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Research is an integral part of any field of study. But do you know every research starts with having some concrete research objectives in mind? You have to achieve those objectives no matter what happens. But before achieving the objectives, you have to formulate them in the right way. Many student researchers do not pay attention to this critical part of their research. They fail to formulate the correct research objectives that answer the questions associated with the study. Sometimes, students successfully develop the objectives but do not know whether they have formulated them right or not. Therefore, today’s article is all about how to determine whether you have crafted the correct objectives or not. There will be a mention of all the points that you must check in your objectives. Hence, let’s get started by defining this term first.
What Does It Mean To Develop Correct Research Objectives?
Every research starts off with an aim and objective in mind. Such objectives are the goals that you set in your study. You try to achieve those pre-defined goals during the whole research period by applying different research methods. Now, you must be thinking about why it is necessary to determine research objectives that are correct. The answer to this lies below:
- The correct objectives inform the readers about your research and what problems you are going to work on in your study.
- It also informs the reader about the scope and extent of your study.
How To Determine The Correctness Of Your Study Objectives?
Formulating the objectives of your research is not an easy task. It is because it guides the whole research process and you when researching the data for dissertation writing. To produce a good dissertation, you must ensure that your research objectives are formulated in the correct way. Now, you must be thinking about how to determine this. Do not think too much as a brief description of the points is as follows:
Look For Clarity In Your Objectives
Clarity is the first thing you need to determine when formulating your objectives. It is because it is the main characteristic of study objectives. They should be clear and concise. Also, know that the way you talk about your objectives tells a lot about the research. Hence, to determine the correctness, make sure that the wording of your objectives is clear and very well defined. Using vague or extra difficult words can be extremely painful for the readers.
Objectives Must Be Complete
The second check you can apply to your objectives to see for correctness is the completeness check. Each phrase in your objectives must be complete. The grammatical structure should give a sense of completeness to your objectives. Note that broken and incomplete sentences can lead you to trouble later on. It is because you would not be able to achieve them as they were incomplete in the beginning.
Determine if you have talked about the population in your objectives. It is necessary because no objective is complete until you talk about the whole population to be studied. So, checking for completeness is necessary as it also guides you through determining the extent of your research.
Look For The Broadness Of The Objectives
Next up is looking for the broadness of your objectives. The top researchers agree that your research objectives must not be broad. The reason behind this is that if your objectives are broad, you are going to face many problems in the research and writing phase. The rule is simple: you have to search and write a lot to achieve the objectives of the study. Hence, you must ensure that your study objectives are not too broad when determining their correctness. Make sure they are focused, clear, and specific to one point only.
Look For The Main Variables Of The Study
No research study is complete without the variables. You must mention the research variables while explaining the objectives. The variables are the major entities that affect your research the most. If you do not have an idea about the variables, you can spend some time reading the old research, i.e., literature. The main point is that you must mention the research variables in your objectives as it brings clarity to them. Also, make sure that the variables are well defined and that you have decided about dependent and independent variables.
Determine If You Have Done The Proper Literature Review
A literature review is a complete review of the previously published knowledge in your subject area. To determine the correctness of your study objectives, make sure that you have studied enough literature review and also match your objectives with studies similar to yours. I know most students do not have the ability to study this much. If you are one of those students, do not forget to consider the literature review writing services. Such services, along with writing, also give you objective formulation services. Therefore, consider hiring them and get properly formulated and structured objectives.
Make Sure To Follow The SMART Format
Another key step you can take to determine whether you have formulated the correct questions or not is checking your objectives against the SMART format. by using this format, you can easily make your objectives clear and easier to understand. SMART is an acronym for 5 words. Let’s know what they mean.
- Specific. Be specific in your objectives. There should not be any room for confusion in your objectives.
- Measurable. Your research objectives must be easy to measure. Creating some kind of metrics can help you.
- Achievable. Be sure to create objectives that are achievable and realistic.
- Relevant. Checking for relevancy is very important. Ensure that the formulated objectives are relevant to the main subject area.
- Time-based. Make sure to have a deadline for each objective.
Conclusion
Formulating correct research objectives is a challenging task. It can be turned into an easy one by following the points mentioned above. Make sure that your study objectives are clear and concise. Checking for the complexity of the language is also mandatory.
