Identify
Explore
Discover
Discuss
Summarise
Describe
Last, format your objectives into a numbered list. This is because when you write your thesis or dissertation, you will at times need to make reference to a specific research objective; structuring your research objectives in a numbered list will provide a clear way of doing this.
To bring all this together, let’s compare the first research objective in the previous example with the above guidance:
Research Objective:
1. Develop finite element models using explicit dynamics to mimic mallet blows during cup/shell insertion, initially using simplified experimentally validated foam models to represent the acetabulum.
Checking Against Recommended Approach:
Q: Is it specific? A: Yes, it is clear what the student intends to do (produce a finite element model), why they intend to do it (mimic cup/shell blows) and their parameters have been well-defined ( using simplified experimentally validated foam models to represent the acetabulum ).
Q: Is it measurable? A: Yes, it is clear that the research objective will be achieved once the finite element model is complete.
Q: Is it achievable? A: Yes, provided the student has access to a computer lab, modelling software and laboratory data.
Q: Is it relevant? A: Yes, mimicking impacts to a cup/shell is fundamental to the overall aim of understanding how they deform when impacted upon.
Q: Is it timebound? A: Yes, it is possible to create a limited-scope finite element model in a relatively short time, especially if you already have experience in modelling.
Q: Does it start with a verb? A: Yes, it starts with ‘develop’, which makes the intent of the objective immediately clear.
Q: Is it a numbered list? A: Yes, it is the first research objective in a list of eight.
1. making your research aim too broad.
Having a research aim too broad becomes very difficult to achieve. Normally, this occurs when a student develops their research aim before they have a good understanding of what they want to research. Remember that at the end of your project and during your viva defence , you will have to prove that you have achieved your research aims; if they are too broad, this will be an almost impossible task. In the early stages of your research project, your priority should be to narrow your study to a specific area. A good way to do this is to take the time to study existing literature, question their current approaches, findings and limitations, and consider whether there are any recurring gaps that could be investigated .
Note: Achieving a set of aims does not necessarily mean proving or disproving a theory or hypothesis, even if your research aim was to, but having done enough work to provide a useful and original insight into the principles that underlie your research aim.
Be realistic about what you can achieve in the time you have available. It is natural to want to set ambitious research objectives that require sophisticated data collection and analysis, but only completing this with six months before the end of your PhD registration period is not a worthwhile trade-off.
Each research objective should have its own purpose and distinct measurable outcome. To this effect, a common mistake is to form research objectives which have large amounts of overlap. This makes it difficult to determine when an objective is truly complete, and also presents challenges in estimating the duration of objectives when creating your project timeline. It also makes it difficult to structure your thesis into unique chapters, making it more challenging for you to write and for your audience to read.
Fortunately, this oversight can be easily avoided by using SMART objectives.
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of how to create an effective set of aims and objectives for your research project, whether it be a thesis, dissertation or research paper. While it may be tempting to dive directly into your research, spending time on getting your aims and objectives right will give your research clear direction. This won’t only reduce the likelihood of problems arising later down the line, but will also lead to a more thorough and coherent research project.
Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.
Join thousands of students.
Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.
Table of contents
Embarking on a research journey without clear objectives is like navigating the sea without a compass. This article delves into the essence of establishing precise research objectives, serving as the guiding star for your scholarly exploration.
We will unfold the layers of how the objective of study not only defines the scope of your research but also directs every phase of the research process, from formulating research questions to interpreting research findings. By bridging theory with practical examples, we aim to illuminate the path to crafting effective research objectives that are both ambitious and attainable. Let’s chart the course to a successful research voyage, exploring the significance, types, and formulation of research paper objectives.
Defining the research objectives includes which two tasks? Research objectives are clear and concise statements that outline what you aim to achieve through your study. They are the foundation for determining your research scope, guiding your data collection methods, and shaping your analysis. The purpose of research proposal and setting clear objectives in it is to ensure that your research efforts are focused and efficient, and to provide a roadmap that keeps your study aligned with its intended outcomes.
To define the research objective at the outset, researchers can avoid the pitfalls of scope creep, where the study’s focus gradually broadens beyond its initial boundaries, leading to wasted resources and time. Clear objectives facilitate communication with stakeholders, such as funding bodies, academic supervisors, and the broader academic community, by succinctly conveying the study’s goals and significance. Furthermore, they help in the formulation of precise research questions and hypotheses, making the research process more systematic and organized. Yet, it is not always easy. For this reason, PapersOwl is always ready to help. Lastly, clear research objectives enable the researcher to critically assess the study’s progress and outcomes against predefined benchmarks, ensuring the research stays on track and delivers meaningful results.
Research objectives are integral to the research framework as the nexus between the research problem, questions, and hypotheses. They translate the broad goals of your study into actionable steps, ensuring every aspect of your research is purposefully aligned towards addressing the research problem. This alignment helps in structuring the research design and methodology, ensuring that each component of the study is geared towards answering the core questions derived from the objectives. Creating such a difficult piece may take a lot of time. If you need it to be accurate yet fast delivered, consider getting professional research paper writing help whenever the time comes. It also aids in the identification and justification of the research methods and tools used for data collection and analysis, aligning them with the objectives to enhance the validity and reliability of the findings.
Furthermore, by setting clear objectives, researchers can more effectively evaluate the impact and significance of their work in contributing to existing knowledge. Additionally, research objectives guide literature review, enabling researchers to focus their examination on relevant studies and theoretical frameworks that directly inform their research goals.
In the landscape of research, setting objectives is akin to laying down the tracks for a train’s journey, guiding it towards its destination. Constructing these tracks involves defining two main types of objectives: general and specific. Each serves a unique purpose in guiding the research towards its ultimate goals, with general objectives providing the broad vision and specific objectives outlining the concrete steps needed to fulfill that vision. Together, they form a cohesive blueprint that directs the focus of the study, ensuring that every effort contributes meaningfully to the overarching research aims.
To illustrate, consider a research project on the impact of digital marketing on consumer behavior. A general objective might be “to explore the influence of digital marketing on consumer purchasing decisions.” Specific objectives could include “to assess the effectiveness of social media advertising in enhancing brand awareness” and “to evaluate the impact of email marketing on customer loyalty.”
The harmony between what research objectives should be, questions, and hypotheses is critical. Objectives define what you aim to achieve; research questions specify what you seek to understand, and hypotheses predict the expected outcomes.
This alignment ensures a coherent and focused research endeavor. Achieving it necessitates a thoughtful consideration of how each component interrelates, ensuring that the objectives are not only ambitious but also directly answerable through the research questions and testable via the hypotheses. This interconnectedness facilitates a streamlined approach to the research process, enabling researchers to systematically address each aspect of their study in a logical sequence. Moreover, it enhances the clarity and precision of the research, making it easier for peers and stakeholders to grasp the study’s direction and potential contributions.
Throughout the research process, objectives guide your choices and strategies – from selecting the appropriate research design and methods to analyzing data and interpreting results. They are the criteria against which you measure the success of your study. In the initial stages, research objectives inform the selection of a topic, helping to narrow down a broad area of interest into a focused question that can be explored in depth. During the methodology phase, they dictate the type of data needed and the best methods for obtaining that data, ensuring that every step taken is purposeful and aligned with the study’s goals. As the research progresses, objectives provide a framework for analyzing the collected data, guiding the researcher in identifying patterns, drawing conclusions, and making informed decisions.
The effective objective of research is pivotal in laying the groundwork for a successful investigation. These objectives clarify the focus of your study and determine its direction and scope. Ensuring that your objectives are well-defined and aligned with the SMART criteria is crucial for setting a strong foundation for your research.
Well-defined research objectives are characterized by the SMART criteria – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Specific objectives clearly define what you plan to achieve, eliminating any ambiguity. Measurable objectives allow you to track progress and assess the outcome. Achievable objectives are realistic, considering the research sources and time available. Relevant objectives align with the broader goals of your field or research question. Finally, Time-bound objectives have a clear timeline for completion, adding urgency and a schedule to your work.
So lets get to the part, how to write research objectives properly?
Your objectives of research may require refinement if they lack clarity, feasibility, or alignment with the research problem. If you find yourself struggling to design experiments or methods that directly address your objectives, or if the objectives seem too broad or not directly related to your research question, it’s likely time for refinement. Additionally, objectives in research proposal that do not facilitate a clear measurement of success indicate a need for a more precise definition. Refinement involves ensuring that each objective is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, enhancing your research’s overall focus and impact.
The application of research objectives spans various academic disciplines, each with its unique focus and methodologies. To illustrate how the objectives of the study guide a research paper across different fields, here are some research objective examples:
These examples of research objectives describe the versatility and significance of research objectives in guiding scholarly inquiry across different domains. By setting clear, well-defined objectives, researchers can ensure their studies are focused and impactful and contribute valuable knowledge to their respective fields.
Defining research studies objectives and problem statement is not just a preliminary step, but a continuous guiding force throughout the research journey. These goals of research illuminate the path forward and ensure that every stride taken is meaningful and aligned with the ultimate goals of the inquiry. Whether through the meticulous application of the SMART criteria or the strategic alignment with research questions and hypotheses, the rigor in crafting and refining these objectives underscores the integrity and relevance of the research. As scholars venture into the vast terrains of knowledge, the clarity, and precision of their objectives serve as beacons of light, steering their explorations toward discoveries that advance academic discourse and resonate with the broader societal needs.
Just fill out the form, press the button, and have no worries!
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.
By: David Phair (PhD) and Alexandra Shaeffer (PhD) | June 2022
T he research aims , objectives and research questions (collectively called the “golden thread”) are arguably the most important thing you need to get right when you’re crafting a research proposal , dissertation or thesis . We receive questions almost every day about this “holy trinity” of research and there’s certainly a lot of confusion out there, so we’ve crafted this post to help you navigate your way through the fog.
The golden thread simply refers to the collective research aims , research objectives , and research questions for any given project (i.e., a dissertation, thesis, or research paper ). These three elements are bundled together because it’s extremely important that they align with each other, and that the entire research project aligns with them.
Importantly, the golden thread needs to weave its way through the entirety of any research project , from start to end. In other words, it needs to be very clearly defined right at the beginning of the project (the topic ideation and proposal stage) and it needs to inform almost every decision throughout the rest of the project. For example, your research design and methodology will be heavily influenced by the golden thread (we’ll explain this in more detail later), as well as your literature review.
The research aims, objectives and research questions (the golden thread) define the focus and scope ( the delimitations ) of your research project. In other words, they help ringfence your dissertation or thesis to a relatively narrow domain, so that you can “go deep” and really dig into a specific problem or opportunity. They also help keep you on track , as they act as a litmus test for relevance. In other words, if you’re ever unsure whether to include something in your document, simply ask yourself the question, “does this contribute toward my research aims, objectives or questions?”. If it doesn’t, chances are you can drop it.
Alright, enough of the fluffy, conceptual stuff. Let’s get down to business and look at what exactly the research aims, objectives and questions are and outline a few examples to bring these concepts to life.
Simply put, the research aim(s) is a statement that reflects the broad overarching goal (s) of the research project. Research aims are fairly high-level (low resolution) as they outline the general direction of the research and what it’s trying to achieve .
True to the name, research aims usually start with the wording “this research aims to…”, “this research seeks to…”, and so on. For example:
“This research aims to explore employee experiences of digital transformation in retail HR.” “This study sets out to assess the interaction between student support and self-care on well-being in engineering graduate students”
As you can see, these research aims provide a high-level description of what the study is about and what it seeks to achieve. They’re not hyper-specific or action-oriented, but they’re clear about what the study’s focus is and what is being investigated.
The research objectives take the research aims and make them more practical and actionable . In other words, the research objectives showcase the steps that the researcher will take to achieve the research aims.
The research objectives need to be far more specific (higher resolution) and actionable than the research aims. In fact, it’s always a good idea to craft your research objectives using the “SMART” criteria. In other words, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound”.
Let’s look at two examples of research objectives. We’ll stick with the topic and research aims we mentioned previously.
For the digital transformation topic:
To observe the retail HR employees throughout the digital transformation. To assess employee perceptions of digital transformation in retail HR. To identify the barriers and facilitators of digital transformation in retail HR.
And for the student wellness topic:
To determine whether student self-care predicts the well-being score of engineering graduate students. To determine whether student support predicts the well-being score of engineering students. To assess the interaction between student self-care and student support when predicting well-being in engineering graduate students.
As you can see, these research objectives clearly align with the previously mentioned research aims and effectively translate the low-resolution aims into (comparatively) higher-resolution objectives and action points . They give the research project a clear focus and present something that resembles a research-based “to-do” list.
Finally, we arrive at the all-important research questions. The research questions are, as the name suggests, the key questions that your study will seek to answer . Simply put, they are the core purpose of your dissertation, thesis, or research project. You’ll present them at the beginning of your document (either in the introduction chapter or literature review chapter) and you’ll answer them at the end of your document (typically in the discussion and conclusion chapters).
The research questions will be the driving force throughout the research process. For example, in the literature review chapter, you’ll assess the relevance of any given resource based on whether it helps you move towards answering your research questions. Similarly, your methodology and research design will be heavily influenced by the nature of your research questions. For instance, research questions that are exploratory in nature will usually make use of a qualitative approach, whereas questions that relate to measurement or relationship testing will make use of a quantitative approach.
Let’s look at some examples of research questions to make this more tangible.
Again, we’ll stick with the research aims and research objectives we mentioned previously.
For the digital transformation topic (which would be qualitative in nature):
How do employees perceive digital transformation in retail HR? What are the barriers and facilitators of digital transformation in retail HR?
And for the student wellness topic (which would be quantitative in nature):
Does student self-care predict the well-being scores of engineering graduate students? Does student support predict the well-being scores of engineering students? Do student self-care and student support interact when predicting well-being in engineering graduate students?
You’ll probably notice that there’s quite a formulaic approach to this. In other words, the research questions are basically the research objectives “converted” into question format. While that is true most of the time, it’s not always the case. For example, the first research objective for the digital transformation topic was more or less a step on the path toward the other objectives, and as such, it didn’t warrant its own research question.
So, don’t rush your research questions and sloppily reword your objectives as questions. Carefully think about what exactly you’re trying to achieve (i.e. your research aim) and the objectives you’ve set out, then craft a set of well-aligned research questions . Also, keep in mind that this can be a somewhat iterative process , where you go back and tweak research objectives and aims to ensure tight alignment throughout the golden thread.
Alignment is the keyword here and we have to stress its importance . Simply put, you need to make sure that there is a very tight alignment between all three pieces of the golden thread. If your research aims and research questions don’t align, for example, your project will be pulling in different directions and will lack focus . This is a common problem students face and can cause many headaches (and tears), so be warned.
Take the time to carefully craft your research aims, objectives and research questions before you run off down the research path. Ideally, get your research supervisor/advisor to review and comment on your golden thread before you invest significant time into your project, and certainly before you start collecting data .
In this post, we unpacked the golden thread of research, consisting of the research aims , research objectives and research questions . You can jump back to any section using the links below.
As always, feel free to leave a comment below – we always love to hear from you. Also, if you’re interested in 1-on-1 support, take a look at our private coaching service here.
Learn how to fast-track your literature review by reading with intention and clarity. Dr E and Amy Murdock explain how.
Thinking about using a dissertation or thesis writing service? You might want to reconsider that move. Here’s what you need to know.
Triangulation is one of the best ways to enhance the credibility of your research. Learn about the different options here.
Dr. Ethar Al-Saraf and Dr. Amy Murdock dive into the darker truths of academic research, so that you’re well prepared for reality.
In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Ethar and Dr. Amy Murdock dive into how to get unstuck when you’re facing dissertation paralysis
📄 FREE TEMPLATES
Research Topic Ideation
Proposal Writing
Literature Review
Methodology & Analysis
Academic Writing
Referencing & Citing
Apps, Tools & Tricks
The Grad Coach Podcast
Thank you very much for your great effort put. As an Undergraduate taking Demographic Research & Methodology, I’ve been trying so hard to understand clearly what is a Research Question, Research Aim and the Objectives in a research and the relationship between them etc. But as for now I’m thankful that you’ve solved my problem.
Well appreciated. This has helped me greatly in doing my dissertation.
An so delighted with this wonderful information thank you a lot.
so impressive i have benefited a lot looking forward to learn more on research.
I am very happy to have carefully gone through this well researched article.
Infact,I used to be phobia about anything research, because of my poor understanding of the concepts.
Now,I get to know that my research question is the same as my research objective(s) rephrased in question format.
I please I would need a follow up on the subject,as I intends to join the team of researchers. Thanks once again.
Thanks so much. This was really helpful.
I know you pepole have tried to break things into more understandable and easy format. And God bless you. Keep it up
i found this document so useful towards my study in research methods. thanks so much.
This is my 2nd read topic in your course and I should commend the simplified explanations of each part. I’m beginning to understand and absorb the use of each part of a dissertation/thesis. I’ll keep on reading your free course and might be able to avail the training course! Kudos!
Thank you! Better put that my lecture and helped to easily understand the basics which I feel often get brushed over when beginning dissertation work.
This is quite helpful. I like how the Golden thread has been explained and the needed alignment.
This is quite helpful. I really appreciate!
The article made it simple for researcher students to differentiate between three concepts.
Very innovative and educational in approach to conducting research.
I am very impressed with all these terminology, as I am a fresh student for post graduate, I am highly guided and I promised to continue making consultation when the need arise. Thanks a lot.
