RESEARCH PROBLEM

FORMULATION

Dr. R.K.Gajjar
Principal, Govt. Engg. College-Gandhinagar
and
Dean PG and Research, GTU
 Research Problem Formulation

 Criteria for selecting a Problem

 Formulating Research Problem
 Writing Research Problem
 Evaluating Research Problem

Objective of Lecture:
To impart skills on how to Formulate and
2 Structure a Research Problem Dr. R.K.Gajjar
 What is Research ?

 Systematic, controlled, empirical and critical

investigation of phenomena.
 Guided by theory and hypotheses about the
presumed relations among such phenomena

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 What is Research ?

 Sonia prepared a paper on “ I-Pad vs Laptops”

after reviewing literature available on both from
the vendors and journals from the library.
 Nishant researched and produced a document
which compares all the technical aspects of
multiple utility vehicles produced by various car
manufacturers.
 Kushan developed a program for designing
curved beams in multistory buildings under
earthquake loads. He did this through literature
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survey on the subject
 Concepts of Research

 Technical head of a car manufacturing company

was concerned about complaints of rating sound
on the dashboard and rear passenger seat after
a few hundred kilometers.
 With the help of the shop technicians, he
identified the factors influencing the problem
 He then formulated the problem and generated
ideas on probable ways of fixing the problem
(hypothesis)
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 Concepts of Research

 He then set about to conduct various trials on

the shop floor, in support of his hypothesis
 He finally simulated the car with the possible
solutions in a general purpose software.
 He then documented the problem, its possible
solutions, methods to get the right solution,
conclusions .

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 Concepts of Research

 Notice in the above example that the researcher

went through sequences of steps which were in
order and systematic
 He did not just jump to the conclusions, but used
a scientific method of inquiry.
 Thus the researcher has undergone all the steps
in a systematic and scientific manner.

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 Masrter’s vs PhD Research

Master’s PhD

To solve a Problem Using methodology

using the you have learned
methodologies you and experience of
have learned solving problems, to
produce something
new
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 Masrter’s vs PhD Research

Master’s PhD
• An ordered, critical and •Evidence of original investigation or
reasoned exposition of testing of ideas
knowledge gained through •Competence of independent work or
student’s efforts experimentation
•An understanding of proper
•Evidence of awareness of techniques
literature •Ability to make critical use of
published work and other resources
•Appreciation of relationship of the
theme to wider field of knowledge
•Distinct contribution to knowledge.
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 Originality

 Setting a major piece of new information in

writing for the first time
 Continuing a previously original piece of work
 Providing a new original technique /
observation in an otherwise previous piece of
research.
 Showing originality in testing somebody else’s
idea
 Using already known material but with a new
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 Originality

 Trying something in this country that has

previously only been done in other countries
 Taking a particular technique and applying it
in a new area.
 Bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue
 Solving a cross disciplinary problem using
different methodologies

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 Original Contribution

 Contribution identified by:

– Gap filled
– Inadequacies addressed
– Extending the boundary of knowledge
– Results of research could be applied in “practice”
 Future Research indicated
– New territory
– Unfinished work
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– Extension of work
 Intellectual Independence

Be Able to:
 Know and Critique the knowledge/ resources in the
field of research
 Identify precisely what is being researched and why
 Competently identify, gather, analyse, interpret
relevant data
 State contribution that research makes to the field

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 Research Process

 Phase 1 –Choose a general topic (area of research),

narrow the topic and collect information
 Phase 2 – Record information, collect ideas and
analyse
 Phase 3 – Write , documentation and presentation

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 Defining a Problem

Steps
 Identifying and stating problem
 Identifying variables in the problem and defining
them
 Generating ideas/guesses (hypotheses) about
relation of variables; or writing explicit questions for
which solutions are sought
 Evaluating the problem for its research potential

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 Problem of Study

 Those problems for which method and further

data/information in order to achieve the goal, are
not known.
 The selected Problem must exit the boundary of
existing knowledge
 Thus Comprehensive Literature Review very
important

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 How to Select a Problem?

 From past studies;

 Thus you need to look for solutions already found in
parallel situations
 Incomplete solutions
 Results that are unclear, doubtful or debatable

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 Literature Review

Need for Critical Study of Literature to:

 Define a problem
 Limit the problem scope
 Avoid unnecessary repetition
 Search for new approaches
 Recommend suitable methods

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 Formulating the Research Problem

 Divide the general area into progressively small

units, subdivide until you reach a subject that is
interesting to research
 Read all the resource material with a question in
mind: What? Why? How? Where? Etc.
 Evaluate Research Problem :
– Too large? Feasible? Availability of data?
– Researchable? Too narrow?
– Specific? Significant?
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 Research Problem Statement

 Can be written in either of two forms:

– Statement form
– Research Question form

 Problem written in question form:

“ What is the effect of a customised programme,
on the skill acquisition of technician students in a
printing course?”
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 Problem Statement

 Problem written in Statement Form:

“ This study is designed to measure the effect of
customised programme on the skill acquisitions of
technicians of printing course “
 Statement of Purpose:
“ The purpose of this study is to investigate the
effect of a customised programme on the skill
acquisitions of technicians of printing course”
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 Research Questions

