By: E.B.Custodio, Ph.D.

A RESEARCH PROBLEM IS THE SITUATION

THAT CAUSES THE RESEARCHER TO FEEL
APPREHENSIVE AND CONFUSED. IT IS THE
DEMARCATION OF A PROBLEM AREA WITHIN A
CERTAIN CONTEXT INVOLVING THE WHO OR
WHAT, THE WHERE, THE WHEN AND THE
WHY OF THE PROBLEM SITUATION.
 THERE ARE MANY PROBLEM SITUATIONS THAT
MAY GIVE RISE TO RESEARCH. THREE SOURCES
USUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION:
 OWN EXPERIENCE OR THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS
MAY BE A SOURCE OF PROBLEM SUPPLY.

 A SECOND SOURCE COULD BE SCIENTIFIC

LITERATURE. YOU MAY READ ABOUT CERTAIN
FINDINGS AND NOTICE THAT A CERTAIN FIELD WAS
NOT COVERED. THIS COULD LEAD TO A RESEARCH
PROBLEM.

 THEORIES COULD BE A THIRD SOURCE.

SHORTCOMINGS IN THEORIES COULD BE
RESEARCHED.
 RESEARCH CAN BE AIMED AT CLARIFYING OR
SUBSTANTIATING AN EXISTING THEORY, AT
CLARIFYING CONTRADICTORY FINDINGS, AT
CORRECTING A FAULTY METHODOLOGY, AT
CORRECTING THE INADEQUATE OR UNSUITABLE
USE OF STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES, AT
RECONCILING CONFLICTING OPINIONS, OR AT
SOLVING EXISTING PRACTICAL PROBLEMS
(GERBER: 2010).
 YOU CAN ALSO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING FOR
YOUR RESEARCH PROBLEM:
 Aim or purpose of the problem for investigation.
 The subject matter or topic to be investigated.
 The place or locale where the research is to be
conducted.
 The period or time of study during which data are be
gathered.
 Population or universe from whom data are to be
collected.
 Analyzing the research problem
 Identifying the variables
 Stating the problem
 Evaluating the Problem
 Setting up of a sub-problem
 Presentation of the problem
Consider the following figures in analyzing a research
problem:
FIGURE 1.RESEARCH PROBLEM
FIGURE 2. THE RESEARCH PROCESS
 There are three criteria of good problems and
problem statements.
1. The problem should express a relation between two or
more variables. It asks in effects questions like is A
related to B? How A and B related to C? How is A
related to B under conditions C and D? The exception
to this dictum occurs mostly in taxonomic or
methodological research.
2. The problem should be stated clearly and
unambiguously in question form. Instead of saying for
instance. “The problem is” or “The purpose of this
study is….,” ask a question. Questions have the virtue
of posing problems directly. The purpose of a study
is not necessarily the same as the problem of a
study.
3. The third criterion is often difficult to satisfy. It demands
that the problem and the problem statement should be such
as to imply possibilities of empirical testing. A problem
that does not contain implications for testing its stated
relations is not a scientific problem. This means not only
that an actual relation is stated. But also that the variables
of the relation can somehow be measured. Many
interesting and important questions are not scientific
questions simply because they are not amenable to testing.
Certain philosophic and theological questions while
perhaps important to the individuals who consider them,
cannot be tested empirically and are thus of no interest to
the scientist.
 There are a wide variety of resources available to
assist you in locating articles for your review of related
literature.
 Experience and observations.
 The vast amount of literature in your own field.
 Courses that you are taking.
 Journals, books, magazines, internet and abstracts.
 Theses and Dissertation.
 Your Professor/Instructors and your Classmates.
 Many of these are available through your college or
public library in computerized database form.You can also
search through internet WebOPAC. The following are some
of the electronic journal available on internet.
a) Education Index - covers professional publications,
precedes the use of CIJE (current Index to Journals in
Education).
b) Readers Guide to Periodical Literature - covers articles
from 200 widely read magazines (popular literature).
c) Dissertation Abstracts International - contains
bibliographic citations and abstracts from doctoral
dissertations and master’s theses worldwide.
d) Psychological Abstracts - presents summaries of studies
completed in psychology, including developmental
psychology and educational psychology. These two areas
are of special interest to educational researchers.
e) ERIC - the Educational Resources Information Center
collects and disseminates reports of current educational
research, evaluation, developmental activity.
f) RIE - Resources in Education, this ERIC database
contains bibliographic citations and summaries to
information not published in journals, conference
presentations, technical reports, and unpublished research
results.
g) CIJE - Current index to Journals in Education, this
ERIC database contains bibliographic citations and
article summaries to journals.
h) Library OPAC – ex. Dela Salle University Library
WebOPAC at www.dlsu.edu.ph, the abstracts of the
research study are available.
 Novelty and avoidance of unnecessary duplication.
 Significance for the field represented and
implementation.
 Interest, intellectual, curiosity and drive.
 Sponsorship and administrative cooperation.
 Cost and returns.
 Time factor.
 Training and personal qualification.
 Availability of data or method.
 Special equipment and working conditions.
 An adequate statement of research problem is one of
the most important parts of research. The research and
objectives capsulize the questions to be answered by the
research and its direction. It gives the specific factors or
variables of the communication phenomenon, process or
event to be suited.
However, an accurate determination of these variables
makes a good thesis proposal.
The research problem states the question or questions
that the study hopes to answer. The research problem should
be relevant to the times, measurable and testable, and linked
to a certain theory or principles.
 It is to the advantage of the researcher/s to state all the
significant contributions that this study will make as follows:
 Rational, timeliness and /or relevance of the study should be
clearly stated.
 Contribution to the accumulation of knowledge or to filling up a
knowledge or gap.
 Contribution to building, validating or refining prevailing
theories.
 Contribution to meeting a pressing need of a specific group like
solving a problem or improving certain conditions, possible
implication and
 Contribution or refining concepts, improving research
instrumentation and methodologies.
 Scope defines the coverage or boundary of the
study in terms of the area or locality and subjects or
population covered, the duration or period of the study
and the research issues are focused.
Limitations are statements, which alert the reader
of the research report to certain constraints over which
the researcher has no control.
Delimitation defines the conditions beyond the
control of the researcher that may place restrictions on
the conclusions of the study and their application or
other situations.
 The Scope and Delimitation of the study should
include the following:
 A brief statement of the general purpose of the study.
 The subject matter and topics studied and discussed.
 The locale of the study where the data were gathered
or the identity to which the data belong.
 The population or universe from which the
respondents were selected and
 The period of the study.
 Related literature and studies help the researcher understand
his topic better because it may clarify vague points about his
problem.

