Formulation of Research Problem and Preparing Hypothesis

Theoretical overview

All research problems are driven by social problems. Problem solving aptitude is a natural quality given by the nature to all for their survival on this earth. But human being is the only creature blessed on this earth with vision, imagination, creativity and innovation. These attributes of man makes him enable to change the things surrounding him according to his wish. If man feels anything problematic only then he thinks to change them. Various research methods are used to resolve any problematic stage. Selection of research methodology depends on nature of problem. Selection of research problem is the first step in every research. No research can undergo by the researcher, unless this first step is properly and scientifically accomplished by the researcher. Usually, it is observed that academic research work undertaken by the students or research scholars are selected on certain parameters i.e., novelty of topic, suitability of topic, convenience in data collection or on option of supervisor. Though, these considerations cannot fulfill the real objective of academic research. On other hand, if any research project is supported by the funding agencies, sometimes research problems are already designed by such agencies and researchers are expected to research on such problems. In all such cases researcher’s involvement and his relation with research are not established up to expected level. Concept of problem is basically a psychological aspect which can be caused by either physical facts or mental facts. No research can be performed by the researcher without his psychological involvement, his realization and sensitization towards the research problem. In many instances of academic research it has been observed that, without serious consideration of research problem researcher has undergone complete research. In fact there should be the proper and orderly linkage of research work start from formulation of research problem till their conclusion. Selection of research problem is a scientific process involving certain steps on the part of researcher to be performed. 

Steps of Formulation of research problem 

Every research problem has to be screened on following steps as

1. Realization of Problem 
2. Identification of problem 
3. Analysis of Problem 
4. Statement of Problem 

1. Realization of Problem: This is the first stage when researcher realizes the existence of problem. Mere statement or discussion regarding the problem does not suffice for selecting any problem for research unless researcher realizes or sensitized with the existence of any problem. Generally, victims of any problem can better realize the existence of problem. It does not mean that only victims can be the good researcher. Anybody, whoever be either victim, stakeholder or others, who understand the pain or difficulties of life caused by such problem. If researcher undertakes any research without his realization of problem, he may undergo with the research but cannot formulate the research objectives and purposes pin pointed towards the satisfaction of objectivity of research. Even he cannot test veracity of solutions suggested on the basis of results. Realization is a cognitive process. When man perceives any stimulus, fact or phenomenon which is received by his receptors of mind and thereafter cognitive process starts in his mind to identify such stimulus on the basis of his experience, knowledge and insight. Whatever is the nature of experience, knowledge or insight he possess outcome of his mind will be respectively positive or negative. The positive sign provides the state of satisfaction and negative sign causes dissatisfaction. In turn dissatisfaction proceeds for alteration, amendment, improvement and replacement. Such realisation stimulates the researcher to feel about their negative attributes or something lacking. Interest of researcher is also an important aspect for establishing relation of researcher with such problem. Since the researcher has to spend a long time with research study if he would have interest in the subject of research only then he can continuously work on it otherwise not. 
2.  Identification of Problem: After realization of any problem next necessary step or process is the identification of problem. Researcher has to make him sure that what he feels to exist problematic is true or not? Sometimes there may be the illusion or delusion as to any facts and formed wrong opinion. Before formulation of problem, there must be corroboration of opinion as to the existence and nature of problem. Researcher should discuss his observation regarding problem with stakeholders and experts, and to invite their opinions on such problem. The researcher must at the same time examine all available literature to get himself acquainted with the selected problem. He may review two types of literature – the conceptual literature concerning the concepts and theories, and the empirical literature consisting of studies made earlier which are similar to the one proposed. The basic outcome of this review will be the knowledge as to what data and other materials are available for operational purposes which will enable the researcher to specify his own research problem in a meaningful context. After this the researcher rephrases the problem into analytical or operational terms.2 In academic research a very familiar term ‘Review of Literature’ is used. Review of literature is basically, a step of corroboration of opinion with earlier observations propounded by researchers in previous studies on same subject matter. It is mandatorily a formal step to be followed in every research. Researcher has to consult as possibly as with all relevant literature containing information regarding subject matter of research. After analysing such facts, information and principles he can sharpen his vision towards the problem. Now his perception towards the problem would be more accurate. Corroboration of opinion or Review of literature is necessary before selection of problem. Because, there may be the possibility of finding answers for which research is proposed and without undergoing the research process he can get intended knowledge necessary to resolve his problem. 
3. Analysis of Problem: Any phenomenon arising problematic state for example – poverty, crime, unemployment, corruption etc. The first step towards the problem solving, there can be a detailed description of the circumstances under which it occurs (nature, symptoms, 2 Ibid 8 progression and frequency etc.) and their analysis becomes necessary. This will help to understand the contexts, nature and effects of such problem. In easy way of addressing any research problem contain three major steps – description of problem, understanding of problem and explanation thereof. Researcher has to analyse the problems on following aspects as