A very helpful piece. thanks, I really appreciate it .
Very well explained, and it might be helpful to many people like me.
Wish i had found this (and other) resource(s) at the beginning of my PhD journey… not in my writing up year… 😩 Anyways… just a quick question as i’m having some issues ordering my “golden thread”…. does it matter in what order you mention them? i.e., is it always first aims, then objectives, and finally the questions? or can you first mention the research questions and then the aims and objectives?
Thank you for a very simple explanation that builds upon the concepts in a very logical manner. Just prior to this, I read the research hypothesis article, which was equally very good. This met my primary objective.
My secondary objective was to understand the difference between research questions and research hypothesis, and in which context to use which one. However, I am still not clear on this. Can you kindly please guide?
In research, a research question is a clear and specific inquiry that the researcher wants to answer, while a research hypothesis is a tentative statement or prediction about the relationship between variables or the expected outcome of the study. Research questions are broader and guide the overall study, while hypotheses are specific and testable statements used in quantitative research. Research questions identify the problem, while hypotheses provide a focus for testing in the study.
Exactly what I need in this research journey, I look forward to more of your coaching videos.
This helped a lot. Thanks so much for the effort put into explaining it.
What data source in writing dissertation/Thesis requires?
What is data source covers when writing dessertation/thesis
This is quite useful thanks
I’m excited and thankful. I got so much value which will help me progress in my thesis.
where are the locations of the reserch statement, research objective and research question in a reserach paper? Can you write an ouline that defines their places in the researh paper?
Very helpful and important tips on Aims, Objectives and Questions.
Thank you so much for making research aim, research objectives and research question so clear. This will be helpful to me as i continue with my thesis.
Thanks much for this content. I learned a lot. And I am inspired to learn more. I am still struggling with my preparation for dissertation outline/proposal. But I consistently follow contents and tutorials and the new FB of GRAD Coach. Hope to really become confident in writing my dissertation and successfully defend it.
As a researcher and lecturer, I find splitting research goals into research aims, objectives, and questions is unnecessarily bureaucratic and confusing for students. For most biomedical research projects, including ‘real research’, 1-3 research questions will suffice (numbers may differ by discipline).
Awesome! Very important resources and presented in an informative way to easily understand the golden thread. Indeed, thank you so much.
Well explained
The blog article on research aims, objectives, and questions by Grad Coach is a clear and insightful guide that aligns with my experiences in academic research. The article effectively breaks down the often complex concepts of research aims and objectives, providing a straightforward and accessible explanation. Drawing from my own research endeavors, I appreciate the practical tips offered, such as the need for specificity and clarity when formulating research questions. The article serves as a valuable resource for students and researchers, offering a concise roadmap for crafting well-defined research goals and objectives. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced researcher, this article provides practical insights that contribute to the foundational aspects of a successful research endeavor.
A great thanks for you. it is really amazing explanation. I grasp a lot and one step up to research knowledge.
I really found these tips helpful. Thank you very much Grad Coach.
I found this article helpful. Thanks for sharing this.
thank you so much, the explanation and examples are really helpful
This is a well researched and superbly written article for learners of research methods at all levels in the research topic from conceptualization to research findings and conclusions. I highly recommend this material to university graduate students. As an instructor of advanced research methods for PhD students, I have confirmed that I was giving the right guidelines for the degree they are undertaking.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Submit Comment
Instant insights, infinite possibilities
Last updated
11 January 2024
Reviewed by
With proper planning, knowledge, and framework, completing a research paper can be a fulfilling and exciting experience.
Though it might initially sound slightly intimidating, this guide will help you embrace the challenge.
By documenting your findings, you can inspire others and make a difference in your field. Here's how you can make your research paper unique and comprehensive.
Research papers allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a particular topic. These papers are usually lengthier and more detailed than typical essays, requiring deeper insight into the chosen topic.
To write a research paper, you must first choose a topic that interests you and is relevant to the field of study. Once you’ve selected your topic, gathering as many relevant resources as possible, including books, scholarly articles, credible websites, and other academic materials, is essential. You must then read and analyze these sources, summarizing their key points and identifying gaps in the current research.
You can formulate your ideas and opinions once you thoroughly understand the existing research. To get there might involve conducting original research, gathering data, or analyzing existing data sets. It could also involve presenting an original argument or interpretation of the existing research.
Writing a successful research paper involves presenting your findings clearly and engagingly, which might involve using charts, graphs, or other visual aids to present your data and using concise language to explain your findings. You must also ensure your paper adheres to relevant academic formatting guidelines, including proper citations and references.
Overall, writing a research paper requires a significant amount of time, effort, and attention to detail. However, it is also an enriching experience that allows you to delve deeply into a subject that interests you and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in your chosen field.
Research papers are deep dives into a topic. Therefore, they tend to be longer pieces of work than essays or opinion pieces.
However, a suitable length depends on the complexity of the topic and your level of expertise. For instance, are you a first-year college student or an experienced professional?
Also, remember that the best research papers provide valuable information for the benefit of others. Therefore, the quality of information matters most, not necessarily the length. Being concise is valuable.
Following these best practice steps will help keep your process simple and productive:
Before diving into your intended topic or beginning the research phase, take some time to orient yourself. Suppose there’s a specific topic assigned to you. In that case, it’s essential to deeply understand the question and organize your planning and approach in response. Pay attention to the key requirements and ensure you align your writing accordingly.
This preparation step entails
Deeply understanding the task or assignment
Being clear about the expected format and length
Familiarizing yourself with the citation and referencing requirements
Understanding any defined limits for your research contribution
Where applicable, speaking to your professor or research supervisor for further clarification
Select a research topic that aligns with both your interests and available resources. Ideally, focus on a field where you possess significant experience and analytical skills. In crafting your research paper, it's crucial to go beyond summarizing existing data and contribute fresh insights to the chosen area.
Consider narrowing your focus to a specific aspect of the topic. For example, if exploring the link between technology and mental health, delve into how social media use during the pandemic impacts the well-being of college students. Conducting interviews and surveys with students could provide firsthand data and unique perspectives, adding substantial value to the existing knowledge.
When finalizing your topic, adhere to legal and ethical norms in the relevant area (this ensures the integrity of your research, protects participants' rights, upholds intellectual property standards, and ensures transparency and accountability). Following these principles not only maintains the credibility of your work but also builds trust within your academic or professional community.
For instance, in writing about medical research, consider legal and ethical norms , including patient confidentiality laws and informed consent requirements. Similarly, if analyzing user data on social media platforms, be mindful of data privacy regulations, ensuring compliance with laws governing personal information collection and use. Aligning with legal and ethical standards not only avoids potential issues but also underscores the responsible conduct of your research.
Once you’ve landed on your topic, it’s time to explore it further. You’ll want to discover more about available resources and existing research relevant to your assignment at this stage.
This exploratory phase is vital as you may discover issues with your original idea or realize you have insufficient resources to explore the topic effectively. This key bit of groundwork allows you to redirect your research topic in a different, more feasible, or more relevant direction if necessary.
Spending ample time at this stage ensures you gather everything you need, learn as much as you can about the topic, and discover gaps where the topic has yet to be sufficiently covered, offering an opportunity to research it further.
To produce a well-structured and focused paper, it is imperative to formulate a clear and precise research question that will guide your work. Your research question must be informed by the existing literature and tailored to the scope and objectives of your project. By refining your focus, you can produce a thoughtful and engaging paper that effectively communicates your ideas to your readers.
A thesis statement is a one-to-two-sentence summary of your research paper's main argument or direction. It serves as an overall guide to summarize the overall intent of the research paper for you and anyone wanting to know more about the research.
A strong thesis statement is:
Concise and clear: Explain your case in simple sentences (avoid covering multiple ideas). It might help to think of this section as an elevator pitch.
Specific: Ensure that there is no ambiguity in your statement and that your summary covers the points argued in the paper.
Debatable: A thesis statement puts forward a specific argument––it is not merely a statement but a debatable point that can be analyzed and discussed.
Here are three thesis statement examples from different disciplines:
Psychology thesis example: "We're studying adults aged 25-40 to see if taking short breaks for mindfulness can help with stress. Our goal is to find practical ways to manage anxiety better."
Environmental science thesis example: "This research paper looks into how having more city parks might make the air cleaner and keep people healthier. I want to find out if more green spaces means breathing fewer carcinogens in big cities."
UX research thesis example: "This study focuses on improving mobile banking for older adults using ethnographic research, eye-tracking analysis, and interactive prototyping. We investigate the usefulness of eye-tracking analysis with older individuals, aiming to spark debate and offer fresh perspectives on UX design and digital inclusivity for the aging population."
A research paper doesn’t just include research that you’ve uncovered from other papers and studies but your fresh insights, too. You will seek to become an expert on your topic––understanding the nuances in the current leading theories. You will analyze existing research and add your thinking and discoveries. It's crucial to conduct well-designed research that is rigorous, robust, and based on reliable sources. Suppose a research paper lacks evidence or is biased. In that case, it won't benefit the academic community or the general public. Therefore, examining the topic thoroughly and furthering its understanding through high-quality research is essential. That usually means conducting new research. Depending on the area under investigation, you may conduct surveys, interviews, diary studies , or observational research to uncover new insights or bolster current claims.
Not every piece of research you’ve discovered will be relevant to your research paper. It’s important to categorize the most meaningful evidence to include alongside your discoveries. It's important to include evidence that doesn't support your claims to avoid exclusion bias and ensure a fair research paper.
Before diving in and writing the whole paper, start with an outline. It will help you to see if more research is needed, and it will provide a framework by which to write a more compelling paper. Your supervisor may even request an outline to approve before beginning to write the first draft of the full paper. An outline will include your topic, thesis statement, key headings, short summaries of the research, and your arguments.
Once you feel confident about your outline and sources, it’s time to write your first draft. While penning a long piece of content can be intimidating, if you’ve laid the groundwork, you will have a structure to help you move steadily through each section. To keep up motivation and inspiration, it’s often best to keep the pace quick. Stopping for long periods can interrupt your flow and make jumping back in harder than writing when things are fresh in your mind.
It's always a good practice to give credit where it's due, and the same goes for citing any works that have influenced your paper. Building your arguments on credible references adds value and authenticity to your research. In the formatting guidelines section, you’ll find an overview of different citation styles (MLA, CMOS, or APA), which will help you meet any publishing or academic requirements and strengthen your paper's credibility. It is essential to follow the guidelines provided by your school or the publication you are submitting to ensure the accuracy and relevance of your citations.
It is crucial to ensure the originality of your paper, as plagiarism can lead to serious consequences. To avoid plagiarism, you should use proper paraphrasing and quoting techniques. Paraphrasing is rewriting a text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Quoting involves directly citing the source. Giving credit to the original author or source is essential whenever you borrow their ideas or words. You can also use plagiarism detection tools such as Scribbr or Grammarly to check the originality of your paper. These tools compare your draft writing to a vast database of online sources. If you find any accidental plagiarism, you should correct it immediately by rephrasing or citing the source.
One of the essential qualities of excellent writers is their ability to understand the importance of editing and proofreading. Even though it's tempting to call it a day once you've finished your writing, editing your work can significantly improve its quality. It's natural to overlook the weaker areas when you've just finished writing a paper. Therefore, it's best to take a break of a day or two, or even up to a week, to refresh your mind. This way, you can return to your work with a new perspective. After some breathing room, you can spot any inconsistencies, spelling and grammar errors, typos, or missing citations and correct them.
The format of your research paper should align with the requirements set forth by your college, school, or target publication.
There is no one “best” format, per se. Depending on the stated requirements, you may need to include the following elements:
Title page: The title page of a research paper typically includes the title, author's name, and institutional affiliation and may include additional information such as a course name or instructor's name.
Table of contents: Include a table of contents to make it easy for readers to find specific sections of your paper.
Abstract: The abstract is a summary of the purpose of the paper.
Methods : In this section, describe the research methods used. This may include collecting data , conducting interviews, or doing field research .
Results: Summarize the conclusions you drew from your research in this section.
Discussion: In this section, discuss the implications of your research . Be sure to mention any significant limitations to your approach and suggest areas for further research.
Tables, charts, and illustrations: Use tables, charts, and illustrations to help convey your research findings and make them easier to understand.
Works cited or reference page: Include a works cited or reference page to give credit to the sources that you used to conduct your research.
Bibliography: Provide a list of all the sources you consulted while conducting your research.
Dedication and acknowledgments : Optionally, you may include a dedication and acknowledgments section to thank individuals who helped you with your research.
Formatting your research paper means you can submit it to your college, journal, or other publications in compliance with their criteria.
Research papers tend to follow the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) guidelines.
Here’s how each style guide is typically used:
Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS):
CMOS is a versatile style guide used for various types of writing. It's known for its flexibility and use in the humanities. CMOS provides guidelines for citations, formatting, and overall writing style. It allows for both footnotes and in-text citations, giving writers options based on their preferences or publication requirements.
American Psychological Association (APA):
APA is common in the social sciences. It’s hailed for its clarity and emphasis on precision. It has specific rules for citing sources, creating references, and formatting papers. APA style uses in-text citations with an accompanying reference list. It's designed to convey information efficiently and is widely used in academic and scientific writing.
Modern Language Association (MLA):
MLA is widely used in the humanities, especially literature and language studies. It emphasizes the author-page format for in-text citations and provides guidelines for creating a "Works Cited" page. MLA is known for its focus on the author's name and the literary works cited. It’s frequently used in disciplines that prioritize literary analysis and critical thinking.
To confirm you're using the latest style guide, check the official website or publisher's site for updates, consult academic resources, and verify the guide's publication date. Online platforms and educational resources may also provide summaries and alerts about any revisions or additions to the style guide.
When working on your research paper, it's important to cite the sources you used properly. Your citation style will guide you through this process. Generally, there are three parts to citing sources in your research paper:
First, provide a brief citation in the body of your essay. This is also known as a parenthetical or in-text citation.
Second, include a full citation in the Reference list at the end of your paper. Different types of citations include in-text citations, footnotes, and reference lists.
In-text citations include the author's surname and the date of the citation.
Footnotes appear at the bottom of each page of your research paper. They may also be summarized within a reference list at the end of the paper.
A reference list includes all of the research used within the paper at the end of the document. It should include the author, date, paper title, and publisher listed in the order that aligns with your citation style.
Following some best practices is essential to writing a research paper that contributes to your field of study and creates a positive impact.
These tactics will help you structure your argument effectively and ensure your work benefits others:
Clear and precise language: Ensure your language is unambiguous. Use academic language appropriately, but keep it simple. Also, provide clear takeaways for your audience.
Effective idea separation: Organize the vast amount of information and sources in your paper with paragraphs and titles. Create easily digestible sections for your readers to navigate through.
Compelling intro: Craft an engaging introduction that captures your reader's interest. Hook your audience and motivate them to continue reading.
Thorough revision and editing: Take the time to review and edit your paper comprehensively. Use tools like Grammarly to detect and correct small, overlooked errors.
Thesis precision: Develop a clear and concise thesis statement that guides your paper. Ensure that your thesis aligns with your research's overall purpose and contribution.
Logical flow of ideas: Maintain a logical progression throughout the paper. Use transitions effectively to connect different sections and maintain coherence.
Critical evaluation of sources: Evaluate and critically assess the relevance and reliability of your sources. Ensure that your research is based on credible and up-to-date information.
Thematic consistency: Maintain a consistent theme throughout the paper. Ensure that all sections contribute cohesively to the overall argument.
Relevant supporting evidence: Provide concise and relevant evidence to support your arguments. Avoid unnecessary details that may distract from the main points.
Embrace counterarguments: Acknowledge and address opposing views to strengthen your position. Show that you have considered alternative arguments in your field.
If you want your paper to not only be well-written but also contribute to the progress of human knowledge, consider these tips to take your paper to the next level:
Selecting the appropriate topic: The topic you select should align with your area of expertise, comply with the requirements of your project, and have sufficient resources for a comprehensive investigation.
Use academic databases: Academic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR offer a wealth of research papers that can help you discover everything you need to know about your chosen topic.
Critically evaluate sources: It is important not to accept research findings at face value. Instead, it is crucial to critically analyze the information to avoid jumping to conclusions or overlooking important details. A well-written research paper requires a critical analysis with thorough reasoning to support claims.
Diversify your sources: Expand your research horizons by exploring a variety of sources beyond the standard databases. Utilize books, conference proceedings, and interviews to gather diverse perspectives and enrich your understanding of the topic.
Take detailed notes: Detailed note-taking is crucial during research and can help you form the outline and body of your paper.
Stay up on trends: Keep abreast of the latest developments in your field by regularly checking for recent publications. Subscribe to newsletters, follow relevant journals, and attend conferences to stay informed about emerging trends and advancements.
Engage in peer review: Seek feedback from peers or mentors to ensure the rigor and validity of your research . Peer review helps identify potential weaknesses in your methodology and strengthens the overall credibility of your findings.
Writing a research paper is more than an academic or business exercise. The experience provides an opportunity to explore a subject in-depth, broaden one's understanding, and arrive at meaningful conclusions. With careful planning, dedication, and hard work, writing a research paper can be a fulfilling and enriching experience contributing to advancing knowledge.
