How to write a motivational statement?
Your Research Problem statement is the foundation and focus of your research report. It is a clear,stand‐alone statement that makes explicit what it is you are aiming to discover or establish. Get thisright and you are setting yourself up for success.If your Research Problem is poorly worded, unfocused or ambiguous, the rest of your research is likelyto go off‐track very early; you will do a great deal of unnecessary reading and writing, losing sight ofthe big picture (and probably your mind!).Writing your Research Problem Statement1. First select your research topic, which is the issue or subject area that you intend to investigate– see the document “Finding a Research Topic”, available atwww.wbs.ac.za .2. Describe the business or management problem based on your topic that you intend toresearch. Do this right at the beginning of your research proposal or report as laid out in thetemplates (remember to reference any facts that you are basing your research on). This willset the scene for your Research Problem statement, so that you can write a clear, stand aloneResearch Problem.3. A Research Problem is not the same as a business problem, ie it is not a “problem” in thenormal sense of the word; it is research jargon that happens to be a bit confusing. You canthink of your Research Problem as the unknown part of your business problem.4. We prefer Research Problem statements to have an outcomes based verb at or near thebeginning. Some good outcome based verbs are:Identify define relate describe review justify indicateformulate explain compare contrast suggest interpret analyseassess construct apply demonstrate illustrate categorise deducecreate resolve debate propose differentiate construct arguederive design evaluate establish conceptualise suggest integratecompile develop challenge consolidate clarify criticise formulateascertain appraise calculate recommend5. Verbs such as “understand”, “explore”, “investigate”, “examine” and “discuss” are poor verbsas they describe processes, not outcomes, eg you can discuss something endlessly withoutever having to make recommendations, draw conclusions or offer a result. You might beCarmichael, T. (2009), Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa2exploring, examining or discussing as part of your process, but they cannot be the end result ofyour research, which should be more tangible.6.If your Research Problem contains two or more concepts / ideas, then break it down into subproblems,so that each sub‐problem consists of one idea only. Each sub‐problem shouldcontain key words that you can use in your literature search (using the electronic librarydatabases and Google Scholar) on that sub‐problem.7.Your Research Problem statement should be your sub‐problems added together – no moreand no less. Do not introduce any new ideas when you write your sub‐problems. For example:The Main problem is toAnalyse and evaluate the role of entrepreneurship in the establishment of small,medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and ascertain the value of the economiccontributions of these firms in emerging markets.Sub‐problem 1Analyse and evaluate the role of entrepreneurship in establishing SMMEs in emergingmarkets. (Here your key search terms for your literature review could be“entrepreneurship”, “SMME” and “emerging markets”)Sub‐problem 2Evaluate the economic contribution of SMMEs to growth and development inemerging markets. (Here your search terms could be “economic contribution”,“economic growth”, “emerging market development”)Your literature review would be likely to have headings similar or related to the search terms,as well as other topic areas that you find and are relevant but that you may not haveanticipated – in fact you will find a lot of information and related topics that you won’t (andcannot be expected to) have anticipated. Use the search terms both alone and combined witheach other.You won’t find many articles onexactly your own research problem (that’s why you areresearching it), so your literature review will be on topics broader than, but encompassing yourspecific problem. More detail can be found in the document “How to do a Literature Review”onwww.wbs.ac.za.Another example, starting with the research context and topic:Research topic and context (stated exactly as submitted by a student):The large corporate companies need to be encouraged to assist small businesses inempowering them with the necessary skills and resources to grow. Corporate SocialResponsibility is one avenue that small business can benefit from big business in thisregard. My aim in this research is to establish if large companies are using corporatesocial responsibility to empower small business and, if not, how this can be done.Carmichael, T. (2009), Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa3Therefore the topic of this research is to identify the role of corporate socialresponsibility in empowering small business.The Problem Statement was constructed by tightening up the context to eliminate repetition,correcting the grammar, removing the personal pronoun “my” and rephrasing it in the passivevoice. In addition, the statement “. . . establish IF large companies . . .” was rephrased to“whether and how” because “if” has a yes / no answer (not OK) and “whether and how”requires a detailed, contextualised and rich response (OK).Problem statement:The intention of this research is to establish the purposes for which large corporate areusing their CSI / CSR programmes, with particular reference to whether and how they areusing such programmes to empower small businesses, and, further, to gather ideas toexpand such investments.Sub‐problem 1:Establish the purposes for which large corporates are using their CSI / CSR programmesSub‐problem 2Identify ways in which large corporates are using CSI / CSR programmes to empower smallbusinesses, and further, to gather ideas for expanding such investments8. Your sub‐problems should NOT be steps in the process of finding the solution to your ResearchProblem. This is a common and understandable error. The example below shows the subproblemsto be steps in the process that the student intends to follow in the research (thesecan be described in the methodology chapter). They are not invalid‐ they are just not subproblems.Main ProblemCompare the characteristics of the South African and Ghanaian home loan markets inrelation to consumer home loan choice criteria, home finance availability on both markets,home loan administration, success and hindering factors, risks in pricing of home finance,the status and causes of home loan default in both markets and to predict the way forwardfor both markets.Sub‐problems1. Analyse consumer choice criteria in both home loans markets2. Assess the availability and accessibility of home loans.3. Establish the difficulties encountered in home loan administration4. Identify the risks in home loan pricing and the effect of inflation on pricing5. Determine the status and causes of home loan default6. Forecast the future of the South African and Ghanaian home loan marketsCarmichael, T. (2009), Wits Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa4In the example, the “sub‐problems” listed are certainly useful topics to include in the literaturereview, although the list may not be exhaustive‐ keep an open mind to finding other factors in theliterature that you may not have thought about. The literature review is a process of discovery,and you don’t know what’s been published until you get there.A possible alternative to the above could be:Main Problem:Compare the actual and perceived characteristics of the South African and Ghanaian homeloan markets and determine the nature of any relationship between these characteristics andpayment defaults. Identify any other causes of home loan defaults in these markets andpossible measures to reduce them.Sub‐problem 1Identify the actual and perceived characteristics of the South African and Ghanaian home loanmarkets.Sub‐problem 2Determine the causes of home loan defaults, whether they are related or not to the home loanmarket characteristics and seek measures to reduce the occurrence of such defaults.9. Your problem and sub‐problems should not have a yes / no answer or solution.10. Your problem and sub‐problems should not suggest the solution / finding that you expect,otherwise you are introducing bias.11. Not all problems have sub‐problems; if your problem statement contains only one concept oridea, and cannot be broken down into smaller concepts, you will have only a problemstatement with no sub‐problems.12. A sub‐problem should not depend on a particular answer to a previous sub‐problem – you willbe in trouble if it does not work out the way you anticipated. To avoid this, make sure thateach sub‐problem can stand alone, ie it could be a small research project by itself, such as inthe example in point 8 of this document.13. You should only have a small number of sub‐problems – no more than 2 to 3 preferably. If youhave too many, your project may be too big. In this case, exclude some of the investigationand state what you will NOT be including in your research under the heading “Delimitations”.14. Your sub‐problems with their key words are your guide as to what to look up in the literatureto see what has already been published on your topic. Your literature review is based on onesub‐problem at a time. Thus your sub‐problems will keep you on track – but they may betweaked from time to time as you read more and more – it is an iterative process.Prepare to do a LOT of reading around your topic.To be a “Master” of your topic, you need to know most of what has beenwritten about it, what the main ideas are, who the most important authorsare, and be able to differentiate credible sources from those that are not.
