第一步（陈述 1）：叙述某特定情况、现象等的目标情况或理想状态。勾勒出理想的情况（该期待或预期什么）。

第二步（陈述 2）：叙述目前有可能阻碍达到或实现第一步中讨论中要达到的目标、状态或价值的情况。勾勒出现实情况，构建应该要有的情况与目前的情况的落差。

第三步：利用转折语 but、however、unfortunately 或 in spite of 来连接第一步和第二步的内容。

第四步（陈述 3）：利用特定信息，表现出第二步中所述的情况除非做些什么，才有改善的希望，然后通过预测可能的解决方案能带来的结果来强调研究的好处。

以下示范如何依照上述步骤写出问题陈述：

范例 2

第一步（陈述 1）

The government of Kenya has a goal to industrialize the nation by the year 2030 (quote). In this regard it has encouraged growth-oriented micro and small enterprises (MSEs) that should graduate into medium and large enterprises capable of contributing to the industrialization goal. There are several sessional papers (quote/cite) that contain specific measures to encourage and support MSEs.

第二、三步（陈述 2）

Despite the said government efforts, there is slow growth of micro into small enterprises and even slower growth of small into medium scale enterprises (quote, show statistics). The government has officially acknowledged that there exists a “missing middle” in Kenya meaning that there is a gap between small and large enterprises in the country (cite, quote).

第四步（陈述 3）

Should the “missing middle” gap persist, the industrialization goal may be difficult to achieve. A need therefore arises to investigate why there is a persistent “missing middle” despite government efforts.

范例 3

陈述 1

In order to accomplish their missions, public universities need motivated workforces.

陈述 2

There are, however, frequent and severe disciplinary actions, absenteeism, as well as various forms of unrest in public universities which affect the accomplishment of the set missions. Our preliminary investigation reveals that both non-management and management staff are under motivated.

陈述 3

Without effective motivational packages and procedures, the said vices are likely to continue and retard the achievement of the universities’ missions.

Thus, there is a need to examine the public universities’ motivation systems and procedures, which is the aim of the proposed research.

范例 4

陈述 1

The Ministry of Youth is dedicated to allocating enterprise development funds to both the youth and women. These funds are made available in order to start entrepreneurial ventures that create and expand employment. (Provide relevant statistics and quote)

陈述 2

One of the main focuses of the ministry is consistency. Unfortunately, consistency in allocating funds to the next generation of recipients requires prior knowledge of previous allocations and established practices. The current continuous disbursement method does not allow for adequate analysis of previous disbursements before a current disbursement is done.

陈述 3

Continuing with this current disbursement method prevents consistency and causes decisions to become grossly political, which in turn inhibits the achievement of the goals of the funds. Developing a more informed disbursement system could help better implement the consistency focus of the ministry and at the same time help the ministry better monitor and evaluate its funds.

This proposed research aspires to explore options for a new funds disbursement system that would focus on consistency. To do this, the researcher will carry out a full stakeholder analysis and use it to propose appropriate policy interventions.

另一种方式

另一种撰写问题陈述的方式是使用模版，以下是对科研人员来说比较实用的模版：

There is a problem in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­______________________(e.g. organization or situation where problem is occurring). Despite ___________________________(efforts to prevent or deter), _____________________(something undesirable or unexpected) is occurring (provide evidence). This problem has negatively affected_____________(victims of the problem) because_____________________________. A possible cause of this problem is ___________________________. Perhaps a study which investigates_________________ by a ___________(paradigm/method) could help resolve the situation.

以下是利用上面的模版写出的问题陈述范例：

An established trend in the small business start-up financing in Kenya is to establish funds. Some of these funds include the youth fund and women fund. These funds have helped improve the rate of start-ups in the country. However, after the start-up stage, the ventures start developing problems. First, they face problems in management which lead to a marketing problem and eventually to stagnation and early exit.

A study by the Institute of Development Studies (RoK, 2004) revealed that only 38% of the businesses are expanding while 58% have not added workers. According to the survey, more enterprises are likely to close in their first three years of operation. Four years later the same institute conducted another study in Central Kenya. This study revealed that 57% of small businesses are in stagnation with only 33% of them showing some level of growth.

In our current project, we propose to examine factors that have an impact on small business sustainability. We will employ both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather both primary and secondary data and information with the objective of determining success factors for the growth of small business in Kenya.

Specifically, we shall employ the product life cycle (PLC) model to identify the needs of a small business at the various stages of the PLC.

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参考资料

1. RoK, (2008). Economic Survey. Nairobi, Kenya. Government Printer.

2. Nyaga C.N. (2009). Non-financial constraints hindering growth of SMEs in Kenya: The case of plastic manufacturing companies in industrial area in Nairobi county.  (A masters  research thesis, University of Nairobi).

3. Nyagah C.N. (2013). Non-financial constraints hindering growth of SME’S in Kenya: the case of plastic manufacturing companies in industrial area in Nairobi County (Doctoral dissertation).

【本文改编自 Mukmik consultants 网站发表的文章 Is it problem statement or statement of the problem? ，经作者授权转载。】