1. Researching research topic
In Class Activity
Researching research topic

2. Formulating Research Problem
April 02, 2014
Advance Research Methods RG 701
Dept. RS & GIS
Institute of space technology

3. BEFORE YOU START YOUR RESEARCH
REMEMBER!!!
5 Ws
1 H

4. THE FIVE ‘WS’ What? Why? Who? Where? When? is my research?
do I want to do the research?
Who?
are my research participants?
Where?
am I going to do the research?
When?

5. Sum up your research project in one sentence
Discuss your sentence with others and revise if there is any confusion
Then move on to think about How you are going to collect your data

6. You must have a clear idea with regard to what it is that you want to find out about and not what you think you must find

7. Research Problem? Why???? Any Question that you want answered
Input to a study on which outputs depend
Formulating an idea into a researchable problem is not an easy task!!!!
Why????
Garbage in garbage out!!!
“Potential research questions may occur to us on a regular basis, but the process of formulating them in a meaningful way is not at all an easy task”
(Powers, et al. 1985)
Why? …Any assumption that you want to challenge or investigate. But not all the questions can be transformed into research problems.
Outputs: quality of the report….

8. Remember: confusion is often but a first step towards clarity
Initially you may become more confused but this is normal and a sign of progression
Remember: confusion is often but a first step towards clarity
Take time
The most crucial step…

9. Prerequisite is to know about
Knowledge of subject area
Knowledge of research methodology

10. Formulating Research Problem
Importance
Issues to consider
Sources of Research Problem
Steps
Evaluation

11. Importance
“If one wants to solve a problem, one must generally know what the problem is. It can be said that a large part of the problem lies in knowing what one is trying to do” (Kerlinger 1986)
In absence of a clear research problem, a clear and economical plan is impossible

12. Importance???
Identification of a destination before undertaking a journey
In absence of a destination, it is impossible to identify the shortest or ANY route
A research problem is like the foundation of a building
The type and design of the building are dependent upon the foundation
If it is well formulated, you can expect a good study to follow
May take number of forms
Very simple to the very complex
If foundation is well designed and strong you can expect the building to be also. The way we formulate a problem determines almost every step that follows: the type of study design, sampling strategy, research instrument, type of analysis…

13. Consideration in selecting research problem
Interest
Magnitude
Measurement of concepts
Level of expertise
Relevance
Availability of data
Ethical issues
To ensure your study is manageable and motivating.

14. Sources of Research Problem
04 Ps:
People
Problems
Phenomena
Programs
Research in humanities

15. Research topics may arise from:
A concern with some social/scientific problem
An interest in some general theme or pattern of behavior
Some part of theory
Some personal inclination or interest
(Selltiz 1976)
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz College of Social Sciences U. P. Baguio

16. Steps in formulating research problem
Step 1: Identify a broad field/subject area of interest to you
Step 2: Dissect the broad into subareas
Step 3: Select what is of most interest to you
Step 4: Raise research questions
Step 5: Formulate objectives
Step 6: Assess your objectives
Step 7: Double check

17. Note!!!!
If you are an experienced researcher you do not need to go through these steps…you might have your own shortcuts!!!! BUT….you should make sure that your idea is Researchable Since not all problems lend themselves to research methodologies

18. Evaluation of a Problem
Is the problem researchable?
A researchable problem always concerns with the relationship existing between two or more variables that can be defined and measured
Is the problem new?
Is the problem significant?
Is the problem feasible for a particular researcher?
ES-315-Unit 5

19. 
Formulating the research problem is, in itself, a BIG problem (Prof. Gladys A. Cruz College of Social Sciences U. P. Baguio)

20. STEP BY STEP PROCESS
With Examples

21. Moving from topic to problem!!!
Operationalizing the concepts to be used such that they are directly observable:
Concept
Variables
Indicators
Hypothesis (optional)
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz College of Social Sciences U. P. Baguio
Concepts are embedded in research questions, but they are typically too general and abstract.

22. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio

23. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio

24. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio
Human development: Capacity to be and capacity to do to live a full and creative live.

25. Example
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio
Gross domestic product is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year, or other given period of time. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living. Wikipedia

26. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio

27. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio

28. In short, research problem should explicitly state
What relationship between what variables about what units of analysis do I want to study?

