Chapter -2

Defining Research Problem

and Hypothesis fromulation
Research Problem
• The first step in designing your research is to identify a research
problem or issue to investigate.
• The research problem is the specific problem or issue that is the focus
of the research.
• Identifying a research problem or issue is always an exploratory and
reiterative phase.
• The classic way in academic research is to read the literature on the
topic of interest and identify any gaps and deficiencies in previous
studies, until you find a researchable problem.
• E.g. The number of females that assume higher managerial positions are very
few compared to males, in Ethiopian organizations.
 Purpose/objective of the research
• Once you have chosen a suitable research problem or issue, your next task
is to identify the overall purpose of the research and determine the unit of
analysis.
• The unit of analysis is the phenomenon under study, about which data are
collected and analyzed, and is closely linked to the research problem and
research questions.
• In business research, a unit of analysis might be a particular organization,
division or department within an organization, or a more general group,
such as business owners, managers, employees, advisers or regulators.
• Once you have determined your unit of analysis, you can state the purpose
of your study clearly.
• This can be achieved by writing two or three sentences that explain the
main aim of the research and the more detailed objectives.
Research question
• A research question is a specific question the research is designed to investigate
and attempt to answer. It may not necessarily answer the question in black or
white, but it should explore the question providing detailed justification.
• Identifying the research question(s) is a crucial stage in your research because
it lies at the heart of your research design.
• Good research question must be:
• Clear and easy to understand
• Specific with definite focus
• Answerable – must be possible to collect data
• Relevant to the study

• E.g., Why do we have very few number of female executives in organizations?

• What is blocking women from going to the top positions?
• Do females have equal opportunity for higher positions as males?
• Do people have positive attitude for females to assume higher positions?
Research Hypothesis
• A hypothesis is a statement that contains a proposition/suggestion about
how something might work or behave.
• The researcher can develop their own hypothesis on the grounds of
informal observation or their own experiences. Or from examination of
existing literature.
• Hypothesis identifies the independent variable and the dependent
variable.
• Good research hypothesis must be:
• Clear and easy to understand
• Specific with definite focus
• Answerable – must be possible to collect data
• Relevant to the study
• E.g., Negative attitude of the society hinders females from assuming higher
positions.
Methodologies and Methods
• Approaches to research:- qualitative and quantitative.
• A methodology is an approach to the process of the research,
encompassing a body of methods.
• A method is a technique for collecting and/or analyzing data.
• Primary data are data generated from an original source, such
as your own experiments, surveys, interviews or focus groups.
• Secondary data are data collected from an existing source,
such as publications, databases and internal records.
Methodologies associated with Quantitative approach
1. Experimental study – is a methodology used to investigate the
relationship between variables, where the independent variable (for
example noise levels) is deliberately manipulated to observe the effect on
the dependent variable (for example the productivity of factory workers).
2. Survey methodology is used to collect primary or secondary data from a
sample, with a view to analyzing the data statistically and generalizing the
results to a population. A survey can be descriptive or analytical.
3. Cross-sectional studies are designed to obtain research data in different
contexts, but over the same period of time.
4. A longitudinal study – It is the study of variables or a group of subjects
over a long period of time. The aim is to examine the dynamics of a
research problem by investigating the same variables or group of people
several times (or continuously) over the period in which the problem runs
its course.
Methodologies associated with Qualitative approach
1. Hermeneutics is a methodology that focuses on the interpretation and
understanding of text in the context of the underlying historical and
social forces.
2. Ethnography is a the study of people, their societies and their customs in
which the researcher uses socially acquired and shared knowledge to
understand the observed patterns of human activity. The main method of
data collection is participant observation, where the researcher becomes
a full member of the group being studied.
3. Participative inquiry is a methodology that involves the participants as
fully as possible in the study, which is conducted in their own group or
organization.
• All members will be involved in data collection.
• It is ‘research with people, rather than research on people’.
4. Action research is a methodology used in applied research to find an
effective way of bringing about a conscious change in a partly
controlled environment. Thus, the main aim of action research is to
enter into a situation, attempt to bring about change and to monitor the
results.
5. A case study is a methodology that is used to explore a single
phenomenon (the case) in a natural setting using a variety of methods
to obtain in-depth knowledge.
Outcomes and Timetable
• The final section of the research design is brief and will focus on the
expected outcomes of the research.
• One way to express this is to refer to the objective, research question,
or hypothesis of the research.
Example of Timetable