CHAPTER TWO

DEFINING AND FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESIS

1.1 Introduction
• In research processes, the first step happens to be identifying and properly defining a research problem. The
researcher must find any social, economic, business problem and formulate it into research problem. The
problem identified initially may be stated in broad general way and then gradually the ambiguity will be
resolved.
• Problem formulation from the researcher point of view represents translating the managers‟, social and other
problems in to a research problem. In order this to happen, the researcher must understand the origin and
nature of the management (economic, environmental, and etc.) problems and then be able to rephrase it into
meaningful terms from analytical point of view.
1.2 What is a Research problem?
• A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty, which a researcher faces (experiences) in the
context of both a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.
1.3 Components of the research problem
• The problem consists of the following components
1. The decision-maker (which can be individual, organization, etc.,) who has some difficulties or problem.
2. There must be some objective(s) to be attained at. If one wants nothing then, cannot have a problem.
The objective of the decision-maker provides motivation to solve the problem.
Objective can be defined from different perspective
 From economics point of view: objective can be profit maximization
 From Marketing view point - increasing market share, creating product image and prestige,
increasing sale
 From Management perspective - objective can be motivating workers thereby increase labor
productivity
 Finance- increase return on investment
3. Alternative courses of action: There must be alternative means to achieve the desired objective.
Example: to maximize profit, we have the following courses of actions,
 Profit = TR – TC where, TR=total revenue and TC = total cost of production.
Increasing profit can be achieved

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 i. By keeping TC constant and increasing TR, where, TR = P.Q. This again can be done either by
increasing price (P) and keep constant total output (Q), or by Keeping price constant and increase Q
(total output)
ii. Keep TR constant and decrease TC
Increase market share implies increasing sales relative to other firms. These can be achieved by;
i. Increasing total sale by: Decreasing price, Increasing quality, Changing package, and Developing
new product line and the like.
4. The environment (or context of the problem) to which the difficulty pertain. These environmental
factors can be;

 Government regulation (exogenous)  Resource availability (natural resource)

 Price factor (Exogenous in competitive market)  Technology (endogenous)

 Rate of price change, inflation (exogenous)  Level of education and the like etc

 Market place (exogenous) (endogenous)

 These factors may individually or collectively affect the outcome of the course of action (and most
of the time they are exogenous or uncontrolled variables).
5. A state of doubts as to which course of action is the best. This means that researcher must answer the
question concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternatives.
1.4 Defining the Problem
• Defining the research problem is crucial and very hard part of a research process. It is crucial because, the
problem identified will provide us with the topic of the designed research and the objective of the research.
It is the most difficult and hard part of the research study because; there is a cause and effect issue. It is
commonly difficult to distinguish effect of a problem from the cause of the problem.
• The researcher should be certain that the problem identified is a cause but not an effect. There is a common
say in research that “The problem clearly stated is a problem half solved”. This signifies the importance
of properly defining the problem. A proper definition of research problem will enable the researcher to find
answers to question such as:

 What kind of data and information are relevant and needed to be studied?

 What relationship is to be explored among variables?

 What technique has to be used to collect and analyze data? And so forth.
• Therefore, defining a research problem properly is a prerequisite for any study and a very important step.
Even it is more essential than its solution.

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• Techniques involved in defining a problem: the research problem should be defined in a systematic
manner. The technique involved in defining a research problem has a number of steps, which should be
under taken one after another.
i. Statement of problem in a general way: First of all the problem should be stated in a broad general way
keeping with some practical, scientific and intellectual interest. For that purpose the researcher must
immerse him/herself completely in the subject matter, which he/she wishes to pose a problem.
In social science, it is advisable to do some field observation and / or preliminary survey (pilot
survey). Then the researcher can him/herself state the problem or can seek guidance of the subject
expert.
ii. Understanding the nature of the problem: the next step is to understand clearly the nature and the
origin of the problem. The best way of understanding the problem is:

 To discuss with those who first raised the problem in order to know how the problem originally
come in view.

 To discuss it with those who have a good knowledge of the problem concerned or similar other
problem.
iii. Surveying the available literature. All available literature concerning the problem must be studied and
examined before defining research problem. This means the researcher must be familiar with:

 The relevant theory in the area.

