Research method for economics: Unit- 2.pptx

Research method for economics course chapter 2 ppt

1. Unit- 2 Formulation of Research Problem

2. Chapter contents Sources of research problems Considerations in selecting a research problem Steps in formulation of a research problem Problem identification & developing research title Criteria for prioritizing topics for research Formulating the hypotheses

3. Sources of research problems Research in social sciences revolves around four Ps: People - a group of individuals Problems - examine the existence of certain issues or problems relating to their lives; to ascertain attitude of a group of people towards an issue Programs - to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention Phenomena - to establish the existence of a regularity.

4. Cont.… Essentially two steps are involved in formulating the research problem, namely., Understanding the problem carefully, and Rephrasing the same into meaningful terms from an analytical point of view. The best way of understanding the problem is to discuss it with colleagues expertise in the subject matter, with guide, supervisor or mentor (in academic institute)

5. Cont.… The researcher must at the same time examine all available literature to get himself aware with the selected problem. The researcher 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 i.e., to put the problem in as specific terms as possible.

6. Delimiting the research problem The way to accomplish this task: Read extensively in the literature related to your field of interest. Seek assistance from your instructor. Notice the difference between delimitation and limitation . Delimitation : a premeditated limitation that the researcher narrows down. Limitation : a weakness in the study which becomes apparent during or after its completion .

7. Cont.… Categories of delimitations: The number of observations, subjects or cases Time and geographic location The selection of sources (especially in historical-documentary research) → It is helpful to narrow down the topic by telling what the study is not .

8. Problem identification & developing research title Once the research problem is identified, it must be formulated as a question that the scientific method can answer. Moreover, the identified research problem should be specific, and achievable. State your topic idea as question. E.g., if you are interested in finding out about use of narcotics by college students, you might pose the questions, “ What effect does use of narcotics have on the health of college students?” Identify the main concepts or keywords in the question. In this case they are narcotics, health, and college students

9. Cont.… In summary, the following steps can be followed in identifying a research problem: Step 1 : Determining the field of research in which a researcher is keen to do the research work. Step 2 : The researcher should develop the mastery on the area or it should be the field of his specialization. Step 3 : He should review the researches conducted in area to know the recent trend and studies in the area .

10. Cont.… Step 4: On the basis of review, he should consider the priority field of the study. Step 5: He should draw an analogy and insight in identifying a problem or employ his personal experience of the field in locating the problem . He may take help of supervisor or expertise of the field Step 6 : He should pin-point specific aspect of the problem which is to be investigated .

11. Cont.… Look at the following examples; it begun with non-question and gradually developed into a well formulated research question. Non-question: Climate change affects plant distribution. This statement is a general fact. When this statement is changed into a question, it can have the format of either of the following questions: Does climate change have effect on plants distribution? (Poorly formulated question).

12. Cont.… If you examine this question, it seems a research question as it is written in the form of question that will be answered at the end of the study. However, it has some limitations. It is neither specific nor achievable. Here, assessing the distribution of all plant (nonspecific) found on earth in relation to climate change is not achievable. Does climate change have effect on distribution of indigenous trees species of Ethiopia ? (Well formulated question ).

13. Cont.… This question is example of well formulated research question. Because, the topic is specific, it deals with effect of climate change only on indigenous trees of Ethiopia. In addition, it is achievable although it needs intensive effort and requires collaboration of different expertise .

14. Criteria for Prioritizing Topics for Research Each topic proposed for a research has to be judged according to certain guidelines or criteria before making decision. The following guidelines or criteria can be used for selection of problem or research topic (title) Significance/ relevance /Importance for the field represented and implementation Originality/ Novelty and avoidance of unnecessary duplication Urgency of data needed Acceptability of the study Practicability Applicability of results Ethical acceptability

15. Cont.… Interest, intellectual curiosity. Training and personal qualifications. Availability of data and method. Special equipment and working conditions. Approachability of the sample. Sponsorship and administrative cooperation. Hazards, penalties and handicaps. Cost and returns. Time factor .

16. 1. Significance (Relevance) you have to consider the question of who observes the problem as important. This is to ensure full participation of all concerned parties; it is advisable to define the problem in such a way that all have an interest in solving it .

17. 2. Originality Before you decide to carry out a study, it is important that you find out whether the proposed topic has been investigated before . If the topic has been researched, the results should be reviewed to explore whether major questions that deserve further investigation remain unanswered.

18. 3. Urgency of data needed How urgently are the results needed for developing interventions at various levels (from community to policy)? 4. Acceptability It is advisable to research a topic that has the interest and support of the national authorities. This will increase the chance that the results of the study will be implemented and make the work smooth

19. 5. Practicability When you choose a research topic you have to look at the complexity of the problem and the resources you will require to carry out your study. Thought should be given to manpower, time, equipment and money that are locally available. In situations where the local resources necessary to carry out the project are not sufficient, you might consider resources available at the national level; for example, in other research institutions, or local universities. Finally, explore the possibility of obtaining technical and financial assistance from external sources .

20. 6. Applicability of the results This is whether the findings of the study will be applied or not. It will depend on the researcher’s capability and also on the availability of resources for implementing the result.

