What Is a Research Problem?

A research problem is exactly that—a problem that someone would like to research. A problem can be anything
that a person fi nds unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficulty of some sort, a state of affairs that needs to be
changed, anything that is not working as well as it might.
Problems involve areas of concern to researchers, conditions
they want to improve, diffi culties they want to
eliminate, questions for which they seek answers.

For researchers and students alike, research problems

are usually identifi ed from several sources including
(a) the research literature—see detailed discussion in
Chapter 3 on the role of the literature review in formulating
research questions; (b) problems in practice or workrelated
contexts; and (c) personal biography or history
(such as current or past personal experiences or identities,
race, ethnicity, gender, class background, family
customs, religion, and so forth).

Research Questions
Usually a research problem is initially posed as a question,
which serves as the focus of the researcher’s investigation.
In our view, the research question should
dictate the research type and paradigm (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method) used to conduct the
study rather than the other way around, i.e., the methodology
determining the question. The following examples
of initial research questions in education are
not suffi ciently developed for actual use in a research
project but would be suitable during the early stage of
formulating a research question. An appropriate methodology
and research paradigm (in parentheses) are
provided for each question. Although there are other
possible methodologies that might be used, we consider
those given here as particularly suitable.

Does client-centered therapy produce more satisfaction

in clients than traditional therapy? (experimental
research; quantitative)
• What goes on in after-school programs during an average
week? (ethnographic research; qualitative)
• Does behavior modifi cation reduce aggression in
autistic children? (single-subject experimental research;
quantitative)
• Do teachers behave differently toward students of
different genders? (causal-comparative research;
quantitative or mixed method)
• How can we predict which students might have trouble
learning certain kinds of subject matter? (correlational
research; quantitative)
• How do parents feel about the school counseling program?
(survey research; quantitative)

Why do fi rst-generation college students have a

lower graduation rate at San Simeon University?
(case study; mixed method)
• How can principals improve faculty morale at lowperforming
middle schools? (interview research;
qualitative)

What all these questions have in common is that we

can collect data of some sort to answer them (at least in
part). That’s what makes them researchable. For example,
a researcher can measure the satisfaction levels of
clients who receive different methods of therapy. Or researchers
can observe and interview in order to describe
the functioning of an elementary school classroom. To
repeat, then, what makes these questions researchable is
that some sort of information can be collected to answer
them.

There are other kinds of questions, however, that

cannot be answered by collecting and analyzing data.
Here are two examples:
• Should philosophy be included in the high school
curriculum?
• What is the meaning of life?

Why can’t these questions be researched? What about

them prevents us from collecting information to answer
them? The reason is both simple and straightforward:
There is no way to collect information to answer either
question. Both questions are, in the fi nal analysis, not
researchable.

The fi rst question is a question of value —it implies

notions of right and wrong, proper and improper—and
therefore does not have any empirical (or observable)
referents . There is no way to deal, empirically, with
the verb should. How can we empirically determine
whether or not something “should” be done? What data
could we collect? There is no way for us to proceed.
However, if the question is changed to “Do people think
philosophy should be included in the high school curriculum?”
it becomes researchable. Why? Because now
we can collect data to help us answer the question.

The second question is metaphysical in nature—

that is, transcendental, beyond the physical. Answers
to this sort of question lie beyond the accumulation of
information.

Characteristics of Good
Research Questions
Once a research question has been formulated, researchers
want to turn it into as good a question as possible.
Good research questions possess four essential
characteristics.

The question is feasible (i.e., it can be investigated

without expending an undue amount of time, energy,
or money).
2. The question is clear (i.e., most people would agree
as to what the key words in the question mean).
3. The question is signifi cant (i.e., it is worth investigating
because it will contribute important knowledge
about the human condition).
4. The question is ethical (i.e., it will not involve physical
or psychological harm or damage to human beings
or to the natural or social environment of which
they are a part).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS SHOULD BE FEASIBLE