 Reports and records and other literature in the concerned area

 Review research works undertaken on related problem. (This is important especially to learn what
data and other material have been used and are available for operational purpose)
 Knowledge about these all will help the researcher to narrow the problem and, generally, survey
literature will enable researcher to know:

 If there are certain gap in the theory

 Whether the existing theory applicable to the problem and consistent with each other.

 Whether the findings of the research do or do not follow a pattern consistent with the theoretical
expectation.

 Study on a related problem is also useful for indicating the type of difficulty that may be
encountered in the present study.
iv. Developing ideas through discussion: Discussion on a problem produces useful information and
various new ideas can be discovered and developed through it. The researcher should discuss his/her

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 problem with colleagues and others who have enough experience in the same area. Such practice is
called „experience survey”
People with rich experience are in a position to show the researcher different aspects of his/her
proposed study and their advice and comments are usually of high values.
v. Rephrasing the research problem (reformulation of the problem):Finally the researcher at this stage
should be able to reformulate the problem that has been stated in broad and general way in to working
proposition. The researcher should narrow and break down the problem into its components variables
and relationship. That is, problem should be expressed as:
a) a relationship between two or more variable
b) the problem should be stated either in question form or hypothesis form
Question form is appropriate mostly when the research is descriptive in nature. What important is that
when a researcher state the problem in question form, the formulated problem should be free from
ambiguity and the relationship among variables should be clearly expressed.

Example:
 Does a relationship exist between income of university students and score on their exams?
 Is there a relationship between employees' age and their productivity?
In above examples, the study‟s main elements are identified in reasonably clear fashion.
The following points must be considered while redefining the research problem:-
 Technical terms and words or phrases, with special meanings used in the statement of the problem,
should be clearly defined.
 Basic assumptions or postulates (if any) relating to the research problem should be clearly
defined.
 A straight forward statement of the value of the investigation, (i.e., the criteria for the selection of
the problem) should be provided.
 The suitability of the time period and the sources of data available must also be considered by the
researcher in defining the problem.
 The scope of the investigation or the limits within which the problem is to be studied must be
mentioned explicitly in defining the research problem.
1.5 Evaluation of the problem
• Before the final decision is made on the investigation of the problem, the feasibility of the problem has to
be tested with regard to personal suitability of the researcher and social value of the problem. In short, the
research problem should be evaluated in terms of the following criteria.

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• Is the problem researchable? Some problems cannot be effectively solved through the process of
research. Particularly, research cannot provide answers to philosophical and ethical questions that do not
show the relationship existing between two or more variable vividly. Therefore, the problem must be stated
in workable research question that can be answered empirically.
• Is the problem new? As much as possible, the research problem needs to be new. One should not target
his investigation to the problem that had already been thoroughly investigated by other researchers. To be
safe from such duplication, the researcher has to go through the record of previous studies in a given field.
However, there are times where by a problem that has been investigated in the past could be worthy of
study. A researcher may repeat a study when he wants to verify its conclusion or to extend the validity of
its findings in situation entirely different from the previous one.
• Is the problem significant? The question of significance of the problem usually relates to what a
researcher hopes to accomplish in a particular study. What is his/her purpose in undertaking to solve the
particular problem he/she has chosen? What new knowledge does he/she hopes to add to the sum total of
what is known? And what value is this knowledge likely to have? When these all questions are answered
clearly by the researcher, the problem should be considered for investigation.
• The researcher should show that the study is likely to fill the gaps in the existing Knowledge to help
resolve some of the inconsistencies in previous research or to help in the reinterpretation of the known
facts. The findings should become a basis for theory generalization, or principles and should lead to new
problems further research.
• Is the problem feasible? In addition to the above-stipulated points, the feasibility of the research problem
should also be examined from the point of view of the researcher‟s personal aspects as stated hereunder.
i. Researcher Competence: The problem should be in an area in which the researcher qualified and
competent. Before indulging into investigation of the problem, the researcher has to make sure that
he/she is well acquainted with the existing theories, concepts and laws related to the problem. He/she
must also possess the necessary skills and competence that may be needed to develop, administer, and
interpret the necessary data gathering tools; research design and statistical procedure that may be
required to carry out the research through its completion.
ii. Interest and enthusiasm: The researcher has to make sure that the problem really interests him/her.
He/she must also be truly enthusiastic about the problem.
iii. Financial consideration: Research is an expensive endeavour, which requires a great deal of money
to invest. In this regard, the researcher should ascertain whether he/she has necessary financial
resources to carry on the investigation of the selected problem. An estimate of the expenditure

