Writing Statement of the Problem

Problem means two things that are essentially entwined.

1^st is the situation in the world, particularly a phenomenon, that you are problematizing on.  To problematize means to ask questions about.  Or to have deep inquiries about.  It is from this activity of the mind of the researcher from which the research question arise.

2^nd is the actual research question.  Which will not be phrased as a question.  It is what the researcher wants to know about the particular phenomenon, along with specific questions that can be raised to help in answering it.

The Statement of the Problem is written in two parts.

1^st part: A short paragraph succinctly summarizing the problematization,

2^nd par: A one liner, a declarative sentence stating what the thesis aims to know.  It follows the format: “This thesis (this research) aims to know (has the goal of) knowing (understanding, analyzing) ___________________________________________________________________________.”

e.g.  This thesis aims to know what is the potential application of federalism to the Republic of the Philippines.

The one liner is your main problem.  It will be followed by a numbered list of questions introduced this way:

Furthermore it seeks to answer the following questions:

1.  How does federalism manage the scattered islands of an archipelago?  (sample)
2.  How does federalism unify the varying cultures in an archipelago? (sample)
3.  How does federalism promote economic equality in an archipelago? (sample)

These sub-questions do not come from nothing.  They are based on the elements that compose each of the two variables.  And these elements are identified in the conceptual framework.