Many academics wish to publish their research papers. While challenging, your paper might get traction if it covers new and well-written information. To publish your research paper, find a target publication, thoroughly read their guidelines, format your paper accordingly, and send it to them per their instructions. You may need to include a cover letter, too. After submission, your paper may be peer-reviewed by experts to assess its legitimacy, quality, originality, and methodology. Following review, you will be informed by the publication whether they have accepted or rejected your paper.
Beginning your research paper with a compelling introduction can ensure readers are interested in going further. A relevant quote, a compelling statistic, or a bold argument can start the paper and hook your reader. Remember, though, that the most important aspect of a research paper is the quality of the information––not necessarily your ability to storytell, so ensure anything you write aligns with your goals.
While some may confuse research papers and proposals, they are different documents.
A research proposal comes before a research paper. It is a detailed document that outlines an intended area of exploration. It includes the research topic, methodology, timeline, sources, and potential conclusions. Research proposals are often required when seeking approval to conduct research.
A research paper is a summary of research findings. A research paper follows a structured format to present those findings and construct an argument or conclusion.
Do you want to discover previous research faster?
Do you share your research findings with others?
Do you analyze research data?
Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster
Last updated: 18 April 2023
Last updated: 27 February 2023
Last updated: 22 August 2024
Last updated: 5 February 2023
Last updated: 16 April 2023
Last updated: 9 March 2023
Last updated: 30 April 2024
Last updated: 12 December 2023
Last updated: 11 March 2024
Last updated: 4 July 2024
Last updated: 6 March 2024
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Last updated: 13 May 2024
Related topics, .css-je19u9{-webkit-align-items:flex-end;-webkit-box-align:flex-end;-ms-flex-align:flex-end;align-items:flex-end;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;row-gap:0;text-align:center;max-width:671px;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}}@media (max-width: 799px){.css-je19u9{max-width:400px;}.css-je19u9>span{white-space:pre;}} decide what to .css-1kiodld{max-height:56px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}@media (max-width: 1079px){.css-1kiodld{display:none;}} build next, decide what to build next.
Get started for free
Struggling to write research objectives? Follow our easy steps to learn how to craft effective and compelling objectives in research papers.
Are you struggling to define the goals and direction of your research? Are you losing yourself while doing research and tend to go astray from the intended research topic? Fear not, as many face the same problem and it is quite understandable to overcome this, a concept called research objective comes into play here.
In this article, we’ll delve into the world of the objectives in research papers and why they are essential for a successful study. We will be studying what they are and how they are used in research.
A research objective is a clear and specific goal that a researcher aims to achieve through a research study. It serves as a roadmap for the research, providing direction and focus. Research objectives are formulated based on the research questions or hypotheses, and they help in defining the scope of the study and guiding the research design and methodology. They also assist in evaluating the success and outcomes of the research.
There are typically three main types of objectives in a research paper:
Also Read: What are the types of research?
1. identify the research topic:.
Clearly define the subject or topic of your research. This will provide a broad context for developing specific research objectives.
Review existing literature and research related to your topic. This will help you understand the current state of knowledge, identify any research gaps, and refine your research objectives accordingly.
Formulate specific research questions or hypotheses that you want to address in your study. These questions should be directly related to your research topic and guide the development of your research objectives.
Break down the broader research questions or hypothesis into specific goals or objectives. Each objective should focus on a particular aspect of your research topic and be achievable within the scope of your study.
Write your research objectives using clear and precise language. Avoid vague terms and use specific and measurable terms that can be observed, analyzed, or measured.
Ensure that your research objectives are feasible within the available resources, time constraints, and ethical considerations. They should be realistic and attainable given the limitations of your study.
If you have multiple research objectives, prioritize them based on their importance and relevance to your overall research goals. This will help you allocate resources and focus your efforts accordingly.
Review your research objectives to ensure they align with your research questions or hypotheses, and revise them if necessary. Seek feedback from peers or advisors to ensure clarity and coherence.
1. be clear and specific.
Clearly state what you intend to achieve with your research. Use specific language that leaves no room for ambiguity or confusion. This ensures that your objectives are well-defined and focused.
Begin each research objective with an action verb that describes a measurable action or outcome. This helps make your objectives more actionable and measurable.
Your research objectives should directly address the research questions or hypotheses you have formulated. Ensure there is a clear connection between them to maintain coherence in your study.
Set research objectives that are attainable within the constraints of your study, including available resources, time, and ethical considerations. Unrealistic objectives may undermine the validity and reliability of your research.
Your research objectives should be relevant to your research topic and contribute to the broader field of study. Consider the potential impact and significance of achieving the objectives.
To ensure that your research objectives are well-defined and effectively guide your study, you can apply the SMART framework. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Here’s how you can make your research objectives SMART:
Here are some examples of research objectives from various fields of study:
Research objectives play a crucial role in the research process and hold significant importance for several reasons:
When writing research objectives, it’s important to be aware of common mistakes and pitfalls that can undermine the effectiveness and clarity of your objectives. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:
In conclusion, research objectives are integral to the success and effectiveness of any research study. They provide a clear direction, focus, and purpose, guiding the entire research process from start to finish. By formulating specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives, researchers can define the scope of their study, guide data collection and analysis, and evaluate the outcomes of their research.
When you wish to explain any complex data, it’s always advised to break it down into simpler visuals or stories. This is where Mind the Graph comes in. It is a platform that helps researchers and scientists to turn their data into easy-to-understand and dynamic stories, helping the audience understand the concepts better. Sign Up now to explore the library of scientific infographics.
Exclusive high quality content about effective visual communication in science.
Sign Up for Free
Try the best infographic maker and promote your research with scientifically-accurate beautiful figures
no credit card required
Sowjanya is a passionate writer and an avid reader. She holds MBA in Agribusiness Management and now is working as a content writer. She loves to play with words and hopes to make a difference in the world through her writings. Apart from writing, she is interested in reading fiction novels and doing craftwork. She also loves to travel and explore different cuisines and spend time with her family and friends.
Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.
Learning objectives.
Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?
You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.
Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.
When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.
But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.
If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.
Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.
No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.
Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.
Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.
Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?
A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.
Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?
How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.
These are the steps in the research writing process:
Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.
As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.
Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.
During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.
When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.
Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.
When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.
Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”
Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.
When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.
In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.
Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!
Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.
Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
Picture yourself on a road trip without a destination in mind — driving aimlessly, not knowing where you’re headed or how to get there. Similarly, your research is navigated by well-defined research aims and objectives. Research aims and objectives are the foundation of any research project. They provide a clear direction and purpose for the study, ensuring that you stay focused and on track throughout the process. They are your trusted navigational tools, leading you to success.
Understanding the relationship between research objectives and aims is crucial to any research project’s success, and we’re here to break it down for you in this article. Here, we’ll explore the importance of research aims and objectives, understand their differences, and delve into the impact they have on the quality of research.
In research, aims and objectives are two important components but are often used interchangeably. Though they may sound similar, they are distinct and serve different purposes.
Research aims are broad statements that describe the overall purpose of your study. They provide a general direction for your study and indicate the intended achievements of your research. Aims are usually written in a general and abstract manner describing the ultimate goal of the research.
Research objectives are specific, measurable, and achievable goals that you aim to accomplish within a specified timeframe. They break down the research aims into smaller, more manageable components and provide a clear picture of what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it.
In the example, the objectives provide specific targets that must be achieved to reach the aim. Essentially, aims provide the overall direction for the research while objectives provide specific targets that must be achieved to accomplish the aims. Aims provide a broad context for the research, while the objectives provide smaller steps that the researcher must take to accomplish the overall research goals. To illustrate, when planning a road trip, your research aim is the destination you want to reach, and your research objectives are the specific routes you need to take to get there.
Aims and objectives are interconnected. Objectives play a key role in defining the research methodology, providing a roadmap for how you’ll collect and analyze data, while aim is the final destination, which represents the ultimate goal of your research. By setting specific goals, you’ll be able to design a research plan that helps you achieve your objectives and, ultimately, your research aim.
The impact of clear research aims and objectives on the quality of research cannot be understated. But it’s not enough to simply have aims and objectives. Well-defined research aims and objectives are important for several reasons:
Formulating effective research aims and objectives involves a systematic process to ensure that they are clear, specific, achievable, and relevant. Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve through your research. What impact do you want your research to have? Once you have a clear understanding of your aims, you can then break them down into specific, achievable objectives. Here are some steps you can follow when developing research aims and objectives:
There are several common mistakes that researchers can make when writing research aims and objectives. These include:
To avoid these common pitfalls, it is important to be specific, clear, relevant, and realistic when writing research aims and objectives. Seek feedback from colleagues or supervisors to ensure that the aims and objectives are aligned with the research problem , questions, and methodology, and are achievable within the constraints of the research project. It’s important to continually refine your aims and objectives as you go. As you progress in your research, it’s not uncommon for research aims and objectives to evolve slightly, but it’s important that they remain consistent with the study conducted and the research topic.
In summary, research aims and objectives are the backbone of any successful research project. They give you the ability to cut through the noise and hone in on what really matters. By setting clear goals and aligning them with your research questions and methodology, you can ensure that your research is relevant, impactful, and of the highest quality. So, before you hit the road on your research journey, make sure you have a clear destination and steps to get there. Let us know in the comments section below the challenges you faced and the strategies you followed while fomulating research aims and objectives! Also, feel free to reach out to us at any stage of your research or publication by using #AskEnago and tagging @EnagoAcademy on Twitter , Facebook , and Quora . Happy researching!
This particular material has added important but overlooked concepts regarding my experiences in explaining research aims and objectives. Thank you
Rate this article Cancel Reply
Your email address will not be published.
Academic Essay Writing Made Simple: 4 types and tips
The pen is mightier than the sword, they say, and nowhere is this more evident…
Language Quality Importance in Academia AI in Evaluating Language Quality Enago Language Reports Live Demo…
Imagine having to skim through and read mountains of research papers and books, only to…
In research, choosing the right approach to understand data is crucial for deriving meaningful insights.…
The process of choosing the right research design can put ourselves at the crossroads of…
Choosing the Right Analytical Approach: Thematic analysis vs. content analysis for…
Comparing Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Studies: 5 steps for choosing the right…
Research Recommendations – Guiding policy-makers for evidence-based decision making
Sign-up to read more
Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:
We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you.
Almost all industries use research for growth and development. Research objectives are how researchers ensure that their study has direction and makes a significant contribution to growing an industry or niche.
Research objectives provide a clear and concise statement of what the researcher wants to find out. As a researcher, you need to clearly outline and define research objectives to guide the research process and ensure that the study is relevant and generates the impact you want.
In this article, we will explore research objectives and how to leverage them to achieve successful research studies.
Research objectives are what you want to achieve through your research study. They guide your research process and help you focus on the most important aspects of your topic.
You can also define the scope of your study and set realistic and attainable study goals with research objectives. For example, with clear research objectives, your study focuses on the specific goals you want to achieve and prevents you from spending time and resources collecting unnecessary data.
However, sticking to research objectives isn’t always easy, especially in broad or unconventional research. This is why most researchers follow the SMART criteria when defining their research objectives.
Think of research objectives as a roadmap to achieving your research goals, with the SMART criteria as your navigator on the map.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These criteria help you ensure that your research objectives are clear, specific, realistic, meaningful, and time-bound.
Here’s a breakdown of the SMART Criteria:
Specific : Your research objectives should be clear: what do you want to achieve, why do you want to achieve it, and how do you plan to achieve it? Avoid vague or broad statements that don’t provide enough direction for your research.
Measurable : Your research objectives should have metrics that help you track your progress and measure your results. Also, ensure the metrics are measurable with data to verify them.
Achievable : Your research objectives should be within your research scope, timeframe, and budget. Also, set goals that are challenging but not impossible.
Relevant: Your research objectives should be in line with the goal and significance of your study. Also, ensure that the objectives address a specific issue or knowledge gap that is interesting and relevant to your industry or niche.
Time-bound : Your research objectives should have a specific deadline or timeframe for completion. This will help you carefully set a schedule for your research activities and milestones and monitor your study progress.
Clarity : Your objectives should be clear and unambiguous so that anyone who reads them can understand what you intend to do. Avoid vague or general terms that could be taken out of context.
Specificity : Your objectives should be specific and address the research questions that you have formulated. Do not use broad or narrow objectives as they may restrict your field of research or make your research irrelevant.
Measurability : Define your metrics with indicators or metrics that help you determine if you’ve accomplished your goals or not. This will ensure you are tracking the research progress and making interventions when needed.
Also, do use objectives that are subjective or based on personal opinions, as they may be difficult to accurately verify and measure.
Achievability : Your objectives should be realistic and attainable, given the resources and time available for your research project. You should set objectives that match your skills and capabilities, they can be difficult but not so hard that they are realistically unachievable.
For example, setting very difficult make you lose confidence, and abandon your research. Also, setting very simple objectives could demotivate you and prevent you from closing the knowledge gap or making significant contributions to your field with your research.
Relevance : Your objectives should be relevant to your research topic and contribute to the existing knowledge in your field. Avoid objectives that are unrelated or insignificant, as they may waste your time or resources.
Time-bound : Your objectives should be time-bound and specify when you will complete them. Have a realistic and flexible timeframe for achieving your objectives, and track your progress with it.
Identify the research questions.
The first step in writing effective research objectives is to identify the research questions that you are trying to answer. Research questions help you narrow down your topic and identify the gaps or problems that you want to address with your research.
For example, if you are interested in the impact of technology on children’s development, your research questions could be:
Once you have your research questions, you can brainstorm possible objectives that relate to them. Objectives are more specific than research questions, and they tell you what you want to achieve or learn in your research.
You can use verbs such as analyze, compare, evaluate, explore, investigate, etc. to express your objectives. Also, try to generate as many objectives as possible, without worrying about their quality or feasibility at this stage.
Once you’ve brainstormed your objectives, you’ll need to prioritize them based on their relevance and feasibility. Relevance is how relevant the objective is to your research topic and how well it fits into your overall research objective.
Feasibility is how realistic and feasible the objective is compared to the time, money, and expertise you have. You can create a matrix or ranking system to organize your objectives and pick the ones that matter the most.
The next step is to refine and revise your objectives to ensure clarity and specificity. Start by ensuring that your objectives are consistent and coherent with each other and with your research questions.
A useful way to refine your objectives is to make them SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
The final step is to review your objectives for coherence and alignment with your research questions and aim. Ensure your objectives are logically connected and consistent with each other and with the purpose of your study.
You also need to check that your objectives are not too broad or too narrow, too easy or too hard, too many or too few. You can use a checklist or a rubric to evaluate your objectives and make modifications.
Example 1- Psychology
Research question: What are the effects of social media use on teenagers’ mental health?
Objective : To determine the relationship between the amount of time teenagers in the US spend on social media and their levels of anxiety and depression before and after using social media.
What Makes the Research Objective SMART?
The research objective is specific because it clearly states what the researcher hopes to achieve. It is measurable because it can be quantified by measuring the levels of anxiety and depression in teenagers.
Also, the objective is achievable because the researcher can collect enough data to answer the research question. It is relevant because it is directly related to the research question. It is time-bound because it has a specific deadline for completion.
Example 2- Marketing
Research question : How can a company increase its brand awareness by 10%?
Objective : To develop a marketing strategy that will increase the company’s sales by 10% within the next quarter.
How Is this Research Objective SMART?
The research states what the researcher hopes to achieve ( Specific ). You can also measure the company’s reach before and after the marketing plan is implemented ( Measurable ).
The research objective is also achievable because you can develop a marketing plan that will increase awareness by 10% within the timeframe. The objective is directly related to the research question ( Relevant ). It is also time-bound because it has a specific deadline for completion.
Research objectives are a well-designed roadmap to completing and achieving your overall research goal.
However, research goals are only effective if they are well-defined and backed up with the best practices such as the SMART criteria. Properly defining research objectives will help you plan and conduct your research project effectively and efficiently.
Connect to Formplus, Get Started Now - It's Free!
You may also like:
Introduction A research summary is a requirement during academic research and sometimes you might need to prepare a research summary...
If you are looking for a way to conduct a research study while optimizing your resources, desk research is a great option. Desk research...
Introduction Clinical trials are an integral part of the drug development process. They aim to assess the safety and efficacy of a new...
Introduction When you’re conducting a survey, you need to find out what people think about things. But how do you get an accurate and...
Collect data the right way with a versatile data collection tool. try formplus and transform your work productivity today..
Chris Drew (PhD)
Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]
Learn about our Editorial Process
Research objectives refer to the definitive statements made by researchers at the beginning of a research project detailing exactly what a research project aims to achieve.
These objectives are explicit goals clearly and concisely projected by the researcher to present a clear intention or course of action for his or her qualitative or quantitative study.
Research objectives are typically nested under one overarching research aim. The objectives are the steps you’ll need to take in order to achieve the aim (see the examples below, for example, which demonstrate an aim followed by 3 objectives, which is what I recommend to my research students).
Research aim and research objectives are fundamental constituents of any study, fitting together like two pieces of the same puzzle.
The ‘research aim’ describes the overarching goal or purpose of the study (Kumar, 2019). This is usually a broad, high-level purpose statement, summing up the central question that the research intends to answer.
Example of an Overarching Research Aim:
“The aim of this study is to explore the impact of climate change on crop productivity.”
Comparatively, ‘research objectives’ are concrete goals that underpin the research aim, providing stepwise actions to achieve the aim.
