You think you might have a topic area & maybe even a problem statement

What to do to help yourself refine your problem statement; and help

your supervisor help you?

1. Read Scholarly Articles

In order to refine your problem statement it is always necessary to do some
initial literature reading. Without this input you have NO idea how to direct
your topic into an area that is of interest and represents a problem which is
important to help solve. The library staff can be useful in helpingyou and
many resources are provided at the library website
http://library.ukzn.ac.za/Homepage.aspx
In particular, each subject area has deisgnated subject librarians on each
campus and they provide a library guide-page designed to be subject specific.
For management studies (whichincludes IS&T) you can access these guides
on http://libguides.ukzn.ac.za/content.php?pid=480662&sid=3938432
NB: You should be doing reading continually throughout your research as it
helps to refine the problem, give you up to date information on other related
research, suggests possible theories or frameworks which may be relevant to
your problem area and help you to think about what data you need, how to
collect it , and possible questionnaires to use. It will also give you an idea of
how to analyse your data and provide you with existing research results (from
other studies) that you can compare your findings to

2. Find journal articles to help you define your study/ problem statement
While you will do a thorough literature review as part of your research
process- it is important to find a few articles from well respected journals very
early in your process which sound like the kind of study you would like to be
doing.. In many cases you may be able to model your study on very similar
lines to a study that has been done previously (e.g. in a different country, with
people of a different age etc).

When trying to craft the Problem statement a.k.a. Statement of Purpose it

takes continual work to refine it and get it specific: One way to approach this
is what I refer to as the 2-balls-and-a-stick or dumbell approach:

Your study generally can be stated as 2 things which are connected in some
way. In fact a sentence has a subject and object generally connected by a
verb (doing or action word). So think about
1. what are the 2 things?
2. how do I think they are connected?
Examples: interface design influences user acceptance
factors affecting online friending behaviour
understanding of FB privacy policy can be linked to risky online
behaviour
Process modelling as a tool to identify potential problems in an IS sytem
 Verb/ action/ doing word

One thing.. ... by another thing

Influenced/ affected/ related to/ as a

tool to / a mechanism to

Your final statement will be more elegant as you consider other details which
are relevant; but this simpler approach allows you to get a clearer idea to work
with in the beginning.

Remember that you are looking for research that sounds similar to what you
want to do- or very closely related to it. Find a minimum of three (3) if you
want to be better than average find FIVE - articles sounding like your intended
study and follow my suggestions for exploring them (given below). If you have
the time, and especially if you do not gain a lot of information from your first 3
articles, consider looking for another 1 or 2. If you have tried 5 articles and
had no success with developing a problem statement you need to make
arrangements to see your supervisor.

3. Produce a BRIEF overview of each article by doing the following

Write down the full reference of the paper first (use this as the
heading).
Then write out their problem statement and sub-problems
What model/ framework/ theory is the author using?
http://istheory.byu.edu/wiki/Main_Page
A great place for info on IS theories if you come across them while
reading and need to learn more about them; to see if they would be
appropriate for your study or not.
Is there a specific factor (variable) or set of factors that the researcher
is investigating? What are they?
Where is the study being performed?
What data is being collected? Interviews? Questionnaires? Or? If there
are people involved - who is the person/ people the data is collected
from?
If there is a questionnaire being used: Is it a standard questionnaire (if
yes, which one? What is it called? Where can you get it? Online?)
Are the full questions of the questionnaire included as part of the paper
e.g. in an appendix? Are some of the questions available in the
discussion of the paper?
What is suggested by the author(s) as an area for further study (usually
in the conclusion/ recommendation section)?
Approx 2pgs each- max of 3pgs.
4. Use this information to create a problem statement a.k.a. Statement of
Purpose.
Given this information, you should try and create a problem statement which
is different from- yet similar to- those you have read. You may decide to look
at one of the issues suggested for further study? Or find that the questions
from 2 of the papers lead you to consider a slightly different problem which
may look at linking two of the ideas together.

