Statement of the Problem Examples: 12 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Questions (2026)

12 original statement of the problem examples for STEM, ABM and HUMSS, with the general + specific questions format, weak vs strong table and matching statistics.

Quick answer

A statement of the problem (SOP) has one general question or aim, followed by numbered specific questions. In quantitative research, the specific questions usually ask about the profile, the level of each variable, and a significant relationship or difference (which gets a null hypothesis). In qualitative research, they ask about experiences, challenges and coping. Below are 12 original examples with the matching statistical tools.

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What Is a Statement of the Problem?

The statement of the problem (SOP) is the part of Chapter 1 that tells your reader exactly what your study will answer. In most Philippine Senior High School and college research papers, it has two parts:

General question (or general aim): one sentence that states the main purpose of the study. It names the variables, the respondents, the setting and the school year.
Specific questions: a numbered list of 3 to 6 questions that break the general aim into parts you can actually answer with your data.

Updated October 2026.

Everything else in your paper depends on the SOP. Your hypotheses come from it, your instrument is built to answer it, your statistical treatment in Chapter 3 is matched to it, and your Chapter 4 tables and Chapter 5 conclusions follow its exact order. If the SOP is vague, the whole paper becomes vague. That is why panels spend so much time on it.

Outside the Philippines, the same idea is usually called research questions (or "research aims and objectives"), and the "problem statement" is a short paragraph about the gap. The examples on this page work for both styles.

Jump to: Format · Quantitative examples · Qualitative examples · Weak vs strong · SOP to hypotheses and statistics · FAQ

Statement of the Problem Format: General Question + Specific Questions

Most schools accept this template. Fill in the brackets with your own variables and respondents.

General question: This study aims to determine the [relationship between / effect of / level of] [variable 1] and [variable 2] of [respondents] of [school or place], S.Y. [year]. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

What is the profile of the respondents in terms of: (a) [age], (b) [sex], (c) [other relevant profile variable]?
What is the level of [independent variable] of the respondents in terms of: (a) [indicator], (b) [indicator], (c) [indicator]?
What is the level of [dependent variable] of the respondents?
Is there a significant relationship between [variable 1] and [variable 2]?
Is there a significant difference in [variable] when the respondents are grouped according to profile?

Not every study needs all five. A simple descriptive study may stop at question 2 or 3. But the order matters: describe first, then test. Questions 1 to 3 are descriptive (answered by frequency, percentage, mean and SD). Questions 4 and 5 are inferential (answered by a statistical test, so each needs a null hypothesis).

General question — One main aim: variables, respondents, setting, year
Specific questions — Profile → levels → relationship or difference
Hypotheses — One H₀ for each inferential question
Statistical treatment — One tool matched to each question in Chapter 3
Chapter 4 and 5 — Tables and conclusions in the same order as the SOP

A Full Statement of the Problem Example (Annotated)

This is the same running example used in our quantitative research example, so you can see how the SOP connects to all five chapters. It is illustrative: the school and study are not real.

Title: Study Habits and Academic Performance of Grade 12 STEM Students

Statement of the problem. This study aims to determine the relationship between study habits and the academic performance of Grade 12 STEM students of [School Name], S.Y. 2025–2026. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following:

What is the level of study habits of the respondents in terms of: (a) time management, (b) note-taking, (c) test preparation, and (d) concentration?
What is the academic performance of the respondents based on their first-semester general weighted average (GWA)?
Is there a significant relationship between the respondents' study habits and their academic performance?

Hypothesis. H₀: There is no significant relationship between the study habits and academic performance of Grade 12 STEM students.

Statement of the Problem Quantitative Examples (STEM, ABM, HUMSS)

The examples below are original and illustrative, written by our team for teaching. Change the respondents, setting and indicators to fit your own study. Do not copy them word for word; your teacher will expect your own topic and context. For more topic ideas, see our research title examples.

Example 1 (STEM, correlational): Screen Time and Sleep Quality

General question: This study aims to determine the relationship between screen time and sleep quality of Grade 11 STEM students of [School Name], S.Y. 2025–2026.