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 involved in the data gathering equipment, printing, travel, and clerical assistance to be specified.
Furthermore, the possible sources of fund must be consulted ahead of time.
iv. Time requirement: Research should be undertaken within a given scope of time, which was allocated
with careful analysis of the prevailing situation. Each and every activity of a research process requires
time. Particularly, it is worthwhile to plan for the time that will be needed for the development and
administration of tools, processing and analysis of data, and writing of the research report.
v. Administrative consideration: The researcher has to pay to all administration matters that are
necessary to bring his/her study to its full administrative matters that are necessary to bring his/her
study to its full completion. In this regard, the researcher should consider the kinds of data equipment,
specialized personnel and administrative facilities that are needed to complete the study successfully.
1.6 Hypothesis Formulation
• Hypothesis form is employed when the state of the existing knowledge and theory permits formulation of
reasonable prediction about the relationship among variables.
• The word hypothesis is a compound of two words, “hypo” and “thesis”. Hypo means, under or below and
thesis means a reasoned theory or rational viewpoint. Thus, hypothesis would mean a theory, which is not
fully reasoned.
• Hypotheses are a set of suggested tentative solution of a research problem, which can be or may not be a
real solution.
• Research hypothesis differs from research question in that, hypothesis both indicate the question in testable
form and predict the nature of the answer. Hypothesis proposes a relationship between two or more
variables. In other words, hypothesis is a theory entertained in order to study the facts and examine the
validity of the theory.
Establishing a hypothesis should follow rules like:
• The variables must be clearly specified and measurable by some techniques we know;
 The relationship between them must be stated precisely.

Importance of Hypothesis
• A well-grounded hypothesis provides the following advantages:-
– Represents specific objective, which determine the nature of the data needed to test the proposition.
– Offer basis for selecting the sample, the research procedure, and the statistical analysis needed.
– Keeps the study restricted in scope thereby preventing it from becoming too broad
– Sets a framework for reporting the conclusion of the study.

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 Criteria of usable hypotheses
• Hypotheses can be useful if and only if they are carefully formulated. There are several criteria used to
evaluate hypothesis. These include the following.
– Hypotheses should be clearly and precisely formulated.
– Hypotheses should be formulated in such way that, they can be tested or verified (should be testable).
– Hypothesis should state explicitly the expected relationship between variables.
– Hypotheses should be limited in scope, specific and simple for testing and drawing conclusions.
– Hypotheses should be consistent with the known facts (should be grounded in a well-established facts,
theories or laws).
– Hypotheses should be stated as much as possible in simple terms. The simple statement helps to gain
the following advantages
i. It becomes easily understandable to others (readers)
ii. It become easily testable
iii. It provides a basis for a clear and easily comprehended report at the completion of the study.
Example of Hypothesis,
Political participation Increases With education

Variable one (dependent variable.) relationship Variable two (independent variable)

• The result of the hypothesis test is the substance of our conclusion and expressed as generalization.
1.7 Sources of Research problem
• There are some important sources of problems, which are helpful to a researcher for selecting a problem.
These include the following
• Professional experience: One of the sources of problem for beginner researcher is his own experience as a
professional in a given field. The day-to-day observation of the incidences is the working place and out of
the working environment, which includes the experience of his colleagues, their attitude, home
environment, social-economic status and motivation level provide rich sources of the problem.
• Inference from theory: A research problem can be derived from a critical look into different theories. In
other words, application of some general principles involved in different theories to specific situation
makes an important starting point of research.

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• Technological and social changes: Technological and social change directly or indirectly exerts an
influence in the function of an organization. All such change brings about new problems for research. For
instance, change may affect policy issues in which case they may arouse interest in investigating new
policies among the policy analysts or other concerned personalities.

• The following points may be considered in selecting a research problem;

– A subject that is overdone should not be normally chosen, for it will be a difficult task to throw any
new light to such a case.
– Governmental subjects should not become a choice of an average researcher.
– Too narrow or too vague problems should be avoided.
– The subject selected for research should be familiar and feasible so that the related research material or
source of research is within one‟s reach.
– The importance of the subject, the qualification and the training of researcher, the cost, the time factor
are the few points that must be considered in selecting a problem.