Objectives break the primary aim into manageable, focused pieces, and are usually characterized as being more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Examples of Specific Research Objectives:
1. “To examine the effects of rising temperatures on the yield of rice crops during the upcoming growth season.” 2. “To assess changes in rainfall patterns in major agricultural regions over the first decade of the twenty-first century (2000-2010).” 3. “To analyze the impact of changing weather patterns on crop diseases within the same timeframe.”
The distinction between these two terms, though subtle, is significant for successfully conducting a study. The research aim provides the study with direction, while the research objectives set the path to achieving this aim, thereby ensuring the study’s efficiency and effectiveness.
I usually recommend to my students that they use the SMART framework to create their research objectives.
SMART is an acronym standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It provides a clear method of defining solid research objectives and helps students know where to start in writing their objectives (Locke & Latham, 2013).
Each element of this acronym adds a distinct dimension to the framework, aiding in the creation of comprehensive, well-delineated objectives.
Here is each step:
You’re not expected to fit every single element of the SMART framework in one objective, but across your objectives, try to touch on each of the five components.
1. Field: Psychology
Aim: To explore the impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance in college students.
2. Field: Environmental Science
Aim: To understand the effects of urban green spaces on human well-being in a metropolitan city.
3. Field: Technology
Aim: To investigate the influence of using social media on productivity in the workplace.
4. Field: Education
Aim: To examine the effectiveness of online vs traditional face-to-face learning on student engagement and achievement.
5. Field: Health
Aim: To determine the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cardiac health among adults over 50.
6. Field: Environmental Science
Aim: To analyze the impact of urban farming on community sustainability.
7. Field: Sociology
Aim: To investigate the influence of home offices on work-life balance during remote work.
8. Field: Economics
Aim: To evaluate the effects of minimum wage increases on small businesses.
9. Field: Education
Aim: To explore the role of extracurricular activities in promoting soft skills among high school students.
10. Field: Technology
Aim: To assess the impact of virtual reality (VR) technology on the tourism industry.
11. Field: Biochemistry
Aim: To examine the role of antioxidants in preventing cellular damage.
12. Field: Linguistics
Aim: To determine the influence of early exposure to multiple languages on cognitive development in children.
13. Field: Art History
Aim: To explore the impact of the Renaissance period on modern-day art trends.
14. Field: Cybersecurity
Aim: To assess the effectiveness of two-factor authentication (2FA) in preventing unauthorized system access.
15. Field: Cultural Studies
Aim: To analyze the role of music in cultural identity formation among ethnic minorities.
16. Field: Astronomy
Aim: To explore the impact of solar activity on satellite communication.
17. Field: Literature
Aim: To examine narrative techniques in contemporary graphic novels.
18. Field: Renewable Energy
Aim: To investigate the feasibility of solar energy as a primary renewable resource within urban areas.
19. Field: Sports Science
Aim: To evaluate the role of pre-game rituals in athlete performance.
20. Field: Ecology
Aim: To investigate the effects of urban noise pollution on bird populations.
21. Field: Food Science
Aim: To examine the influence of cooking methods on the nutritional value of vegetables.
The importance of research objectives cannot be overstated. In essence, these guideposts articulate what the researcher aims to discover, understand, or examine (Kothari, 2014).
When drafting research objectives, it’s essential to make them simple and comprehensible, specific to the point of being quantifiable where possible, achievable in a practical sense, relevant to the chosen research question, and time-constrained to ensure efficient progress (Kumar, 2019).
Remember that a good research objective is integral to the success of your project, offering a clear path forward for setting out a research design , and serving as the bedrock of your study plan. Each objective must distinctly address a different dimension of your research question or problem (Kothari, 2014). Always bear in mind that the ultimate purpose of your research objectives is to succinctly encapsulate your aims in the clearest way possible, facilitating a coherent, comprehensive and rational approach to your planned study, and furnishing a scientific roadmap for your journey into the depths of knowledge and research (Kumar, 2019).
Kothari, C.R (2014). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques . New Delhi: New Age International.
Kumar, R. (2019). Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners .New York: SAGE Publications.
Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management review, 70 (11), 35-36.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2013). New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance . New York: Routledge.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Quick Links
202.448-7036
The goal of a research paper is to bring together different views, evidence, and facts about a topic from books, articles, and interviews, then interpret the information into your writing. It’s about a relationship between you, other writers, and your teacher/audience.
A research paper will show two things: what you know or learned about a certain topic, and what other people know about the same topic. Often you make a judgment, or just explain complex ideas to the reader. The length of the research paper depends on your teacher’s guidelines. It’s always a good idea to keep your teacher in mind while writing your paper because the teacher is your audience.
The Process There are three stages for doing a research paper. These stages are:
While most people start with prewriting, the three stages of the writing process overlap. Writing is not the kind of process where you have to finish step one before moving on to step two, and so on. Your job is to make your ideas as clear as possible for the reader, and that means you might have to go back and forth between the prewriting, writing and revising stages several times before submitting the paper.
» Prewriting Thinking about a topic
The first thing you should do when starting your research paper is to think of a topic. Try to pick a topic that interests you and your teacher — interesting topics are easier to write about than boring topics! Make sure that your topic is not too hard to research, and that there is enough material on the topic. Talk to as many people as possible about your topic, especially your teacher. You’ll be surprised at the ideas you’ll get from talking about your topic. Be sure to always discuss potential topics with your teacher.
Places you can find a topic: newspapers, magazines, television news, the World Wide Web, and even in the index of a textbook!
Narrowing down your topic
As you think about your topic and start reading, you should begin thinking about a possible thesis statement (a sentence or two explaining your opinion about the topic). One technique is to ask yourself one important question about your topic, and as you find your answer, the thesis can develop from that. Some other techniques you may use to narrow your topic are: jot lists; preliminary outlines; listing possible thesis statements; listing questions; and/or making a concept map. It also may be helpful to have a friend ask you questions about your topic.
For help on developing your thesis statement, see the English Center Guide to Developing a Thesis Statement .
Discovery/Reading about your topic
You need to find information that helps you support your thesis. There are different places you can find this information: books, articles, people (interviews), and the internet.
As you gather the information or ideas you need, you need to make sure that you take notes and write down where and who you got the information from. This is called “citing your sources.” If you write your paper using information from other writers and do not cite the sources, you are committing plagiarism . If you plagiarize, you can get an “F” on your paper, fail the course, or even get kicked out of school.
CITING SOURCES
There are three major different formats for citing sources. They are: the Modern Language Association (MLA) , the American Psychology Association (APA) , and the Chicago Turabian style . Always ask your teacher which format to use. For more information on these styles, see our other handouts!
ORGANIZING INFORMATION
After you’ve thought, read, and taken notes on your topic, you may want to revise your thesis because a good thesis will help you develop a plan for writing your paper. One way you can do this is to brainstorm — think about everything you know about your topic, and put it down on paper. Once you have it all written down, you can look it over and decide if you should change your thesis statement or not.
If you already developed a preliminary map or outline, now is the time to go back and revise it. If you haven’t developed a map or outline yet, now is the time to do it. The outline or concept map should help you organize how you want to present information to your readers. The clearer your outline or map, the easier it will be for you to write the paper. Be sure that each part of your outline supports your thesis. If it does not, you may want to change/revise your thesis statement again.
» Writing a research paper follows a standard compositional (essay) format. It has a title, introduction, body and conclusion. Some people like to start their research papers with a title and introduction, while others wait until they’ve already started the body of the paper before developing a title and introduction. See this link for more information about writing introductions and conclusions .
Some techniques that may help you with writing your paper are:
If you’re having difficulties thinking of what to write about next, you can look back at your notes that you have from when you were brainstorming for your topic.
» Revising The last (but not least) step is revising. When you are revising, look over your paper and make changes in weak areas. The different areas to look for mistakes include: content– too much detail, or too little detail; organization/structure (which is the order in which you write information about your topic); grammar; punctuation; capitalization; word choice; and citations.
It probably is best if you focus on the “big picture” first. The “big picture” means the organization (paragraph order), and content (ideas and points) of the paper. It also might help to go through your paper paragraph by paragraph and see if the main idea of each paragraph relates to the thesis. Be sure to keep an eye out for any repeated information (one of the most common mistakes made by students is having two or more paragraphs with the same information). Often good writers combine several paragraphs into one so they do not repeat information.
Revision Guidelines
After you are satisfied with the content and structure of the paper, you then can focus on common errors like grammar, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, typos, and word choice.
Proofreading Guidelines
For more information on proofreading, see the English Center Punctuation and Grammar Review .
After writing the paper, it might help if you put it aside and do not look at it for a day or two. When you look at your paper again, you will see it with new eyes and notice mistakes you didn’t before. It’s a really good idea to ask someone else to read your paper before you submit it to your teacher. Good writers often get feedback and revise their paper several times before submitting it to the teacher.
Source: “Process of Writing a Research Paper,” by Ellen Beck and Rachel Mingo with contributions from Jules Nelson Hill and Vivion Smith, is based on the previous version by Dawn Taylor, Sharon Quintero, Robert Rich, Robert McDonald, and Katherine Eckhart.
202-448-7036
Gallaudet University, chartered in 1864, is a private university for deaf and hard of hearing students.
Copyright © 2024 Gallaudet University. All rights reserved.
800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, D.C. 20002
Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.
Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.
A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is not.
A research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. It is neither a book report nor an opinion piece nor an expository essay consisting solely of one's interpretation of a text nor an overview of a particular topic. Instead, it is a genre that requires one to spend time investigating and evaluating sources with the intent to offer interpretations of the texts, and not unconscious regurgitations of those sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research papers.
Argumentative research paper:
The argumentative research paper consists of an introduction in which the writer clearly introduces the topic and informs his audience exactly which stance he intends to take; this stance is often identified as the thesis statement . An important goal of the argumentative research paper is persuasion, which means the topic chosen should be debatable or controversial. For example, it would be difficult for a student to successfully argue in favor of the following stance.
Perhaps 25 years ago this topic would have been debatable; however, today, it is assumed that smoking cigarettes is, indeed, harmful to one's health. A better thesis would be the following.
In this sentence, the writer is not challenging the current accepted stance that both firsthand and secondhand cigarette smoke is dangerous; rather, she is positing that the social acceptance of the latter over the former is indicative of a cultural double-standard of sorts. The student would support this thesis throughout her paper by means of both primary and secondary sources, with the intent to persuade her audience that her particular interpretation of the situation is viable.
Analytical research paper:
The analytical research paper often begins with the student asking a question (a.k.a. a research question) on which he has taken no stance. Such a paper is often an exercise in exploration and evaluation. For example, perhaps one is interested in the Old English poem Beowulf . He has read the poem intently and desires to offer a fresh reading of the poem to the academic community. His question may be as follows.
His research may lead him to the following conclusion.
Though his topic may be debatable and controversial, it is not the student's intent to persuade the audience that his ideas are right while those of others are wrong. Instead, his goal is to offer a critical interpretation of primary and secondary sources throughout the paper--sources that should, ultimately, buttress his particular analysis of the topic. The following is an example of what his thesis statement may look like once he has completed his research.
This statement does not negate the traditional readings of Beowulf ; instead, it offers a fresh and detailed reading of the poem that will be supported by the student's research.
It is typically not until the student has begun the writing process that his thesis statement begins to take solid form. In fact, the thesis statement in an analytical paper is often more fluid than the thesis in an argumentative paper. Such is one of the benefits of approaching the topic without a predetermined stance.
The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organization of the paper.
Key Elements of the Research Proposal. Prepared under the direction of the Superintendent and by the 2010 Curriculum Design and Writing Team. Baltimore County Public Schools.
Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer for the reader these four questions:
According to Reyes, there are three overarching goals of a good introduction: 1) ensure that you summarize prior studies about the topic in a manner that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem; 2) explain how your study specifically addresses gaps in the literature, insufficient consideration of the topic, or other deficiency in the literature; and, 3) note the broader theoretical, empirical, and/or policy contributions and implications of your research.
A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraphs of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will lead your readers to think highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research approach. All introductions should conclude with a brief paragraph that describes the organization of the rest of the paper.
Hirano, Eliana. “Research Article Introductions in English for Specific Purposes: A Comparison between Brazilian, Portuguese, and English.” English for Specific Purposes 28 (October 2009): 240-250; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide. Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Reyes, Victoria. Demystifying the Journal Article. Inside Higher Education.
I. Structure and Approach
The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the reader:
Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow your analysis to more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your research problem and the rationale for studying it [often written as a series of key questions to be addressed or framed as a hypothesis or set of assumptions to be tested] and, whenever possible, a description of the potential outcomes your study can reveal.
These are general phases associated with writing an introduction: 1. Establish an area to research by:
2. Identify a research niche by:
3. Place your research within the research niche by:
NOTE: It is often useful to review the introduction late in the writing process. This is appropriate because outcomes are unknown until you've completed the study. After you complete writing the body of the paper, go back and review introductory descriptions of the structure of the paper, the method of data gathering, the reporting and analysis of results, and the conclusion. Reviewing and, if necessary, rewriting the introduction ensures that it correctly matches the overall structure of your final paper.
II. Delimitations of the Study
Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the conceptual boundaries of your research . This is determined by the conscious exclusionary and inclusionary decisions you make about how to investigate the research problem. In other words, not only should you tell the reader what it is you are studying and why, but you must also acknowledge why you rejected alternative approaches that could have been used to examine the topic.
Obviously, the first limiting step was the choice of research problem itself. However, implicit are other, related problems that could have been chosen but were rejected. These should be noted in the conclusion of your introduction. For example, a delimitating statement could read, "Although many factors can be understood to impact the likelihood young people will vote, this study will focus on socioeconomic factors related to the need to work full-time while in school." The point is not to document every possible delimiting factor, but to highlight why previously researched issues related to the topic were not addressed.
Examples of delimitating choices would be:
Review each of these decisions. Not only do you clearly establish what you intend to accomplish in your research, but you should also include a declaration of what the study does not intend to cover. In the latter case, your exclusionary decisions should be based upon criteria understood as, "not interesting"; "not directly relevant"; “too problematic because..."; "not feasible," and the like. Make this reasoning explicit!
NOTE: Delimitations refer to the initial choices made about the broader, overall design of your study and should not be confused with documenting the limitations of your study discovered after the research has been completed.
ANOTHER NOTE: Do not view delimitating statements as admitting to an inherent failing or shortcoming in your research. They are an accepted element of academic writing intended to keep the reader focused on the research problem by explicitly defining the conceptual boundaries and scope of your study. It addresses any critical questions in the reader's mind of, "Why the hell didn't the author examine this?"
III. The Narrative Flow
Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your introduction :
IV. Engaging the Reader
A research problem in the social sciences can come across as dry and uninteresting to anyone unfamiliar with the topic . Therefore, one of the goals of your introduction is to make readers want to read your paper. Here are several strategies you can use to grab the reader's attention:
NOTE: It is important that you choose only one of the suggested strategies for engaging your readers. This avoids giving an impression that your paper is more flash than substance and does not distract from the substance of your study.
Freedman, Leora and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Introduction. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Introductions. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Resources for Writers: Introduction Strategies. Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sharpling, Gerald. Writing an Introduction. Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Swales, John and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Skills and Tasks . 2nd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004 ; Writing Your Introduction. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University.
Avoid the "Dictionary" Introduction
Giving the dictionary definition of words related to the research problem may appear appropriate because it is important to define specific terminology that readers may be unfamiliar with. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and a general dictionary is not a particularly authoritative source because it doesn't take into account the context of your topic and doesn't offer particularly detailed information. Also, placed in the context of a particular discipline, a term or concept may have a different meaning than what is found in a general dictionary. If you feel that you must seek out an authoritative definition, use a subject specific dictionary or encyclopedia [e.g., if you are a sociology student, search for dictionaries of sociology]. A good database for obtaining definitive definitions of concepts or terms is Credo Reference .
Saba, Robert. The College Research Paper. Florida International University; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.
When Do I Begin?
A common question asked at the start of any paper is, "Where should I begin?" An equally important question to ask yourself is, "When do I begin?" Research problems in the social sciences rarely rest in isolation from history. Therefore, it is important to lay a foundation for understanding the historical context underpinning the research problem. However, this information should be brief and succinct and begin at a point in time that illustrates the study's overall importance. For example, a study that investigates coffee cultivation and export in West Africa as a key stimulus for local economic growth needs to describe the beginning of exporting coffee in the region and establishing why economic growth is important. You do not need to give a long historical explanation about coffee exports in Africa. If a research problem requires a substantial exploration of the historical context, do this in the literature review section. In your introduction, make note of this as part of the "roadmap" [see below] that you use to describe the organization of your paper.
Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70.
Always End with a Roadmap
The final paragraph or sentences of your introduction should forecast your main arguments and conclusions and provide a brief description of the rest of the paper [the "roadmap"] that let's the reader know where you are going and what to expect. A roadmap is important because it helps the reader place the research problem within the context of their own perspectives about the topic. In addition, concluding your introduction with an explicit roadmap tells the reader that you have a clear understanding of the structural purpose of your paper. In this way, the roadmap acts as a type of promise to yourself and to your readers that you will follow a consistent and coherent approach to addressing the topic of inquiry. Refer to it often to help keep your writing focused and organized.
Cassuto, Leonard. “On the Dissertation: How to Write the Introduction.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , May 28, 2018; Radich, Michael. A Student's Guide to Writing in East Asian Studies . (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Writing n. d.), pp. 35-37.
An official website of the United States government
The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.
The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.
The PMC website is updating on October 15, 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .
Edward barroga.
