Sample Problem Statement

The Problem

Food processing and preservation transforms raw foods such as meat, vegetables, fruits and marine products into tasty, nutritious and safe to eat foods. Fruits in particular deteriorate when it has reached its stage of ripeness. In various processing methods employed, dehydration is an intermediate step in turning raw agricultural products into retail products. Dehydration makes the conventional food and pharmaceutical industries possible and profitable (Francis,2000). Dehydration under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity to a specific point and in a given time ensures superior quality of the finished product. Dehydration is one of the oldest processing techniques that offer a means of preserving foods especially fruits in a stable and safe condition. It also provides extended shelf life to fresh fruits. It is estimated that drying costs less than canning and one-fourth as much as freezing.

Dehydration techniques at present either employ solar drying methods or mechanically heated air (Nury,et.al.,1973). The equipment used for dehydration depends to a large extent upon the nature of the product being dried, the desired form of the finished product, economics, operating conditions and the technical know-how of the people doing the process (Hendly, 2000).

The technology in food dehydration can be learned at the secondary level of education and in vocational schools as well. It can be included in the home and technology subject in the Makabayan component of the Restructured Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC). The Makabayan subject in the RBEC is composed of home economics, music, arts and health education. Moreover, food dehydration technology can be offered as a new two-year course in vocational schools to give high school graduates who does not  wish to go to college an option to be an entrepreneur in the food business and related field.

The competency based format provides the means for monitoring student progress and intended to be the fundamental guide to schools for program content. The focus of said strand infusion is on food preparation, preservation, processing and related consumer topics as an added entrepreneurial concept.

The proposed teachers’ manual will emphasize full class participation and teamwork as well as individual projects and/or study. The teacher handling the subject is the facilitator and the manager of the classroom environment. The focus will be more on laboratory and project-based instruction designed to enable and inspire students to develop high-level analytical skills. Project-based learning and teaching is an inductive teaching method that begins with an assignment to carry out one or more tasks that lead to the production of a final product – a design, model or device. The culmination of the project is a written or oral report summarizing the procedural steps used to produce the product and presenting the outcome to the whole group.

Aside from modifying the experimental dehydrator through design analysis and modeling, an option window for experimentation can be carried out to come up with a comparative analysis on the quality and economics of a locally fabricated table top dehydrator that can be crafted by the school learners as an output or project.

Thesis Problem Statement

A good problem statement is answering a question about the issue you would like to research or explore. Your task is to know what question you would like to answer.  It involves a topic selection.

To write a problem statement, it is important to create and set up a thesis statement.  Identifying your thesis statement is one way of creating your problem statement.  Also, as part of problem statement, you must identify several solutions to the problem. These solutions are presented after the problem has been identified.

Once the problem is identified, several solutions are ready to be presented. Make your problem statement more informative by addressing the who, where, when, why and how.  Now you can create the conclusion by restating the problem and main ideas that you are trying to address.

It is necessary to brainstorm to come up with a problem statement so that your topic will become specific. Avoid writing multiple problems or broad topic because it can lead to unsuccessful thesis and vague documents.

Thesis statement should state exactly what your research will be all about to keep your topic manageable. Your thesis statement needs to have a concise conclusion. Also, it is a point of discussion in the entire document.

Sample Statement of the Problem

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study is to develop a source material in food dehydration craft technology which can be used by Makabayan teachers in teaching food dehydration in the Home Economics class. The purpose of the study is to answer the following questions:

  1. What will be the contents of the source material?
  2. What content/s is/are most applicable and doable for practical use of the teachers?
  3. How could secondary school teachers integrate food dehydration methods in the Makabayan subject?
  4. How to use a project based approach in the construction and design of the proposed source material?

By: Engr. Mary Rose Florence S. Cobar, Doctor of Philosophy in Education
Thesis title: “Development of a Source Material in Food Dehydration Craft Technology for the Secondary Schools”