important to word clearly, completely, and
specifically, and are free from ambiguity.
• The objectives should be listed under the following two
headings:
• Main objectives/major
• Sub objective /specific

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• The Main objective is an overall
statement of your study.
• It is also a statement of the main
associations and relationships that you
seek to discover or establish.
• The sub objectives are the specific
aspects of the topic that you want to
investigate within the framework of your
study.

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• Make sure that each sub objective
contains only one aspect of the study
• Use action oriented words or verbs when
writing your objectives.
• The objectives should start with words
such as ‘to determine’, ‘to find out’, ‘to
ascertain’, ‘to measure’ and ‘to
explore’.
• Be SMART when you state your
objective. 12
3. Research Questions
• Sarantakos (1998) emphasizes that choosing a
research question is one of the first steps a researcher
takes and believes it deserves serious considerations
as “… no research can be undertaken unless the
research question is chosen and accurately defined”.
• He also note that the research question “…makes the
theoretical assumptions in the framework more
explicit, and most of all indicates what the researcher
wants to know .”

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4. The Hypotheses
• Once the selection and definition of the
problem have been accomplished, the
derivation of working hypotheses is the most
important step in the research process.
What is hypotheses?
• Hypothesis is defined as a proposition that is
stated in testable form and predicts a
particular relationship between two (or more)
variables.
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Derivation of Hypotheses
• The inspiration for hypotheses comes from a
number of sources which include the following:
• Experience
• Past research or Common beliefs
• Through direct analysis of data or deduction from
existing theory.
• There are two types of developing hypothesis
• Induction
• Deduction
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• Inductive hypothesis is a generalization based
on observed relationships.
• Researchers observe certain patterns, trends or
associations among phenomena and then use
the observations as a basis for predictions.

• Deductive hypotheses: Through deductive

reasoning, a researcher can develop hypotheses
based on general theoretical principles.
• Deductive reasoning have as a starting point
theories that are applied to particular
situations.
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Types of hypotheses
 Directional Hypotheses

◦ Directional hypothesis is one that specifies not only the

existence but the expected direction of the relationship
between variables.
• Null / Non-directional Hypotheses

◦ Null hypotheses or statistical hypotheses state that there is no

relationship between the independent and dependent
variables.
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Forms of Stating Hypothesis
• The statement of a research hypothesis can take either
declarative (positive) form, negative form, the null form, or the
question form.
• Positive form:
• H1- The academic achievement of extroverts is significantly
higher than that of introverts.
• H2- Students who learn in small class size will perform
significantly better in Mathematics test than who learn in large
class size.
• H3- Teaching Children through programmed instructional
material will decrease their test anxiety.

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Negative form:
• H1- The academic achievement of extroverts is not significantly
higher than that of introverts.
• H2- Students who learn in small class size will not perform
significantly better in mathematics test than those who learn
in large class size.
Null Form:
• H1-There is no significant difference between the academic
achievement of extroverts and introverts.
• H2 -There is no significant difference between students who
learn in small class size and those in large class size in
performing in mathematics test.
• H3 -Teaching children through programmed instruction
material will have no effect on their test anxiety.

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• Question form:
• H1 -Will the academic achievement of
extroverts be higher than that of introverts?
• H2 - Will teaching children through programmed
instruction decrease their test anxiety?
• H3 – Is there a significant difference between
students who learn in small class size and those
in large class size in performing in mathematics
test?

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Characteristics of a good hypothesis
• Testable
• Logical
• Directly related to the research problem
• Represents a single unit or subject of the problem
• Factually or theoretically based
• States relationship between variables
• Sets the limits of the study
• Stated in such a form that it can be accepted or
rejected
• A hypothesis is composed of an independent
variable (cause) and a dependent variable (effect)
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Why it is important to clearly state the research
problem?

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