Towards an Integrated Framework for Research Problem Development: Evidence from a Systematic Literature Review

Developing a clear and defensible research problem is fundamental to rigorous scholarly inquiry. However, many postgraduate students and early-career researchers struggle to move from a broad area of interest to a focused, researchable and well-justified problem. Existing methodological guidance is fragmented, and no clear picture shows how research problems are identified, formulated, and presented as an interrelated process. This research therefore aimed to develop a systematic approach to research problem development in the social sciences and humanities, particularly relevant to education research. We conducted a qualitative systematic literature review within the PRISMA 2020 framework. We searched Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar between 2000 and 2026. After screening and quality assessment, we analysed 52 papers using reflexive thematic synthesis. The results indicate that research problem development takes place in a series of interconnected stages of identification, formulation, and articulation, based on professional experience, theoretical tensions, needs assessments, literature gaps, relevance, originality, theoretical grounding, feasibility, evidence, and researcher competencies. We also found that strong problem statements combine context, evidence, justification and expected contribution. These findings form the basis of the Integrated Research Problem Development Framework (IRPDF). This four-phase model views research problem development as an integrated process of scholarly reasoning rather than a one-dimensional writing task. It provides a practical, theoretically grounded resource for doctoral supervision and training, proposal development, and improving research coherence and quality, and it is theoretically derived and still awaiting empirical validation.