It also guides the researcher in making comparisons between

his findings with the findings of other similar studies. So it is
necessary that the related materials should have true value.

The review of related literature/ studies involves the

systematic identification, location and analysis of documents
containing information on the research problem. They are
presented in topical form irrespective of whether they are foreign
or local studies and not necessarily arranged in chronological
order.
 The writer should give a brief summary of the
written literature and studies that have relationship with
the study being undertaken. It should start with the
dependent variable(s).

Cited authors in both cases should be grouped

according to the variables of the study. As much as
possible all the variables should be included in the
review.
 Review of Literature is a process of identifying,
collecting and reviewing articles/theses as well as
selecting and citing passages within the articles and
unpublished theses that are relevant to the study
(Arboleda: 1998).
 Related literature includes research findings, published
or unpublished theories and principles formulated by
experts or authorities in some field or discipline; and
ideas or opinion of experts contained in books,
pamphlets, magazine and periodicals.
 It should be written in terms of the purpose of the
study.
 It should be organized thematically to conform to the
specific problem.
 It should be synthesized such that evidence from all the
studies reviewed would get an overall understanding of
the state of knowledge in the problem area.
 The following are some suggestions that you might find
helpful as you start to write your review of related
literature.
 Make an outline (if you have not already done so).
 Analyze each reference in terms of your outline.
 Take all references identified for a given subheading and
analyze the relationships or differences between them.
 Your review should start with the articles least related to
your research problem and proceed to those most related.
The later articles converge on the research question.
 Related Studies are investigations that are usually
published and unpublished materials like
manuscript, theses and dissertations which are
conducted previously to which the present study had
similarity and relatedness.
 The review of literature helps the researcher to:
1. The review helps the researcher develop a thorough
understanding and insight into previous work. It assists the
writer in searching for a topic, guide in the formulation of
the conceptual framework and in the preparation of the
research design, methodology, sampling techniques,
instrumentation and statistical analysis.
2. Understand what is already known and not known about
the research problem, thus helping in formulating a more
logical justification for conducting the study.
3. Formulating a conceptual framework that shows
relationship of the different variables central to the
study.
4. Developing hypothesis that are based on previous
research findings. It provides information that may
support and strengthen the findings of the study on
hand. It should be observed that surveyed materials
should be relevant and updated and materials
reviewed should be reliable and objective.
5. Explicating or separating concepts that are closely
related such as awareness and knowledge, or opinion
and attitudes
6. Discussing the findings in a comparative fashion
relative to other studies.
 In conducting a review, the researcher/s should bear in mind
the following questions:
1. What type of research has been done?
2. What has been found in previous studies (findings)?
3. What suggestions or recommendations do other researchers
make for future studies?
4. What has not been investigated?
5. How can the proposed study add further to our knowledge?
6. What research methods/designs were used in previous studies?

