Sometimes a beautifully written description of a problem is necessary in order for one to get the funds etc to work on the problem, so I think the question is a fair one.

What your proposal should focus on is the "so what" question, i.e. offer a justification for why this question is important and what answering it would offer in practical ans scholarly terms. Hope that helps...

The entire issue of Respiratory Care 2004 Vol 49, Issue 10 was devoted to how-to articles on research and publication.

In particular see:

Durbin CG, How to come up with a good research question: Framing the hypothesis RespirCare 2004;49(10):1195-1198

Nothing replaces a good book ... particularly one in its seventh or eighth edition! Read the first four chapters of Kate L. Turabian's book : A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations. It is revised by the tenors of good writing: Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams.

As stated before, your question is pretty general and therefore an answere can be nothing but general: for a research proposal you should outline the topic; what are you dealing with? What is the history of the issue? If you are dealing with amputation, how has been the history in that country? Has there been any change in dealing with amputations? What research has already been done on it? What aspects have been neglected up to this point? Why is it necessary to deal with those questions now? Has there been a recent development in health-system/health-care/health and social policy?  Why would anyone need your research? Would your research help understanding the issue and would it be an asset for healthcare?

You basically need to illustrate that you know what you are talking about, that you know all the research done on the topic and therefore are the right person to do the research. If a lot of research has already done on it, justify why we need even more research. Whats new about your research? If there hasn't been done any research, how come? Why is it important if nobody else has been interested in it up to this point? Why is it important? If there are issues with research material, lack of data and such, you should also write about it and about how you intend to cope with those issues. In doing so you illustrate your critical mind and your readyness and ability to cope with it.

I advise you to work backwards. First, as it seems you have done, decide in general what you want to know. That is always going to be too broad so start adding qualifiers based on your interests or resources. What population to you have access to? What are your funding options? What are your time constraints? The answer to each of these questions will narrow your focus until you have a workable topic. Once you reach that point, do a literature review. Find out what else has been written on that topic or if there is nothing try to triangulate by researching similar topics. Decide how your research expands upon or fits into this body of literature. By this point, your question should build its in a more or less organic manner.

Your problem statement should be informed by your reading of current research on the topic. As you become familiar with current research, you will start to note where there may be gaps in the subject area that are ripe for your research.

I think the "WHY" question to the purpose of your study is your problem of the study...eg: the purpose of the study is to ................., so tell the reader "WHY" your study is aimed at adressing or investigating the particular aim/purpose.

In my experience it is helpful to try answering the "Heilmeier questions" before you start writing your proposal.

http://www.design.caltech.edu/erik/Misc/Heilmeier_Questions.html

For the actual proposal, it depends on the requirements of the specific funding agency, but here are some suggestions on how to start writing for NIH (US National Institutes of Health)

http://nursing.msu.edu/Images_Docs/Res_Images/Resources%20for%20Researchers/Resources%20for%20Researchers/Tips%20to%20grant%20writing%20%20080510.doc

http://bio5398.wustl.edu/05May12/Create%20Your%20Bullet%20Outline.doc

Good luck!

all the explanation given are good, i will only add to what has been said already.

Before you can write the statement of problem, you must have identified the problem associated the study

Advises given above be taken as guidelines. If I put it simply - write the requirement in google search as "causes of lower limb amputation ". You have a list as below.

About 2,68,000 results (0.32 seconds)

Scholarly articles for causes of lower limb amputation

Pathways to diabetic limb amputation: basis for … - ‎Pecoraro - Cited by 1355

A survey of lower limb amputation in diabetic patients - ‎Deerochanawong - Cited by 108

… of stump and phantom pain in lower-limb amputation - ‎Nikolajsen - Cited by 274

Search Results

Limb Amputation: Reasons, Procedure, Recovery - WebMD

www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/definition-amputation

WebMD provides an overview of amputation, including reasons why a limb ... of all or part of a limb or extremity such as an arm, leg, foot, hand, toe, or finger.

Leg or foot amputation: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

www.nlm.nih.gov › Home › Medical Encyclopedia

Reasons for having an amputation of a lower limb are: Severe trauma to the limb caused by an accident; Poor blood flow to the limb; Infections that do not go ...

Amputation - NHS Choices .. etc.,

Next pubmed and research gate publications when you narrow down your problem.

     Find out the how the area (country) is related with special reference to Malawi. Add those points in the justification along with the points that you determined with assessing the causes of lower limb amputation.

        Cleverly convincing with supporting evidence is needed for writing justification. That talent can be developed when some one develops interest in writing and repeated writing. Many a time one gets hints from reviewers on proposals or research papers.

@Mohammed and Jones I agree with you 

@Mohammed and Jones I agree with you 

Well, good answers and suggestions have already been discussed in this post. Let me add little bit of my own concept of what should be in a problem statement. The initial step to write a problem statement is to understand what it is.

Your problem statement must answer three questions:

• What is the problem or need?

• Who has the problem or need?

• Why is it important to solve?

The format for writing a problem statement uses your answers to the questions and follows these guidelines:

• Who need(s) what because why.

• _____ need(s) _________ because ________.

All the answers above make very good sense.  Who, What, and Why are key!

May be you should get examples now? or start with a purpose?

"The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and predictors of lower limb amputation in Malawi".

...start as simple as that....

All the answers above make meaningful sense.  Who, What, and Why are key but relative to the subject of discussion!

Attached is a whole book on how to do Health Care Reseach

A winning research question is the one that is best convincing while providing the evidence and justification to reach that point. How best you convince and justify working on your proposal. "So What" is the most important in any aspect of life. Then ...YES you are justified.

In addition to the above valuable views/comments, I recommend reading the guidance/views from editorials/journal editors for improvement. Furthermore, the following links (some more discussions/referred publications) should also be helpful.

• Ahlstrom, D. (2012) Editorial : Several key reasons why a paper is likely to be rejected at the Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 3, 29, pp. 519-524.
• Ahlstrom, D. (2015) From the editors: Publishing in the journal of world business, Journal of World Business, 2, 50, pp. 251-255. (see: research questions pp. 252-253).
• Hernon, P. and Swartz, C. (2007) Editorial: What is a Problem Statement?, Library and Information Science Research, 29, 3, pp. 307-309.
• How do i write good introduction and problem statement for my project?: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_do_i_write_good_introduction_and_problem_statement_for_my_project
• What is a good research question?: https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_a_good_research_question

Any problem statement usually outlines the fundamental facts of the problem, arising ,explain why the problem is important , and provide best possible solution for it.

problem statement focused on the problem and also provide a solution to the work.