Designing a Conceptual Model of Research Problem Finding Using Meta-Synthesis Method

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Tarbiat Modares, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to foster a better understanding of research problem finding by integrating the qualitative and quantitative findings of prior research under a conceptual model. It reviews key findings, themes and ideas from selected published academic papers on research problem finding, with a specific focus on what factors affecting problem finding.
This article has conducted a meta-synthesis approach by adopting “Sandelowski and Barroso's” seven-step method to investigate what the features of research problem finding are, through interpretation of previous documents. The author conducted a literature review of all documents available in online databases that contained the word “problem finding” in either the title, abstract and/or keywords and with a discussion of problem finding in the main text.
In total, 38 scientific documents were analyzed in order to create a meta-synthesis of the primary findings. This process revealed 138 codes, 24 themes and 4 categories that outline issues related to the research problem finding. Personality feature; psychological feature; thinking feature (creative thinking and critical thinking); and educational feature were the components of the conceptual model.
Based on available data, this study is the first of its kind that has identified the features of research problem finding in four aspects. In addition, the number of factors identified in this study is greater and more comprehensive than that of any previous research. This study has also proposed a conceptual model and utilized a meta-synthesis approach that has never been conducted to date in the field of problem finding.

Keywords


منابع
دیانی، محمد حسین (۱۳۸۷). رواج مسئلهسازی و افول مسئلهیابی در تحقیقات کتابداری. کتابداری و
اطلاع رسانی، 11(1)، ۳-6.
References
Arlin, P. (1974). Problem finding: The relation between cognitive process variables
and problem finding performance (Doctoral dissertation).
Bair, C. R. (1999). Meta-synthesis. In annual meeting of the Association for the
Study of Higher Education, San Antonio, TX.
Barber, L. (1969). Children’s problem finding and creative responses in and
between reading and art (Master's thesis).
Basadur, M. (1979). Training in creative problem solving: effects on deferred
judgment and problem finding and solving in an industrial research
organization (Doctoral dissertation).
Brinkman, D. (1994). The effect of problem-finding and creativity style on the
musical compositions of high school students (Doctoral dissertation).
Catalano, A. (2013). Patterns of graduate students' information seeking behavior: A
meta-synthesis of the literature. Journal of Documentation, 69(2), 243-274.
Chand, I. & Runco, M. (1993). Problem finding skills as components in the creative
process. Personality and Individual Differences, 14(1), 155-162.
Chen, B., Hu, W., & Plucker, J. (2014). The effect of mood on problem finding in
scientific creativity. J Creat Behav, n/a-n/a.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Getzels, J. W. (1970). Concern for discovery: An
attitudinal component of creative production 1. Journal of Personality, 38(1), 91-105.
Dandan, T., Wenfu, L., Tianen, D., Nusbaum, H., Jiang, Q., & Qinglin, Z. (2013).
Brain mechanisms of valuable scientific problem finding inspired by heuristic knowledge. Exp Brain Res, 228(4), 437-443.
Dewey, J. (1960). The quest for certainty: A study of the relation of knowledge and
action. New York: Putnam.
Dillon, J. T. (1982). Problem finding and solving. The journal of creative behavior,
16(2), 97-111.
Dudek, S. Z., & Côté, R. (1994). Problem finding revisited. In M. A. Runco (Ed.),
Problem finding, problem solving and creativity (pp. 131–150). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Einstein, A., & Infeld, L. (1971). The evolution of physics: The growth of ideas from
early concepts to relativity and quanta. CUP Archive.
Fontenot, N. (1987). The effects of training in creativity and creative problem-
finding upon business people as measured by fluency, flexibility, and quality of the problem statement (Doctoral dissertation).
Franske, B. (2009). Engineering problem finding in high school students (Doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (UMI No. 3360344)
Glass, G. V. (1976). Primary, Secondary, and Meta-Analysis of Research 1.
Educational researcher, 5(10), 3-8.
Han, Q., Hu, W., Liu, J., Jia, X., & Adey, P. (2013). The influence of peer
interaction on students' creative problem-finding ability. Creativity Research Journal, 25(3), 248-258.
Holtz, J. (2002). Effect of graduate medical education on the divergent thinking and
problem finding abilities of resident physicians: A pilot study (Doctoral dissertation).
Hoover, S. (1994). Scientific problem finding in gifted fifth grade students. Roeper
Review, 16(3), 156-159.
Hoover, S. & Feldhusen, J. (1990). The scientific hypothesis formulation ability of
gifted ninth-grade students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 838-848.
Hu, W., Shi, Q., Han, Q., Wang, X., & Adey, P. (2010). Creative scientific problem