Answers to these questions will usually help define a

specific hypothesis or research question.
 The review of literature starts with a library
research. This major task requires the following skills:
 Finding sources
 Evaluating sources
 Taking notes
 The related materials should be as recent as
possible. It is important that reviewed materials must
be new and recent because of the rapid change in
technology, social, economic, scientific and human
lifestyle.
 Reviewed materials should be objective and
unbiased.Avoid reviewed materials that is extremely
political or religious or one-sided.
 Surveyed materials should be related to the study.
Relevant or similar materials to the research must be
reviewed.
 The reviewed materials should be based upon
genuinely original and true facts or data must be
valid and reliable. Avoid materials where fictitious
data are supplied just to complete the research report
because it is hard to prove.
 Reviewed materials should not be too few and too
many. The researcher should provide sufficient enough
reviewed materials to give insight into the research
problem or to indicate the nature of the present studies.
However, the number may also depend upon the
availability of related materials.
 A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about what
you expect to happen in your study.
For example, a study designed to look at the relationship
between study habits and test anxiety might have a hypothesis
that states, “This study is designed to assess the hypothesis
that students with better study habits will suffer less test
anxiety.” Unless your study is exploratory in nature, your
hypothesis should always explain what you expect to happen
during the course of your experiment or research.
Hypothesis comes from the Greek prefix hypo meaning
beneath or underlying and the Greek word “thesis” meaning a
proportion or statement that can be supported by argument or
evidence.It is a conjectural statement of the significant
relationship between two or more variables. It is still doubtful
and needs to be tested.
 Van Dalen (1956)
1. They are the means of stating assumptions.
2. They are the means of presenting or providing
explanations.
3. They help the investigator determine the research
design.
4. They aid the research worker in presenting the
conclusions of the study.
5. They are sources for the formulation of new
hypothesis.
 Aquino (1974)
1. It helps the students determine what kind of research
is to be done and what methodology may be used.
2. The general influence of the hypothesis is carried over
to the presentation of data.
3. The nature and type of research instrument to be
developed is also shaped partly by the hypothesis.
 Minorza (1990)
1. It provides the link between theory and observation.
2. It directs the next stages in the research process and
3. It provides format for the presentation, analysis and
interpretation of research data.
 There are two general types:
1. The Null Hypothesisstates that there is no
significant relationship between the independent
variables and at the dependent variable: or the
independent variable does not affect significantly the
dependent variable.
2. The Alternative or Experimental or Research
Hypothesisstates that there is significant
relationship between the independent variables the
dependent variable. This type states very explicitly
whether the relationship is direct or inverse.
 Conceptual and theoretical framework needs to be
consistent and related.It is a complete presentation of the
variables to be observed in the current study.
It is the ideas defined in a way the researcher wants.
It is understood in the current research, the
operationalization of the variables-concepts, the visible
indicators or the variables-concepts, the scheme of
measuring the variables.
It focuses on the specific stipulative and operational
definition of concepts and variables with respect to the
particular research problem.
 The following diagrams can be considered as conceptual models
of the study (Paradigm of the Study).
Sample 1
Independent Variables (IV’s) Dependent Variables (DV’s)

Research Hypotheses. The IV’s are significantly related with the

DV or the IV’s are significant predictors of the DV.
Sample 2
IV DV1 DV2

Research Hypotheses. The IV’s are significantly correlated

with DV1 and consequently, DV1 is significantly correlated with
DV2.
Sample 3 IV DV