o Whether problem is of temporary or permanent nature? 

o What are the constituents of problem? 

o Determination of relevant variables. 

o What factors are responsible for causing such problem? 

o Whether such factors are internal or external one? 

Many times in our life we come across to such circumstances which are dissatisfactory for us and after passing them we neither go to look into such problem nor interested to research on such matter. Because, we are well assured that such happening was by chance or incidental only which would not occur again and losses caused by such incidence are not very high. Such problems are of temporal nature which does not affect our life very seriously and not exist persistently. These problems are not researchable since the research results may be beneficial to know about the nature and causes of problem, but it would not serve any purpose unless there is any possibility of their repetition in our life. Thus, the coast paid for searching such knowledge which is only informative, has no immediate utility is not beneficial. Therefore, while selecting any research problem, researcher must see that problem should not be of temporary nature it should be of permanent nature which requires human interception. No problem comes from the vacuum. Every problem has its history and components which constitute such problem. Researcher has to search and analyse all those facts which are the part of any problematic incidence, phenomenon or transaction. This process is called ‘crystallisation of problem’. In diagnostic research, crystallisation process is very important; sometimes the causes of problem are directly highlighted through analysis. Another philosophy behind crystallisation of constituent is directive approach which suggests that the facts constituting the phenomenon must be keenly observed. There are two types of research problems, viz., those which relate to nature and those which relate to relationships between variables. After crystallisation of problem, researcher has to determine the relevant variables or relevant facts among all constituting variables or facts to ascertain that what may be the important facts responsible for occurrence of any problem. Because there is a principle that any problematic phenomenon, transaction or incidence perceived problematic may occur due to composition of facts in certain manner. But such problem cannot subsist long unless nurtured by other factors. Such nurturing factors may be internal or external. Internal factors are those factors which are hidden in problem itself and they can be searched by crystallisation of problematic phenomenon. Whereas external factors are those factors which do not participate as constituent of problem and they cannot be seen by crystallisation of phenomenon. But they externally influence such phenomenon. It constitutes the relation of existence of problem depending on other factors which are nurturing factors responsible for continues existence of problem. Resorting actions for eradication of problem cannot succeed without controlling and manipulating independent variables. In Legal research, analysis is used in a broad sense to refer the process of identifying the issue or issues in given facts and to determine rules, principles and theories of law to be applied. It is an organized approach that helps to develop research skills. It makes legal research easier, saves time, and establishes reliability and validity of results. The most common approach to legal analysis involves a four-step process: Issue,, Rule, Analysis/ Application and Conclusion. It is important to keep in mind the crucial role the facts play in analytical process. 

The four steps of the analysis process involve the facts in each step:

1. Issue: The key facts are included in the issue. The issue is the precise question raised by the specific facts. 
2. Rule: Determination of which the law governs the issue is based on the applicability of the law to the facts in issue. 
3. Analysis / Application: This step is the process of applying the rule of law to the facts. Without the facts, the law stands in a vacuum. 
4. Conclusion: The conclusion is a summation of how the law applies to the facts, a recap of the first three steps. It too requires the facts. Two main steps are required to be followed in formulating research problem viz., understanding the problem thoroughly, rephrasing the same into meaningful terms from an analytical point of view. Researcher accepts the problem in general terms and it is up to him to narrow it down and phrase the problem in operational terms.