1 Department of General Education, Graduate School of Nursing Science, St. Luke’s International University, Tokyo, Japan.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA.
The development of research questions and the subsequent hypotheses are prerequisites to defining the main research purpose and specific objectives of a study. Consequently, these objectives determine the study design and research outcome. The development of research questions is a process based on knowledge of current trends, cutting-edge studies, and technological advances in the research field. Excellent research questions are focused and require a comprehensive literature search and in-depth understanding of the problem being investigated. Initially, research questions may be written as descriptive questions which could be developed into inferential questions. These questions must be specific and concise to provide a clear foundation for developing hypotheses. Hypotheses are more formal predictions about the research outcomes. These specify the possible results that may or may not be expected regarding the relationship between groups. Thus, research questions and hypotheses clarify the main purpose and specific objectives of the study, which in turn dictate the design of the study, its direction, and outcome. Studies developed from good research questions and hypotheses will have trustworthy outcomes with wide-ranging social and health implications.
Scientific research is usually initiated by posing evidenced-based research questions which are then explicitly restated as hypotheses. 1 , 2 The hypotheses provide directions to guide the study, solutions, explanations, and expected results. 3 , 4 Both research questions and hypotheses are essentially formulated based on conventional theories and real-world processes, which allow the inception of novel studies and the ethical testing of ideas. 5 , 6
It is crucial to have knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative research 2 as both types of research involve writing research questions and hypotheses. 7 However, these crucial elements of research are sometimes overlooked; if not overlooked, then framed without the forethought and meticulous attention it needs. Planning and careful consideration are needed when developing quantitative or qualitative research, particularly when conceptualizing research questions and hypotheses. 4
There is a continuing need to support researchers in the creation of innovative research questions and hypotheses, as well as for journal articles that carefully review these elements. 1 When research questions and hypotheses are not carefully thought of, unethical studies and poor outcomes usually ensue. Carefully formulated research questions and hypotheses define well-founded objectives, which in turn determine the appropriate design, course, and outcome of the study. This article then aims to discuss in detail the various aspects of crafting research questions and hypotheses, with the goal of guiding researchers as they develop their own. Examples from the authors and peer-reviewed scientific articles in the healthcare field are provided to illustrate key points.
A research question is what a study aims to answer after data analysis and interpretation. The answer is written in length in the discussion section of the paper. Thus, the research question gives a preview of the different parts and variables of the study meant to address the problem posed in the research question. 1 An excellent research question clarifies the research writing while facilitating understanding of the research topic, objective, scope, and limitations of the study. 5
On the other hand, a research hypothesis is an educated statement of an expected outcome. This statement is based on background research and current knowledge. 8 , 9 The research hypothesis makes a specific prediction about a new phenomenon 10 or a formal statement on the expected relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable. 3 , 11 It provides a tentative answer to the research question to be tested or explored. 4
Hypotheses employ reasoning to predict a theory-based outcome. 10 These can also be developed from theories by focusing on components of theories that have not yet been observed. 10 The validity of hypotheses is often based on the testability of the prediction made in a reproducible experiment. 8
Conversely, hypotheses can also be rephrased as research questions. Several hypotheses based on existing theories and knowledge may be needed to answer a research question. Developing ethical research questions and hypotheses creates a research design that has logical relationships among variables. These relationships serve as a solid foundation for the conduct of the study. 4 , 11 Haphazardly constructed research questions can result in poorly formulated hypotheses and improper study designs, leading to unreliable results. Thus, the formulations of relevant research questions and verifiable hypotheses are crucial when beginning research. 12
Excellent research questions are specific and focused. These integrate collective data and observations to confirm or refute the subsequent hypotheses. Well-constructed hypotheses are based on previous reports and verify the research context. These are realistic, in-depth, sufficiently complex, and reproducible. More importantly, these hypotheses can be addressed and tested. 13
There are several characteristics of well-developed hypotheses. Good hypotheses are 1) empirically testable 7 , 10 , 11 , 13 ; 2) backed by preliminary evidence 9 ; 3) testable by ethical research 7 , 9 ; 4) based on original ideas 9 ; 5) have evidenced-based logical reasoning 10 ; and 6) can be predicted. 11 Good hypotheses can infer ethical and positive implications, indicating the presence of a relationship or effect relevant to the research theme. 7 , 11 These are initially developed from a general theory and branch into specific hypotheses by deductive reasoning. In the absence of a theory to base the hypotheses, inductive reasoning based on specific observations or findings form more general hypotheses. 10
Research questions and hypotheses are developed according to the type of research, which can be broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative research. We provide a summary of the types of research questions and hypotheses under quantitative and qualitative research categories in Table 1 .
Quantitative research questions | Quantitative research hypotheses |
---|---|
Descriptive research questions | Simple hypothesis |
Comparative research questions | Complex hypothesis |
Relationship research questions | Directional hypothesis |
Non-directional hypothesis | |
Associative hypothesis | |
Causal hypothesis | |
Null hypothesis | |
Alternative hypothesis | |
Working hypothesis | |
Statistical hypothesis | |
Logical hypothesis | |
Hypothesis-testing | |
Qualitative research questions | Qualitative research hypotheses |
Contextual research questions | Hypothesis-generating |
Descriptive research questions | |
Evaluation research questions | |
Explanatory research questions | |
Exploratory research questions | |
Generative research questions | |
Ideological research questions | |
Ethnographic research questions | |
Phenomenological research questions | |
Grounded theory questions | |
Qualitative case study questions |
In quantitative research, research questions inquire about the relationships among variables being investigated and are usually framed at the start of the study. These are precise and typically linked to the subject population, dependent and independent variables, and research design. 1 Research questions may also attempt to describe the behavior of a population in relation to one or more variables, or describe the characteristics of variables to be measured ( descriptive research questions ). 1 , 5 , 14 These questions may also aim to discover differences between groups within the context of an outcome variable ( comparative research questions ), 1 , 5 , 14 or elucidate trends and interactions among variables ( relationship research questions ). 1 , 5 We provide examples of descriptive, comparative, and relationship research questions in quantitative research in Table 2 .
Quantitative research questions | |
---|---|
Descriptive research question | |
- Measures responses of subjects to variables | |
- Presents variables to measure, analyze, or assess | |
What is the proportion of resident doctors in the hospital who have mastered ultrasonography (response of subjects to a variable) as a diagnostic technique in their clinical training? | |
Comparative research question | |
- Clarifies difference between one group with outcome variable and another group without outcome variable | |
Is there a difference in the reduction of lung metastasis in osteosarcoma patients who received the vitamin D adjunctive therapy (group with outcome variable) compared with osteosarcoma patients who did not receive the vitamin D adjunctive therapy (group without outcome variable)? | |
- Compares the effects of variables | |
How does the vitamin D analogue 22-Oxacalcitriol (variable 1) mimic the antiproliferative activity of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D (variable 2) in osteosarcoma cells? | |
Relationship research question | |
- Defines trends, association, relationships, or interactions between dependent variable and independent variable | |
Is there a relationship between the number of medical student suicide (dependent variable) and the level of medical student stress (independent variable) in Japan during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic? |
In quantitative research, hypotheses predict the expected relationships among variables. 15 Relationships among variables that can be predicted include 1) between a single dependent variable and a single independent variable ( simple hypothesis ) or 2) between two or more independent and dependent variables ( complex hypothesis ). 4 , 11 Hypotheses may also specify the expected direction to be followed and imply an intellectual commitment to a particular outcome ( directional hypothesis ) 4 . On the other hand, hypotheses may not predict the exact direction and are used in the absence of a theory, or when findings contradict previous studies ( non-directional hypothesis ). 4 In addition, hypotheses can 1) define interdependency between variables ( associative hypothesis ), 4 2) propose an effect on the dependent variable from manipulation of the independent variable ( causal hypothesis ), 4 3) state a negative relationship between two variables ( null hypothesis ), 4 , 11 , 15 4) replace the working hypothesis if rejected ( alternative hypothesis ), 15 explain the relationship of phenomena to possibly generate a theory ( working hypothesis ), 11 5) involve quantifiable variables that can be tested statistically ( statistical hypothesis ), 11 6) or express a relationship whose interlinks can be verified logically ( logical hypothesis ). 11 We provide examples of simple, complex, directional, non-directional, associative, causal, null, alternative, working, statistical, and logical hypotheses in quantitative research, as well as the definition of quantitative hypothesis-testing research in Table 3 .
Quantitative research hypotheses | |
---|---|
Simple hypothesis | |
- Predicts relationship between single dependent variable and single independent variable | |
If the dose of the new medication (single independent variable) is high, blood pressure (single dependent variable) is lowered. | |
Complex hypothesis | |
- Foretells relationship between two or more independent and dependent variables | |
The higher the use of anticancer drugs, radiation therapy, and adjunctive agents (3 independent variables), the higher would be the survival rate (1 dependent variable). | |
Directional hypothesis | |
- Identifies study direction based on theory towards particular outcome to clarify relationship between variables | |
Privately funded research projects will have a larger international scope (study direction) than publicly funded research projects. | |
Non-directional hypothesis | |
- Nature of relationship between two variables or exact study direction is not identified | |
- Does not involve a theory | |
Women and men are different in terms of helpfulness. (Exact study direction is not identified) | |
Associative hypothesis | |
- Describes variable interdependency | |
- Change in one variable causes change in another variable | |
A larger number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the region (change in independent variable) will reduce the region’s incidence of COVID-19 infection (change in dependent variable). | |
Causal hypothesis | |
- An effect on dependent variable is predicted from manipulation of independent variable | |
A change into a high-fiber diet (independent variable) will reduce the blood sugar level (dependent variable) of the patient. | |
Null hypothesis | |
- A negative statement indicating no relationship or difference between 2 variables | |
There is no significant difference in the severity of pulmonary metastases between the new drug (variable 1) and the current drug (variable 2). | |
Alternative hypothesis | |
- Following a null hypothesis, an alternative hypothesis predicts a relationship between 2 study variables | |
The new drug (variable 1) is better on average in reducing the level of pain from pulmonary metastasis than the current drug (variable 2). | |
Working hypothesis | |
- A hypothesis that is initially accepted for further research to produce a feasible theory | |
Dairy cows fed with concentrates of different formulations will produce different amounts of milk. | |
Statistical hypothesis | |
- Assumption about the value of population parameter or relationship among several population characteristics | |
- Validity tested by a statistical experiment or analysis | |
The mean recovery rate from COVID-19 infection (value of population parameter) is not significantly different between population 1 and population 2. | |
There is a positive correlation between the level of stress at the workplace and the number of suicides (population characteristics) among working people in Japan. | |
Logical hypothesis | |
- Offers or proposes an explanation with limited or no extensive evidence | |
If healthcare workers provide more educational programs about contraception methods, the number of adolescent pregnancies will be less. | |
Hypothesis-testing (Quantitative hypothesis-testing research) | |
- Quantitative research uses deductive reasoning. | |
- This involves the formation of a hypothesis, collection of data in the investigation of the problem, analysis and use of the data from the investigation, and drawing of conclusions to validate or nullify the hypotheses. |
Unlike research questions in quantitative research, research questions in qualitative research are usually continuously reviewed and reformulated. The central question and associated subquestions are stated more than the hypotheses. 15 The central question broadly explores a complex set of factors surrounding the central phenomenon, aiming to present the varied perspectives of participants. 15
There are varied goals for which qualitative research questions are developed. These questions can function in several ways, such as to 1) identify and describe existing conditions ( contextual research question s); 2) describe a phenomenon ( descriptive research questions ); 3) assess the effectiveness of existing methods, protocols, theories, or procedures ( evaluation research questions ); 4) examine a phenomenon or analyze the reasons or relationships between subjects or phenomena ( explanatory research questions ); or 5) focus on unknown aspects of a particular topic ( exploratory research questions ). 5 In addition, some qualitative research questions provide new ideas for the development of theories and actions ( generative research questions ) or advance specific ideologies of a position ( ideological research questions ). 1 Other qualitative research questions may build on a body of existing literature and become working guidelines ( ethnographic research questions ). Research questions may also be broadly stated without specific reference to the existing literature or a typology of questions ( phenomenological research questions ), may be directed towards generating a theory of some process ( grounded theory questions ), or may address a description of the case and the emerging themes ( qualitative case study questions ). 15 We provide examples of contextual, descriptive, evaluation, explanatory, exploratory, generative, ideological, ethnographic, phenomenological, grounded theory, and qualitative case study research questions in qualitative research in Table 4 , and the definition of qualitative hypothesis-generating research in Table 5 .
Qualitative research questions | |
---|---|
Contextual research question | |
- Ask the nature of what already exists | |
- Individuals or groups function to further clarify and understand the natural context of real-world problems | |
What are the experiences of nurses working night shifts in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic? (natural context of real-world problems) | |
Descriptive research question | |
- Aims to describe a phenomenon | |
What are the different forms of disrespect and abuse (phenomenon) experienced by Tanzanian women when giving birth in healthcare facilities? | |
Evaluation research question | |
- Examines the effectiveness of existing practice or accepted frameworks | |
How effective are decision aids (effectiveness of existing practice) in helping decide whether to give birth at home or in a healthcare facility? | |
Explanatory research question | |
- Clarifies a previously studied phenomenon and explains why it occurs | |
Why is there an increase in teenage pregnancy (phenomenon) in Tanzania? | |
Exploratory research question | |
- Explores areas that have not been fully investigated to have a deeper understanding of the research problem | |
What factors affect the mental health of medical students (areas that have not yet been fully investigated) during the COVID-19 pandemic? | |
Generative research question | |
- Develops an in-depth understanding of people’s behavior by asking ‘how would’ or ‘what if’ to identify problems and find solutions | |
How would the extensive research experience of the behavior of new staff impact the success of the novel drug initiative? | |
Ideological research question | |
- Aims to advance specific ideas or ideologies of a position | |
Are Japanese nurses who volunteer in remote African hospitals able to promote humanized care of patients (specific ideas or ideologies) in the areas of safe patient environment, respect of patient privacy, and provision of accurate information related to health and care? | |
Ethnographic research question | |
- Clarifies peoples’ nature, activities, their interactions, and the outcomes of their actions in specific settings | |
What are the demographic characteristics, rehabilitative treatments, community interactions, and disease outcomes (nature, activities, their interactions, and the outcomes) of people in China who are suffering from pneumoconiosis? | |
Phenomenological research question | |
- Knows more about the phenomena that have impacted an individual | |
What are the lived experiences of parents who have been living with and caring for children with a diagnosis of autism? (phenomena that have impacted an individual) | |
Grounded theory question | |
- Focuses on social processes asking about what happens and how people interact, or uncovering social relationships and behaviors of groups | |
What are the problems that pregnant adolescents face in terms of social and cultural norms (social processes), and how can these be addressed? | |
Qualitative case study question | |
- Assesses a phenomenon using different sources of data to answer “why” and “how” questions | |
- Considers how the phenomenon is influenced by its contextual situation. | |
How does quitting work and assuming the role of a full-time mother (phenomenon assessed) change the lives of women in Japan? |
Qualitative research hypotheses | |
---|---|
Hypothesis-generating (Qualitative hypothesis-generating research) | |
- Qualitative research uses inductive reasoning. | |
- This involves data collection from study participants or the literature regarding a phenomenon of interest, using the collected data to develop a formal hypothesis, and using the formal hypothesis as a framework for testing the hypothesis. | |
- Qualitative exploratory studies explore areas deeper, clarifying subjective experience and allowing formulation of a formal hypothesis potentially testable in a future quantitative approach. |
Qualitative studies usually pose at least one central research question and several subquestions starting with How or What . These research questions use exploratory verbs such as explore or describe . These also focus on one central phenomenon of interest, and may mention the participants and research site. 15
Hypotheses in qualitative research are stated in the form of a clear statement concerning the problem to be investigated. Unlike in quantitative research where hypotheses are usually developed to be tested, qualitative research can lead to both hypothesis-testing and hypothesis-generating outcomes. 2 When studies require both quantitative and qualitative research questions, this suggests an integrative process between both research methods wherein a single mixed-methods research question can be developed. 1
Research questions followed by hypotheses should be developed before the start of the study. 1 , 12 , 14 It is crucial to develop feasible research questions on a topic that is interesting to both the researcher and the scientific community. This can be achieved by a meticulous review of previous and current studies to establish a novel topic. Specific areas are subsequently focused on to generate ethical research questions. The relevance of the research questions is evaluated in terms of clarity of the resulting data, specificity of the methodology, objectivity of the outcome, depth of the research, and impact of the study. 1 , 5 These aspects constitute the FINER criteria (i.e., Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, and Relevant). 1 Clarity and effectiveness are achieved if research questions meet the FINER criteria. In addition to the FINER criteria, Ratan et al. described focus, complexity, novelty, feasibility, and measurability for evaluating the effectiveness of research questions. 14
The PICOT and PEO frameworks are also used when developing research questions. 1 The following elements are addressed in these frameworks, PICOT: P-population/patients/problem, I-intervention or indicator being studied, C-comparison group, O-outcome of interest, and T-timeframe of the study; PEO: P-population being studied, E-exposure to preexisting conditions, and O-outcome of interest. 1 Research questions are also considered good if these meet the “FINERMAPS” framework: Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant, Manageable, Appropriate, Potential value/publishable, and Systematic. 14
As we indicated earlier, research questions and hypotheses that are not carefully formulated result in unethical studies or poor outcomes. To illustrate this, we provide some examples of ambiguous research question and hypotheses that result in unclear and weak research objectives in quantitative research ( Table 6 ) 16 and qualitative research ( Table 7 ) 17 , and how to transform these ambiguous research question(s) and hypothesis(es) into clear and good statements.
