Simple but Effective Problem Statements

& Research Questions

2nd Edition

Edward M. Moore, Ph.D. Liberty University School of Business

12 February, 2021

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12 February, 2021

Overview

The purpose of this paper is to give the researcher an overview of how to develop simple

yet effective Problem Statements and Research Questions that will get them moving quickly and

in the right direction. The Problem Statement can be thought of as the cornerstone of the research

proposal. It is responsible for establishing broadly what area will be studied with the general

problem and narrowly focusing on a section of that broad area with the specific problem. The

Problem Statement also provides clear and direct support from the current literature that

demonstrates that the problem does exist. Research Questions on the other hand provide the basis

of inquiry for your study. They are broad questions that will be used to guide the research in

addressing the Problem Statement. The simple rule for developing Research Questions is to

make sure to ask questions that address all the factual assertions made in the Problem Statement,

but none that ask questions that are outside of the Problem Statement. Research Questions also

guide in the choice of methodology for the study as will be seen below.

The Problem Statement

All good business research begins with a clearly articulated and focused Problem Statement!

In order to build a strong and focused problem statement that is related to the field of

study for the research project just follow the method discussed below. This method is based upon

a simple three part presentation; the beginning – the general problem, the middle – supporting

statements, the end – the specific problem. The Problem Statement example below is based upon

a business research study in the field of Leadership. None of the citations provided are real and

are only intended to illustrate the process.

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The First sentence

The general problem to be addressed is ______________ resulting in _____________.

The general problem sentence must be an overarching problem clearly related to the field

of study that can be proven to exist based upon current (last five years) literature. It is also

important to note what a general problem sentence is not:

 A general problem sentence is not a question – The general problem to be addressed is

why leaders are ineffective resulting in …

 A general problem sentence is not a simple declarative – The general problem to be

addressed is leaders are ineffective resulting in …

A good general problem sentence addresses a specific issue in a way that is clear,

descriptive, and self-explanatory. Another way to think about a problem statement is that it

generally describes a situation we don’t want to happen that is, a situation that is not happening

that we do want, or a situation that that is happening but not to the desired level. As can be seen

from both of the examples below, there is no confusion about what the broad focus of the study

is intended to be:

 The general problem to be addressed is the failure of leaders to gain employee support for

new initiatives resulting in …

 The general problem to be addressed is the lack of formal leadership training in for new

managers resulting in …

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The consequences (resulting in …) should provide a broad but clear statement regarding

the negative outcomes that result from the existence of the general problem:

 … resulting in the inability of organizations to make critical changes.

 … resulting in the reduction of organizational performance.

Putting all of that together we could get: The general problem to be addressed is the

failure of leaders to gain employee support for new initiatives resulting in the inability of

organizations to make critical changes.

Next three or four sentences

In this middle section the researcher will need to provide current literature support for the

assertions made in the general problem sentence. In the example above, the assertion was that

leaders are failing to gain employee support for new initiatives. Current literature sources would

be scholarly articles or monographs published in the last five years. If the source is older than

that the problem might not be prevalent or it might have been solved. So, develop active voice

declarative statements from current literature that support the assertions made in the first

sentence like the fictitious ones below:

 Smith (2017) stated that many high level leaders struggle with effectively projecting an

engaging vision for a new initiative which makes it difficult to gain employee buy-in.

 In a recent study, Jones (2015) found that employee buy-in was the most critical

determining factor in projecting future success of organizational change.

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 Herbert (2016) supported these views by explaining that the ability of an organization to

make critical strategic changes is directly related to the leader's ability to foster

organization-wide support of the initiative.