5. Statement of Problem: This is the final stage when research problem comes into the shape of statement. Whatever be the understanding and perception made by researcher after crystallisation and keen analysis of problem thereafter he makes the statement regarding existence of problem. Statement must convey the real nature of problem as it is as realised and felt by researcher. While formulating research problem, researcher has to be very careful as to the use of language and grammar. Language should be clear, easy and unambiguous. 

A research problem must be identified without any ambiguity and each selected research problem must be clearly defined. There may be a situation in which the researcher is fully aware of the symptoms relating to certain problem in achieving his goal. But, He/ she may not be in a position to clearly spell out the problem which is causing such deficiency. Unless it is clearly identified, it will not be possible to proceed further to carry out the project. If a researcher proceeds with ill defined problems, he/ she may end up with misleading conclusions.6 Research problem should be clearly defined in statement of researcher. Topic should be little known, important for group, public, society, nation or world. It should contain specific, unsolved practical or theoretical problem; or phenomenon not yet adequately understood.8 This task of formulating, or defining, a research problem is a step of great importance in the entire research process. The problem to be investigated must be defined unambiguously for that will help discriminating relevant data from irrelevant ones. Care must be taken to verify the objectivity and validity of the background facts concerning the problem. Prof. W. A. Neiswanger states that the statement of the objective is of basic importance because it determines the data which are to be collected, the characteristics of the data which are relevant, relations which are to be explored, the choice of techniques to be used in these explorations and the form of the final report.9 All the above steps are the major and necessarily be followed for formulation of research problem. There can be sub classification under every step according to objective and subject of study. Research problems can be classified on the basis of their objectives which have been discussed under Module – I under ‘Classification of Researches’. Those researches, where relations of variables are searched, cause and effect relationship is shown or in diagnostic researches problems can be classified on the basis of their variables. 

Hypothesis

After you have identified a problem, you may formulate certain answers in the form of hypotheses. These guesses are based on the past experiences or informal observation or information gained from others. A hypothesis is defined as “A tentative proposition suggested as a solution to a problem or as an explanation of some phenomenon (Ary et.al. 1985). 

Importance of Hypothesis 

It is an agreed fact that, whenever possible, research should proceed from a hypothesis. Hypotheses are particularly necessary in studies where the cause-and-effect relationships are to be discovered. These, however, may not be so important in research studies in which the issue is of determining the status of a given historical, social or educational phenomenon. Formulation of Research Problems 100 Introduction to Research in Distance Education It may be mentioned here that hypotheses are not essential to all researches, particularly, in the early stages of exploration of a problem. And it should not be assumed that failure to develop a hypothesis is necessarily a sign of lack of scientific orientation. However, a hypothesis may be conceived as an assumption which merits consideration and needs to be tested against the available empirical evidence. That is why it is suggested that a hypothesis is to be used as a pivot around which the investigation resolves, limiting thereby the field of investigation to a definite target and also determining the observations to be made and the ones to ignore. 

A good hypothesis has several basic characteristics. 

We discuss some of them as follows: 

1. Providing direction: Hypotheses provide direction to research and prevent review of irrelevant literature and collection of useless or excessive data. They enable you to classify the information from the stand point of both ‘relevance’ and ‘organisation’. This is necessary because, a given fact may be relevant with respect to one hypothesis and irrelevant with respect to another, or it may belong to one classification with regard to first hypothesis or to an entirely different classification with regard to the second. Thus, hypotheses ensure the collection of relevant data necessary to answer questions arising from the statement of the problem. For example, in a research problem, ‘Study habits and achievement of Distance Education Learners’, the researcher may frame the hypothesis – learners putting in more study hours achieve more in the examination. The researcher will collect data about the number of hours being put in by learners for study and their achievement in the examination. 
2. Hypothesis should be testable: Hypotheses should be stated in such a way as to indicate an expected difference or an expected relationship between the measures used in the research. The researcher should not state any hypothesis that she/he does not have reason to believe that it can be tested or evaluated by some objective means. Hypotheses are the propositions about the relationships between variables. These can be tested empirically. There is no relationship between attendance to personal contact programmes in a distance education course and achievement in examination. Such propositions can be tested by means of empirical data. 
3.  Hypothesis should be brief and clear: Hypothesis should be stated clearly and briefly. It makes problems easier for the reader to understand and also for the researcher to test. The statement should be a concise statement of the relationship expected. 

Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis 

There are some important aspects to be looked into to judge the worth of a hypothesis in research. A good hypothesis must be: 

1. consistent with known facts and theories, and might be even expected to predict or anticipate previously unknown data,
2.  able to explain the data in simpler terms,
3.  stated in the simplest possible terms, depending upon the complexity of the concepts involved in the research problem, and
4. stated in a way that it can be tested for its being probably true or probably false, in order to arrive at conclusions in the form of empirical or operational statements.

 Formulation of Hypothesis 

Hypotheses are formulated to explain observed facts, conditions, or behaviour and to serve as a guide in the research process. The statements or tentative generalisations which constitute hypotheses are partly based on facts and explanations, and partly conceptual. Hence, there are certain necessary conditions that are conducive to the formulation of hypothesis. These are: i) Deducing a hypothesis inductively: You may deduce a hypothesis inductively after making observations of behavior, noticing trends or probable relationships. For example, as a teacher you observe your learners behaviour in the classroom. On the basis of your experience in the educational institution, you may attempt to relate your behaviour with that of the learners, to various teaching-learning methods as well as to the change in the institution itself and so on. 

On the basis of these observations, you may be able to formulate a hypothesis that attempts to explain these behavioural relationships in an educational setting. ii) Limiting the problem: Here you need to state that the basic understanding of the literature pertaining to the problem under investigation also becomes essential in view of the fact that the already existing corpus of knowledge on the particular problem is too detailed to be incorporated in the process of hypothesis formulation. Hence, the researcher must have the ability to comprehend the available evidence in support or against the expected relationships so as to remain within the limits of the problem while formulating the hypothesis. iii) Deriving a hypothesis deductively: Hypotheses are also derived deductively from the theory. Such types of hypothesis, called “deductive hypotheses” are formulated by studying a particular theory in the area of one’s interest and deducting a hypothesis from this theory through logic. This is possible when a researcher has a versatile intellect and can make use of it for restructuring his/her experiences in research. Creative approach to problem solving so badly needed by a researcher, is the product of intellectual adventure, sound attitude and agile intellect. This view is more relevant to descriptive and historical research in which the abundance of literature with a number of contradictory/supplementary theories may divert the researcher from the right path. Therefore, you have to exercise great restraint and display considerable patience to keep yourself on the right path. You have to develop certain habits and attitudes, besides saturating yourself with all the possible information about the problem and also think open-mindedly about it before proceeding further in the conduct of the study. iv) Hypothesis from analogies, conversations, etc.: Analogies also lead a researcher to clues that may prove to be useful in the formulation of hypotheses and for finding solutions to problems. For example, a new social situation resembles an old one with respect to a particular set of factors. If the researcher knows that the factors correlate in a particular fashion in the old situation, he/she may hypothesize in terms of trends in the relationship to be expected in the new social situation. However, it is Formulation of Research Problems 102 Introduction to Research in Distance Education to be mentioned here that use of analogies must be made cautiously as they are not fool-proof tools for finding solutions to problems. Sometimes, especially the inter-disciplinary research conversations and consultations with experts are also found to be useful in the formulation of hypotheses. To study the relationship of increasing literacy rate in the rural population with the changing pattern of agricultural development requires consultation with experts in agriculture, education, planning etc. while formulating hypotheses. However, formulating hypothesis on the basis of analogies, anecdotes and conversations should be done rarely, only as exceptions.

Three Forms of Hypothesis 

To arrive at some conclusions pertaining to a particular research problem, a hypothesis is generally stated in testable form for its proper testing. It may be stated either in declarative form, the null form or the question form. What do these three forms mean?