29. Remember??? Steps in formulating research problem
Step 1: Identify a broad field/subject area of interest to you
Step 2: Dissect the broad into subareas
Step 3: Select what is of most interest to you
Step 4: Raise research questions
Step 5: Formulate objectives
Step 6: Assess your objectives
Step 7: Double check

30. Example: Dissecting the subject area
Profile of families with DV
Profile of victims
Extent and type of DV
Domestic Violence (DV)
Reasons
Impact on children
others

31. General research questions
One of the Approaches
The research area
The research topic
General research questions
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.
Specific research questions
Data collection questions
(Punch, 2008)

32. a question the research itself is trying to answer
A research question
a question the research itself is trying to answer
A data collection question
a question which is asked in order to collect data in order to help answer the research question
Source: Developing Research Question by Palitha Edirisingha University of Leicester, UK
data need to be linked to concepts, and concepts to data.

33. Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A
Source: RESEARCH PROBLEM FORMULATION by Prof. Gladys A. Cruz, College of Social Sciences, U. P. Baguio

34. General research questions Specific research questions
Research area
Research topic
General research questions
Specific research questions
Data collection questions / items
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.

35. Youth culture in high schools
Research area
Youth suicide
Absenteeism at work
Youth culture in high schools
Living with mental disorder
Academic success and failures at university
Membership of volunteer organizations
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.
(Punch, 2008)

36. Research area Youth suicide (Punch, 2008) Research topic
Suicide rates among different groups [quantitative]
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
Managing suicide behavior among teenagers [qualitative]
Youth culture and the meaning of suicide [qualitative]
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.
(Punch, 2008)

37. Youth suicide Research area Research topic General research questions
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
General research questions
What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
What is the relationship between school experience factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.

38. Specific research questions
Research area
Youth suicide
Research topic
Factors associated with the incidence of youth suicide [quantitative]
General research questions
What is the relationship between family background factors and the incidence of youth suicide?
Specific research questions
What is the relationship between family income and the incidence of youth suicide? OR
Do youth suicide rates differ between families of different income levels?
What is the relationship between the emotional attachment to parents and the incidence of youth suicide?
Do youth suicide rates differ between families where parents and children have a close emotional attachment, and families where they are not?
source: Palitha Edirisingha, University of Leicester, UK.
(Punch, 2008)

39. Funnel Approach
Once a general topic is identified then the researcher should define this topic more specifically.

40. Statement of the Problem
Problem stated in one concise sentence
Significance
Who would be interested in your study?
Place your study in the context of bigger problems
A good statement must identify exactly what is to be determined/solved or what is research question?
Restricts the scope of the study to workable

41. Research problem vs. Research question vs. Objectives
Example: Society & Technology
Problem: Blind cannot communicate with majority of society
Question: How should a computer vision device be developed to address the needs of the blind?
Objective: To develop a computer vision device to address the needs of the blind.
Example: Technology & Health
Problem: Epilepsy cannot be understood experimentally
Question: Can a mathematical model be created to understand and experiment with epileptic brain activity?
Objective: ???
Khadija’s lecture 2010

42. Formulation of research objectives
Main objectives
Overall statement of the thrust of your study
Statement of main associations and relationships that you seek to discover or establish
Subobjectives
Specific aspects of the topic that you want to investigate within the main framework of your study
Should contain only ONE aspect of the study
Listed numerically
Worded clearly and unambiguously
Use action oriented words/verbs: to determine, to find out, to ascertain, to measure, to explore.
Wording determines the type of research design you need to adopt to achieve them.
Wordings of your objectives define if your research is descriptive, correlational or experimental

43. Characteristics of Objectives

45. Thank you…

46. Examples
Spatial Analysis of Dengue Outbreaks using Satellite Imagery and GIS
Geostatistical Dengue Risk Model based on Environmental Factors using RS and GIS Techniques
Modeling Dengue Epidemic Risk based on Environmental Parameters: GIS and Remote Sensing based Case Study
Geostatistical Dengue Risk Model based on Environmental Factors: GIS and Remote Sensing based Case Study
Linking Dengue Outbreak Risk with Environmental Factors: GIS and Remote Sensing based Case Study
Environmental Factors of Dengue Outbreaks in Lahore: GIS and Remote Sensing based Modeling
Lahore City Dengue Outbreaks 2011: Modeling Dengue Epidemic Risk with Remotely Sensed Environmental Data
Modeling Dengue Epidemic Risk with Remotely Sensed Environmental Data: Case Study of Lahore Dengue Outbreaks 2011