Problem Statement
Problem statement for a thesis
The problem statement of MSc thesis defines the setting, focus and purpose of the work. The key questions that should be answered by a reasonable research plan can be summarized as follows [1]:
- Problem statement
- Unit of study: About what?
- Motivation: Why?
- Research goal: What do we want to know?
- Research questions: What do we want to know specifically?
- Relevant concepts & theory: Meaning of key terms; What do we know already?
- Research design
- What are we going to do to answer the questions?
- What method do we use?
- Validation of the results
- Is this going to answer our questions?
- How do you plan to interpret the results?
Depending on the topic and type of the thesis, there may be several additional questions that need to be answered. A good set of guidelines for work containing some form of evaluation can be found in the paper linked above.
When planning and carrying out your MSc work, it is important to understand what a reader would expect from such work. The theses should exhibit the application of the principles of repeatability, reproducibility and rigor [2], and it is recommended to plan for appropriate measures during the definition of the problem statement.
Additional questions to help self-evaluate the problem statement. If in doubt, please discuss them with your supervisor.
Questions that need to have answers:
- Is it clear what is going to be done? (Kas on selge, mida töös teha plaanitakse?)
- Have you stated the goals that you will attempt to achieve by doing the work? (Kas on püstitatud töös saavutatavad eesmärgid ja oodatav tulemus?)
- Is the student aware of alternative solutions and background? (Kas tudeng on teadlik valdkonna tasutast ja alternatiivsetest lahendustest?)
- Is it stated how the goals are going to be achieved? (Kas on kirjeldatud, kuidas plaanitakse eesmärke saavutada?)
- What methodology is used for the approach? Is the methodology adequate for solving the proposed problem? (Mis meetoodikat kasutatakse antud lähenemises? Kas antud metoodika on adekvaatne ülesande lahendamiseks?)
- Is it clear how the results will be validated? Is it valid from the engineering point of view? (Kuidas plaanitakse kontrollida, kas saavutatud tulemus on adekvaatne? Kas see võrdlus on planeeritud insenerlikult?)
- How current/relevant/novel the topic is? (Kui aktuaalne/uudne teema on?)
- Is the planned solution realistic? (Kas planeeritav lahendus on realistlik?)
- How complex the planned task is on the scale easy/average/hard? (Kui keeruline ülesanne on (skaalal lihtne / keskmine / keerukas)?)
- Is the problem suitable for a MSc thesis? (Kas ülesanne on sobiv magistritöö raames lahendamiseks?)