Variables | Unclear and weak statement (Statement 1) | Clear and good statement (Statement 2) | Points to avoid |
---|---|---|---|
Research question | Which is more effective between smoke moxibustion and smokeless moxibustion? | “Moreover, regarding smoke moxibustion versus smokeless moxibustion, it remains unclear which is more effective, safe, and acceptable to pregnant women, and whether there is any difference in the amount of heat generated.” | 1) Vague and unfocused questions |
2) Closed questions simply answerable by yes or no | |||
3) Questions requiring a simple choice | |||
Hypothesis | The smoke moxibustion group will have higher cephalic presentation. | “Hypothesis 1. The smoke moxibustion stick group (SM group) and smokeless moxibustion stick group (-SLM group) will have higher rates of cephalic presentation after treatment than the control group. | 1) Unverifiable hypotheses |
Hypothesis 2. The SM group and SLM group will have higher rates of cephalic presentation at birth than the control group. | 2) Incompletely stated groups of comparison | ||
Hypothesis 3. There will be no significant differences in the well-being of the mother and child among the three groups in terms of the following outcomes: premature birth, premature rupture of membranes (PROM) at < 37 weeks, Apgar score < 7 at 5 min, umbilical cord blood pH < 7.1, admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and intrauterine fetal death.” | 3) Insufficiently described variables or outcomes | ||
Research objective | To determine which is more effective between smoke moxibustion and smokeless moxibustion. | “The specific aims of this pilot study were (a) to compare the effects of smoke moxibustion and smokeless moxibustion treatments with the control group as a possible supplement to ECV for converting breech presentation to cephalic presentation and increasing adherence to the newly obtained cephalic position, and (b) to assess the effects of these treatments on the well-being of the mother and child.” | 1) Poor understanding of the research question and hypotheses |
2) Insufficient description of population, variables, or study outcomes |
a These statements were composed for comparison and illustrative purposes only.
b These statements are direct quotes from Higashihara and Horiuchi. 16
Variables | Unclear and weak statement (Statement 1) | Clear and good statement (Statement 2) | Points to avoid |
---|---|---|---|
Research question | Does disrespect and abuse (D&A) occur in childbirth in Tanzania? | How does disrespect and abuse (D&A) occur and what are the types of physical and psychological abuses observed in midwives’ actual care during facility-based childbirth in urban Tanzania? | 1) Ambiguous or oversimplistic questions |
2) Questions unverifiable by data collection and analysis | |||
Hypothesis | Disrespect and abuse (D&A) occur in childbirth in Tanzania. | Hypothesis 1: Several types of physical and psychological abuse by midwives in actual care occur during facility-based childbirth in urban Tanzania. | 1) Statements simply expressing facts |
Hypothesis 2: Weak nursing and midwifery management contribute to the D&A of women during facility-based childbirth in urban Tanzania. | 2) Insufficiently described concepts or variables | ||
Research objective | To describe disrespect and abuse (D&A) in childbirth in Tanzania. | “This study aimed to describe from actual observations the respectful and disrespectful care received by women from midwives during their labor period in two hospitals in urban Tanzania.” | 1) Statements unrelated to the research question and hypotheses |
2) Unattainable or unexplorable objectives |
a This statement is a direct quote from Shimoda et al. 17
The other statements were composed for comparison and illustrative purposes only.
To construct effective research questions and hypotheses, it is very important to 1) clarify the background and 2) identify the research problem at the outset of the research, within a specific timeframe. 9 Then, 3) review or conduct preliminary research to collect all available knowledge about the possible research questions by studying theories and previous studies. 18 Afterwards, 4) construct research questions to investigate the research problem. Identify variables to be accessed from the research questions 4 and make operational definitions of constructs from the research problem and questions. Thereafter, 5) construct specific deductive or inductive predictions in the form of hypotheses. 4 Finally, 6) state the study aims . This general flow for constructing effective research questions and hypotheses prior to conducting research is shown in Fig. 1 .
Research questions are used more frequently in qualitative research than objectives or hypotheses. 3 These questions seek to discover, understand, explore or describe experiences by asking “What” or “How.” The questions are open-ended to elicit a description rather than to relate variables or compare groups. The questions are continually reviewed, reformulated, and changed during the qualitative study. 3 Research questions are also used more frequently in survey projects than hypotheses in experiments in quantitative research to compare variables and their relationships.
Hypotheses are constructed based on the variables identified and as an if-then statement, following the template, ‘If a specific action is taken, then a certain outcome is expected.’ At this stage, some ideas regarding expectations from the research to be conducted must be drawn. 18 Then, the variables to be manipulated (independent) and influenced (dependent) are defined. 4 Thereafter, the hypothesis is stated and refined, and reproducible data tailored to the hypothesis are identified, collected, and analyzed. 4 The hypotheses must be testable and specific, 18 and should describe the variables and their relationships, the specific group being studied, and the predicted research outcome. 18 Hypotheses construction involves a testable proposition to be deduced from theory, and independent and dependent variables to be separated and measured separately. 3 Therefore, good hypotheses must be based on good research questions constructed at the start of a study or trial. 12
In summary, research questions are constructed after establishing the background of the study. Hypotheses are then developed based on the research questions. Thus, it is crucial to have excellent research questions to generate superior hypotheses. In turn, these would determine the research objectives and the design of the study, and ultimately, the outcome of the research. 12 Algorithms for building research questions and hypotheses are shown in Fig. 2 for quantitative research and in Fig. 3 for qualitative research.
Research questions and hypotheses are crucial components to any type of research, whether quantitative or qualitative. These questions should be developed at the very beginning of the study. Excellent research questions lead to superior hypotheses, which, like a compass, set the direction of research, and can often determine the successful conduct of the study. Many research studies have floundered because the development of research questions and subsequent hypotheses was not given the thought and meticulous attention needed. The development of research questions and hypotheses is an iterative process based on extensive knowledge of the literature and insightful grasp of the knowledge gap. Focused, concise, and specific research questions provide a strong foundation for constructing hypotheses which serve as formal predictions about the research outcomes. Research questions and hypotheses are crucial elements of research that should not be overlooked. They should be carefully thought of and constructed when planning research. This avoids unethical studies and poor outcomes by defining well-founded objectives that determine the design, course, and outcome of the study.
Disclosure: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Author Contributions:
Welcome to the art of crafting a research paper! Think of this as your roadmap to creating a well-structured and impactful study. We’ll walk you through each crucial component—from introducing your topic with flair to wrapping up with a strong conclusion. Whether you're diving into your first research project or polishing your latest masterpiece, this guide is here to make the journey smoother and more enjoyable. Get ready to turn your research into a compelling narrative that not only showcases your findings but also captivates your readers.
Methodology, research paper structure: a snapshot.
Before diving into the individual components, let's take a quick look at the full structure of a research paper. This snapshot will help you visualize how each section fits together to form a cohesive and well-organized paper.
With this snapshot, you now have a high-level view of the main components of your research paper. You can explore each section in detail in the following tabs.
The introduction serves as your reader's first impression of your paper. It should draw them in with a compelling overview of your topic, clearly outline your research question or thesis, and establish the importance of your study.
Opening Statement
Background Information
Research Question or Thesis Statement
Scope and Objectives
Significance of the Study
The literature review is where you showcase the existing research that relates to your topic. It's your chance to demonstrate your understanding of the academic conversation and position your research within that context.
Summarizing Existing Research
Highlighting Key Studies
Identifying Gaps or Controversies
Establishing Your Research’s Relevance
The methodology section details how you conducted your research. This is where you explain your approach, so others can understand and potentially replicate your study.
Research Design
Data Collection
Participants and Sampling
Data Analysis
Ethical Considerations
In the results section, you present the findings of your research. This is where you report what you discovered, without interpretation (that comes in the Discussion section). Clarity is key, especially if you are using visuals to support your findings.
Presentation of Data
Use of Visuals
Organizing Results
Statistical or Analytical Reporting (if applicable)
Relevant Findings Only
The discussion is where you interpret your findings. This is your opportunity to explain what the results mean, how they relate to your research question, and what implications they have for the field.
Interpretation of Results
Connection to Existing Research
Implications of the Study
Limitations
Recommendations for Future Research
The conclusion ties everything together. It should succinctly summarize your key findings, emphasize their significance, and leave the reader with a clear understanding of what you’ve contributed to the field.
Summary of Key Findings
Restating the Research Question/Thesis
Implications and Impact
Recommendations for Future Research or Practice
Final Thought/Call to Action
Provides a step-by-step guide to organizing an effective essay or research paper outline, focusing on creating clear, logical sections that streamline the writing process.
Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.
Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on September 5, 2024.
The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:
The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.
The five steps in this article will help you put together an effective introduction for either type of research paper.
Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes
Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.
The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.
The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.
For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:
A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:
Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.
Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:
See an example
This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.
In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.
After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.
Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .
For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.
This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.
Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.
The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.
In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.
In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:
You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.
Although has been studied in detail, insufficient attention has been paid to . | You will address a previously overlooked aspect of your topic. |
The implications of study deserve to be explored further. | You will build on something suggested by a previous study, exploring it in greater depth. |
It is generally assumed that . However, this paper suggests that … | You will depart from the consensus on your topic, establishing a new position. |
Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.
The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).
The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.
The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.
Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.
A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.
If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.
For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:
The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.
In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.
If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.
Scribbr’s paraphrasing tool can help you rephrase sentences to give a clear overview of your arguments.
Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.
Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.
The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:
and your problem statement
Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.
This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .
The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .
A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, September 05). Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved September 22, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-introduction/
Other students also liked, writing strong research questions | criteria & examples, writing a research paper conclusion | step-by-step guide, research paper format | apa, mla, & chicago templates, what is your plagiarism score.
Home » Purpose of Research – Objectives and Applications
Table of Contents
Definition:
The purpose of research is to systematically investigate and gather information on a particular topic or issue, with the aim of answering questions, solving problems, or advancing knowledge.
The purpose of research can vary depending on the field of study, the research question, and the intended audience. In general, research can be used to:
The objectives of research may vary depending on the field of study and the specific research question being investigated. However, some common objectives of research include:
Research has a wide range of applications across various fields and industries. Here are some examples:
The ultimate goal of research is to advance our understanding of the world and to contribute to the development of new theories, ideas, and technologies that can be used to improve our lives. Some more common Goals are follows:
The importance of research lies in its ability to generate new knowledge and insights, to test existing theories and ideas, and to solve practical problems.
Some of the key reasons why research is important are:
Research should be used in situations where there is a need to gather new information, test existing theories, or solve problems. Some common scenarios where research is often used include:
Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer
Health Research Policy and Systems volume 22 , Article number: 129 ( 2024 ) Cite this article
309 Accesses
Metrics details
Building capacity for Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is critical for advancing the field in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The India HPSR fellowship program is a home-grown capacity-building initiative, anchored at the Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP), New Delhi, and developed in collaboration with a network of institutes in India and abroad. In this practice-oriented commentary, we provide an overview of the fellowship program and critically reflect upon the learnings from working with three cohorts of fellows between 2020 and 2023. This commentary draws on routine program documentation (guidelines, faculty meeting reports, minutes of meetings of curricula and course development) as well as the perspectives of faculty and program managers associated with the fellowship. We have had several important learnings in the initial years of program implementation. One, it is important to iteratively modify globally available curricula and pedagogies on HPSR to suit country-specific requirements and include a strong component of ‘unlearning’ in such fellowships. Secondly, the goals of such fellowship programs need to be designed with country-specific contextual realities in mind. For instance, should publication of fellows’ work be an intended goal, then contextual deterrents to publication such as article processing fees, language barriers and work-related obligations of faculty and participants need to be addressed. Furthermore, to improve the policy translation of fellows’ work, such programs need to make broader efforts to strengthen research–policy–practice interfaces. Lastly, fellowship programs are cost-intensive, and outputs from them, such as papers or policy translation, are less immediate and less visible to donors. In the absence of these outputs, consistent funding can be a roadblock to sustaining these fellowships in LMICs. The experience of our fellowship program suggests that LMIC-led capacity-building initiatives on HPSR have the potential to influence changes in health systems and build the capacity of researchers to generate evidence for policy-making. The sharing of resources and teaching material through the fellowship can enable learning for all institutions involved. Furthermore, such initiatives can serve as a launchpad for the creation of regional and international HPSR communities of practice, with a focus on LMICs, thereby challenging epistemic injustice in teaching and learning HPSR.
Peer Review reports
Strong health systems are essential for improving health outcomes in populations, reducing health inequities and making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals [ 1 , 2 ]. However, timely and context-sensitive evidence that is needed for strengthening policies and systems is often lacking in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [ 3 , 4 ]. Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is a field that seeks to fill this need for contextually relevant, actionable evidence for strengthening systems and improving policy processes [ 5 ]. Beyond generating evidence sensitive to context and keeping people at the centre of change, HPSR aims to effect structural change as well as intervene upon the ‘soft’ aspects of health policies and systems. HPSR draws from multiple disciplines with an explicit commitment to social justice and equity [ 6 ]. Experiences across LMICs have demonstrated, to varying degrees, the influence of HPSR in bridging the gap between the research, policy and practice worlds [ 7 , 8 ].
While HPSR as an evolving field faces many challenges, building capacity to conduct HPSR has been a key constraint globally [ 9 , 10 ]. This is partly because the field is diverse and multidisciplinary, with fuzzy boundaries. Being a field of inquiry defined on the basis of solving a given health system problem, there is often a lack of standardized methodological templates for HPSR studies. Furthermore, building research capacities in LMICs has usually been helmed by actors and agencies from high-income countries (HIC). The problems with such a system of capacity-building are manifold: research-oriented courses are often costly for candidates from LMICs to enrol in, there is less contextualization of curricula and there are possible misalignments between the skills taught and the skills needed to do research in LMICs [ 11 , 12 ]. Given these issues, it is clear that a field such as HPSR needs domestic LMIC-led capacity-building initiatives that are designed purposefully in consideration of national and sub-national contexts.
The India HPSR fellowship program (2020–2023) is one such home-grown effort at HPSR capacity-building. Anchored at the Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP) in India, it collaborates with a network of institutes across the globe. The program was designed as a platform for developing a collective understanding of HPSR contextualized to India’s needs to encourage the production of knowledge in this region. In this commentary, we present the rationale, design and functioning of the program and critically reflect upon the learnings so far. The aim of this commentary is to inspire and inform other such LMIC-led efforts at building HPSR capacity locally and regionally. “We” refers to all of us involved in the design and implementation of the fellowship (course coordinators, advisors and faculty).
For writing this reflective essay, S.J. collated a set of documents that were produced during the course of the program (2020–2023). These documents comprised (a) program development documents (two academic committee meeting reports involving external HPSR experts), (b) curriculum and design-related documents (minutes of one advisory committee meeting, three selection committee meetings, and eleven faculty meetings and (c) implementation-related documents (one report on the fellows’ accolades and achievements during/after the fellowship and minutes of Secretariat operational meetings). S.J. and S.R. prepared a preliminary summary analysis, which was then shared with all faculty who are authors. All faculty members worked further on this, deepening and expanding on the conceptual areas in the paper. As a final step, once the paper was drafted, it was sent to two HPSR experts, one Indian and one global, for their input (Fig. 1 ).
Methods (with additional details provided in A.1. Supplementary File)
Indian context.
Much of public health training in India currently happens in medical schools, as part of post-graduate degrees in community medicine, and largely employs a biomedical lens [ 13 ]. In the last two decades, public health schools with an interdisciplinary focus have been steadily increasing in number [ 14 ]. However, our experience suggests that rigorous training to conduct research on health policy and health systems is still sparse in both medical and public health schools in India. For instance, of approximately 500 courses on public health and management in India listed on two websites [ 15 , 16 ], less than 30 explicitly mentioned having a teaching module (or sub-module) on health policy and/or health systems research. The authors of this paper have frequently noted that public health stakeholders in India, including senior policy-makers, use the terms “health system” and “government health services” interchangeably. Given this, the paucity of peer-reviewed outputs from India on health policy and systems is not surprising; Rao et al. found just 314 papers discussing various aspects of health systems in India [ 17 ]. Another review noted that 90% of articles published in India between 2000 and 2010 on public health were focused on individual diseases [ 18 ], as opposed to broader topics of health systems strengthening.
The India HPSR fellowship program began in 2020 with the intention of addressing the above-stated issues in the country. The program was conceived against the backdrop of ongoing global discussions on epistemic injustice in knowledge production [ 19 ]. It has been noted that research outputs are frequently focused on issues that are more prevalent in HICs, while research needs in LMICs remain unmet [ 20 ]. Furthermore, evidence from research often remains delinked from policy-making [ 21 ]. The India HPSR program was launched with the aim of promoting fairer knowledge practices by, firstly, strengthening ties between academicians and policy-makers in the country and, secondly, breaking hierarchies among different disciplines of researchers in the country (medical, anthropological, sociological, finance and others) to encourage research that has meaning in the real world.
