Identifying And Stating The Problem

Identifying And Stating The Problem

1. The Problem

   • Identify
     • general subject
       • Related
         • area of expertise
   • Sources
     • Theories: Organized bodies to determine its applicability or generalizability.
       • Personal experiences: Common questions; “Why does that happen?” “What would happen if …?”
         • Replication: changing some feature from the original study.
           • Library: not efficient way to identify problems. Invaluable after identified a problem.
             • Electronic mailing list: facilitate communication. Digital tools such as RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs keep updated investigations.
   • Narrowing
     • more specific
       • manageable
         • focused research
   • Characteristics of Good Problems
     • Of Interest
       • Researchable
         • Theoretical or practical
           • Ethical
             • Manageable
   • Stating
     • Quantitative: variables of interest, relations among variables, and characteristics of participants
       • Qualitative: stated in more general language, needs time for the study to emerge.
   • Developing Questions
     • developing
       • instructional objectives
         • workable way to proceed
           • Provide
             • action plan

2. Hypothesis

   • Prediction
     • research findings
       • researcher
         • Collects Data
           • support or not support
             • hypothesis
   • Definition and Purpose
     • Quantitative
       • formulates a hypothesis before hand
         • Operational
           • understand the precise meaning the researcher intends.
             • Qualitative
               • seek to understand before hypothesis
                 • generate new hypotheses
                   • not testing hypotheses
   • Types
     • Derived
       • Inductive: generalization based on specific observations.
         • Deductive: Provides evidence that supports, expands, or contradicts the theory.
           • Stated
             • Nondirectional hypothesis: relation or difference between variables exists.
               • Directional hypothesis: expected direction of the relation or difference.
                 • Null hypothesis: No significant relation or difference between variables.
   • Stating
     • clearly and concisely
       • relation or difference
         • variable
           • defines
             • measurable terms
   • Testing
     • selects the sample
       • measuring instruments,
         • design and procedure
           • to determine
             • validity

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