KNOWLEDGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITYKNOWLEDGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (HFS4343)

FORMULATING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Dr.Dr. MohdMohd RazifRazif ShahrilShahril

School of Nutrition & Dietetics School of Nutrition & Dietetics

Faculty of Health SciencesFaculty of Health Sciences

UniversitiUniversiti Sultan Sultan ZainalZainal AbidinAbidin

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Topic Learning Outcomes At the end of this lecture, students should be able to;

• identify importance of formulating a research problem

• list sources of research problems

• explain the considerations in selecting a research

problem

• describe steps in formulating a research problem

• demonstrate how to formulate research objectives

• define operational definitions

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

What is research problem?

• Activity @ http://padlet.com/razifshahril/HFS4343Topic4

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

What is research problem?

• Any question that you want answered and any assumption or assertion that you want to challenge or investigate.

• However;

– not all questions can be transformed into research problems.

– the process of formulating them in a meaningful way is not at all an easy task.

– it requires considerable knowledge of both the subject area and research methodology.

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

What is research problem? (cont.)

• A research problem is a perceived gap between what is

and what should be.

• Research problem arise from;

– Evolution of theories.

– Peers and supervisors etc.

– Published research (literature review).

– Day-to-day experience

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Research Research problem is like problem is like

an identification an identification of destination of destination

before before undertaking undertaking

research journeyresearch journey

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Clear research problem would

result in clear and economical

research plan.

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

RESEARCH PROBLEM IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

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WHAT IT IS THAT YOU WHAT IT IS THAT YOU WANT TO FIND WANT TO FIND OUTOUT ABOUTABOUT AND NOT WHAT YOU AND NOT WHAT YOU

THINK YOU MUST FINDTHINK YOU MUST FIND

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

The way we formulate the research

problem determines every step that

follows;

• type of study design that can be used

• type of sampling strategy that can be employed

• research instrument that can be used or developed

• type of analysis that can be undertaken

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Sources of

research

problems

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PeoplePeople

ProblemProblem

ProgrammeProgramme

PhenomPhenom--enaena 4P4P 4P4P

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Subject areas Study population

Sources of research problem (cont.)

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RESEARCH

P P

P

P

People Problem

Programme

Phenomena

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Aspects of research problem

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Aspects of study About Study of Study population People Individuals,

organizations, groups, communities

They provide you with the required information or you collect information from or about them

Subject area Problem Issues, situations, associations, needs, population composition, profiles etc.

Information that you need to collect to find answers to your service research questions

Programme Contents, structure, outcomes, attributes, satisfaction, consumers, providers etc

Phenomenon Cause and effect, relationships, the study of a phenomenon itself etc

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Identifying research problem

• Differentiate between research vs. non-research

problems.

• Non-research problems are answered by these

questions:

– Can it be solved by administrative changes?

– Are there already solutions available that can be used?

– Is the problem due to lack of manpower and resources?

– Is there data showing that it is not a significant issue?

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Considerations

in selecting a

research

problem

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Interest

Magnitude

Concept Measures

Expertise Relevance

Data availability

Ethics

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Prioritizing research problem

• Relevance

• How important?

• Size, severity, health & social consequences?

• Duplication

• Is the answer already available from other studies?

• Feasibility

• Feasible to carry out remedial actions?

• Are the manpower, time and resources available?

• Applicability

• Potential solution is effective under ideal conditions?

• Will managers accept and use it?

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Prioritizing research problem (cont.)

• Cost effectiveness

• Are the resources invested worth the outcome?

• Will the solution be too expensive to implement?

• Timeliness

• Will the answer come quick enough?

• Ethics

• Will the project be acceptable to the respondents?

• Political acceptability

• Will the managers and community accept the

results?

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Steps in formulating research problem

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STEP 1

Identify broad field

STEP 2

Dissect to sub-areas

STEP 3

Select interested sub-area

STEP 4

Raise questions

STEP 5

Formulate objectives

STEP 6

Assess objective

STEP 7

Double check

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Formulation of research objectives

• What is an ‘objective’?

– A clear and specific goals you set out to attain in your

study.

• Two types of objectives;

– Main objectives

• Specific objectives / sub-objectives

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MAIN OBJECTIVES • Overall statement of the thrust of

your study. • It is also a statement of the main

associations and relationships that you seek to discover or establish

SUB-OBJECTIVES • The specific aspects of the topic

that you want to investigate within the main framework of your study

• One sub-objective contains one aspect only

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Formulation of research objectives (cont.)

• Sub-objectives should be numerically listed.

• Worded clearly and unambiguously.

• Use action-oriented words or verbs when writing your

objectives.

• E.g. start with;

– ‘to determine’, ‘to find out’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to measure’

and ‘to explore’

• the wording of your objectives determines the type of

research design you need to adopt to achieve them.

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S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Functions of research objectives

• Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials).

• Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly

necessary for understanding and solving the problem

you have identified.

• Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases.

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Characteristics of objectives

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Clear Clear Complete Complete Specific Specific Main

Variables Main

Variables Direction Direction

Descriptive studies

Correlation studies (experimental and non-experimental)

Hypothesis testing studies

S C H O O L O F N U T R I T I O N A N D D I E T E T I C S • U N I V E R S I T I S U L T A N Z A I N A L A B I D I N

Establishing operational definition

• Working definitions or operational definitions are

pre-defined concepts that you plan to use either in your

research problem and/or in identifying the study

population in a measurable form.

• Used only for the purpose of your study and could be

quite different to legal definitions, or those used by

others.

• Working definitions will inform your readers what exactly

you mean by the concepts that you have used in your

study to avoid ambiguity and confusion.

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Thank YouThank You

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