ESTABLISHING A RESEARCH PROBLEM

READ:

University of Wisconsin Writer's Handbook Academic Writing Thesis and Purpose Statements http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ThesisStatements.html

University of Wisconsin Writer's Handbook Academic Writing - Developing a Thesis Statement http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/thesis.html

Glatthorn, Allan. Writing the Winning Dissertation. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press, c1998. Chapter 2 “Finding a Research Problem”, pp. 15 – 27. [LB2369.G56 1998 Educ. & Behav. Sci. Lib. Service Desk, 5th Floor Paterno]

Problem Formulation, By William M.K. Trochim, Cornell University. http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/probform.htm

Establishing a research problem can be a challenging yet rewarding process. Careful selection of the research problem defines the work of the project and provides a direction for the entire process.
You should prepare the research problem and ultimately a research proposal as much as a guideline or contract with yourself as for your advisors and supervisors.

**Remember that your honor’s thesis can be an opportunity for interdisciplinary work. Interdisciplinarity is often not an option in more advanced academic studies.

STEPS	EXAMPLE	STRATEGIES/SOURCES
Select a broad area of interest–a research topic	Costs of education	Personal interest Professional significance Readings Conversations with faculty and peers
To move from topic to a manageable research problem, ask questions about the topic such as "who / what / where / when why / how?"	What are the issues in the costs of higher education? What is Pennsylvania doing to control the costs of higher education? What are the factors responsible for tuition increases? How effective are voucher programs in controlling costs of higher education?	Read abstracts of literature for overview
Select one narrowly defined problem Ask relevant questions that will help answer the problem	Are state tuition investment programs effective for holding down the costs of college education? Which states offer tuition investment programs? What are potential savings realized by participating in a program? What are the risks to individuals? Can people apply investments to alternative educational programs? Are investments guaranteed? Can investments be refunded? What is the cost to states to support such programs?	Read several articles on the narrower focus; note possible methodologies that might be used in your project
Write a problem statement consisting of several sentences that briefly frame the issues to be investigated, indicate the significance of the question, and includes a declaration of what you will do	The costs of higher education are escalating X times faster than the economy. Students are graduating with college debt far surpassing earlier generations. Various sectors have proposed plans to minimize college costs. Among the potential solutions are tuition investment programs offered by individual states. Yet questions exist regarding the stability of tuition savings programs. "In this project I will..." or "This study will..."	Incorporate readings-to-date to determine this working statement. Of course, as your work progresses, you may need to modify this problem statement.
Select possible research design [Recommended but not required for Library Studies 301H. Check with your thesis advisor]	Research designs will depend upon the discipline and should be developed in consultation with your thesis advisor.	Read more focused and specialized articles on content, design and methodologies Read: Research Design and Methodologies
Prepare a research proposal [Recommended but not required for Library Studies 301H. Check with your thesis advisor]	After an extensive literature review, methodology selection, etc. you will write the complete research proposal.	Read: The Research Proposal

SPRING 2003

LIBRARY STUDIES 301H

Information Research Methods and Systems

ESTABLISHING A RESEARCH PROBLEM