Statement of the problem

After the investigator has clarified the rational, identified the degree of seriousness of the
problem, provided the literature review, and set the overall objective, the formulation of the
heart of the thesis - the statement of the general and the specific problems – must be done.
The opening paragraph of this section contains the general problem of the study.
Writing the General Problem in a Qualitative Study

According to Creswell and Clark (2014), the following are the criteria in writing the purpose
statement:

1.) It should use single and not compound sentences.

2.) It should clearly express the purpose of the study.
3.) It should include the central phenomenon.
4.) It should use qualitative words, e.g., explore, discover, and expain.
5.) It should identify the participants in the study.
6.) It should state the research site.

The specific problems must meet the following criteria:

1.) They must be in question form.
2.) They must define the population and the samples of the study (respondents).
3.) They must identify the variables being studied.

According to Creswell and Clark (2014), there are two types of research questions. These are
as follows:

1.) Central Questions – These are the most general questions that can be asked.
2.) Sub-questions – These questions subdivide the central question into more specific
topical questions and are only limited in number.

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In general, there are two types of questions formulated in research. These are as follows:

1. Non-researchable questions – These are questions of value and are answerable by yes
or no.

Examples:

a. Should all mothers breastfeed their babies?

b. Do all head teachers have a masters’ degree?
 2. Researchable questions –These are questions of opinions, perceptions, or policy that
are raised to accumulate data. Formulating a clear, significant question prepares the
researcher for subsequent decision – making on research design, data collection, and
data analysis.

Examples:

a. What are the common preparations done by grade 7 students during their first days in
school?
b. How do senior high school students respond to their Math teacher?

Dickoff et.al (as cited by Wilson, 1989) provides further classification to research questions.
These are as follows:

1. Factor-isolating questions – These ask the question “What is this?” These questions are
sometimes called factor-naming questions because they isolate. Categorize, describe, or
name factors and situations.
Examples:
a. What is the profile of school principals in terms of the following?
i. Age
ii. Management experience
iii. Civil status
b. What are the levels of competencies of school principals as described by their
respective teachers and themselves in terms of the following?
i. Intrapersonal
ii. Interpersonal
2. Factor-relating questions- These ask the question “What is happening here?” The goal
of these questions is to determine the relationship among factors that have been
identified.

Examples:

a. What is the relationship of the level of performance of the senior high school teachers
to the OJT performance of the students enrolled in the business track if Saint Paul
School of Professional Studies?
b. How does the performance level of volleyball teams of boys differ to that of the girls?
 3. Situation-relating questions – These questions ask the question “what will happen if…?”
These questions usually yield hypothesis testing or experimental study design in which
the researcher manipulates the variables to see what will happen.

Examples:
a. What are the effects of computer-learning assisted methods of teaching to the
interest level of sophomores to their history subjects?
b. How significantly different is the performance of the call center agents who are well
rested than those who are not?

4. Situation-producing questions – These ask the questions “How can I make it happen?”
these questions establish explicit goals for action, develop plans or prescriptions to
achieve goals, and specify the conditions under which these goals will be accomplished.
Examples:
a. Based on the findings, what human relation intervention program can be adopted to
enhance or improve effectiveness of existing teaching methods?
b. What faculty development activities can be sponsored by the PTCA to improve the
performance of graduating students in the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT)?

STATING THE QUESTIONS

-Research questions are the foundation of your research study.

-They are the key to your research because they point to of where you are going.

- Signify what you want to intend to do.

According to Black (2008), a research question should in general be “potentially testable” and
it should be:

a.) of sufficient scope as to be resolvable with resources available

b.) not involved in proving right or wrong
c.) stated in such a way as to define clearly the problem to be investigated.
- He also emphasized that research questions can be classified based on the nature and
purpose of the study.
 Categories of Research Questions
Types Relevant Questions
Descriptive What events or outcomes are What is the frequency of the use of
occurring?
What are the characteristics
of a category of persons or
organizations?
How prevalent or wide-
spread are the events or
phenomena?
Explorative Which characteristics or
details relate to observed
events, phenomena, or
reasoning?
Evaluative How will/did a process or
procedure work?
Examples
different training methods in industry?
How prevalent is the use of drugs
among prison inmates?
What are the reasons given for
absences from work among
information technology workers?
What is the distribution of members of
each social class in a geographic area?
How prevalent are sleep disorders
among middle management personnel?
Do assembly-line workers suffer from
sleep disorders more or less than the
general population of employed
persons?
How do voting patterns of a given
community compare to the results of
the most recent elections?
Is there any relationship between age
and perception of quality of music?
Which of several possible programmers
had the greatest impact on reducing
long-term unemployment?
Do the subjects young people study at
school differentially increase the
probability of subsequent
employment?
Which assembly-line procedure has the
greatest effect on productivity?
Predictive What will happen if one If family size (number of children)
variable changes? increases, is there necessarily an
increase or decrease in family income?

Are there any relationships between

Explanatory What are the causes of an
observed outcome?
social class, educational achievement,
and drug use among 18-to-24- year
olds?
Which side of the brain is
predominantly responsible for
computer mouse manipulation?

During periods of high unemployment,

does the perceived threat of
unemployment reduce spending among
those employed?
Control What will happen to a second Can stress in patients about to undergo
proposed dependent variable surgery be reduced by specific types of
if the suspected independent nurse intervention?
variable is changed?
If the organization changes to flexitime,
will productivity increase compared to
present levels?

Criteria for Evaluating Research Questions

1.) They should be clear in the sense of being intelligible.

2.) They should be researchable –that is, they should allow you to do research in relation to
them.
3.) They should have some connection(s) with established theories and research.

4.) Your research questions should be linked to each other

5.) They should at the very least hold out the prospect of being able to make an original
contribution –however small –to the topic.
6.) The research question should be neither too broad nor too narrow.
 Research Hypothesis

- A hypothesis is an “informed speculation, which is set up to be tested, about the possible

relationship between two or more variables.” (Bryman, 2008)
- Quantitative research does not entail the specification of a hypothesis; instead, theory acts
loosely as a set of concerns in relation to which the social researcher collects data.
- According to Prasad, Rao, and Rehani (2001), the nature of hypothesis can be described as
follows:
1. It can be tested
2. It is not an ethical issue.
3. It is not too specific and not too general.
4. It is a prediction of consequences.
5. It is considered valuable even if proven false.

Devin Kowalczyk (n.d.) has recommended tips on how to formulate a hypothesis.

1.) If you can’t measure it, then you can’t form a hypothesis about it.
2.) A hypothesis takes the form of an if-then statement.
Example:
If we increase the amount of light during studying, then the participants’ performance
on test scores will decrease.
3.) Assess the hypothesis.
4.) Operationalization

Null Form (Ho)

- The null hypothesis states that there is no association or significant difference between the
results of the two conditions being tested.
- The formal basis for testing statistical significance.
- The hypothesis of no difference or equality
Alternative Form (Ha)
- Alternative hypothesis states the nature of the connection or among the variables that the
researcher expects.
- There is a significant difference between the results of the two conditions being tested.
- Hypothesis of inequality or difference.
Cause-and-Effect
- Hypothesis that states if a certain condition (cause) is true, then a supporting observation
(effect) occurs.