EAF 509

Research Design in Education

THE PROBLEM STATEMENT IN AN EDUCATIONAL STUDY

A problem statement is "not a vague proposition, not a value statement, or an explanation of how to do thing. It is not a topic."

The Problem Statement Identifies the:

1. issue, controversy, or problem at hand,

2. significance of the problem,

3. educational context of the problem,

4. specific purpose and/or research questions and hypotheses,

5. limits of the target population, variables, and setting,

6. framework for reporting results. It will help write the conclusion by providing a way to answer the 'so what?' question.

Good Problem Statements are:

1. practically important, not trivial. They contribute to the field by adding new information. The need for the study is clear.

2. focused and restricted. They precisely limit the population, variables, and context so the study is manageable.

3. empirical (based on quantitative or qualitative data). The problem can be tested; it is researchable.

4. explicit in framing an interpretation (So what?).

 

Once Can Establish the Need for One's Study by:

1. developing knowledge of a practice common to education.

2. developing or modify a theory

3. generalizing or expand knowledge to a new area by replicating prior research using a new population, setting, or variable.

4. relating the study to a current social, political, or educational issue.

5. advancing methodology or instrumentation.