BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENTS IN NURSING RESEARCH

BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENTS IN NURSING RESEARCH

1. College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2014/2015 –2016/2017
NURS 345
NURSING RESEARCH
Session 4 –BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Lecturer: Dr. Florence Naab
Contact Information: [email protected]

2. Session Overview
•In research, the background and problem statement form the
introductory description of the research problem. Being able
to put together the two components indicate that the
researcher clearly understands the research problem. This
session will elaborate on the differences between the two
components and how each of them is written. The objectives
of the session are to:
1.Describe a researchable problem statement.
2.Explain the criteria, format, and characteristics of background and
problem statement.
3.Differentiate between background and problem statement
Slide 2

3. Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:
•Topic one: Overview of background and problem statement
•Topic two: Problem statement criteria
•Topic three: Purpose statement
Slide 3

4. Reading List
Chapter 5 of;
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative,
quantitative, Mixed Methods Approaches.2
nd
Ed. Sage
Publications
Slide 4

5. OVERVIEW OF BACKGROUND AND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Topic One
Slide 5

6. Why must you write a background for
research?
Slide 6

7. Background
•The background is a key component of the
introductory chapter. It provides a full description of
the research problem.
•The background has the following functions:
–A background sets the stage for the entire study.
–Provides a description of the research problem.
–Describes the concern leading to the research.
–Describes the problem that initiated the research.
–Creates reader interest in the topic
–Places the study within a larger context of empirical scholarly
literature
–Describes all the variables involved in the research
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8. Criteria for writing the background
•Start with the research problem.
•Discuss studies that have addressed the problem.
•Identify deficiencies in the studies.
•Describe the importance of the study.
•Conclude with the purpose of the study.
Slide 8

9. What is the problem statement?
Slide 9

10. Problem statement
•A problem statement is an explanation of a group of
significant reasons why the research must be
conducted.
•A problem statement explains a problem in need for
the research.
•The problem statement provides direction for the
research design.
•Problem statement is usually preceded by a
background statement.
Slide 10

11. Problem statement versus background
Problem statement (WHY)
•Justifies the study by
explaining reasons why the
research is important
•Provides the basis for
generating the purpose
statement
•Is the foundation for the
remaining steps of the
process
Background (WHAT)
•Describes the problem and
focuses on what is to be
studied
•Is the first to be written
•Sets the stage for the entire
study
•Its purpose is to establish a
framework for the research
•Provides the factors to be
studied
Slide 11

12. TOPIC TWO: PROBLEM STATEMENT CRITERIA
Slide 12

13. Criteria for writing a problem
statement
A problem statement should:
•Be written in interrogative sentences.
•Written to include the population.
•Include the variables to be studied.
•Be empirically testable
–Writing in interrogative sentences is the clearest way to
state a research problem.
–A faulty problem statement is stated in declarative
sentences.
Slide 13

14. Criteria for writing problem statement
cont.
Being interrogative
•Is there any relationship
between the reading habits
of nurses and knowledge
development in nursing?
•Explaining the answers to
question is the problem
statement.
Being declarative
•This study determines the
relationship between the
reading habits of nurses and
knowledge development in
nursing.
•The curiosity to search for
answers is lost in declarative
sentences.
Slide 14

15. Problem statement criteria cont.
Including the population
•The population should be narrowed down to the
main group of interest. For instance, instead of
“reading habits of nurses”, it should be “reading
habits of clinical nurses” or “reading habits of
academic nurses.”
•Note the differences in populations underlined
above.
Slide 15

16. Problem statement criteria cont.
Including variables to be studied
•There may be one, two, or many variables involved in
a study
–Univariate studies (involve only one variable)
–Bivariate studies (involve two variables)
–Multivariate studies (involve many variables)
Slide 16

17. Problem statement criteria cont.
Example of Univariate
•One variable study is usually
exploratory in nature e.g
“reading habits of clinical
nurses”.
•The single variable here is
“reading habits”
Example of bivariate
•Nursing research often
involves 2 or more variables
e.g“reading habits” and
“knowledge development”
Slide 17

18. Problem statement criteria cont.
Multivariate studies
•Involve more than two variables
•Usually, it is the interaction of the variables that is
the interest of the research.
Slide 18

19. Problem statement criteria cont.
Being empirically testable
•Testable problem statements contain variables that
can be measured.
•For a problem statement to be empirically testable,
avoid using words such as “cause” and “effect”, e.g
instead of “effects of reading habits of clinical nurses
on knowledge development”, it should be “the
relationship between reading habits of clinical nurses
and knowledge development”.
Slide 19

20. PURPOSE STATEMENT
Topic THREE
Slide 20

21. What is a purpose statement?
Slide 21

22. Purpose statement
•The picture in the previous slide suggest that doing
research without a purpose statement sets a stage for
chaos and confusion.
•With a purpose statement, the researcher may be able
to start the research but may never end because the
destination of the research is not known.
Slide 22

23. Purpose statement cont.
•A purpose statement is a single statement that
identifies why the problem is being studied.
•The purpose statement specifies the over all goal and
intent of the research.
•It is stated objectively and indicates the type of
research to be conducted.
•The purpose statement is based on the problem
statement.
•It is stated after the problem statement
Slide 23

24. Criteria for purpose statement
•Purpose statements could be stated in the following
forms:
–Declarative form
–Question form
–Hypothesis form
•Choosing which form depends on the researcher’s
knowledge of previous research findings.
Slide 24

25. Purpose statement cont.
•A good purpose statement should contain
information about:
–What to study
–The setting and
–The subjects
Slide 25

26. Declarative purpose statement
•The following purpose statement is declarative
–The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between
reading habits of clinical nurses and knowledge development in the
nursing.
Slide 26

27. Hypothesis form purpose statement
•The following purpose statement is stated
hypothetically
–There is a negative relationship between reading habits of
clinical nurses and knowledge development in the nursing.
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28. Question form purpose statement
•The following purpose statement is in a question
form:
–Is there a relationship between reading habits of clinical
nurses and knowledge development in the nursing?
Slide 28

29. Problem versus purpose statements
Problem statement
•Describes and explains
various reasons why the
study is important.
•Indicates the content to be
studied.
Purpose statement
•States categorically, the
main or primary reason why
the study must be
conducted.
•Explains the relevance of
the study.
Slide 29

30. Summary and conclusion
•This session has explained the background, problem
statement, the problem statement criteria, purpose
statement, and the differences between background and
problem statement, and finally, the difference between
problem statement and purpose statement.
•In the next session, research objectives and questions will
be discussed.
Slide 30

31. References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative,
quantitative, Mixed Methods Approaches.2
nd
Ed. Sage
Publications.
Nieswiadomy, R.M (2008). Foundations of Nursing Research.
5th Ed. Pearson Education, USA.
Polit, D. F. and Beck, C.T (2008). Nursing Research: Generating
and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. 8th Ed.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA.
Robsin, C. (2002). Real World Research: A Resource for Social
Scientist and Practitioner-Researchers. 2nd Ed. ISBN,
USA.
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