Formulating a Research Problem "Well begun is half done" --Aristotle, quoting an old proverb

Formulating a research problem The first and the most important step It identifies your destination It tells what you intend to research The more specific and the clearer the problem, the better you are It is the seed of everything that follows Decide what you want to find out about Factors: finance, time, expertise and knowledge

Now you want to formulate a research problem (define areas, topics, problems/issues How to start?????

Before formulating problems How much do you know about the areas/topics? Not much ----- Review literature to learn more Good ------ Can you describe the issues/problems discussed to date

Where do research topics come from? Experiences of practical problems in the field, Learn from those experiencing the issues in the field, Literature in your specific field, Request for proposals Think up the research topics of their own Q: How about yours?

A Hierarchy of concepts We can distinguish levels of concepts and questions, which vary in levels of abstraction, forming an inductive-deductive hierarchy: Research area; Research topic; General research questions; Specific research questions; Data collection questions. General internal consistency coherence validity Specific and Concrete

Research areas and topics Research areas are usually stated in a few words, and sometimes just one word. Research topics are a few words, but usually more than those describing the research areas

Research topics to General research questions

General to specific research questions

General to specific research questions Specific Question1.1 General Question1 Specific Question1.2 Specific Question 2.1 General Question2 Specific Question 2.2

The three can be viewed as cumulative Type of Questions Descriptive What is going on, what exist Relational Look at relationship between two or more variables Causal Study one or more variables causes or affects one or more outcome variables The three can be viewed as cumulative

Consideration in selecting a research problem Interest (give consistent motivation) Magnitude (define the scope) Measurement of concepts (concept to empirical) Level of expertise (should be adequate) Relevance (to your professional) Availability of data (especially secondary data) Ethical issues

Steps in research problem formulation Broad areas Dissect into subareas Select the most interest Raise research questions Formulate objectives

The thematic areas of MI Trade facilitation in the GMS Transaction cost in transboundary trade Agriculture and transboundary trade Border community and transboundary trade Labor migration Remittance and labor migration Rural development Non-farm activities and rural development Environment impact of agriculture in GMS