21. 7. Ethical acceptability You should always consider the possibility that you may impose harm on others while carrying out a research. Therefore, review the study you are proposing and consider important ethical issues such as: cultural sensitivity, involvement of human subject in the study and possibility of getting agreement from the research subjects and other related issues

22. Cont.… Once research problems are identified and formulated, the next step will be rating each research topic based on set criteria or guidelines. Priority-setting is an important activity when resources are limited. Since it is difficult to conduct a research on every problems identified at once, researcher should set prioritization criteria. Then, rating or scaling each problem against the set criteria is mandatory.

23. Cont.… After rating, final score given for each item is determined by adding up points assigned for each topic. The topic that got highest mark could be considered as priority problem and then proposal will be developed to it The following scales given for each criterion (guideline) as suggested by Varkevisse r et al., (2003)

24. Cont.… Relevance 1= Not relevant; 2= Relevant; 3= Very relevant Originality 1= Sufficient information already available 2 = Some information available but major issues are not covered 3= No sound information available Urgency 1= not urgently needed; 2= to less extent it is urgently needed 3= Data is very urgently needed for decision-making

25. Cont.… Political acceptability 1= Topic not acceptable; 2= Topic more or less acceptable; 3= Topic fully acceptable Feasibility 1= Study not feasible; 2= Study feasible; 3= Study very feasible Applicability 1= Not applicable; 2= some time can be implemented; 3= highly applicable

26. Cont.… Ethical acceptability 1= Major ethical problems; 2= Minor ethical problems; 3= No ethical problems

27. Formulating Hypothesis Definition of hypothesis Different experts defined hypothesis in different ways. For instance: Sarantakos ( 1993) described hypothesis as a tentative explanation of the research problem, a possible outcome of the research, or an educated guess about the research outcome. Macleod and Hockey (1981) defined hypothesis as it is a statement or explanation that is suggested by knowledge or observation but has not, yet, been proved or disproved . Ary , Jacobs and Razavieh (1984) defined hypothesis as ‘a tentative proposition suggested as a solution to a problem or as an explanation of some phenomenon .’

28. Cont.… Moreover, Creswell (1994) also defined hypothesis as it is a formal statement that presents the relationship between an independent variables . Eric (1966) defined hypotheses as ‘ single tentative guesses , good hunches assumed for use in devising theory or planning experiments intended to be given a direct experimental test when possible.’ From the above definitions, it is possible to summarize that hypothesis is an educated guess, or a prediction of causal relationships that can be tested; an un answered question that arises from a literature review of a topic leads to such predictions .

29. Nature of hypothesis hypothesis should be a clear and precise statement of what is intended to be investigated, it should be specified before launching of the planned research. .This allows identifying the research objectives, the key abstract concept involved in the research and its relationship to both the stated problem and the literature review .

30. Cont.… A hypothesis needs to fulfill some basic qualities. Accordingly, a hypothesis: it Should be testable – verifiable or falsifiable It should be neither moral nor ethical question …….. Neither too specific nor to general ……….a prediction of consequences Should be considered valuable even if proven false

31. Purpose and importance of hypothesis in a scientific research A research hypothesis has the following importance in research project; It provides a tentative explanation of phenomena and facilitates the extension of knowledge in an area It provides the investigator with a relational statement that is directly testable in a research study. It provide direction to the research It provides a frame work for reporting conclusions of the study It could be considered as the working instrument of theory, hypothesis can be deduced from the theory and from other hypothesis

32. Cont.… The role of the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting the area of research and keep him/her on the right track. It is a tentative answer to a research question that can be confirmed or refuted by data Formulating hypothesis is particularly useful for causal relationships

33. Types of hypothesis There are two types of hypothesis: the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. The Null Hypothesis ( : - This is the hypothesis or claim that is initially assumed to be true. The Alternative Hypothesis ( ): - This is the hypothesis or claim which we initially assume to be false but which we may decide to accept if there is sufficient evidence. It is opposite of Null Hypothesis, and accepted only if H0 is rejected .  

34. Cont.… Look at the following practical examples concerning the development of hypothesis:  If a researcher is assuming that the bearing capacity of a bridge is more than 10 tons, then the hypothesis under this study will be: Null hypothesis H : µ= 10 tons Alternative hypothesis H a : µ>10 tons

35. Cont.… In most cases, special consideration is given to null hypothesis. This is mainly due to the fact that: the null hypothesis relates to the statement being tested, where as the alternative hypothesis relates to the statement to be accepted if / when the null is rejected, The final conclusion, once the test has been carried out, is always given in terms of the null hypothesis. We either 'reject H0 in favor of H1' or 'do not reject H0'; we never conclude 'reject H1', or even 'accept H1‘.

36. Cont.… If we conclude 'do not reject H0', this does not necessarily mean that the null hypothesis is true, it only suggests that there is not sufficient evidence against H0 in favor of H1; Rejecting the null hypothesis then, suggests that the alternative hypothesis may be true.

37. Main problems in formulating a working hypothesis Formulation of a hypothesis is not an easy task. The main problems that may arise include: The lack of clear theoretical framework The lack of ability to utilize that theoretical framework logically The failure to be acquainted with available research techniques so as to be able to phrase the hypothesis properly.

38. Surprise!!! The End Of Chapter Two!!! Thank you for your Attention!!!