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Premise Problem Statement Template Paragraph 1 - General Social Problem - The first paragraph will present approximately 3 sentences to provide the context of the social problem with citations

Sociology

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Premise Problem Statement Template

Paragraph 1 - General Social Problem - The first paragraph will present approximately 3 sentences to provide the context of the social problem with citations.

Sentence #1 - Begin the problem statement with the words, "The social problem of concern is...) and finish it with a citation.  The social problem provides the context for the social work practice (research) problem.  A social problem is an undesirable condition that has negative consequences. It has been defined as “large” in scope.  Finally, people in general believe it should be solved.

Sentence #2 describes the extent of this social problem with statistics and citations. Remember to use empirical evidence or governmental statistics that show the problem is current and significant.  You can provide national, regional, and local data but remember to frame the data to show the problem is current, relevant, and significant to professional social work practice.

Sentence #3 identifies the “so what” of the social problem. This sentence should read something like, "Without resolution, (restate social problem) could lead to xx, xx, and xx. This must connect to professional social work practice.  Use citations. 

Be sure to use recent scholarly citations (less than 5 years old) to provide evidence (a) others see this as a problem, (b) stats or information demonstrating the salience of the problem, and (c) consequences of the problem are related to social work practice. Include citations to support your statement.

Paragraph 2 - Specific Social Work Practice (Research) Problem - The second paragraph will document how the social problem relates to social work practice.  It describes the specific social work practice (research) problem that necessitates your research and focuses on what you hope to learn. Again, you only need 3 or so sentences for this paragraph.  Remember the social work practice (research) problem is a focused topic of concern, a condition to be improved upon, or troubling question, supported by scholarly literature, that you want to understand in more detail, and that can lead to recommendations for improving or enhancing social work practice.

Sentence #4 – Sentence 4 makes the transition to the specific social work practice (research) problem and offers justification a gap exists. It identifies the gap in social work practice knowledge as current, relevant, and significant to the professional practice of social work. Use citations.

Sentence #5 presents a sentence about WHY more information is needed – why do we need your study?  It needs to fulfill some practical application or gap in practice, as supported in the research literature that has relevance to the discipline and area of practice (e.g., inform stakeholders about best practices with youth experiencing cyber bullying OR help social work clinicians create better informed consent documents for clients undergoing TF-CBT, etc.) based on scholarly evidence.  Use citations.

Sentence #6 should begin “Through this study, I want to understand..." where you present language that sums up the social work practice (research) problem and the information you are seeking about it (this should be a short practical statement).  Ultimately, this statement MUST match with the purpose statement’s first sentence (where you will indicate your research approach and design) and the research question(s) for alignment.  Do not use a citation for this concluding sentence.