 Declarative hypothesis 

When a researcher makes a positive statement about the outcome of the study, we get a declarative hypothesis. For example, the hypothesis ‘The performance of the creatives on problem solving tasks is significantly higher than the non-creatives’ is stated in the declarative form. Here, the researcher makes an attempt to predict the future outcome. This prediction is based on the theoretical formulation of what should happen in a particular situation if the explanations of the behaviour (performance on problem solving tasks) which the researcher has given in his/her theory are correct. 

Null hypothesis 

A null hypothesis is a non-directional hypothesis that proposes no difference or no relationship. The usual form of such hypothesis is: “There is no significant difference between the performance of two groups of students, one following the conventional system of education and the second following distance-mode of education. Since a null hypothesis can be statistically tested, it is also known as “statistical hypothesis” or “testing hypothesis”. The proponents of null hypothesis emphasize that the researcher must remain unbiased throughout his/her research efforts. This view is defended on the basis of the fact that in this case the researcher neither predicts a result nor indicates a preconceived attitude that may influence his/her behaviour during the conduct of the study. On the other hand, those who criticize the use of null hypothesis argue that the researcher should indicate the direction of the outcomes of the study, wherever possible. It is further argued that predicting the results of a study is less awkward in phrasing a relationship, than in using the ‘no difference’ phrase that is usual in the null form. A null hypothesis challenges the assertion of a declarative hypothesis and also denies it altogether. It says even where it seems to hold good, it is so due to mere coincidence. It is for the researcher to reject the null hypothesis by showing that the outcome mentioned in the declarative hypothesis does occur and the quantum there of is so significant that it cannot easily be said to have occurred by chance. The reasons for rejecting the null hypothesis may differ. Sometimes the null hypothesis is rejected only when the probability 103 of its having occurred by a mere chance is 1 out of 100 or .01 out of 1. In such instances, we consider the probability of its having occurred by chance to be too little to be considered, and we reject the chance component of the null hypothesis and take the occurrence to be due to a genuine tendency. Hypothesis in question form In the question-form-hypothesis, instead of stating what outcome is expected, a question is asked as to what the outcome will be. e.g. if you are interested to find out whether instructions through video programmes have any positive effect on the learning of the students of Master of Arts (Distance Education). 

The declarative form of the hypothesis will be: ‘Will Instruction through video programmes affect the learning of student of Distance Education?’ This statement shows that instructions through video programmes is not related to learning. It is easier to state a hypothesis in question form because it appears to be quite useful to write down all the questions that one wants to answer in a particular research study. On the other hand, a researcher faces difficulties in predicting the outcome of the study and stating the hypothesis in declarative form. But it is worth noting that the question form is less powerful than the declarative or null form as a tool for obtaining valid information, and it is generally advisable to state a hypothesis in directional i.e., declarative form to arrive at valid conclusions and generalizations. However, this last statement should not be taken as if it were a law in the practice and theory of research.

Points to remember

1. This is the first stage when researcher realizes the existence of problem. Mere statement or discussion regarding the problem does not suffice for selecting any problem for research unless researcher realizes or sensitized with the existence of any problem.
2. After realization of any problem next necessary step or process is the identification of problem. Researcher has to make him sure that what he feels to exist problematic is true or not? Sometimes there may be the illusion or delusion as to any facts and formed wrong opinion. Before formulation of problem, there must be corroboration of opinion as to the existence and nature of problem.
3. Any phenomenon arising problematic state for example – poverty, crime, unemployment, corruption etc. The first step towards the problem solving, there can be a detailed description of the circumstances under which it occurs.
4. This is the final stage when research problem comes into the shape of statement. Whatever be the understanding and perception made by researcher after crystallisation and keen analysis of problem thereafter he makes the statement regarding existence of problem. Statement must convey the real nature of problem as it is as realised and felt by researcher.
5. After you have identified a problem, you may formulate certain answers in the form of hypotheses. These guesses are based on the past experiences or informal observation or information gained from others. A hypothesis is defined as “A tentative proposition suggested as a solution to a problem or as an explanation of some phenomenon (Ary et.al. 1985).