Defining and refining the problem

INTRODUCTION
The origin of most research stems from the desire to get a grip on issues, concerns, and conflicts within the
company or in its environment. In other words, research typically begins with a problem.

The Broad Problem Area

The broad problem area refers to the entire situation where one sees a possible need for research and
problem solving. The specific issue that needs to be researched within this situation may not be identified
at this stage. Such issues might pertain to
(1) problems currently existing in an organizational setting that need to be solved, (2) areas that a manager
believes need to be improved in the organization, (3) conceptual or theoretical issue that need s to be
tightened up for the basic researcher to understand certain phenomena, and (4) some research questions
that a basic researcher wants to answer empirically.

A “problem” does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong with a current situation that
needs to be rectified immediately. A problem as any situation where a gap exists between an actual and
a desired ideal state.

Example of board problems areas:

1. Training programs are perhaps not as effective as anticipated.

2. The sale volume of a product is not picking up.
3. Minority group members in organizations are not advancing in their careers.
4. The daily balancing of accounting ledgers is becoming a continuing concern.
5. The introduction of flexible work hours has created more problems than it has solved in many
companies.
6. The anticipated results of a recent merger have not been forthcoming.
7. Inventory control is not effective.
8. The installation of an MIS keeps getting stalled.

Narrow down a broad problem into a feasible topic for research using preliminary research.
A broad problem area provides researchers with enough information to embark on their research journey.
However, a broad problem has to be transformed into a researchable topic for investigation by making it
more a) specific and precise and by b) setting clear boundaries. Finally, the researcher needs to select a c)
perspective from which the subject is investigated.

Three important first steps in the research process: Note that this process is not linear; in the beginning of
our project we will have to move back and forth between preliminary researches and (re)defining the
problem
Preliminary Research STEP # 2 IN HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVE METHOD

Preliminary research should help the researcher to arrive at a specific problem statement. Although the
exact nature of the information needed for this purpose depends on the type of problem one is addressing,
it may be broadly classified under two headings:
1) Information on the organization and its environment – that is, the contextual factors, and (2)
information on the topic of interest

Nature of information to be gathered

1. Background information on the organization

The background details of the company can be obtained from available published records, the web site of
the company. Company policies, procedures, and rules can be obtained from the organization’s records
and documents. Data gathered through such existing sources are called secondary data.

Data Collection: Nature of Data to be gathered

Secondary data
 Data gathered through existing sources are called secondary data.
 Data that have been collected by others for another purpose than the purpose of the current study.
 Some secondary sources of data are statistical bulletins, government publications, published or
unpublished information available from either within or outside the organization, company
websites, and the Internet.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING SECONDARY DATA

 Timeliness of the data , Accuracy of the data , Relevance of the data & Costs of the data

Primary data
 Data gathered for research from the actual site of occurrence of events are first time
 Data that the researcher gathers first hand for the specific purpose of the study
 Four principal methods of primary data collection (interviews, observation, administering
questionnaires, and experiments)

Information on the topic or subject area .2

A careful review of textbooks, journal articles, conference proceedings, and other published and
unpublished material ensures that you have a thorough awareness and understanding of current work and
viewpoints on the subject area. This helps you to structure your research on work already done and to
develop the problem statement with precision and clarity. (Literature Review)

The critical literature review

 The first review of the academic literature will help you to narrow down the broad problem and to
develop a clear and specific problem statement. A second review of the literature, or critical
literature review.
 Relevant findings from previous research in context of problem. Also known as Literature Review.
A literature review should help the researcher to identify and highlight the important variables that
are related to the problem.
 Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and
unpublished work from secondary sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher.
A good literature survey:
 Ensures that important variables are not left out of the study.
 Helps the development of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for testing.
 Ensures that the problem statement is precise and clear.
 Enhances testability and replicability of the findings.
 Reduces the risk of “reinventing the wheel”.
 Confirms that the problem is perceived as relevant and significant.

CONDUCTING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review needs to be done in three (3) steps process.

 The First step in this process involves identifying the various published and unpublished materials
that are available on the topics of interest, and gaining access to these.
 The Second step is gathering the relevant information either by going through the necessary
materials in a library or by getting access to online sources.
 The Third step is writing up the literature review.

HOW TO APPROACH THE LITERATURE REVIEW Data source

Textbooks. Academic and professional journals, Theses, Conference proceedings, unpublished

manuscripts, Reports of government departments and corporations, Newspapers& the Internet

Searching for literature

 Electronic journals. Your library is probably subscribed to journals that are published or made
available online
 Full‐text databases. Full‐text databases provide the full text of the article. Find out which full‐text
databases are provided by your library
 Bibliographic databases. Bibliographic databases display only the bibliographic citations; that is,
the name of the author, the title of the article (or book), source of publication, year, volume, and
page numbers.
 Abstract databases. Abstract databases also provide an abstract or summary of articles. They do
not provide the full text of an article or manuscript.
Notes
 The LR is a summary of research:It is not a “list”of found research but a coherent and articulate account of
past and current research findings
 Well-written analytical narrative that brings a reader up-to-date on what is known on a given topic, but also
provide fresh insights that advance knowledge
 Resolve conflicts between studies .Identify new ways to interpret research results
 Creating a path for future research

DOCUMENTING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of the literature Survey/Review is:

 To identify and highlight the important variables.

 To document the significant findings from earlier research that will serve as the foundation on which
the theoretical framework for the current investigation can be built and the hypotheses developed.

Such documentation is important to convince the reader that:

 The researcher is knowledgeable about the problem area.

  The theoretical framework will be structured on work already done and will add to the solid
foundation of exiting knowledge.

Defining the Problem Statement

There are three key criteria to assess the quality of a problem statement: it should be relevant, feasible, and
interesting
A good problem statement includes both a statement of the research objective(s) and the research
question(s). The research objectives and the research questions are strongly related. There are three basic
types of questions that research projects can address: exploratory and descriptive questions

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 To what extent do the structure of the organization and type of information systems installed account
for
the
variance in the perceived effectiveness of managerial decision making?
 To what extent has the new advertising campaign been successful in creating the high-quality,
customer-centered corporate image that it was intended to produce?
 How has the new packaging affected the sales of the product?
 What are the effects of downsizing on the long-range growth patterns of companies?
A problem statement is relevant if it is meaningful from a managerial perspective, an academic
perspective, or both
From a managerial perspective, research is relevant if it relates to (1) a problem that currently exists in an
organizational setting or (2) an area that a manager believes needs to be improved in the organization
From an academic perspective, research is relevant if: (1) nothing is known about a topic, (2) much is
known about the topic, but the knowledge is scattered and not integrated, (3) much research on the topic
is available, but the results are (partly) contradictory, or (4) established relationships do not hold in certain
situations