What is the profile of the respondents in terms of: (a) age, (b) sex, and (c) main device used?
What is the average daily screen time of the respondents on: (a) school days and (b) weekends?
What is the level of sleep quality of the respondents?
Is there a significant relationship between screen time and sleep quality?

H₀: There is no significant relationship between the screen time and sleep quality of the respondents.

Example 2 (STEM, quasi-experimental): Game-Based Learning in Mathematics

General question: This study aims to determine the effect of game-based learning on the mathematics performance of Grade 9 students of [School Name], S.Y. 2025–2026.

What are the pretest scores of the control and experimental groups?
What are the posttest scores of the control and experimental groups?
Is there a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of each group?
Is there a significant difference between the posttest scores of the control and experimental groups?

H₀: There is no significant difference between the posttest scores of students taught with game-based learning and those taught with the traditional method.

Example 3 (STEM, experimental): Banana Peel Extract as Plant Fertilizer

General question: This study aims to determine the effect of banana peel extract on the growth of pechay (Brassica rapa) plants.

What is the mean height of pechay plants after 30 days in: (a) 0%, (b) 25%, (c) 50%, and (d) 75% banana peel extract?
What is the mean number of leaves of the plants in each treatment?
Is there a significant difference in plant height and number of leaves among the four treatments?

H₀: There is no significant difference in the growth of pechay plants among the different concentrations of banana peel extract.

Example 4 (ABM, descriptive-comparative): Financial Literacy of Senior High Students

General question: This study aims to assess the level of financial literacy of Grade 12 ABM students of [School Name], S.Y. 2025–2026.

What is the profile of the respondents in terms of: (a) sex, (b) weekly allowance, and (c) parents' occupation?
What is the level of financial literacy of the respondents in terms of: (a) budgeting, (b) saving, (c) borrowing, and (d) investing?
Is there a significant difference in the level of financial literacy when the respondents are grouped according to profile?

H₀: There is no significant difference in the financial literacy of the respondents when grouped according to sex, weekly allowance and parents' occupation.

Example 5 (ABM, correlational): Social Media Marketing and Purchase Intention

General question: This study aims to determine the relationship between social media marketing and the purchase intention of college students toward local food businesses in [City].

What is the level of exposure of the respondents to social media marketing in terms of: (a) content quality, (b) influencer endorsement, and (c) online promotions?
What is the level of purchase intention of the respondents?
Is there a significant relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention?
Which dimension of social media marketing best predicts purchase intention?

H₀₁: There is no significant relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention. H₀₂: No dimension of social media marketing significantly predicts purchase intention.

Example 6 (HUMSS, correlational): Parental Involvement and Reading Comprehension

General question: This study aims to determine the relationship between parental involvement and the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students of [School Name], S.Y. 2025–2026.

What is the level of parental involvement in terms of: (a) home supervision, (b) communication with school, and (c) learning support at home?
What is the level of reading comprehension of the respondents based on the [school's reading assessment]?
Is there a significant relationship between parental involvement and reading comprehension?

H₀: There is no significant relationship between parental involvement and the reading comprehension of Grade 7 students.

Example 7 (HUMSS, descriptive-associational): Gadget Ownership and Passing Rate

General question: This study aims to determine whether gadget ownership is associated with passing or failing Grade 10 Araling Panlipunan in [School Name].

What is the distribution of the respondents according to gadget ownership (none, phone only, phone and laptop)?
What is the distribution of the respondents according to their final grade (passed or failed)?
Is there a significant association between gadget ownership and passing or failing?

H₀: There is no significant association between gadget ownership and passing or failing the subject.

Statement of the Problem Qualitative Examples

Qualitative research questions are open. They ask "what", "how" and "why", never "is there a significant…". They have no hypotheses and no statistical tools; the answers become themes from interviews or focus groups (thematic analysis). A common pattern is: experiences → challenges → coping or strategies → insights or recommendations. Compare with the full qualitative research example.

