Problem Statement In Research – Complete Guide

The problem statement in research is basically two or more lines. It consists of detailed information about the issue. Problem statement in research that mainly highlights the negative aspect of the situation.

A problem statement is the description of an issue currently existing which needs to be addressed. It provides the context for the research study and generates the questions which the research aims to answer. The statement of the problem is the focal point of any research.

For example, there has been a great transformation in the procedure of improvement unit in an organization because of which management in an organization is facing issues in tracking the present status of business activities. It is the factor that also has a significant influence on the services. In addition to this, there has been increasing in the number of employee absentees because of which another team in an enterprise is facing the issue in making the timely delivery of service to customers.

In this article, we will discuss the objectives, importance, techniques, key elements, format, and procedure of writing a problem statement.

Objectives of the problem statement in research

• The main objective of the problem statement in research is to address the issue and provide detailed information about the same.
• Introduce the reader to the importance of the topic being studied.
• Places the problem into a particular context that defines the parameters of what is to be investigated.
• Provides a framework for presenting the findings, as well as a list of what is likely to be required to conduct the study and an explanation of how the findings will convey this information.

Importance of writing research problem statements:

• Witting the problem statement is a crucial part of the research. It is the problem statement in research that will help you in developing an understanding of the signification of the issue.
• The problem statement in the research is valuable. As it helps in demonstrating the usefulness and value of the investigation.
• It is the problem statement in research that will help you in designing the Research questions which you want to answer by conducting the research process.
• Writing the problem statement in research will help you in identifying the gap between present state issues and the desired state.
• Writing an effective problem statement is very crucial in order to capture the attention of the reader and developed interest related to the topic in them.
• The inclusion of all important elements in problem statements helps in minimizing the chances of project failure.

Techniques of writing problem statement

There are some tips and tricks or techniques which you can use for writing the problem in an effective manner these are:

• While writing the problem statement in research you need to concentrate on the user.
• Instead of emphasizing identifying the way to resolve the issue you should concentrate on the performance gap.
• The problem should render itself to investigation through a collection of data.
• It should lead to further research.
• The problem statement that you are writing should not be too narrow or broad. In addition to this, you need to provide a sufficient amount of information that you need for developing an understanding of specific issues.

Read Also: Paragraph Structure in Research Paper

Elements of the research problem statement

Three important elements of the research problem statement are as follows:

1. While writing the problem statements at the initial stage you need to address the problem., stated clearly and with enough contextual detail to establish why it is important
2. An effective problem statement consists of detailed information about the research methodology that you will you for resolving the specific issue.
3. While writing a problem statement you need to define the purpose, statement of objective, and scope of the project being proposed.

Format of writing problem statement

You should follow the proper format for writing problem statements which include:

1. Explain the situation

This is a situation where you need to provide detailed information about the Status of the current situation. In addition, you also need to clearly define what changes or objectives you are willing to accomplish by employing a specific solution.

Example: Users, in order to have access to the applications, need to sign on to their laptops.

2. State the problem faced in the investigation

At this phase after analyzing the problem statement, you need to highlight the actual issue related to the subject or problems in facilitating the investigation on specific issues.

Example: Taking the above illustration, it is the reality that only three applications which you utilize for completing work. The current state is that you can use passwords for protecting every application. But the issue is that passwords also get expired after some time.

3. Define Consequences of the Specific issue

It is a stage where you need to clearly highlight the result or consequences of the particular issue.

Example: The consequences of the issue are a lot of time gets wasted in logging into different applications. Increase in high-security risk and you have to enter username and password for logging into applications.

4. Present suggestions for solving the issue

This section is where you need to suggest a little effective solution for resolving the problem. Before providing the suggestions you can seek advice or feedback from other stakeholders engage in an investigation.

Example: Considering the above example, the proposed solution should be the installation of advantaged software. The other proposed solution is that you can provide a special type of training to users. They should be made aware of the security risk associated with the use of the different applications.

The procedure of writing a problem statement

After successful identification of the issue, you are required to write the problem statement in three phases

Step 1. Contextualizing the issue

At this stage of the writing problem statement, you need to provide a description of the aspect of the problem with which you are familiar.  It is a stage where you need to mainly emphasize providing concrete descriptions of situations or phenomena. You should provide the detail about the people who are most likely to get influence by such issue.

For example, There has been a continuous decline in the financial performance of the company. The reason for such an issue is the wrong investment decision taken by management. It is an issue that has highly affected stakeholders of the company such as employees, shareholders, investors, etc.  Due to the decrease in income firm is facing an issue in providing salaries on time to workers.

Step 2. Demonstrating the importance of the issue

While writing a problem statement it is very crucial for you to determine the relevance of the research that you are performing. At this stage, it is very crucial for you to determine the issue which you have selected for performing an investigation.

Step 3. Establishment of aims and objectives

While establishing the aim and objectives, after writing the problem statement instead of concentrating on finding the conclusive solution for the issue you need to mainly focus on the identification of the root cause of the issue. It is a stage where you need to suggest the most effective techniques for resolving the problem.