MV
(Moderating Variables)
Research Hypotheses.The IVs have significantly effects on the
DV. The MVs significantly influence the effects of the IVs on the DV.
Sample 4
Input Process Output

Research Hypotheses. There is significant difference

between the pre-test and the post-test or there is significant
difference between the post test of the experimental group and
the post test of the control group.
 A variable is a characteristic that has two or more
mutually exclusive values or properties. They are
attributes. Qualities of the cases that we measure or
record.
For example, if the cases are persons, the variables
could be sex, age, height, weight, feeling of
empowerment, math ability, etc.
Sample 1 and 2
Correlation Coefficient with T-test for significance
of the correlation.
Sample 3
Multiple regression Analysis and ANOVA for
Single and Combined effects of the IVs on the DVs (t
and F tests).
Sample 4
T-test for significant difference if applicable,
significant difference between pretest and posttest.
1. Dependent Variables (DV). Is the variable that will change as
a result of the variations on the independent variable(s).
2. Independent Variables (IV). Is that factor which measured,
manipulated or selected by the experimenter to determine its
relationship to an observed phenomena.
3. Moderating Variables (MV). Factor which is measured
manipulated or selected by the experimenter to discover
whether it modifies the relationship of the independent variable
to an observed phenomena.
4. Intervening Variables (Control Variables). Is defined as those
factors which are controlled by the experimenter to cancel out
or neutralized any effect they might have no observed
phenomena. Ex. intelligence quotient, socio-economic status.
 Variables are called what they are because it is
assumed that the cases will vary in their scores on these
attributes. For example, if the variable is age, we obviously
recognize that people can be in different ages.
Let say, the variable 'number of children' might be
zero for all the respondents. It's still a variable, though,
because in principle it could have variation.
In any particular study, variables can play different
roles. Two key roles are independent variables and
dependent variables.
 Usually there is only one dependent variable, and it is the
outcome variable, the one you are trying to predict. Variation in
the dependent variable is what you are trying to explain. For
example, if we do a study to determine why some people are
more satisfied in their jobs than others, job satisfaction is the
dependent variable.
The independent variables, also known as the predictor or
explanatory variables, are the factors that you think explain
variation in the dependent variable. In other words, these are
the causes. For example, you may think that people are more
satisfied with their jobs if they are given a lot of freedom to do
what they want, and if they are well-paid. So job freedom and
salary are the independent variables, and job satisfactionis the
dependent variable.
 Independent Variable (IV) Dependent Variable (DV)

Job Freedom

Job Satisfaction

Salary

There are actually twoother kinds of variables, which

are basically independent variables, but work a little
differently. These are moderator and intervening(control)
variables.
 A moderator variable is one that modifies the
relationship between two other variables. For example,
suppose that the cases are whole organizations, and you
believe that diversity in the organization can help make
them more profitable (because diversity leads to fresh
outlooks on old problems), but only if managers are
specially trained in diversity management (otherwise
all that diversity causes conflicts and
miscommunication).
 Here, diversity is clearly an independent variable,
and profitability is clearly a dependent variable. But what
is diversity training? Its main function seems to be adjust
the strength of relation between diversity and profitability

An intervening or intermediary variable is one that is

affected by the independent variable and in turn affects the
dependent variable. For example, we said that diversity is
good for profitability because diversity leads to innovation
(fresh looks) which in turn leads to profitability. Here,
innovation is an intervening variable.
 Diversity Innovativeness Profitability

Note that in the diagram, there is no arrow from

diversity directly to profitability. This means that if we
control for innovativeness, diversity is unrelated to
profitability. To control for a variable means to hold its
values constant.
 Also, suppose we measure the diversity, innovativeness and
profitability of a several thousand companies. If we look at the
relationship between diversity and profitability, we might find
that the more diverse companies have, on average, higher
profitability than the less diverse companies.
But suppose we divide the sample into two groups:
innovative companies and non-innovative. Now, within just the
innovative group, we again look at the relationship between
diversity and profitability. We might find that there is no
relationship. Similarly, if we just look at the non-innovative
group, we might find no relationship between diversity and
profitability there either. That's because the only reason diversity
affects profitability is because diversity tends to affect a
company's innovativeness, and that in turn affects profitability.
 All terms found in the paradigm of the study
(independent and dependent variables/ Input, Process
and Output) should be defined conceptually and/or
operationally, and should be arranged alphabetically.