The India HPSR program is anchored by the HSTP, New Delhi. It has been jointly developed by and is being delivered in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India (IPH); Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, India (SCTIMST); Christian Medical College, Vellore, India (CMC); The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India (TGI); Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia (UOM); and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp (ITM) ❲ Fig. 2 ). The fellowship is supported by Tata Trusts, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Access Health International. More details about the design and implementation of the program are discussed below. We have also attached supplementary material on the processes followed prior to the initiation of the program (A.2. Overview of India HPSR Fellowship Program in Supplementary File).
The India HPSR program network
The India HPSR program takes a two-level approach to capacity-building. At the individual level, the program aims to develop the capacity of researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds to conduct HPSR. At the collective level, it aims to build a network of HPSR experts across key institutions in academic, research and policy settings in the country and abroad. The fellowship program, spread over 18–24 months, uses a blended training approach and comprises of three components:
An initial face-to-face session
A 6-month online learning phase with five modules culminating in a synthesis workshop
A 12-month grant for the fellow to independently conduct an HPSR study.
Figure 3 summarizes the course structure of the program.
India HPSR Fellowship Course structure
The 5-day introductory face-to-face session was introduced in 2022 for the second cohort [due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), this session was not conducted for the first cohort]. This introductory component gave participants an overview of the HPSR learnings to follow, helping to create a sense of community among them. The face-to-face session is followed by a 6–8-month online learning phase delivered through a dedicated learning management system. All five modules are conducted in an interactive manner and include lectures, practical exercises, online discussion forums, discussion of peer-reviewed literature, assignments and interactions with global experts. Participant-centred learning outcomes have been defined for all the modules (A.3. Course Curriculum in Supplementary File). Upon completion of the modules, each fellow undertakes an HPSR study independently. Before beginning their study, fellows present their proposals to a jury consisting of course faculty as well as external HPSR specialists. Thereafter, successful candidates are awarded a fellowship research grant and paired with global HPSR mentors. At the end of 12 months, a fellow who completes their research and submits a report is certified as an HPSR fellow.
The India HPSR fellowship program was developed with extensive input from Indian and global experts who have been instrumental in building the field of HPSR. The initial curriculum was developed following two rounds of discussion with both national and international experts in 2020 [ 22 , 23 ]. The long fellowship duration (18–24 months) allowed fellows to participate at their own pace. This duration was consistent with the thinking that, while short-term courses have their place, long-term engagement and comprehensive efforts would be more useful in advancing HPSR thinking [ 24 ].
Through a carefully crafted set of criteria and a multi-round screening process, our participants have been selected from diverse backgrounds across the country (Fig. 4 ). India is a diverse country with several disparities in human development across and within states [ 25 ]. In the spirit of promoting fairer knowledge practices, we purposively selected candidates to ensure geographical diversity in the fellowship. We also gave preference to candidates who expressed interest in conducting contextually relevant research in tribal and remote locations that tend to be under-researched. This manner of selection led to a geographically diverse group of candidates in the program who had varying competencies and levels of exposure to research. Some of our candidates needed more support than others to complete the course requirements. We tried our best to accommodate requests for additional online mentoring and individualized coaching for candidates who requested support.
Distribution of India HPSR fellows
Equal importance was placed in the program on building individual capacities and developing the potential of selected fellows to build capacities within their institutions. The idea was for these individuals to become important change agents and leaders in HPSR by adopting research and teaching approaches that they have learnt during the fellowship, within their institutions and more broadly in the Indian context. We have captured the reflections of faculty on the details of design and implementation of the program in Table 1 . Figure 5 depicts demographic details of the India HPSR fellows. Figure 6 depicts the current status of the fellows’ participation in the program.
Demographics of India HPSR fellows
Status of India HPSR fellowship cohorts
In this section, we critically reflect on the three initial years of the fellowship. Global thinking suggests that HPSR capacity-building efforts need to be directed not only at individuals but also at the level of organizations and systems (the collective) [ 26 ]. In line with these, we share our thoughts on the strides made as well as the challenges faced at both the individual and the collective level in the HPSR fellowship.
Different ways of thinking and career opportunities among participants.
Box 1 is a summary of faculty reflections on “different ways of thinking” inculcated during the fellowship. Although some of these may seem self-evident, we believe these were important insights for freshers to HPSR in the country. Many of our participants are from institutions with strong organizational hierarchies and are exposed predominantly to positivist research paradigms. Other paradigms of research with different ontological, epistemological and methodological perspectives were new to many participants, despite their important role in building knowledge on health policies and systems. A key milestone for many participants was to be able to see health policy and/or systems ‘problems’ as more than epidemiological patterns and to embrace the complexities of health policies and systems, as well as to be able to critically reflect on health policies and systems. It took some time for participants to see ‘problems’ as more than just epidemiological concerns, to accept the complexities of HPSR, and to actively engage in reflection.
In HPSR, it is okay to be uncertain and be comfortable with the idea that we do not have all the answers.
There is not a ‘single truth’, and there can be multiple interpretations of the same issue. (This was particularly difficult to unlearn for those trained to seek an objective ‘reality’).
A “problem” is HPSR does not mean a disease or ailment. These can be system-level and policy-level problems.
Different course facilitators view the world through the lenses they prefer, depending on their disciplines. It is acceptable to have different opinions.
Everyone brings their core beliefs and principles into their research practice. This needs to be made explicit.
Developing ‘soft skills’ to do research is as important as mastering technical frameworks.
Context-specific findings are useful, especially if you want to change a local policy or practice. Context is important, and the findings of research need not be applicable to all situations.
We believe that a great deal of ‘unlearning’ happened along with ‘learning’ during the fellowship. Unlearning, as noted in literature, is critical to health system improvements [ 27 ], and a recent case has been made in support of ‘unlearning health systems’ [ 28 ]. Yet, unlearning is not easy to bring about, at either an individual or systems level, and often involves a deliberate process of reflection in which old ways of thinking/acting are questioned, challenged and adapted. Additionally, unlearning also very often involves an external catalyst and can be associated with deeper emotions such as fear and confusion [ 29 ]. In this case, the HPSR fellowship program can be thought of as an external catalyst to the unlearning process. In the training program, each of the five online modules has one unstructured session. We believe that these unstructured sessions serve as an important space for fellows to voice their ideas on both theory and practice of HPSR. For instance, in one of the sessions on health policy, fellows discussed how they had unlearnt the idea of policies as ‘objective documents’ and embraced the notion that health policies were political. In Cohort 3’s face-to-face session, fellows questioned deeply rooted beliefs they had on the hegemony of ‘context-free’ research. In addition to these unstructured sessions, we also had an online forum wherein fellows could pose questions or comments, with other fellows and faculty engaging with these thoughts. This forum provided a safe space outside of the routine workplace environments for deliberative discussions.
Many fellows shared with faculty their achievements during and after the HPSR fellowship course. These have included getting admissions into doctoral programs related to policy and systems or writing research grants very differently from before ( A.5. Fellows’ Achievements in Supplementary File) . While these achievements cannot be attributed only to learning or unlearning processes in the fellowship, fellows have many times indicated that reflective interactions during the fellowship have bolstered their confidence to think differently.
As part of the fellowship, participants have to independently conduct a HPSR study of one year under the guidance of a mentor. For many reasons, this phase took longer than a year for both cohorts. First, it took some time for participants to zero in on the type of research they intended to conduct, thinking through the different lenses and frameworks they had been introduced to. Second, a majority of participants working full-time jobs found it challenging to manage work responsibilities with the fellowship’s commitments. Third, while we had a range of excellent Indian and global mentors, we felt that the fellows needed intense local handholding and supervision, which was missing from the fellowship design. Lastly, administrative delays led to the late disbursal of research funds, causing timelines to be further extended. Despite these challenges, we believe all our fellows have gained some experience in independently conducting an HPSR study from start to finish. Developing writing, analytical, and project management skills were abilities that participants frequently discussed with faculty as beneficial to their overall development. These reflections echo those published by other long-term HPSR fellowships as well [ 30 ].
Well-meaning donors expect rigorous peer-reviewed publications by fellows as outputs. As of today, however, this is still a work in progress. Many of the research reports submitted by participants have interesting insights and fresh perspectives on HPSR, but converting these to peer-reviewed publications could be a long journey. For one, intensive time commitment is required from both fellows and mentors for the reports to take the form of peer-reviewed academic scholarship. Furthermore, language obstacles impede publishing, as often noted in relation to scientific discourse in LMICs [ 31 , 32 ]. While the majority of our fellows converse well and write in English, meeting linguistic standards required by international publications in the field is not easy for all of them.
In the fellowship, we expect fellows to produce locally relevant work. To achieve this, even the selection process emphasizes candidates discussing the relevance of the proposed research with local policy-makers. However, despite its contextual relevance, it has been a challenge to publish such work. Often, fellows struggle to present a simplified reality of their findings in a globally understood language and incorporate enough of a ‘foreign gaze’ [ 33 ] to appeal to publishers. Also, we do not know whether we should choose a set of participants (such as doctoral students) who would be more amenable to participating in publications, if indeed publications must be considered as an important program goal. In addition to all this, other structural barriers to publication in LMICs, such as exorbitant article processing charges, apply to us as well [ 34 ]. Article processing charges of international peer-reviewed journals, even with partial fee waivers, are beyond the scope of our modest fellowship grants. Given all this, we have been debating on whether it is fair to expect publications as program outputs, and if not, what some useful outputs from the fellowship would be.
As other learning initiatives have pointed out, the policy impact of such programs is difficult to track or measure [ 26 ]. In our case, too, the mechanisms through which fellows’ learnings and research may translate into ‘action’ and influence policy are not well understood at present. Some of our fellows already working in public institutions are likely not just to conduct research on health systems but also to use evidence from such research or commission this type of research. With regard to a fellow’s research being used directly by policy-makers, we have had one outstanding example, where a fellow’s HPSR study recommendations to reduce nursing staff turnovers in the primary health care system were taken up by the government. However, we do recognize that, in general, so far, the HPSR studies conducted by participants have not been disseminated widely in policy circles. We also note the need to inculcate skills that enhance policy communication, now acknowledged as an essential part of the HPSR competency set [ 35 ]. The research done by fellows at present is not packaged in ways that can be used by policy-makers and practitioners. After C1 and C2, we realized that the uptake of the fellow’s research study would be challenging unless policy-makers were closely associated with the design of the fellowship project early on. Thus, in C3, fellows have been encouraged to actively build ties with local decision-makers and align research topics with their interests, so that the evidence that gets generated during the fellowship is both locally relevant and has better buy-in from policy-makers.
The expectation from the course is not to have a direct influence on policy but to build capacity to generate evidence that can influence policy. We also recognize that barriers to evidence-to-policy translation in India are not limited to our fellowship alone. Policy-makers too have limited access and capacity to engage with academic research [ 36 ], and the use of research evidence is not a norm in many settings similar to ours. Overall, supporting structures for evidence-to-policy translation are weak in LMICs [ 37 , 38 ]. For research translation to be effective, we have realized the need for the fellowship consortium to work on strengthening research–policy–practice interfaces more broadly. The consortium needs to actively engage and involve policy-makers, as well as other individuals who request or use the information obtained through HPSR.
Building an india-centric hpsr network.
In contrast to many international fellowships, the India HPSR fellowship is a ‘home-grown’ initiative. It has brought like-minded people across the globe together and built a network of people in the field. The sharing of resources and teaching material through the fellowship has contributed to learning for all institutions involved in the program.
In India, at present, there are few formal networks that connect HPS researchers across different teaching and research institutions. While initiatives in Africa such as the Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA) [ 39 ], Collaboration for Health Systems Analysis and Innovation [ 40 ] or West African Network of Emerging Leaders [ 41 ] have built collaborative networks of regional HPS researchers, such systematic, at-scale efforts have so far been missing in India. To the best of our knowledge, the Keystone Initiative has been one of the only previous efforts that explicitly focused on HPSR capacity-building and networking in India. This initiative was anchored at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). It focused on developing capacities for HPSR through a 2-week participatory training course, followed by ongoing networking [ 42 ].
The above suggests that there is a strong need for building an India-centric HPSR network. For most part, in India, people working on policy and systems-related issues are based across institutions and less connected through formal collaborations. While networking initiatives such as the Implementation Research for Health Systems Strengthening (IR-HSS) do exist, ones that explicitly focus on HPSR capacity-building are largely missing at present. The Health Systems Research India Initiative (HSRII), set up in 2010, is an e-group of researchers and practitioners with the primary objective of disseminating issues related to HPSR in India. In 2022, the India Health Systems Collaborative (IHSC) was initiated by the BMGF in an attempt to “provide an interdisciplinary platform for collaborative research” [ 43 ]. Initially, they had financed health systems research on specific topics, for example, primary health care and health care financing. However, overall, there have been fewer opportunities for sharing pedagogical content and joint mentoring, leading to a relative insularity of expertise. The India HPSR fellowship has fostered the establishment of a network of HPS researchers in the country.
Furthermore, there was recognition that a critical mass of people is needed to drive change in any given institution. This idea has been advocated by the postdoctoral fellowship on HPSR in Africa as well [ 30 ]. To achieve a critical mass, we have purposefully selected, over the three cohorts, fellows who can be change agents to build the HPSR field in their own institutions. Fellows in teaching positions have shared that the fellowship experience has helped them modify the nature of research teaching within their own institutions. Fellows across institutions too have come together through the fellowship and established informal communication channels (chat groups, email listservs and others). The challenge, in the near future, is two-fold: first, to expand and grow this network and, second, to maintain the momentum for networking generated through the fellowship experience.
The first few years of the India HPSR program has had strong supporters, well-wishers and funders. The program has gained global attention and collaborations from the best in the field. In the annual Melbourne School of Population and Global Health teaching excellence awards (December 2023), the program won an award for impact in the area of engagements and partnerships.
However, to build upon these achievements, more support and resources are needed. First, there is a need to generate more resources for the fellowship program. More cohorts of fellows are needed to work towards developing a critical mass of HPSR change agents in the country. Second, and more broadly, funding is needed to create more opportunities for undertaking HPSR within India. It has been noted that the majority of funding for HPSR comes from international development partners and less from domestic or government sources [ 44 , 45 ]. This manner of funding has also contributed to research that is more focused on global rather than domestic issues, with fewer avenues for translation [ 46 ]. In cognizance of these issues, we feel the need to work more closely with existing government research and training organizations within India, such as the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), and the State Health Systems Resource Centres (SHSRC).
This commentary provides an overview of the India HPSR fellowship program and captures learnings from the initial years of the program. The paper has some limitations. For one, the voices of fellows have not been explicitly considered. Secondly, we have not yet conducted a formal evaluation, which is planned for the next phase of the program. For writing this piece, we have predominantly relied on pre-existing documentation and experience-sharing by faculty and senior management. Given these limitations, the commentary’s purview is limited to introducing the program and offering some practice-oriented reflections to those keen to start similar initiatives.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of LMIC-led HPSR papers. [ 47 ]. Developing more capacity to carry out HPSR in LMICs is crucial to sustaining this trend. LMIC-led fellowship programs have been proffered as a solution to augment existing capacity for HPSR in these settings. However, publications and documented experience-sharing from LMIC capacity-building programs on HPSR have been limited. Some learnings from the post-doctoral fellowship in Africa [ 30 ], the Health Policy Analysis fellowship for doctoral researchers in LMICs [ 48 ] and the earlier career women mentorship program in HPSR have been documented [ 49 ]. However, from the South Asian region explicitly, we did not come across published literature on HPSR capacity-building initiatives. From India, we know only of the Keystone Initiative that targeted capacity-building in HPSR for working professionals [ 42 ]. The online repository from this initiative, available online, was very useful to us as we planned our program.
Our commentary attempts to fill an important gap in documentation of capacity-building efforts from the South Asian geography. Though not an evaluation, it describes the fellowship program we developed and captures initial learnings that could be useful to others attempting capacity-building in HPSR for working professionals.
Early reflections from programs such as ours can offer practical guidance for others attempting comparable HPSR capacity-building programs. In keeping with these thoughts, we summarize below some of the early learnings from the roll-out of our program:
Fellowship programs must focus not only on giving participants a ‘flavour’ of HPSR but also enhancing people’s learning and unlearning capacities, a founding aspect of “learning health systems” [ 50 ]. If fellowship programs are to be truly multidisciplinary, then the participants of such programs must be encouraged to shed their disciplinary baggage. Unlearning becomes crucial to this process.
There is a need to adapt pedagogies and curricula iteratively in the initial years of HPSR fellowship programs to suit national and sub-national contexts. In our case, as compared with previous iterations, the current course material is more applied and relevant to real-world research settings in India.
The goals of fellowship programs must be aligned with contextual realities. If publications and other scholarly outputs are desired from such programs, several contextual deterrents – article processing fees, participants’ non-familiarity with the publication process, language barriers and other work commitments of faculty and participants [ 32 , 34 ] – need to be addressed.
Fellowship programs can provide a great platform to network with people, local and global, who are passionate advocates of HPSR. Other training experiences have noted this as well [ 51 ].The important challenge is to expand and sustain these networks beyond the training period.
Fellowships need to make broader efforts to strengthen research–policy–practice interfaces in LMICs since these are traditionally weak in such settings [ 37 , 38 ]. Policy translation of research gets limited in the absence of these interfaces.
Lastly, sustained funding can be a critical bottleneck to the success of such programs. Fellowship programs are cost-intensive, and at the same time, anticipated outputs – such as publications and dashing examples of policy translation – are less visible immediately. The lack of visible outputs can act as a deterrent to sustained funding. Also, more domestic funding needs to be made available and tapped for such fellowships; this will not only enable the sustainability of HPSR capacity building initiatives, but also ensure that the research done aligns with national and sub-national priorities.
