Identification of a research topic

The research process starts by formulating a research problem that can be investigated through research procedures.

Identifying a research problem
A problem is any situation where a gap exists between the actual and the desired ideal states. A research problem refers to some difficulty which the researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same.

The first step in selecting a research problem is to identify the broad problem area that one is interested in through the process of observing and focussing on the situation. Such an area should be related to the professional interests and goals of the researcher.
Examples of broad problem areas include:
• Training programs are not as effective as anticipated
• The sales volume of a product is not picking up
• Minority group members in organisations are not advancing in their careers.
• The newly installed information system is not being used by managers for whom it was primarily designed.
• The introduction of flexible work hours has created more problems than it has solved in many companies.
Some commonly researched areas in Business include:
• Employee behaviours such as performance, absenteeism and turnover
• Employee attitudes such as job satisfaction, loyalty and organisation commitment
• Supervisory performance, management leadership style, and performance appraisal systems
• Employee selection, recruitment, training, and retention.
• Validation of performance appraisal systems.
• Human resource management choices and organisational strategy.
• Evaluation of assessment centers
• customer relationship management
• customer satisfaction, complaints, customer loyalty, and word of mouth communication
• low-cost housing
• productivity of workers
• Small-scale businesses etc.

The second step is to identify a specific problem within this broad area that will form the basis of the research study. Once the broad problem area has been identified, it needs to be narrowed down to a specific problem statement after some preliminary information is gathered by the researcher. This may be through interviews and literature research.

The exact nature of the information needed to help us narrow the broad problem area and to define a specific problem statement depends on the type of problem we are addressing. It may be broadly classified under two headings: background information on the organization (i.e. contextual factors) and prevailing knowledge on the topic (i.e. relevant findings from previous research). The background information might include among other things the following contextual factors:
• The origin and history of the company
• Size in terms of employees and/or assets
• Charter – purpose and ideology
• Location
• Resources – human and others
• Interdependent relationships with other institutions and the external environment
• Financial position during the previous five to ten years and relevant financial data
• Information on structural factors e.g. roles and positions in the organization and number of employees at each job level, communication channels, control systems, work-flow systems etc.
• Information on the management policy

Prevailing knowledge on the topic obtained through literature review should help the researcher to identify and highlight the important variables that are related to the problem. This ensures that the research is structured on work already done and that it builds on the foundation of prevailing knowledge. A review of literature thus ensures that no important variable that has in the past been found repeatedly to have had an impact on the problem is ignored in the process of defining the problem statement.

The research problem should be an important one i.e. it should
• Lead to findings that have widespread implications in a particular area
• Challenge some commonly held truism
• Review the inadequacies of existing laws, views or policies
• Cover a reasonable scope e.g. not too narrow or too general.

A research problem exists if the following conditions are met:-
• There must be an individual or a group which has some difficulty or the problem.
• There must be some objective(s) to be attained.
• There must be alternative means or courses of action for obtaining the objective(s) one wishes to attain.
• There must be some doubt in the mind of a researcher with regard to the selection of alternatives.
• There must be some environment(s) to which the difficulty pertains.

Selecting the problem
The following points must be observed by a researcher in selecting a research problem or a subject of study:
• Subject which is overdone should not be normally chosen, for it will be a difficult task to throw any new light in such a case.
• Controversial subject should not become the 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 sources of research are within one’s reach.
• The importance of the subject, the qualifications and the training of a researcher, the costs involved and the time factor must be considered.
• The selection of a study must be preceded by a preliminary study.

Defining the problem
It involves the task of laying down boundaries within which a researcher shall study the problem with a predetermined objective in view. The following steps can be followed:-
• Statement of the problem in a general way
• Understanding the nature of the problem: Understand the origin and nature of the problem e.g. by discussing it with those who raised it in order to find out how the problem originally came about. The researcher should keep in view the environment within which the problem is to be studied and understood.
• Surveying the available literature: the researcher must be well conversant with relevant theories in the field, reports and records and also all other relevant literature.
• Developing ideas through discussions:
• Rephrasing the research problem: Its putting the research problem in as specific terms as possible so that it may become operationally viable and may help in the development of working hypotheses.

The following should also be observed when defining a 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 stated.
• A straight forward statement of the value of the investigation 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 a research problem.
Certain factors determine the scope of a research study. These include:
• Time available to carry it
• Money available to carry it out
• Availability of equipment needed to carry it out
• Availability of subjects or units of the study

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johnmulu answered the question on October 3, 2017 at 06:53