Identifying a research problem, purpose and statement

1.

Identifying a research problem, purpose
and statement

2.

Identifying a research problem
A research problem is a specific issue, difficulty, contradiction, or knowledge gap that you will aim to
address in your research.
• Without a well-defined research problem, you are likely to end up with an unfocused and unmanageable
project.
• You might end up repeating what other people have already said, trying to say too much, or doing
research without a clear purpose and justification. You need a problem to do research that contributes
new and relevant insights.

3.

Questions to identify a research problem
• Who does the problem affect?
• Has it been an issue for a long time, or is it a newly discovered problem?
• What research has already been done?
• Have any solutions been proposed?
• What are the current debates about the problem, and what do you think is missing from them?

4.

Example of a research problem
Teaching English effectively and motivating students is a challenging and important goal for English
teachers. So, a promising way to effectively teach English and support the interest of learners can be
ICT applications for teaching English. Further, currently, there are a lot of ICT tools and applications
for developing English skills that English teachers could use in their work. However, not all EFL
teachers make use of the availability of various ICT EFL-teaching applications. Also, not all
teachers who use ICT applications use them effectively. The experiences and challenges of English
teachers in using ICT applications are not studied extensively. Further, there is limited research
on how the experiences in using ICT applications differ between novice and experienced EFL
teachers.

5.

Identifying a research purpose
A purpose statement will clearly define what is being explored or studied, how it is being
explored and where it is being explored. A purpose statement, on the other hand, just provides readers
with your goals.
Example: The purpose of this research is to investigate EFL teachers’ experiences and challenges
in implementing ICT applications in the classroom (see the 12th slide).
A problem statement is the first step, before creating your purpose statement.

6.

Developing a research question
The first stage of moving from a topic to a research question will be informed by your reading so
finding out what is written about your area of interest. Having decided on and refined your research area,
it helps you hone this into a succinct researchable question.
To think about your project then ask yourself the following questions:

7.

Developing a research question
• It is unhelpful to start from the premise that you are going to survey the students or carry out
interviews or to even think about data collection methods until you have a clear idea of what
your precise research question is.
• Carrying out an enquiry which is not directly related to your own interest or professional work
will be less useful to you. Ideas for research will emerge from your own interests and
experiences.
• In a bigger research project, such as a thesis or dissertation, you might have multiple research
questions, but they should all be clearly connected and focused around a central research
problem.

8.

How to write a research question?
• Choose a broad topic;
• Do some preliminary reading to find out about topical debates and issues;
• Narrow down a specific niche that you want to focus on;
• Identify a practical or theoretical research problem that you will address;

9.

What makes a strong research question?

10.

Focused and Researchable

11.

Feasible and Specific

12.

Complex and Arguable

13.

Relevant and Original

14.

References
https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/
https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/researchproblem/#:~:text=You%20can%20identify%20a%20research,between%20two%20or%20more%20p
erspectives
Yermekkyzy, A. (2022). Experiences and Challenges of Novice and Experienced English
Teachers in Using ICT Applications. EdArXiv working paper.