Example 8 (STEM, phenomenology): Lived Experiences of Working Students

General question: This study aims to explore the lived experiences of working Grade 12 STEM students of [School Name] in balancing work and studies.

What are the experiences of working STEM students in balancing work and academic requirements?
What challenges do they encounter in school and at work?
How do they cope with these challenges?
What insights can they share with other students who plan to work while studying?

Example 9 (ABM, case study): Survival Strategies of Sari-Sari Store Owners

General question: This study aims to describe the strategies of sari-sari store owners in Barangay [Name] in sustaining their business amid rising prices.

What challenges do sari-sari store owners face because of rising prices?
What strategies do they use to keep customers and maintain profit?
How do they manage credit ("utang") from regular customers?
What support do they need from the local government?

Example 10 (HUMSS, phenomenology): Experiences of Learners With Teachers Who Use Taglish

General question: This study aims to explore how Grade 11 HUMSS students experience the use of Taglish (code-switching) by their teachers in class discussions.

How do the students describe their teachers' use of code-switching in class?
How does code-switching affect their understanding of the lessons?
What are their preferences about the language of instruction, and why?

Example 11 (General, narrative): Experiences of Teachers in Remedial Reading Classes

General question: This study aims to understand the experiences of public school teachers handling remedial reading classes.

What are the experiences of teachers in handling remedial reading classes?
What challenges do they encounter in preparing materials and monitoring learners?
What strategies do they find effective?
What recommendations do they give to improve the remedial program?

Example 12 (Mixed methods): Mental Health Awareness Among College Freshmen

General question: This study aims to determine the level of mental health awareness of college freshmen of [University] and explore their help-seeking experiences.

What is the level of mental health awareness of the respondents? (quantitative: survey, mean and SD)
Is there a significant difference in mental health awareness when respondents are grouped according to sex and program? (quantitative: t-test / ANOVA)
What are the experiences of the respondents in seeking help for mental health concerns? (qualitative: interviews, thematic analysis)
What barriers keep them from using the guidance and counseling office? (qualitative)

H₀: There is no significant difference in mental health awareness when respondents are grouped according to sex and program.

Weak vs Strong Research Questions

Most revision comments on the SOP are about the same few problems: questions that are yes/no without a test, questions that cannot be measured, questions that are too broad, and questions that mix quantitative and qualitative wording. The table shows how to fix each one.

Weak vs strong specific questions
Feature	Weak	Strong
Too broad	What is the effect of technology on students?	Is there a significant relationship between daily screen time and the sleep quality of Grade 11 STEM students?
Not measurable	Are students happy with online classes?	What is the level of satisfaction of the respondents with online classes in terms of (a) content, (b) teacher interaction, and (c) internet access?
Yes/no with no test	Do study habits affect grades?	Is there a significant relationship between study habits and the GWA of the respondents?
Answer already known	Is social media popular among students?	What is the level of social media use of the respondents in terms of hours per day and number of platforms?
Mixed wording	What are the experiences of students and is there a significant difference?	Split into two: a qualitative question on experiences, and a quantitative question on the difference.
Causal claim in correlational design	Does screen time cause poor sleep?	Is there a significant relationship between screen time and sleep quality? (Only an experiment can test cause.)
No respondents or setting	What is the level of financial literacy?	What is the level of financial literacy of Grade 12 ABM students of [School] in terms of budgeting, saving and borrowing?

How the Statement of the Problem Links to Hypotheses and Statistical Tools

The wording of each specific question tells you which statistical tool to use. Learn these patterns and Chapter 3 becomes much easier. Remember: only inferential questions (relationship, difference, association, effect, prediction) get a null hypothesis. Descriptive questions ("What is the level of…", "What is the profile of…") do not.

A good habit: write your SOP, hypotheses and statistical treatment side by side in one table before you collect any data. Show it to your adviser or statistician. If a question has no matching tool, or a tool has no matching question, fix it now. For the full methodology chapter, see our research methodology example.

