Identification of Research Topic/ Problem
The identification of research problem is the first and foremost
step that every researcher has to undertake. At times, it becomes
rather difficult for an inexperienced researcher or a
novice/beginner in research to conceptualize a research problem. In
general, a research problem should be understood as some difficulty,
unclear situation which a researcher experiences in practical or
theoretical context and wants to obtain a tangible explanation,
clarification or offer solution to it. For students, this problem
may be as a result of theoretical encounter in the area of
specialization. As such, before embarking on any research, you
should identify the major research area of your interest, mostly the
area of your specialization. For instance from: Education, Social
sciences, Humanities, Business administration among others.
Once you have the broad area, you narrow down the area by selecting
a particular topic. This should be done after going through most of
the literature related to the area. The topic should further be
narrowed down to a specific researchable problem.
Components of a Research Problem
For a research problem to exist, there are a number of core elements
that have to be inherent. There must be:
1. An individual or community or an organization/institution to whom
the problem could be attributed
These occupy a certain geographical area. For instance,
teacher/parental factors affecting students performance in private
secondary schools in Embu Municipality. In this study, there are
individuals (parents, teachers, students), there are institutions
(private secondary schools), and there is the area of study (Embu
Municipality).
2. Some Objectives for pursuing the problem
There must be some objectives pursuing the problem, otherwise it
would be repugnant to reason and common understanding to undertake
the research. For example: To find out teacher/parental factors
affecting the students academic performance in private secondary
schools in Embu Municipality.
3. Some lines of action to be taken
There must be at least two lines of action to be taken to attain the
objective. For example, poor academic performance may be attributed
to negative teacher and parental factors. Thus altering negative
teacher factors and parental factors become the lines of action to
be pursued. Here, the underlying question is “what is the cause of
this problem – poor academic performance?” It is in answering this
question that you must pursue some lines of action through stating
some variables (teacher factors and parental factors).
We help our customers in identifying research topic(s). Once
identified, the client is supposed to agree with the supervisor to
be allowed to proceed.
For any assistance, kindly
contact us.