Assignment 2 – Develop Research Problem Statement and Design

There are five general steps to the research process:

• Problem formulation – review, selection, and specification of are to be investigated or researched


• Research design – qualitative, quantitative, mixed also type of experiments (if applicable)


• Data collection methods – observation, reanalysis of existing data, questionnaire, interview


• Analysis and presentation of findings – summarizing, reporting, analyzing, and statistically presenting findings


• Conclusion, interpretations, and limitations – what the researcher believes the study findings had to say

For this assignment, prepare a paper indicating you have formulated or developed a research problem statement and decided on the research method. What is a problem statement? According to Hagan (2019), an effective problem statement is concise and concrete.  I agree with Hagan and can expand on that by stating the problem statement should:

• Put the problem in context (what do we already know?)


• Describe the precise issue that the research will address (what do we need to know?)


• Show the relevance of the problem (why do we need to know it?)


• Set the objectives of the research (what will you do to find out?)

According to Bwisa (2018) and Qureshi (2019), the problem statement is a brief explanation of an issue, a condition, or a situation that requires further study or research. As stated above it helps the researcher clearly identify the purpose of the research project by highlighting the gap between an ideal situation and the reality. It is important that the problem statement bridge the gap between an idea and reality. Clearly defining the problem that  a student's research will address becomes an essential and important factor in convincing others it is worthy.

As for the research method, you will select from:

Qualitative research method – is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. It relies on unstructured and non-numerical data. The data include field notes written by the researcher during the course of his or her observation, interviews and questionnaires, focus groups, participant-observation, audio or video recordings carried out by the researcher in natural settings.

Quantitative research method – is the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data. It can be used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships, and generalize results to wider populations. Statistical data supports the findings.

Mixed research method – is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and “mixing” elements from both quantitative and qualitative research and methods in a single study to understand a research problem.

Assignment guidelines:

• Include a cover page centered with required elements  to  avoid deductions
  
  
  
  


• Papers must include correct running head and page number
  
  
  
  


• Prepare a two-page document, 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, left aligned, NO justified margins
  
  
  
  


• Based on your topic from Assignment 1, state and discuss your research problem statement or hypothesis/null hypothesis - include how this statement will guide your research
  
  
  
  


• State  the type of research design method you plan to use and discuss why you chose that approach
  
  
  
  


• Include an APA compliant reference page with a minimum of four (4)  SCHOLARLY journal articles.  All references MUST have an author's name. The references must be within 5 years ( for example, 2015 - 2020). Failure to use all scholarly references with authors' names and 5 year age will result in mandatory deductions. NO websites or Wikipedia. 

 References

Bwisa, H. (2018, May 15). The basics of writing a statement of the problem for

            your research proposal. Editage Insights. https://doi.org/10.34193/EI-A-5275 (Links to an external site.)

Hagan, F. E. (2019). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology

            (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Publications.

Qureshi, F. (2019, July 17). 11 Commonly confused elements of a research

             paper. Editage Insights.  https://doi.org/10.34193/EI-A-15518