Last sentence

The specific problem to be addressed is (possible / potential) ______________ within the

_____________ (possible / potential) resulting in ____________.

The specific problem must be a narrowly focused subset of the general problem that is

practical to study within the constraints of the program. In the example we are using, the

researcher is not trying to study the entire world of organizations and leaders, just a subset that

will give insight into the entire world. In the examples below, the specific problem starts with the

same words as the general problem like the first one or a subset of the problem like the last two:

 The specific problem to be addressed is the possible failure of leaders to gain employee

support for new initiatives…

 The specific problem to be addressed is the possible failure of leaders to gain executive

level support for new initiatives…

 The specific problem to be addressed is the possible failure of leaders to gain executive

level support for new product development initiatives…

The focus (within the…) could be based upon an industry, a region, an industry within a

region, etc. The determining factor is making it narrow enough to study but broad enough

provide enough data for the study:

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 … within the high-tech electronics industry resulting in…

 … within the south-western United States resulting in…

 … within the retail clothing industry in the southeastern United States resulting in…

The last part of the specific problem should restate the results from the general problem

or a subset of the results from the general problem:

 … resulting in the possible inability of organizations to make critical changes.

 … resulting in the possible inability of the organization to make critical product line

changes.

Putting all of the pieces above together into a single sentence: The specific problem to be

addressed is the possible failure of leaders to gain executive level support for new product

development initiatives within the retail clothing industry in the southeastern United States

resulting in the possible inability of organizations to carry out critical product line changes.

Rephrasing it to make it flow better: The specific problem to be addressed is the possible

failure of leaders within the retail clothing industry in the southeastern United States to gain

executive level support for new product development initiatives resulting in the possible inability

of organizations to carry out critical product line changes.

Consider a Bridge

A nice additional touch would be a bridge sentence that takes the reader from the general

problem and it’s supporting sentences to the specific problem. With the specific problem

sentence developed, this would be the time to consider a bridge like the fictitious source below.

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Find a current literature source that supports the existence of the problem in the area focused on

with the specific problem if one is available. This sentence will come in the middle section of the

Problem Statement after the supporting sentences for the general problem sentences and before

the specific problem sentence. While this part of a problem statement is not essential, it can make

the flow better:

 Adams (2017) found that the inability to gain employee support for new initiatives was a

particular challenge in the retail clothing industry.

Assembling the Final Product

What has been developed is a strong and focused problem statement that is supported by

the current literature and is 250 words or less. This provides a solid foundation for the study and

clearly defines the subject and focus of the study.

Example Problem Statement

The general problem to be addressed is the failure of leaders to gain employee support for

new initiatives resulting in the inability of organizations to make critical changes. Smith (2017)

stated that many high level leaders struggle with effectively projecting an engaging vision for a

new initiative which makes it difficult to gain employee buy-in. In a recent study, Jones (2015)

found that employee buy-in was the most critical determining factor in projecting future success

of organizational change. Herbert (2016) supported these views by explaining that the ability of

an organization to make critical strategic changes is directly related to the leader's ability to

foster organization-wide support of the initiative. Adams (2017) found that the inability to gain

employee support for new initiatives was a particular challenge in the retail clothing industry.

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The specific problem to be addressed is the possible failure of leaders within the retail clothing

industry in the southeastern United States to gain executive level support for new product

development initiatives resulting in the possible inability of organizations to carry out critical

product line changes.

The Research Questions

All good business research is guided by a comprehensive and clear set of Research Questions!

As previously stated, Research Questions form the basis of inquiry for the study and are

broad questions that will be used to guide the researcher in addressing the Problem Statement.

Research Questions also guide in the choice of methodology for the study. Qualitative Research

Questions are those that seek to understand or explain while Quantitative Research Questions

seek to relate or measure. Research Questions are the questions the researcher seeks to answer

and should not be confused with Interview Questions or Survey Questions which are directed

towards participants as a part of data collection during the field study.

Here are some examples:

 Qualitative Research Question: What is the role of leadership in employee retention in

the manufacturing industry?

 Quantitative Research Question: What is the relationship between transformational

leadership style and employee retention within the manufacturing industry?

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 Interview Questions: Please describe your experience with your organizational

leadership. What role has organizational leadership played in your decision-making

process to continue with or leave the organization?

