A problem statement is the most important part of a master’s dissertation. Your whole project is based on your problem statement. A problem statement not only shows the main issue of your study, which you will discuss, but it also tells how you will resolve it. A good problem statement can manifest the significance of your fundamental research. That is why you must write an effective problem statement in your research.
This article will give tips on writing a problem statement for your master’s dissertation.
Problem statement:
In a dissertation, a problem statement gives an overview of a problem discussed in the research. It also provides the background of a dissertation and who will be affected by this. It might also explain the objectives of the research. A good problem statement defines the gap between the current state of something and the desired objective. There are five elements of a problem statement:
- What is the problem? Means what is the main research question asking?
- How can the problem be resolved? What are the solutions you will propose and why?
- What is the purpose of the study? Why do you need to conduct a study on this particular issue?
- What is the procedure in your study? In other words, in what order will you conduct your study?
Tips for writing a perfect problem statement:
Be concise:
Students’ most common mistake in a master’s dissertation is writing a very complex problem statement. To write a problem statement, you do not describe your problem in detail. You need to give enough information about your problem concisely. For this, you need to ensure that your wording is clear and that the reader can easily understand your statement. You should avoid complex words and sentence structures in your problem statement.
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Use authentic sources:
You must first collect information from authentic sources to make a problem statement. Any claim in your problem statement needs to be backed by other authentic resources. It is because a good study builds on the work of previous studies. Thus, you must collect quality information from all the relevant secondary data sources.
Focus on one problem:
It would be unwise to focus on many issues in one study. Thus, you must pay attention to only one problem while writing a problem statement. Adding several problems to your dissertation can lead to complexity. Therefore, you must avoid using a very broad angle to write a problem statement for a dissertation.
Give a solution:
After identifying the problem, the next thing is to give a solution to this problem. You need to devise a practical solution for your research problem. Take your time to think and research some pragmatic solutions that will work to resolve the main issue in your research. Moreover, you need to pay attention to the impacts of your given solution.
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Stay in alignment:
Another tip for writing a problem statement is to stay in alignment. Your problem statement needs to align with your research questions, purpose statement, the gap in the literature, and title. For this, you must be highly specific while writing your problem statement.
Show the significance:
Your problem statement must address the importance and relevance of your study. You do not have to research something ground-breaking for this. To write a problem statement, you must think of something practically or theoretically significant. This means you must ensure that your problem is feasible and researchable. There are many problems worldwide, but not all are significant enough to discuss. A significant problem statement is directly related to a certain issue that broadly impacts a society, social group, institution, or organization. To make your problem statement more practical, you can ask the following questions:
- What would be the impact of not solving this issue?
- Who will experience its impacts?
- Does this issue have wider relevance?
Setting objectives and aims:
Another tip for writing a problem statement is to ensure that you set the aims and objectives of your research. The goal of your study is not just to find a definitive solution to a problem but also to find the reasons behind an issue and give better approaches to understanding and tackling the problem. The aim of your research is the overall purpose of your master’s dissertation. You generally write it in the infinitive form like:
- This research aims to determine
- The objective of this study is to explore
- I want to investigate
Use your personal experience:
Another great way to write a problem statement is by using your personal experience. Find out problems you have discovered through your personal life experience. You might notice an issue while working in a job, or you might have found significant problems with no effective solution. To use your personal experience in the problem statement, study the relevant literature to solve the problem better.
Ask for advice from experts:
To write a problem statement, you should get advice from experts. This can be an expedient way to find a good research problem. Students often lead to many interesting problems by communicating with experts. It is because experts have experience of years and deep knowledge about your field. They can give you professional advice, which can help you write a problem statement. Experts can give you perspectives that even the complete literature review cannot give.
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Conclusion:
The above tips can help you write problem statements effectively. Make your problem statement concise and focus on only one problem. Use authentic secondary data resources to back up your claim. Your problem needs to be theoretically or practically significant, and you must provide a pragmatic solution. Ensure your problem statement is aligned with the rest of your dissertation body. Following the above-mentioned tips will definitely help you write an efficient problem statement for your master’s dissertation. However, if you still face any issue writing it, hire masters dissertation writing services.
