The purpose of this study is to reveal the factors that affect the identification of research problems in educational administration studies. The study was designed using the case study method. Criterion sampling was used to determine the work group; the criterion used to select the participants was that of having a study in the field of educational administration. Within this scope, the sample was composed of 29 people from various Turkish universities who have conducted studies in the field of educational administration. Content analysis was used to analyze the data collected via a semi-structured interview form. As a result of the content analysis, educational administration researchers’ statements about the factors deemed effective in identifying research problems have been grouped under five main themes. These themes are as follows: (i) “criteria for identifying research problems,” including the sub-themes of the nature of the problem, personal criteria, the literature and academic relationships; (ii) “resources for identifying research problems,” including publications, the literature, academic shareholders, other disciplines, written/visual media and personal criteria sub-themes; (iii) “criteria for limiting the extent of research problems,” including methodological criteria, personal criteria, the nature of the problem, the literature and academic stakeholders; (iv) “criteria for assessing research problems,” including the nature of the problem, the literature, academic criteria and personal criteria; and (v) “theory-practice balance in research problems,” including personal criteria, the nature of the problem, methodological criteria and the literature.