We believe that the biggest strength of the India HPSR fellowship program is that it highlights the feasibility of LMIC-led capacity-building initiatives on HPSR. Such initiatives are particularly lacking in South Asia at scale. Programs such as ours have the potential to inculcate new thinking in participants, help fellows gain practical experience working in HPSR, and open more avenues for career advancements. Furthermore, such capacity-building programs can act as a springboard for developing local and global communities of practice on HPSR. In the long run, such programs can become important channels to challenge the prevailing epistemic injustice in teaching and learning HPSR.
No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
Health Policy and Systems Research
Lower- and middle-income countries
Health Systems Transformation Platform
High-income countries
Institute of Public Health
Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences & Technology
Christian Medical College
The George Institute for Global Health
Nossal Institute for Global Health
Institute of Tropical Medicine
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Consortium for Health Policy and Systems Analysis in Africa
Public Health Foundation of India
Implementation Research for Health Systems Strengthening
Health Systems Research India Initiative
India Health Systems Collaborative
Health Policy and Systems
Indian Council for Medical Research
National Health Systems Resource Centre
State Health Systems Resource Centre
Kieny MP, Bekedam H, Dovlo D, Fitzgerald J, Habicht J, Harrison G, et al. Strengthening health systems for universal health coverage and sustainable development. Bull World Health Organ. 2017;95(7):537–9.
Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
Kruk ME, Gage AD, Arsenault C, Jordan K, Leslie HH, Roder-DeWan S, et al. High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time for a revolution. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6: e1196.
Oxman AD, Lavis JN, Lewin S, Fretheim A. SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed health policymaking (STP) 1: what is evidence-informed policymaking? Health Res Policy Syst. 2009;7(S1):1.
Article Google Scholar
Shroff Z, Aulakh B, Gilson L, Agyepong IA, El-Jardali F, Ghaffar A. Incorporating research evidence into decision-making processes: researcher and decision-maker perceptions from five low- and middle-income countries. Health Res Policy Syst. 2015;13(1):1.
Alliance for health policy and systems research WHO. What is health policy and systems research. https://ahpsr.who.int/what-we-do/what-is-health-policy-and-systems-research-(hpsr) . Accessed 15 Dec 2023.
Gilson L. Health policy and systems research: a methodology reader-the Abridged version. 2012.
Sales RK, Reyes-Ramos GK, de Veyra C, Gascon G, Barraca V, Garcia G, et al. Advancing health through evidence assisted decisions with health policy and systems research program: a qualitative evaluation of a national health research grant management process in the Philippines. Health Res Policy Syst. 2023;21(1):73.
Strachan DL, Teague K, Asefa A, Annear PL, Ghaffar A, Shroff ZC, et al. Using health policy and systems research to influence national health policies: lessons from Mexico, Cambodia and Ghana. Health Policy Plan. 2023;38:3.
Article PubMed Google Scholar
World Health Organization. World report on health policy and systems research. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.
Google Scholar
Mirzoev T, Topp SM, Afifi RA, Fadlallah R, Obi FA, Gilson L. Conceptual framework for systemic capacity strengthening for health policy and systems research. BMJ Glob Health. 2022;7: e009764.
Murray M, Mubiligi J. An approach to building equitable global health research collaborations. Ann Glob Health. 2020;86:1–3.
Svadzian A, Vasquez NA, Abimbola S, Pai M. Global health degrees: at what cost? BMJ Glob Health. 2020;5: e003310.
Zodpey SP, Negandhi H, Yeravdekar R. Future directions for public health education reforms in India. Front Public Health. 2014;2:68.
Negandhi H, Sharma K, Zodpey S. History and evolution of public health education in India. Indian J Public Health. 2012;56(1):12.
National health systems resource centre (NHSRC) M of H& FW. Public health education courses and institutes, National health systems resource centre. https://nhsrcindia.org/public-health-education-courses-and-institutes . Accessed 15 Dec 2023.
Health Systems Global (HSG). Health policy and systems research training database. https://courses.healthsystemsglobal.org/courses . Accessed 15 Dec 2023.
Rao KD, Arora R, Ghaffar A. Health systems research in the time of health system reform in India: a review. Health Res Policy Syst. 2014;12(1):1.
Kalita A, Shinde S, Patel V. Public health research in India in the new millennium: a bibliometric analysis. Glob Health Action. 2015;8(1):27576.
Abimbola S, Pai M. Will global health survive its decolonisation? Lancet. 2020;396(10263):1627–8.
Yegros-Yegros A, van de Klippe W, Abad-Garcia MF, Rafols I. Exploring why global health needs are unmet by research efforts: the potential influences of geography, industry and publication incentives. Health Res Policy Syst. 2020;18(1):47.
Shroff Z, Aulakh B, Gilson L, Agyepong IA, El-Jardali F, Ghaffar A. Incorporating research evidence into decision-making processes: researcher and decision-maker perceptions from five low- and middle-income countries. Health Res Policy Syst. 2015;13(1):70.
HSTP. Expert consultation to review the design of India health policy and systems research fellowship program. 2020. https://www.hstp.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/expert-consultation-to-review-the-design-of-india-hpsr-fellowship-program-24-june-2020.pdf . Accessed 12 Mar 2024.
HSTP. Meeting to Review the Design of India Health Policy & Systems Research Fellowship Program. 2020. https://www.hstp.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hstp-iph-meeting-to-review-the-design-of-india-hpsr-fellowship-program-21-august-2020.pdf . Accessed 12 Mar 2024.
Bennett S, Agyepong IA, Sheikh K, Hanson K, Ssengooba F, Gilson L. Building the field of health policy and systems research: an agenda for action. PLoS Med. 2011;8(8): e1001081.
James KS, Rajan Irudaya S, Goli Srinivas. Economic and political weekly. Demographic and Health Diversity in the Era of SDGs. 2020. https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/6/national-family-health-survey-4/demographic-and-health-diversity-era-sdgs.html . Accessed 24 Aug 2024.
Brady L, Gilson L, Olivier J, Orgill M, Shung-King M, Whyle E, et al. “Not just a journal club – it’s where the magic happens”: knowledge mobilization through co-production for health system development in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(3):323–33.
Akgün AE, Byrne JC, Lynn GS, Keskin H. Organizational unlearning as changes in beliefs and routines in organizations. J Organ Chang Manag. 2007;20(6):794–812.
Joo JH, Kim JA, Liao JM. The case for unlearning health systems. Healthcare. 2022;10(4): 100661.
Coombs C, Hislop D, Holland J, Bosley S, Manful E. Exploring types of individual unlearning by local health-care managers: an original empirical approach. Health Serv Del Res. 2013;1(2):1–126.
Lembani M, Teddy G, Molosiwa D, Hwabamungu B. Post-doctoral research fellowship as a health policy and systems research capacity development intervention: a case of the CHESAI initiative. Health Res Policy Syst. 2016;14(1):1.
Hommes F, Monzó HB, Ferrand RA, Harris M, Hirsch LA, Besson EK, et al. The words we choose matter: recognising the importance of language in decolonising global health. Lancet Glob Health. 2021;9(7):e897–8.
Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
Adebisi YA, Jimoh ND, Ogunkola IO, Ilesanmi EA, Elhadi YAM, Lucero-Prisno DE. Addressing language inequities in global health science scholarly publishing. J Med Surg Pub Health. 2024;2: 100038.
Abimbola S. The foreign gaze: Authorship in academic global health. BMJ Glob Health. 2019;4: e002068.
The Lancet Global Health. Global health 2021: who tells the story? Lancet Glob Health. 2021;9: e99.
Schleiff MJ, Rangnekar A, Gomez FO, Teddy G, Peters DH, Balabanova D. Towards core competencies for health policy and systems research (HPSR) training: results from a global mapping and consensus-building process. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(7):1058–68.
PubMed Google Scholar
Green A, Bennett S. Sound choices: enhancing capacity for evidence-informed health policy. 2007.
Shroff Z, Javadi D, Gilson L. Institutional capacity to generate and use evidence in LMICs: current state and opportunities for HPSR. BMC Health Res Pol Syst. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-017-0261-1 .
English KM, Pourbohloul B. Increasing health policy and systems research capacity in low- and middle-income countries: results from a bibliometric analysis. Health Res Policy Syst. 2017;15(1):64.
The Centre for Health Policy U of W. Consortium for health policy and systems analysis in Africa CHEPSAA. https://www.chp.ac.za/Research/Consortium-for-Health-Policy-and-Systems-Analysis-in-Africa-CHEPSAA . Accessed on 15 Dec 2023.
Collaboration for health systems analysis and innovation (CHESAI), IDRC–International development research centre. https://idrc-crdi.ca/en/project/collaboration-health-systems-analysis-and-innovation-chesai . Accessed 15 Dec 2023.
WANEL–West African network of emerging leaders. https://wanelhps.org/ . Accessed 15 Dec 2023.
Garimella S, Raman V, Varghese J, Sheikh K. The keystone HPSR short course: developing capacities for policy-relevant health policy and systems research. BMJ. 2016;1:A36.2-A37.
India Health Systems Collaborative. www.ihsc.org . Accessed 13 Mar 2024.
Grépin KA, Pinkstaff CB, Shroff ZC, Ghaffar A. Donorfunding health policy and systems research in low- and middle-income countries: how much, from where and to whom. Health Res Policy Syst. 2017;15(1):1.
Lamba G, Dal Zennaro L, Ha S, Yangchen S. Domestic funding for health policy and systems research: why is it invisible? Public Health Res Pract. 2021;31(4):e3142117.
Morankar S, Abraham G, Shroff Z, Birhanu Z. “Research ends with publication”: a qualitative study on the use of health policy and systems research in Ethiopia. Health Res Policy Syst. 2024;22(1):1.
English KM, Pourbohloul B. Health policy and systems research collaboration pathways: lessons from a network science analysis. Health Res Policy Syst. 2017;15(1):71.
Alliance for health policy and systems research. Analysing the politics of policy change. 2021. https://ahpsr.who.int/newsroom/news/item/02-06-2021-analysing-the-politics-of-policy-change . Accessed 24 Aug 2024.
Jalaghonia N, Kwamie A. Making progress in early-career publishing: evolutions of the women’s publication mentorship programme. Health Policy Plan. 2023;38:II72–6.
Sheikh K, Abimbola S. Learning health systems: pathways to progress. Flagship report of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. https://ahpsr.who.int/publications/i/item/learning-health-systems-pathways-to-progress . Accessed 13 Mar 2024.
Tancred TM, Schleiff M, Peters DH, Balabanova D. Formation à la recherche sur les politiques et les systèmes de santé: État des lieux à l’échelle internationale et recommandations. Bull World Health Organ. 2016;94(7):491–500.
Download references
We are grateful to Dr Rakesh Parashar and Dr Kerry Scott for their valuable comments on the manuscript.
The India Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) fellowship program is supported by Tata Trusts, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Access Health International. There was no additional funding to synthesize this paper.
Authors and affiliations.
Health Systems Transformation Platform, New Delhi, India
Shilpa John, Sudha Ramani, Syed Mohd Abbas, Rajeev Sadanandan & Narayanan Devadasan
Nossal Institute for Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
Dorothy Lall
Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India
Prashanth N. Srinivas
The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi, India
Devaki Nambiar
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
Bruno Marchal & Sara Van Belle
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
S.J. and S.R. prepared a preliminary summary analysis and wrote the main manuscript text, which was then shared with all authors. S.M.A., S.K., D.L., P.N.S., D.N., S.V.B., B.M., R.S. and N.D. reviewed the manuscript, deepening and expanding on the conceptual areas in the paper.
Correspondence to Shilpa John .
Ethics approval and consent to participate.
Not applicable.
Competing interests.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher’s note.
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Additional file 1., rights and permissions.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ .
Reprints and permissions
Cite this article.
John, S., Ramani, S., Abbas, S.M. et al. Building Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) capacity in India: Reflections from the India HPSR fellowship program (2020–2023). Health Res Policy Sys 22 , 129 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01218-3
Download citation
Received : 13 March 2024
Accepted : 29 August 2024
Published : 19 September 2024
DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-024-01218-3
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative
ISSN: 1478-4505
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Research papers are essential instruments for researchers to effectively communicate their work. Among the many sections that constitute a research paper, the introduction plays a key role in providing a background and setting the context. 1 Research objectives, which define the aims of the study, are usually stated in the introduction. Every ...
Example: Research objectives. To assess the relationship between sedentary habits and muscle atrophy among the participants. To determine the impact of dietary factors, particularly protein consumption, on the muscular health of the participants. To determine the effect of physical activity on the participants' muscular health.
The objective is a short, clear statement defining the paper's research goals. It can be included either in the final paragraph of the introduction, or as a separate subsection after the introduction. Avoid writing long paragraphs with in-depth reasoning, references, and explanation of methodology since these belong in other sections. ...
Research Objectives. Research objectives refer to the specific goals or aims of a research study. They provide a clear and concise description of what the researcher hopes to achieve by conducting the research.The objectives are typically based on the research questions and hypotheses formulated at the beginning of the study and are used to guide the research process.
Summary. One of the most important aspects of a thesis, dissertation or research paper is the correct formulation of the aims and objectives. This is because your aims and objectives will establish the scope, depth and direction that your research will ultimately take. An effective set of aims and objectives will give your research focus and ...
Research objectives are integral to the research framework as the nexus between the research problem, questions, and hypotheses. They translate the broad goals of your study into actionable steps, ensuring every aspect of your research is purposefully aligned towards addressing the research problem.
The golden thread simply refers to the collective research aims, research objectives, and research questions for any given project (i.e., a dissertation, thesis, or research paper).These three elements are bundled together because it's extremely important that they align with each other, and that the entire research project aligns with them. ...
This step in your research journey is usually the first written method used to convey your research idea to your tutor. Therefore, aims and objectives should clearly convey your topic, academic foundation, and research design. In order to write effective research aims and objectives, researchers should consider all aspects of their proposed work.
By refining your focus, you can produce a thoughtful and engaging paper that effectively communicates your ideas to your readers. 5. Write a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a one-to-two-sentence summary of your research paper's main argument or direction.
A research objective is a clear and specific goal that a researcher aims to achieve through a research study. It serves as a roadmap for the research, providing direction and focus. Research objectives are formulated based on the research questions or hypotheses, and they help in defining the scope of the study and guiding the research design ...
A research objective is defined as a clear and concise statement of the specific goals and aims of a research study. It outlines what the researcher intends to accomplish and what they hope to learn or discover through their research. Research objectives are crucial for guiding the research process and ensuring that the study stays focused and ...
Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer's Ideas. When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper.
The research aim should be broad and concise. Develop research objectives: Based on your research questions and research aim, develop specific research objectives that outline what you intend to achieve through your research. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis ... well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now is the time to make them part of the paper. The revision process. The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the ...
The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper. A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement. A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that ...
Definition: Research Paper is a written document that presents the author's original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue. It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new ...
Research objectives are a well-designed roadmap to completing and achieving your overall research goal. However, research goals are only effective if they are well-defined and backed up with the best practices such as the SMART criteria. Properly defining research objectives will help you plan and conduct your research project effectively and ...
Examples of Specific Research Objectives: 1. "To examine the effects of rising temperatures on the yield of rice crops during the upcoming growth season.". 2. "To assess changes in rainfall patterns in major agricultural regions over the first decade of the twenty-first century (2000-2010).". 3.
The goal of a research paper is to bring together different views, evidence, and facts about a topic from books, articles, and interviews, then interpret the information into your writing. It's about a relationship between you, other writers, and your teacher/audience.
Here are three simple steps that you can follow to identify and write your research objectives: 1. Pinpoint the major focus of your research. The first step to writing your research objectives is to pinpoint the major focus of your research project. In this step, make sure to clearly describe what you aim to achieve through your research.
Research: What it is. A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related ...
The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, explaining briefly ...
INTRODUCTION. Scientific research is usually initiated by posing evidenced-based research questions which are then explicitly restated as hypotheses.1,2 The hypotheses provide directions to guide the study, solutions, explanations, and expected results.3,4 Both research questions and hypotheses are essentially formulated based on conventional theories and real-world processes, which allow the ...
Research Paper Structure: A Snapshot. Before diving into the individual components, let's take a quick look at the full structure of a research paper. This snapshot will help you visualize how each section fits together to form a cohesive and well-organized paper. Introduction. Introduce your topic and research question.
Table of contents. Step 1: Introduce your topic. Step 2: Describe the background. Step 3: Establish your research problem. Step 4: Specify your objective (s) Step 5: Map out your paper. Research paper introduction examples. Frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.
Purpose of Research. Definition: The purpose of research is to systematically investigate and gather information on a particular topic or issue, with the aim of answering questions, solving problems, or advancing knowledge. The purpose of research can vary depending on the field of study, the research question, and the intended audience.
This paper provides the working methodology for the project, based on prior definition of the conceptual elements and, subsequently, on the design of a Delphi study in which 15 experts from the partner countries evaluated and reached a consensus on the importance of the learning objectives and training programs presented.
Strong health systems are essential for improving health outcomes in populations, reducing health inequities and making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals [1, 2].However, timely and context-sensitive evidence that is needed for strengthening policies and systems is often lacking in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [3, 4].Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) is a field ...