5. Check the problem statement & develop Research Questions

Use the notes provided in RM, or from the textbook or websites, to check
whether the problem statement would meet the formal requirements: E.g.
Does it relate to IT/IS
Is not just a Yes/No answer
Is feasible you could do it and collect the data
Is correctly scoped so that it is quite specific and focused
Data is available and can be collected

6. Ask you supervisor to read your draft

Your supervisor can only help you if you have something which they can look
at. Provide a short paragraph of background on what makes you think this is
worthy of study; and then state the problem statement and research
questions. E-mail to your supervisor.

7. DO NOT TRY AND CONTINUE UNTIL THE PS IS DONE!!

The early stages of your research are the most important. The better defined
your problem and the greater your understanding of what you want to do and
why it is important- the better prepared you will be for the next stage. This
may take 2-3 repetitions before you have got the problem reasonably defined.
This MUST be performed in collaboration with your supervisor.

Contact details and working together.

I have numerous ways I can be contacted. I suggest that as my dissertation
students you may use any/ all of these but please do respect the fact that I
have a private life and family time. This contact information IS NOT for all
students! This is a privilege you receive as my dissertation student.

I consider us collaborating researchers and thus expect us to have a good,

professional, working relationship. However- I will be equally as demanding of
you as I am of myself. Do not expect me to rush around reading things for you
at the last minute if you have not been working consistently- I have my own
responsibilities and these cannot, and will not, be jeopardised because you
have been lazy or didnt plan ;-) I have a number of research students and
thus turnaround times are not immediate and submissions are handled via
FIFO.

That said, I will help you to deliver the very best you are capable of if you are
prepared to give of your very best. I endeavour to always give of my best- I
expect the same from you. If you are not comfortable with this it may be better
for us to meet and discuss your relocation to a different supervisor- where you
feel you are better able to perform. I will fully understand this and respect your
right to choose how you approach this activity.no problem :-D

RoseQ Contact details:

quillingr@ukzn.ac.za (always include this one!)
quilling@saol.com
rosemaryquilling@gmail.com (most reliable)
skype: I can be located as rqglobal Send me a contact request (explain who
you are if you have a catchy name- which is not your real name) This is a
good form of contact for me when I am working at home/ at night.
Facebook: Feel free to friend me and we can connect through FB chat.
https://www.facebook.com/rosequilling
I have however been using the platform for communication less regularly so
this has become less reliable as a quick contact.
cell: 083 979 0833 I prefer you sms me and then we can arrange to talk (I can
call you back) or I can read a mail you have advised has been sent.
Whatsapp: I am often available on whatsapp although not always. Check if
online to initiate contact this way. Otherwise use an sms
Landline: My office telephone number is my least reliable contact. Rather call
Bessie Sewsunker on 031-260 7051 if I am not contactable to ask her to
locate me or leave a message. My home number (only if first arranged by
sms/ IM) 031-2662059.

I have created a spreadsheet to store your details & so that you may contact
my other research paper students. This can be useful if you have similar
issues or want to share info. This is accessible at
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2-Pr6ZhWFKraGJjQUc5ZU9IVXM
The general folder for sharing docs is
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2-Pr6ZhWFKrV3R6b1NjY2gyWEk

Please provide me your contact details. These can be entered directly into
the spreadsheet (link above) or emailed to me if you have access issues.
Name(s)
Surname
The name you prefer to be called (may be a shortened form of your
name)
Student number
Alternative email. If more than one tell me which one you are most
likely to check
If you have one> a landline number. Tell me who to expect to answer
e.g. My parents Mr & Mrs X, or My aunt Mrs Y
Your cell number
An alternative cell number (and tell me who they are)

I hope this helps you get some structure to your process.

Regards
Rose:)

PS: Always supply your written docs as Word docs to simplify commenting.