Every research paper comes with a statement of research problem. As a student you should first identify what problem you are trying to solve before starting up with your study.

The statement of problem is the issue that your research seeks to address.

What then is a problem?

A problem is an issue that needs to be resolved and for which there are possible solutions. Any problem with impossible solutions is not researchable, drop it.

Broadly, a problem is an obstacle that exists between an intended objective and the current performance. A researchable problem therefore is problem over which data can be collected, organized and analyzed.

Your project topic and statement of problem must connect. The statement of problem presents questions for your research to answer.

Key facts:

A good literature review provides research questions while your statement of problem come from your research questions.

Statement of problem deals with;

The existing problem(s)

The effect of the problem on people or population

What ought to be.

Presentation of an argument.

To clearly identify your research problem, take these 2 steps;

Go back to your background of the study: You will need to return to the background of the study to trace the history of the existing problem.

Study the body of your initial literatures (i.e., the materials you paraphrased in your background of the study); to do this you will do 5 things.

Study the materials separately at different periods and understand your topic thoroughly.

Locate similar aspects of the literatures (i.e., try to see if the literatures mentioned similar problems), if there are similar problems, note them down and continue studying.

Place the literatures side by side and identify the missing piece (check if there are incomplete information in the literature). Study the statement of problem of the materials (journals) reviewed, cross-check the summary of findings and conclusion to see if the author’s statement of the problem was successfully solved.

Look out for gaps (these are missing piece i.e., information omitted, information not fully represented or inadequate findings). If the problem the authors mentioned was not successfully solved, then you have found a gap (the fact that you are carrying out an investigation on your approved topic shows that the problem is yet to be solved).

Finalize: look at your topic again and find the difference between the existing problem and what ought to be.

For example: lets adopt the following default topic “An Assessment of User-Demand Preference for Residential Properties in New Haven Layout, Enugu” and present our two Main focus;

1. The existing problem
2. What ought to be

ILLUSTRATION:

The existing problem: A lot of users prefer self-contain apartment, 2 or 3bedroom flats to the predominant tenement buildings in New Haven, their choice of accommodation has made tenement buildings obsolete and all of a sudden is experiencing huge unacceptance from bachelors and married couples who appear to be largest in population in New Haven. This problem has led to loss of rent to property owners in recent times.

What ought to be: The layout is due for total re-planning and redevelopment to satisfactorily meet residential users need. Tenement buildings ought to have been demolished and reconstructed in current architectural designs and in compliance to users’ specifications.

Combining the above helps you to write a winning statement of problem.

See sample