Developing the Research Problem Statement

This assignment aligns to sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, and 6 in the Dissertation Research Plan. You will be able to use the feedback that you receive from this completed assignment to further refine your problem statement during your Residency. Address the following sections in your paper, using the headings provided:

Section 1.1: Research Topic (2 paragraphs)
State your research topic as you have refined it to this point. Ensure that you address the following elements in Section 1.1:

First paragraph: Describe the specific topic to be studied in a clearly stated paragraph, including relevant, appropriately focused key concepts.
Second paragraph: Describe the significance of the topic to your program or field (e.g., Psychology, Counseling and Human Services, Business, Technology, Public Service Leadership, Education) AND its significance to your program specialization.
The Research Topic should be correctly formed:

Your research topic should be appropriate for your specialization.
Your research topic should use appropriate language for key concepts/phenomena.
The target population should be named.
The concepts should be appropriately focused.
Note: You do not need to describe the relationships between or among the concepts for this assignment. You will address these relationships in Track 2.

Section 1.2: Research Problem (1 paragraph)
Write a brief statement that fully describes the problem being addressed. In simplified terms, the research problem should take this form:

“The research literature on ________ indicates that we know ________, we know ________, but we do not know ________.”

The Research Problem should be correctly stated:

Existing literature and key findings should be summarized.
Gaps or problems in the existing literature should be clearly formulated.
The Research Problem should be explicitly stated, not implied.
Section 2.1: Research Problem Background (3 paragraphs)
Provide a brief SUMMARY of your review of the research literature on the topic. This should include citations from at least 5 articles, but should indicate that you have performed a review of the literature (acceptable for Track 1) on the topic. This should be demonstrated by providing a statement about the body of existing literature on the topic, then, summarizing recent research findings on the topic, highlighting the findings that are most relevant to your proposed study, demonstrating how your proposed research could add to the existing literature on the topic. Be sure to provide appropriate in-text citations and include references in the reference section.

Note: The Research Plan requires a minimum of 75 articles, which is a Track 3 expectation. For this activity, you only need 5 articles, to create your initial foundation. You will continue to build towards your full literature review after you complete Track 1, and throughout your dissertation process.

Section 6: References
Provide a reference list for all of the articles cited in this assignment, following current APA formatting (see chapter 10 of the APA manual for examples).
Academic Writer has additional guidance, examples, and tools you can use for researching, writing, and formatting your paper and for citing and referencing resources in APA style.
Use current (within 5-7 years), scholarly, PRIMARY resources to support statements throughout your paper.
Review the Research Topic and Problem Statement Scoring Guide to ensure you meet all grading criteria. Review the assignment due date information provided in both the Syllabus and the Faculty Expectations discussion to effectively plan your time. Post the Research Topic and Problem Statement to the assignment area.