Problem Statement

The Problem Statement in a proposal is typically the first part and comprises about a quarter to one-third of the document. The section should be headed with the words Problem Statement or Problem. As described in your textbook, the problem you hope to solve with your proposal should be significant, solvable, and limited in scope (or local).   The Problem Statement is largely descriptive, but you should draw on some of the analytical skills you have developed in the class thus far. To understand the problem, your reader may need to have a sense of what caused it. Thus, you might draw on skills developed in writing the causal analysis. Alternatively, it might be better to see the problem in its component parts as in an evaluation.   Below, read the explanations about “significance,” “use of sources,” “prior solutions,” and “closing the statement.” Use them as a guide when you write, making sure the Problem Statement fulfills the specific assignment requirements as well as the rhetorical aims and expectations of typical proposal arguments. Note: Secondary section headings are NOT required in your Problem Statement. As such, the four topics described here should not appear as the section subheadings to structure your document. Instead, when you address questions of “significance” and “prior solution” in the Problem Statement, organize your explanations into distinct paragraph(s) that feature clear topic sentences, logical flow of ideas, expansion of evidence and analysis, and strong coherence.   Significance Ultimately, your job is to get your reader on board by proving that the problem exists and that it is significant, in other words that many people are affected or a group of people is affected in a significant way. This aspect of the problem statement is so important that many requests for proposals (or RFPs) require a separate section devoted to significance. Your reader should be left with the idea that this is a serious problem that he or she has to, or wants to, help.(unemployment issues affects a lot, economy, people’s life)   Use of Sources Your sources may help you establish how big the problem is or how many people are affected. You might also use sources to provide data that helps your reader understand the cause or effect of the problem. Because the accuracy of the information is so important (to establish your credibility and convince your reader to help), your sources must be scholarly or academic. Also be sure to cite sources correctly using MLA documentation format and style on a separate Works Cited page at the end of your Problem Statement. Besides listing the full citation entries on the Works Cited page, you need to include parenthetical in-text citations in the Problem Statement for each source per MLA guidelines. Introduce in-text citations using signal phrases where appropriate. Overall, the Problem Statement must cite a minimum of 2 scholarly sources, though you can incorporate additional sources too.   Prior Solutions If others have tried to solve the problem but have failed, you can talk about those attempts in your Problem Statement. Essentially what you will be doing is foreclosing potential criticism that you haven’t thought of this other possible solution. You will be ruling it out so that your solution will be sound more convincing.(setting up , set up some policy for company to give employee who will be fired some buffer period, in this fashion, workers will have time to find new job or some other to ensure his life.)   Closing the Statement Close your Problem Statement in a way that leads into the Solution, which will come next. Returning to the importance of solving the problem may make for a good transition.