Feasibility is an important issue in designing research
studies. A feasible question is one that can be investigated
with available resources. Some questions (such as those
involving space exploration, for example, or the study of
the long-term effects of special programs, such as Head
Start) require a great deal of time and money; others require
much less. Unfortunately, the fi eld of education,
unlike medicine, business, law, agriculture, pharmacology,
or the military, has never established an ongoing research
effort tied closely to practice. Most of the research
that is done in schools or other educational institutions is
likely to be done by “outsiders”—often university professors
and their students—and usually is funded by temporary
grants. Thus, lack of feasibility often seriously limits
research efforts. Following are two examples of research
questions, one feasible and one not so feasible.
Feasible: How do the students at Oceana High
School feel about the new guidance program recently
instituted in the district?
Not so feasible: How would achievement be affected
by giving each student his or her own laptop
computer to use for a semester?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANT
Research questions also should be worth investigating.
In essence, we need to consider whether getting
the answer to a question is worth the time and energy
(and often money). What, we might ask, is the value of
investigating a particular question? In what ways will
it contribute to our knowledge about education? to our
knowledge of human beings? Is such knowledge important
in some way? If so, how? These questions ask
researchers to think about why a research question is
worthwhile—that is, important or signifi cant.

It probably goes without saying that a research question

is of interest to the person who asks it. But is interest
alone suffi cient justifi cation for an investigation?
For some people, the answer is a clear yes. They say
that any question that someone sincerely wants an answer
to is worth investigating. Others, however, say
that personal interest, in and of itself, is an insuffi cient
reason. Too often, they point out, personal interest can
result in the pursuit of trivial or insignifi cant questions.
Because most research efforts require some (and often
a considerable) expenditure of time, energy, materials,
money, and/or other resources, it is easy to appreciate
the point of view that some useful outcome or payoff
should result from the research. The investment of oneself
and others in a research enterprise should contribute
some knowledge of value to the fi eld of education.
Generally speaking, most researchers do not believe
that research efforts based primarily on personal interest
alone warrant investigation. Furthermore, there is some
reason to question a “purely curious” motive on psychological
grounds. Most questions probably have some degree
of hidden motivation behind them, and for the sake
of credibility, these reasons should be made explicit.
One of the most important tasks for any researcher,
therefore, is to think through the value of the intended
research before too much preliminary work is done.
Three important questions should be asked:
1. How might answers to this research question advance
knowledge in my fi eld?
2. How might answers to this research question improve
educational practice?
3. How might answers to this research question improve
the human condition?
As you think about possible research questions, ask
yourself: Why would it be important to answer this
question? Does the question have implications for the
improvement of practice? for administrative decision
making? for program planning? Is there an important
issue that can be illuminated to some degree by a study of
this question? Is it related to a current theory that I have
doubts about or would like to substantiate? Thinking
through possible answers to these questions can help you
judge the signifi cance of a potential research question.
In our experience, student justifi cations for a proposed
study are likely to have two weaknesses. First,
they assume too much—for example, that everyone would agree with them (i.e., it is self-evident) that it is
important to study something like self-esteem or ability
to read. In point of fact, not everyone does agree
that these are important topics to study; nonetheless, it
is still the researcher’s job to make the case that they
are important rather than merely assuming that they are

Second, students often overstate the implications

of a study. Evidence of the effectiveness of a particular
teaching method does not, for example, imply that
the method will be generally adopted or that improvement
in student achievement will automatically result.
It would imply, for example, that more attention should
be given to the method in teacher-training programs.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS OFTEN INVESTIGATE

RELATIONSHIPS
There is an additional characteristic that good research
questions often possess. They frequently (but not always)
suggest a relationship of some sort to be investigated. (We
discuss the reasons for this in Chapter 5.) A suggested relationship
means that two qualities or characteristics are
tied together or connected in some way. Are motivation
and learning related? If so, how? What about age and attractiveness? speed and weight? height and strength? a
principal’s administrative policies and faculty morale?

It is important to understand how the term relationship

is used in research, since the term has other meanings
in everyday life. When researchers use the term
relationship, they are not referring to the nature or quality
of an association between people, for example. What
we and other researchers mean is perhaps best clarifi ed
visually. Look, for example, at the data for groups A
and B in Figure 2.3 . What do you notice?
The hypothetical data for group A show that out of
a total of 32 individuals, 16 are Republicans and 16 are
Democrats. It also shows that half are male and half are
female. Group B shows the same breakdown by party affi
liation and gender. What is different between the two
groups is that there is no association or relationship between
gender and political party in group A, whereas
there is a very strong relationship between these two factors
in group B. We can express the relationship in group
B by saying that males tend to be Republicans while females
tend to be Democrats. We can also express this relationship
in terms of a prediction. Should another female
join group B, we would predict she would be a Democrat
since 14 of the previous 16 females are Democrats.