finding and its developmental trend. Creativity Research Journal, 22(1), 46-52.
Jay, E. (1996). The nature of problem finding in students' scientific inquiry (Doctoral
dissertation).
Jay, E. S., & Perkins, D. N. (1997). Creativity’s compass: A review of problem
finding. In M. A. Runco (Ed.), Creativity research handbook, Vol. 1. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Kay, S. (1989). Differences in figural problem-solving and problem-finding
behavior among professional, semiprofessional, and non-artists (Doctoral dissertation).
Kousoulas, F. & Mega, G. (2007). Creative and critical thinking in the context of
problem finding and problem solving: A research among students in primary school.
LaBanca, F. (2008). Impact of problem finding on the quality of authentic open
inquiry science research projects (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (UMI No. 3411366)
Lai, L. (1991). Selective attention in problem finding (Doctoral dissertation).
Retrieved from https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/162455/Lai_1991.pdf
Laidig, J. (1995). Problem finding, problem defining, and problem solving by novice
clinical teachers in nursing (Doctoral dissertation).
Lee, H. & Cho, Y. (2007). Factors affecting problem finding depending on degree of
structure of problem situation. The Journal of Educational Research, 101(2), 113-123.
Liu, M., Hu, W., Adey, P., Cheng, L., & Zhang, X. (2012). The impact of creative
tendency, academic performance, and self-concept on creative science problem-finding. Psych Journal, 2(1), 39-47.
McCaleb, G. (1979). Strategic problem finding for the foodservice manager
(Doctoral dissertation).
Mackworth, N. H. (1965). Originality. American Psychologist, 20(1), 51-66.
Noblit, G. W., & Hare, R. D. (1988). Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative
studies (Vol. 11). sage.
Okuda, S., Runco, M., & Berger, D. (1991). Creativity and the finding and solving
of real-world problems. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 9(1), 45-53.
Paletz, S. & Peng, K. (2009). Problem finding and contradiction: Examining the
relationship between naive dialectical thinking, ethnicity, and creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 21(2-3), 139-151.
Patricola, C. (2005). Impact of teachers' problem finding on their data finding and
problem defining (Doctoral dissertation).
Porath, M. (1974). IQ, cognitive level, and related information processing variables
as predictors of problem finding ability in intellectually gifted children (Master's thesis).
Reed, C. (1992). Problem-finding: An empirical investigation of problem finding
and personality characteristics of academically talented and intellectually gifted secondary students (Doctoral dissertation).
Ritchie, K. (2009). The Process of Problem Finding in Inquiry Education: A Focus
on Students' Experiences (Doctoral dissertation).
Robertson, S. I. (2004). Problem solving (Chinese ed.). Beijing: Zhongguo Qing
Gong Ye Chu Ban She.
Runco, M. A. (1994). Problem finding, problem solving, and creativity. Greenwood
Publishing Group.
Runco, M. A. (2003). Critical creative processes. Hampton Press.
Runco, M. A. (2014). Creativity: Theories and themes: Research, development, and
practice. Elsevier.
Runco, M. A., & Okuda, S. M. (1988). Problem discovery, divergent thinking, and
the creative process. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17(3), 211-220.
Sandelowski, M. & Barroso, J. (2003). Creating metasummaries of qualitative findings. Nursing Research, 52(4), 226-233.
Starko, A. J. (2000). Finding the problem finders: Problem finding and the
identification and development of talent.
Tan, Y. & Caleon, I. (2015). Problem finding in professional learning communities:
A learning study approach. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(2), 127-146.
Treffinger, D. J., Isaksen, S. G., & Stead-Dorval, K. B. (2006). Creative problem
solving: An introduction. Prufrock Press Inc..
Siu, K. W. M. (2002). Nurturing all-rounded problem solvers: Enabling students to
recognise, discover, and invent problems. Learning in Technology Education: Challenges for the 21st Century, Centre for Technology Education Research, Griffith University, Brisbane, 211-221.
Tracy, P. (2005). Design and problem-finding in high schools: A study of students
and their teacher in one Queensland school (Master's thesis).
Washton, N. S. (1967). Teaching science creatively: a taxonomy of pupil questions.
Science education, 51(5), 428-431.
Wertheimer, M. (1959). Productive thinking. M. Wertheimer (Ed.). New York:
Harper.
Weissman, S. (2007). Art making and metacognition: How visual artists approach
problem finding and problem solving (Doctoral dissertation).
Yoshioka, T., Suganuma, T., Tang, A., Matsushita, S., Manno, S., & Kozu, T.
(2005). Facilitation of problem finding among first year medical school students undergoing problem-based learning. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 17(2), 136-141.
Zimmer, L. (2006). Qualitative meta‐synthesis: a question of dialoguing with texts.
Journal of advanced nursing, 53(3), 311-318.
Zydney, J. (2004). The effect of different types of scaffolding in a multimedia
program on students' problem finding (Doctoral dissertation).