Focus: Doctoral Study Planning: Developing a Problem Statement

Throughout the DIT program, you may have been thinking about areas of research interest for your doctoral study. Your problem is something you want to address or for which you want to find a solution. You may uncover a potential problem for your study as you think about some practical changes in IT that are needed to address real problems in your community, your organization, or your role. You may also uncover a potential problem as you explore the literature in the IT field.

Questions you may ask to help you define a problem include the following:

• What is an issue that resonates with you and that you believe is inadequately addressed in the literature?
• What crucial issue in the IT field or the literature may be unclear or in dispute?
• What IT intervention or IT program in your organization is in need of developing or implementing?
• What critical issue in IT is in need of change?

This Discussion will help you refine and hone your initial problem statement for your doctoral study into a viable statement.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review:
  • Creswell, J. W. (2013).Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
    • Chapter 4, "Five Qualitative Approaches to Inquiry"
    • Chapter 6, "Introducing and Focusing the Study"
  • The "Research Design Considerations Flowchart" document
  • The "FAQs to Accompany the Research Design Considerations Flowchart" document
  • The "FAQs to Accompany Preparing a Good Qualitative Study" document
  • This week's web resources on conducting peer reviews
  • The DIT Doctoral Study Premise (Focus on the requirements for writing a problem statement.)

By Day 3:

Post a draft of a problem statement according to the requirements stipulated in DIT Doctoral Study Premise.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the reading(s) and/or media segment(s) and use APA format.