 Significance:
– A clearly stated research question or a research problem
will streamline the entire research effort
 Usefulness: The research question should:
– Guide subsequent work
– Influence information gathering
– Guide data analysis
 Thus it focuses the effort, minimises false starts and
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 Content of Research Proposal

Chapter 1 Introduction
 Background of problem
 Statement of Problem
 Objectives of study
 Scope of study
 Significance of study

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 Content of Research Proposal

Chapter 2 Literature Review

 Review of relevant research to provide rationale
of work.
– Present unanswered questions, untried
method
– Findings of others that are either being
challenged or extended
 Required to demonstrate that proposed work
24 has not been studied before and Identify niche
Dr. R.K.Gajjar
 Content of Research Proposal

Chapter 3 Research Methodology

– Research Design and Procedure
– Theoretical Framework
– Data sources
– Instrumentation and Data Analysis
– Assumptions and Limitations
 Chapter 4 Findings
 Chapter 5 Conclusions
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 References
 What Examiners Look For

In the Thesis Body:

 Are the material and method detailed enough,
so that work can be replicated?
 Is the use of non conventional methods or
approach, fully justified?
 Is the experimental design clearly articulated as
per the objectives?
 Are the methods of analysis appropriate?
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 What Examiners Look For

In the End:
 Is the significance of results fully explored in
relation to current literature ?
 Are substantive results brought out clearly?
 Are the conclusions clearly mentioned, based on
the research carried out and mentioned in the
thesis?
 Is the Contribution which is new, clearly
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 Presentation of Research Results

 Selection of Title
 Structure of abstract
 Structure of figures/tables and their captions
 Structure of written paper and oral presentation

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 Presentation of Research Results

Selection of Title
 Should be both Didactic and Lapidaric
 Didactic means creating a title which enables an
expert to figure our the essence of the basic
idea and main contribution, even without
reading the whole paper
 Lapidaric means creating a title which induces
reader to think deeply on the philosophy of the
contribution described in paper
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 Presentation of Research Results

Good example of Didactic and Lapidaric Title:

 “Applying Entry and Lazy Release Selectively:
Temporal versus Spatial Data”
 This title is Didactic, as it is immediately obvious
that the main idea is to apply the entry
consistency model to Temporal data and the
Lazy consistency model to Spatial data, rather
than applying only one model to all data.
 It is also Lapidaric since it makes one think
30 about the impact of selective appliation
Dr. R.K.Gajjar
 Presentation of Research Results

Bad example of Title:

 “ Some Issues in Memory Consistency
Modeling”
 People will tend to stay away from such a paper
as the title seems too general; May be viewed
as an introduction into a contents-free paper,
(unless if it comes from a very well known
author).
 As a result the good idea in the paper will be
31 lost to the community in general Dr. R.K.Gajjar
 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Abstract
 Should include following 5 elements:
 Problem statement
 Short list of existing solutions and what are their
limitations from the point of view of your
problem statement
 Essence of proposed solution, and why it is
expected to be better than the existing ones
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 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Abstract
 What type of analysis was done to show how
the proposed solution is better
 What are the major numerical highlights of
analysis
 If a 50 word abstract is required, then each part
should be one sentence long.
 An abstract should not be longer than a page or
500 words.
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 Presentation of Research Results

Figures/Table Captions and their reference in main

Text should be able to cover following elements
 Title with main highlights
 Legend to explain all mnemonics inside the
figure
 Description of phenomena which deserve
attention eg. Curve A and B cross each other at
X=20
 Reference if it is not outcome of your work.
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 Presentation of Research Results

Figures/Table Captions and their reference in main

Text should be able to cover following elements
 Explanation of essential reason for such
behaviour eg. The curves cross each other
because, the following happens….
 Implications of the above noticed phenomena

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 Presentation of Research Results

Syntax of References
 The data should be ready, but wait till paper is
accepted, so that the syntax of the journal can
be maintained.
 Most commonly used syntax that of IEEE; Either
the name of the 1st author and year are shown
in the text itself or referenced with a numbering
system
 Good to finish the referencing before starting
36 actual writing so that you do not miss out on
Dr. R.K.Gajjar
any
 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Written Paper

1. Introduction: to include basic facts to tune in
the reader to the paper title
2. Problem Statement: to define precisely the
problem on hand and why is the problem
important
3. Existing Solutions and their criticism: to survey
briefly major existing solutions and to
underline their deficiencies with reference to
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 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Written Paper

4. Proposed Solution and why it is expected to be
better: essence of idea which is introduced,
followed by a logical discussion about expected
benefits of implementing the idea
5. Conditions and Assumptions of the Research:
Term “Conditions” refers to the real
environment and “Assumptions” refers to the
simplifications used for analysis. Readers find it
easy if these are itemized
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 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Written Paper

6. Implementation of Simulation/Experiment to
show following:
– Proof of validity of major idea
– Calculation of initial values for simulation/analysis
– Rough estimation of performance
– Rough estimation of complexity
Implementation will not discuss final answers; but
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 Presentation of Research Results

Structure of Written Paper

7. Simulation/Implementation Analysis: This is
the longest part of the paper, showing the
performance and complexity of results.
8. Conclusion: will have 3 major elements:
– Major contribution from performance/complexity
point of view
– State who will benefit from the results
– What are the new avenues for further Research
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9. References
Dr. R.K.Gajjar