Research Methods in health care
Emir7
july13.pptxHA620 Research Methods in Health Care Problem Statement/Purpose of the Study
Su-yan Barrow, MA, MPH, PhD
Learning Objectives
After reading this lecture students should be able to:
Explain the steps required to develop a Problem Statement
Describe the need for the Purpose Statement in a grant proposal
Creswell, Chapter 5, p. 101
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Need/Problem Statement
Statement of Need: The "why" of the project. (1–2 paragraphs)
Explain what issue you are addressing.
Explain why you have chosen to respond to this set of issues in the way that you have.
State briefly why this matters in the area in which you will be working.
Note who benefits. Make sure you can indicate the public good achieved.
Although lower than the state and national rates of ______ and ______ , respectively, [your county] has seen a significant increase in homelessness over the past 5 years and, without intervention, will meet and exceed national rates within the next 5 years [source of data].
Need/Problem Statement
In this section you’ll offer a much more detailed explanation of the issue your proposed programming will address to pinpoint your program’s purpose and urgency.
What is the problem in your community/organization that your program will solve or address? If you can’t answer this question in one straightforward sentence, you should rethink your proposal now before continuing with the grant writing process.
You must convince the grant program officer that your proposed program will solve a problem or positively impact your community/organization in quantifiable ways. Otherwise, your project looks like a very poor investment. Focus on clearly explaining the issue that drives your programming.
Follow these best practices for a statement of need:
Convey a sense of urgency but not of pessimism. The problem must be urgent but solvable.
Provide some community history. The funder needs some context to fully understand the issue at hand.
Use some authoritative statistics.
Include photos or infographics. When appropriate and relevant, visual materials can be extremely effective.
Keep it brief. A statement of need should be about one page long.
Remember, a clearly defined problem is a solvable problem. An unclear or vague problem is not.
The challenge of a statement of need is to strike the perfect balance. Convey the importance or necessity of your project, but also fill your funder with optimism that your program will solve a serious problem or address an urgent need.
When should you write a problem statement?
A clearly defined and well-understood problem is crucial to finding and implementing effective solutions.
The problem statement can help you contextualize and understand the significance of your research problem.
A problem statement can be several paragraphs long and serve as the basis for your research proposal, or it can be condensed into just a few sentences in the introduction of your paper or thesis.
How to Write a Problem Statement
After you have identified a research problem for your project, the next step is to write a problem statement.
An effective problem statement is concise and concrete. It should:
Put the problem in context (what do we already know?)
Describe the precise issue that the research will address (what do we need to know?)
Show the relevance of the problem (why do we need to know it?)
Set the objectives of the research (what will you do to find out?)
Purpose of the Study
Purpose of the Study
When you state the PURPOSE of an investigation you are going to answer three specific questions: WHY? HOW? WHEN?
You will use action words and active tense to voice your purpose. For example, you are going to "determine", or "disprove", "describe", "contrast" the problem that you described before. This is the place where you say what exactly you plan to do about the problem.
It is important to do all of this prior to naming your investigation. A common mistake that research students do is title their work and then end up doing something other than what they said that they will do. This is because the purpose is not...
Purpose of the Study
A purpose statement is a declarative state of intent
Do not confuse the purpose with the problem
Should explain why this this topic is important for the purpose of requesting funding
The purpose for developing the proposal
Describe the overall goal of study and direction of inquiry
Who and how will they benefit from the proposed solution
Now you introduce the population of interest