SOP wording → hypothesis → statistical tool
Feature	Needs H₀?	Statistical tool	Example from this page
"What is the profile of the respondents in terms of…"	No	Frequency and percentage	Example 1, Q1
"What is the level of [variable]…"	No	Weighted mean and standard deviation	Example 4, Q2
"Is there a significant relationship between X and Y?" (both numeric)	Yes	Pearson r (or Spearman rho for ranks/ordinal data)	Example 6, Q3
"Is there a significant difference between two groups?"	Yes	Independent samples t-test	Example 2, Q4
"Is there a significant difference between pretest and posttest?"	Yes	Paired samples t-test	Example 2, Q3
"Is there a significant difference among three or more groups?"	Yes	One-way ANOVA	Example 3, Q3
"Is there a significant association between two categories?"	Yes	Chi-square test of independence	Example 7, Q3
"Which factor best predicts Y?"	Yes	Multiple linear regression	Example 5, Q4
"What are the experiences / challenges / coping…" (qualitative)	No	Thematic analysis (no statistics)	Example 8, Q1–Q4

How to Write Your Own Statement of the Problem (6 Steps)

Start from your title. The title already names your variables and respondents. "Study Habits and Academic Performance of Grade 12 STEM Students" gives you the general question almost for free.
Read related studies first. Look at how published studies on your topic measure the same variables. Their indicators (sub-variables) become your "in terms of (a), (b), (c)". Searching a few real studies takes 15 minutes and saves weeks of revision.
Write the general question with all four parts: variables, respondents, setting, school year.
List specific questions in order: profile (only if you will use it) → level of each variable → relationship, difference or effect.
Write one null hypothesis for each inferential question. Use "There is no significant…".
Match each question to a tool using the table above, and check that your instrument actually collects the data each question needs.

When you finish, your SOP should feed directly into your conceptual framework: the variables in your specific questions are the boxes in your diagram. See our conceptual framework examples for how to draw it, and our Chapter 1 research example to see the SOP in context with the background, significance and scope.

FAQ

What is an example of a statement of the problem?

"This study aims to determine the relationship between study habits and the academic performance of Grade 12 STEM students of [School], S.Y. 2025–2026. Specifically: (1) What is the level of study habits in terms of time management, note-taking, test preparation and concentration? (2) What is the respondents' academic performance based on GWA? (3) Is there a significant relationship between study habits and academic performance?"

What is a statement of the problem quantitative example?

Any SOP whose specific questions can be answered with numbers and statistics is quantitative. Examples 1 to 7 above are quantitative: they ask about levels (mean), differences (t-test, ANOVA), relationships (Pearson r) and associations (chi-square).

What are some research questions examples for qualitative research?

"What are the lived experiences of working students in balancing work and studies?", "What challenges do they encounter?", "How do they cope?" Qualitative questions are open-ended and are answered with themes, not statistics.

How many specific questions should a statement of the problem have?

Usually 3 to 6. Fewer than 3 is often too thin; more than 6 makes Chapter 4 very long. Every question must be answered in Chapter 4 and concluded in Chapter 5, so only include questions you can actually answer with your data.

Does every research question need a hypothesis?

No. Only inferential questions (significant relationship, difference, association, effect or prediction) need a null hypothesis. Descriptive questions about profile or level, and all qualitative questions, do not.

What is the difference between the statement of the problem and the research objectives?

They say the same thing in different forms. The SOP is written as questions ("What is the level of…?"); objectives are written as aims ("To determine the level of…"). Some schools ask for one, some for both. Follow your template.

Should I include the profile of respondents in my SOP?

Only if you will use it, for example to test "significant difference when grouped according to profile". If profile data is collected just to describe the sample, many advisers prefer it in the methodology instead.

Can I copy these statement of the problem examples?

Use them as templates, not as your own work. Change the variables, respondents, setting and indicators to fit your study, and base your indicators on real studies you have read and cited.