A research problem in general refer to some difficulty which a researcher experiences in the context of either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution for the same. Usually we say that a research problem does exist if the followings condition are met with:
a.There must be an individual { or a group or an organization} let us cell it I to whom the problem can be attributed. The individual or the organization as the case may be occupies an environment say N which is defined by values of the uncontrolled variables Y j .
b.There must be al least two courses of action say C1 and C2 to be pursued. A course of actions is defined by one or more values of the controlled variables. For example the number of items purchased at a specified time is said to be one course of actions.
c. The must be at least two possible outcomes say O1 and O2 of the course of action of which one should be preferable to the other. In other words this means that there must be at least one outcome that the researcher want i ,e an objective.
d. The course of action available must provide some chance of obtaining the objective but they cannot provide the same chance otherwise the choice would not matter. This if P {O j/ I, C j, N} represents the probability that an outcome O j will occur , if select C j in N then P { O1/I, C1 ,N} # P ( O1 / I ,C2 ,N ). In simple words we can say that the choice must have unequal efficiencies for the desired outcomes.