2013 , developing a dissertation research problem: a guide for doctoral students in human resource development and adult education. New horizons in adult education and human resource development, 25: 103 ndash 117. Doi: 10.1002/nha3.20034 for most doctoral students, the dissertation represents the most gratifying, and perhaps the most challenging, phase of their academic programs. Now they have the opportunity through their dissertation to focus exclusively on which topic interests them the most.

A review of the many doctoral programs in human resource development and adult education suggests that they vary widely in terms of their expectations for the dissertation. Some doctoral programs explicitly seek to prepare future researchers or academics, leading to the expectation that their students rsquo dissertations will advance some theoretical model and likely use a sophisticated data analysis technique as well. Other doctoral programs with a different focus might seek to prepare scholar practitioners, leading to a different expectation for the purpose of the dissertation. These studies might examine some aspect of professional practice or a topical organizational issue, without a particular emphasis on building theory as an outcome. Regardless of the nature of the program, the one constant for all dissertations, and for all research for that matter, is the need to state the problem of the study based on the scholarly literature. Doctoral programs commonly require that students take a sequence of research courses that usually focus on how to carry out a study.

That is, the design, the methodology, and the data analysis techniques, whether they be quantitative or qualitative in nature. Unfortunately, what is often omitted from most research sequences is an understanding of what constitutes a research problem in the first place and how to articulate the problem statement in a logical manner. Some might view such information as being of lesser importance, considering all the various tasks that a dissertation requires. In fact, the problem statement serves a critical foundational role for all research. What value is a study that uses the most advanced research methodology, such as structural equation modeling, but the reason for actually doing the analysis remained uncertain? or what value is a study that assumes the reader understands the problem as well as the author? how to communicate the research problem demands more than good writing skills alone, though this aspect is an essential competency. For many students as emerging scholars, constructing the problem statement often presents an intellectual challenge of a new sort, apart from designing the study and analyzing the data. First, the article discusses the role of the problem statement in doing research in human resource development and adult education.

Third, it presents a four part logical system, or syllogism, for constructing problem statements. Finally, the article discusses the implications for attending to the problem statement. All forms of systematic inquiry ndash research, evaluation, or development ndash may be considered as actions in response to problems. Thus, having a well conceived problem statement is an essential component of all these activities, though this aspect is sometimes ignored or made to seem more of an intuitive process compared to other parts of the process. As stated, the problem statement serves a foundational role in that it communicates what is the formal reason for engaging in the dissertation in the first place.

Nearly all research handbooks advise that stating the problem is either the first or among the first steps of the research process. Merriam and simpson 1995 identify five steps to the research process, with identifying a concern or problem as being the first step. Hershey, jacobs lawson, and wilson 2006 use the interesting metaphor of a research script to describe a sort of personalized action plan for researchers.

The formulation of the problem and research questions actually comes about as part of the third element of the process. Ary, jacobs, razavieh, and sorenson 2005 discuss at some length the nature and sources of problems that need to be considered when doing educational research. Swanson and holton 2005 propose a process of framing research in organizations, including making a problem decision. Problem statements are sometimes associated more with a logical positivistic perspective of inquiry. That is, viewing science as a systematic orderly process ndash the scientific method ndash starting with stating hypotheses through building knowledge through empirical means. Alternately, adherents to a grounded theory view inquiry as a means to allow theory to emerge from the data, suggesting a reversal of the steps related to the scientific method stebbins, 2001 . In following a grounded theory approach, the precise problem may not be known at the outset of the research, though there might be a notion that a problem situation exists.

As a result, the problem statement becomes part of the outcomes of the study, after the data have been gathered and the broad groups of concepts, as derived from the results, have been analyzed to generate a theory glaser amp strauss, 1967 . Based on the theory that was generated, prospective research problems can be proposed as a means to begin testing the theory. The intent of this article is not to invoke a debate about the relative merits of one approach to inquiry or another. Rather, the point here is that regardless of the researcher's perspective, problem statements play a crucial role in communicating the logic of the research, whether these statements are presented a priori or post hoc in the study. Research problems do not exist in nature just waiting to be plucked out by some observant researcher guba, 1978 . Instead, they are artificial entities that come together only through the intense efforts of the researcher, who has identified a gap in information or understanding within a topic. In general, the information that forms the problem statement must be first induced from the literature, framed around certain theoretical understandings, and articulated in a way that clearly represents the interests of the researcher.

That is, a student might express an interest in, say, workplace learning for a dissertation study. However, that information tells us virtually nothing about the research problem to be studied within workplace learning. Problem statements involve more that merely narrowing down a broad topic of interest into something more specific. Problem statements involve an understanding of the discontinuities that exist when more than one phenomenon is examined at the same time. In general, problem statements describe a gap in sets of information which results in a call for action or resolution.

First, problem statements establish the existence of two or more factors, which by their interactions produce a perplexing or troublesome state, that yield an undesirable consequence. Kerlinger 1987 states that research problems represent the relationships between two variables at odds with each other. Oftentimes, the factors being considered can be shown to be true at the same time and the resulting tension between the two opposing true statements provide the intellectual basis to formulate the problem. For instance, consider that the following statements about human resource development practice are both true and, at the same time, also they begin to frame the perplexing or troublesome situation required of a problem.