How to Formulate Research Problem

Most students taking thesis/dissertation/research usually takes their concern from what they have observed rather than what was the real cause of it. These mistakes often make the paper loses its value from the scientific community. These mistakes often create temporary remedy rather than a long-lasting solution.

A good example is when you smell stinky garbage, most people would say:

"The cause is the garbage"

"The cause is the people throwing their garbage improperly"

"The cause is the garbage truck not collecting the trash"

That is maybe right but have you questioned your self this?

"Why did people just throw their garbages here? or anywhere?"

"Why did the garbage truck not able to collect this garbages?"

Those questions can even create more questions

"What did the local government does with waste collection management?"

"Are the people here knows ho to segregate?"

"Is there any law about throwing garbage in this city?"

By simply creating a solution for these primary causes identified will not solve the problem.

"The cause is the garbage"

"The cause is the people throwing their garbage improperly"

"The cause is the garbage truck not collecting the trash"

But maybe if you develop a strategy or solution for these questions

"What did the local government does with waste collection management?"

"Are the people here knows ho to segregate?"

"Is there any law about throwing garbage in this city?"

By converting them into these questions

"What can I do to help the local government with their waste collection management?"

"What could I do to inform the people living in this city about the harmful effects of not properly disposing of their garbage and or segregating them correctly?"

"How can I strengthen the law of this city with regards to the clean and safe environment?"

This can also be done using an inverted tree as Problem Analysis tool to formulate your research problem.

In an Inverted Tree, the upper part represent the Cause while the lower part represent the Effect

Example:

This is Problem Tree #1 which the root problem in color green anchored to the Sustainable Development Goals of the (United Nations Development Plan) UNDP #6 or the Clean Water and Sanitation. Out of this problem tree, we are going to take the cause Waste Collection Mismanagement, the one with a red mark and create another problem tree analysis for that.

Note: Your first problem tree analysis should be based on facts and observation.

This is your Problem Tree #2 which uses the marked box in PT #1 as the root problem. You can now select at least one box from PT #2 and create a solution for that identified problem or root cause. Selection of a problem is not limited in the upper part, you may also find a solution on the identified effects in the lower part for this will also solve the main root problem in the PT #1 analysis. In this case we have selected Ineffective Planning Matrix on Waste Collection as our main problem to solve in our research.

Note: In your PT #2 you can now apply your guess and hypothesis about how the root problem occur.