The Most Important Components of research problem as discussed by R. L. Ackoff are listed below:
(1) Research Consumer:
There must be individuals or groups which have some difficulty or problem. The individuals or the groups themselves may be researchers. There are other participants in the problem.
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All are affected by the decision on the part of the research consumer.
(2) Research-Consumer’s Objective:
There must be some objectives to be attained as the research consumer must have something he wants to get it. It one wants nothing, one cannot have a problem.
(3) Alternative Means to Meet the Objective:
There must be alternative means or the courses of action for attaining an objective one wishes to obtain. Means are courses of action. A course of action may involve the use of objects. Objects are the instruments. This means that there must be at least two means available to a researcher or if he has no choice or means, he cannot have a problem.
(4) Doubt in Regard to Selection of Alternatives:
The existence of alternative courses of action is not enough. To experience a problem the researcher must have some doubt as to which alternative to select. Without such a doubt there can be no problem. This means that research must answer the question concerning the relative efficiency of the possible alternative.
(5) There must be one or More Environments:
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There must be some environments to which the difficulty or problem pertains. A change in the environment may produce or remove a problem. A researcher may have doubts as to which will be the most efficient means in one environment but may entertain no such doubt in another. Some problems are quite general.
Thus, a research problem is one which requires a researcher to find out the best solution for the given problem so that the objective can be attained optimally in the context of a given environment.