 Survey Question: Transformational leaders inspire employees leading to better employee

retention (Answer 1 – 5). Scale 1 – Highly Disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Neutral, 4 – Agree, 5

– Strongly Agree

The first question is open-ended and allows for the discovery (understanding) of reasons

(factors behind) why employees might leave the industry. This is exploratory rather than

measureable, and therefore no statistical test can be employed and no testable hypothesis can be

developed. Taken together, that is what makes it a solid qualitative research question.

The second question seeks to quantify (measure) the relationship between two variables;

transformational leadership and employee retention. Unlike the first question where the factors

were not known, here the factors (variables) are known. That means that this relationship can be

statistically evaluated based upon a testable hypothesis. In this case: H0 There is no statistically

significant relationship between transformational leadership style and employee retention. The

ability to develop testable hypotheses is what makes for a good quantitative research question.

The third question seeks to extract rich information from a research participant and might

be used in a study based upon the Qualitative Research Question above. This is not a research

question!

The fourth question seeks to quantify a participant’s feelings about a specific topic to

provide measureable data. This would be a great survey question to support a study based upon

the Quantitative Research Question above. This is not a research question!

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Developing a solid set of Research Questions

As stated above, the research questions should inform the problem statement. The

researcher should start with the specific problem and take it apart to find out what areas need to

be explored. Using the Problem Statement example above, the following need to be addressed:

 The failure of leaders to gain executive level support for new product development

initiatives.

 The failure of product line changes

 The retail clothing industry

That’s it. The southeast United States is a boundary for the study to narrow the focus

although you could ask about this region of the country if there are relevant differences. With

this list established, the researcher can develop the Research Questions. For qualitative studies

this will typically be between three and four broad questions and sub-questions (as appropriate)

that dig into the things you need to know about. For quantitative studies this will typically be up

to three questions that dig into relationships or measurements.

Qualitative Research Question Examples

1. Why do leaders fail to gain executive level support for new product development initiatives?

1.a. What leadership actions or behaviors contribute to failure to gain support?

1 b. What leadership actions or behaviors contribute to success in gaining support?

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2. In what way are new product development initiatives different than other change initiatives?

2.a. How do those differences manifest themselves in the ability of the leader to gain

support?

3. What cultural elements are present in the retail clothing industry that positions organizations

for success in implementing change initiatives?

You will note that the first research question looks at both the reasons for failure and for

success. It is important to always come at a topic from both perspectives. Questions two and

three are open and will gain information related to successes and failures by asking how. It

should also be noted that the open ended nature of the inquiry has the ability to generate rich data

that is not bounded by preconceived notions regarding the topic.

Quantitative Research Question Examples

1. What is the relationship between leadership style and the leader’s ability to gain executive

level support?

2. What is the relationship between leadership style and the organization’s ability to successfully

engage in change initiatives?

It should be noted that these questions are focused on the relationship between known

factors (variables). In the first question the variables are leadership style and ability to gain

support and in the second on the variables are leadership style and the ability of the organization

to change. Each of these could be used to develop testable null hypotheses. As an example, the

second Research Question could be used to develop these null hypotheses:

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 There is no statistically significant relationship between passive avoidant leadership style

and the organization’s success in completing change initiatives.

 There is no statistically significant relationship between transactional leadership style and

the organization’s success in completing change initiatives.

 There is no statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership style

and the organization’s success in completing change initiatives.

Summary

As stated earlier, all good business research begins with a clearly articulated and focused

Problem Statement and is guided by a comprehensive and clear set of Research Questions. Keep

in mind that the goal here is not to develop a literary masterpiece; instead the goal is to establish

clearly stated foundation upon which the rest of the research project can be built. It is only with

the Problem Statement and Research Questions in place, that it is possible to develop the

conceptual / theoretical framework, methodology, and topical outline for the literature review.

