Problem specification is the process of deciding what problem or problems should be addressed by a possible program. This includes describing the problem’s characteristics, its size and severity, its causes, and whom it affects—while taking into account contextual factors. All of this information is needed for sound program planning, because the best way to determine what to do about a problem is to understand its key aspects.
For vaccination programs, the program specification could include the percentage and characteristics of the population not vaccinated against one or more diseases; the likelihood of an epidemic if vaccination rates are low (perhaps based on past epidemics and sanitation/crowding); the implications of such an epidemic on the well-being of various populations; the degree to which a rural population has difficulty obtaining health care in general and vaccinations in particular; and the existence of militant groups whose presence reduces access to medical care, especially in rural areas.
Is the problem sufficiently specified so that a program can be designed to address it? If the problem specification does not distinguish between those who should be in the program and those who should not be in it, the resulting lack of targeting means that the program’s objectives are unlikely to be achieved (because efforts are likely to be diffused and resources likely to be diluted). Moreover, the articulated program theory and program design are likely to be vague or overly generalized and, as a result, misdirected or applied too broadly. For example, child protective programs that operate under vague definitions of child abuse and child neglect are likely to conflate cases of inadequate child-rearing that reflect the conditions of poverty with actual maltreatment for which a quasi-law enforcement response is appropriate (Besharov and Laumann 2000).
The problem specification is, essentially, the definition of the problem to be addressed. It should have “construct validity,” that is, it should operationalize (“translate") the concept into a useable set of parameters. The usual tests are “face validity,” “content validity,” and “timeliness.” “Face validity” requires that the definition appear—“on its face”—to reflect the theoretical concept(s) underlying the condition or phenomenon to be addressed (the “construct”). “Content validity” requires that the definition should encompass all of the necessary elements needed to identify the condition or phenomenon to be addressed.
If the nature of the problem that a program seeks to address has changed over time—but the problem specification has not—then it is possible that the program is more needed than when it was established (or less needed or even unneeded). No matter what, the problem specification may be in need of updating, if, for example, the target population or the societal context has changed in substantial ways. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program was planned when child hunger and malnutrition were widespread problems and before the major expansions of cash welfare (AFDC and now TANF) and the food stamps/SNAP programs in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, WIC should presumably be less concerned about inadequate caloric intake and more concerned about healthy eating (Germanis Besharov 2001, 5).
Similarly, the growth of low-income, immigrant populations (mostly Spanishspeaking but not entirely) probably means that early childhood education programs, including Head Start, that serve these populations should have a greater focus on English as a Second Language (ESL) programming and less of a focus on services to remediate behavioral problems.
