The example cited above can be broken down into several distinct parts.

The Craft of Argument emphasizes that Problem Statements are not:

Don’t forget, if you are introducing an argument, you are making a case for something.

We make arguments to solve problems. Problems can be either conceptual or pragmatic, but they always ask us to think or to act differently. A concise problem statement motivates the reader and sets the stakes for the argument to follow. Williams and Colomb teach us that problems have a familiar structure:

Problem = Destabilizing Condition + Cost [Negative Effect] or Consequence

In other words, before we can approach a solution, we need to understand and accept that we have a problem.

The Destabilizing Moment or Destabilizing Condition is the place where the problem becomes apparent. It often asserts the difference between what is – and – what should or can be. A good Problem Statement introduces a question and makes us aware of the costs that might result from it. Framed another way:

Problem = Question + Costs or Benefits

In order to acknowledge a problem, we need understand it to have costs and benefits that affect us. As readers and interlocutors, we must be motivated and influenced by those costs-we must accept the problem as something relevant to our lives and concerns. A powerful problem statement will be one for which we want, need, and are able to imagine a solution.

Costs are negative effects that impact or influence your intended audience. Costs can be monetary, but they can also be abstract, emotional, social or logistical. We call it a cost when bad things happen as a result of a certain course of action. Arguments should also consider as potential costs those missed opportunities that can result when decision makers fail to pursue new options and ideas.

Shows the costs or benefits of changing our point of view. The evidence in a conceptual argument often demonstrates how a given approach to the issue can change our perception of the problem. For example:

We usually think of climate change as a bad thing, but global warming could substantially lower heating costs.

Such a framing of the problem of global warming asks not “what should we do?” but rather “What should we think?” To be successful, a conceptual argument needs to demonstrate that something is missing from our understanding. Conceptual argument also has to show that there are costs if we fail to change – or benefits if we succeed in changing— our ideas.

Pragmatic costs answer the question “So What?” The answer always points to some form of negative effect or undesirable outcome. Readers are motivated by costs when the benefits of action or change outweigh the problems or difficulties of the status quo.

Examples: Pragmatic Costs

The consequences of a conceptual problem also answer the question “So What?” In contrast to pragmatic costs, however, they may simply demonstrate that not knowing, understanding, etc., is unacceptable.

Examples: Conceptual Costs

“We will fall behind in the space race.”

“We will never know what happened to the dinosaurs.”

Notice that in each of these cases, a conceptual problem could easily become a pragmatic problem if the author were to link the lack of knowledge (of the universe, of the dinosaurs) she describes to a practical consequence (compromised missile defense, gaps in understanding of prehistoric times, etc.) of not knowing.

The Status Quo refers in general to things as they are. To persuade people to change their minds or their actions, you must first convince them to reexamine the Status Quo. Stating the Status Quo creates common ground between the writer and the reader and

establishes certain shared information and assumptions. It also helps readers and listeners to place the problem you introduce in the context of your larger argument and their larger experience.

In general terms, the Destabilizing Moment

The Destabilizing Condition varies slightly in pragmatic and conceptual problems. For a pragmatic problem, the destabilizing condition often introduces a tangible cost. Examples include unforeseen events, changing conditions, or new situations. You can often find the destabilizing condition introduced by words like “but,” “however,” “actually,” “in fact,” “alternatively,” etc. In the case of a conceptual problem, the destabilizing condition takes the form of something your audience doesn’t know or would like to understand better. For readers to care about a conceptual problem, they have to perceive a cost to not thinking or understanding differently. Because conceptual costs are abstract as opposed to tangible, Williams and Colomb refer to them as “consequences.”

Questions motivate argument by raising relevant costs. Imagine facing a topic or issue like the one below:

“Light absorbers available at present provide far from optimal black-body performance” (Teperik, T.V. et al.).

You might respond:

“So what? I’m not particularly concerned with “optimal black-body performance.”

“Why is that my problem?”

The search for a persuasive and relevant approach to the problem in relation to the needs of a given audience is guided by just such a voice as that which intones the reader’s persistent “So What?” In this case, the writer responds:

“The need for more efficient absorbers is particularly acute on the microscale, where they can play a significant role in preventing crosstalk between optical interconnects, and also as thermal light-emitting sources” (Teperik, T.V. et al.).

To which you reply:

“So what? I’m not motivated by those needs, so I’m still not convinced that this is important.”

Having failed to find the answer that will satisfy the reader, the writer must try again to present the problem statement in a way that persuades the reader of the urgency of his argument. Remember, this involves establishing the status quo, unsettling it with a destabilizing condition, and proposing an answer or solution. Imagine that the writer responds by adding:

“Several efforts have been made in this context to achieve near-total but directionally dependent absorption using periodic grating … However, the ability to absorb light completely for any incident direction of light remains a challenge” (Teperik, T.V. et al.).

To which you reply:

“So what?”

And so on, ad infinitum…

Unless the writer can establish a set of stakes—an accounting of the costs and benefits—that can satisfy the reader of the importance of his problem.

“Here we show that total omnidirectional absorption of light can be achieved in nanostructured metal surfaces that sustain localized optical excitations. . . . We suggest that surfaces displaying omnidirectional absorption will play a key role in devising efficient photovoltaic cells in which the absorbed light leads to electron–hole pair production” (Teperik, T.V. et al.).

If I am passionately involved in “devising efficient photovoltaic cells in which the absorbed light leads to electron-hole pair production,” then this formulation of the problem has finally convinced me to read further. All of this goes to show that a problem statement cannot be considered finished until the author has established costs and benefits appropriate to the reading audience. We have given a convincing answer to the question, “So what?” when we identify the kinds of consequences that will matter to our readers and illustrate how the potential costs (or benefits) render the status quo unacceptable.

We evaluate the potential costs and benefits of our choices and actions every day. As we saw in the previous example, for an argument to sway audiences, readers need to recognize their own priorities and concerns in the costs, consequences, or benefits you present to them. Readers recognize as persuasive consequences those effects that would cause them either to benefit or to suffer in some way.

The solution is your response to the problem introduced by your claim. It can be a resolution or a proposed resolution of the issues introduced by the problem statement. Especially in business, professional, and technical situations, if you have stated the consequences in terms of costs, the solution should present the benefits of your proposed course of action. You need to answer the question, “How does this solution eliminate the perceived problem?”

Think:

Remember: LRS helps you to know what readers need by teaching you to question your own argument!

Even though arguments begin with Problem Statements, we don’t always start with a clear idea of how to express the problem. Problem statements themselves benefit from a process of revision. The step-wise development of the problem statement modeled in this discussion is designed to help you take your topic and gradually refine what you want to argue.

The five parts of the problem statement also supply many of the requirements of a good introduction, mapping out the issues and solutions that will later guide the choice of evidence and the course of discussion. For example, what serves as the Status Quo in a Problem Statement later resonates with the Common Ground you will present for your argument— the information orienting your audience to the context of your claim.

Fundamental to any problem statement is an awareness of what the audience needs to know to follow along with your argument. As you build effective, convincing problem statements out of your topics, you are asking yourself the same questions that your reader will need answered. Who or what? Why? So What? These elements will later guide your choice of evidence, not to mention your reasons and warrants for what you are arguing.

Good problem statements motivate good arguments