The critical nature of these first two steps in the research journey cannot be overstated. It is

essential that the researcher take the necessary time here to get this right or the research project

will flounder or not develop at all.

Happy Researching!

Dr. Moore

Effective Problem Statements

for

Ph.D. Dissertations

Version 1.0

Edward M. Moore, Ph.D. Liberty University School of Business

25 May 2021

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25 May 2021

Overview

The purpose of this paper is to give the researcher an overview of how to develop an

effective Problem Statement that will get them moving quickly and in the right direction for their

Ph.D. Dissertation. The Problem Statement can be thought of as the cornerstone of the research

proposal and it is responsible for establishing broadly what area will be studied. The Problem

Statement also provides clear and direct support from the current literature that demonstrates that

the problem does exist and how the research will add to the body of knowledge.

The Ph.D. dissertation is an academic research process which is intended to pursue

theoretical knowledge or practical knowledge with the overarching goal of adding to the body of

knowledge or fill a gap in the body of knowledge. The construction of the problem statement

begins by knowing which type of knowledge one is seeking. We can think of Theoretical

Knowledge as knowledge about a ‘thing’. One might make statements such as “I know about it”,

“I understand it”, or “I know what it is”. Practical Knowledge on the other hand can be thought of

as knowledge of how to use a ‘thing’. Here one might make statements such as “I know how to

use it”, “I know how to apply it”, or I know how to do it”. As an example, it is clear from this

discussion that an individual can have deep theoretical knowledge about transformational

leadership theory. This person can fully describe the benefits to followers of idealized influence

and how that impacts organizational performance. However, that same person might have no idea

how to actually deliver idealized influence in a meaningful way for a follower in a leader-follower

situation because they lack the practical knowledge that comes with application. Similarly, a leader

may have the practical knowledge necessary to provide meaningful idealized influence for a

follower in such a way that it positively impacts organizational performance but might not have

any idea regarding how the theoretical construct of idealized influence functions.

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Both types of knowledge have great benefit to the body of knowledge. Theoretical

knowledge provides a framework for understanding complex topics and developing theories about

how persons and organizations are impacted by them. That knowledge can then be applied in

various environments allowing practical knowledge to be developed. The task of developing a

problem statement for theoretical research and practical research share the same two basic steps.

First, the researcher must frame the problem, and second, the researcher must describe the

importance of understanding the problem.

All good research begins with a clearly articulated and focused Problem Statement.

Step One, Frame the Problem

Theoretical research problems – the goal is to gain theoretical understanding about a ‘thing’. It

could be a new trend, it could be a change in environmental conditions, it could be a change in

work or business circumstances. It is useful to ask yourself some questions to help clarify what

you are trying to understand. Some questions you might ask are:

 What is the problem?

 What are the circumstances / environments of the problem?

 What knowledge already exists about the problem?

 How is the problem currently described in the literature?

Below is an example of this type of theoretical problem framing:

The problem to be addressed is the generational shift in attitudes regarding the importance

of work-life balance. While Gen-X and older workers feel that work can and should take

priority over life when required by the organization, younger workers starting with

Millennials feel that life is equally important and that work priorities should not push aside

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life priorities. Research has focused on the reasons that younger workers give for making

these life priority choices, but there has been little research on the effect those choices have

on career development.

The first sentence clearly states what the problem is which in this case is a generational

shift in attitudes regarding work-life balance. The second sentence gives insight into the

circumstances surrounding the problem and the environment within which the problem is

occurring. The third sentence provides a brief overview of what the literature currently tells us

about the problem and what it does not currently tell us about the problem, which is identifying a

gap in the literature. Of course, when framing an actual research problem, you would include

multiple current (less than five years) citations from the literature to support the factual assertions

being made.

Practical research problems – the goal here is to gain practical understanding about a ‘thing’. It

could be a leadership or management technique, it could be a human resource development effort,

it could be a toxic leadership intervention technique. It is useful to ask clarifying question