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.
Introduction.
Research objectives play a crucial role in any research study. They provide a clear direction and purpose for the research, guiding the researcher in their investigation. Understanding research objectives is essential for conducting a successful study and achieving meaningful results.
In this comprehensive review, we will delve into the definition of research objectives, exploring their characteristics, types, and examples. We will also discuss the relationship between research objectives and research questions, as well as provide insights into how to write effective research objectives. Additionally, we will examine the role of research objectives in research methodology and highlight the importance of them in a study. By the end of this review, you will have a comprehensive understanding of research objectives and their significance in the research process.
A research objective is defined as a clear and concise statement that outlines the specific goals and aims of a research study. These objectives are designed to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), ensuring they provide a structured pathway to accomplishing the intended outcomes of the project. Each objective serves as a foundational element that summarizes the purpose of your study, guiding the research activities and helping to measure progress toward the study’s goals. Additionally, research objectives are integral components of the research framework , establishing a clear direction that aligns with the overall research questions and hypotheses. This alignment helps to ensure that the study remains focused and relevant, facilitating the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.
Characteristics of research objectives include:
By incorporating these characteristics into research objectives, researchers can ensure that their study is focused, achievable, and contributes to the body of knowledge in their field.
Research objective can be broadly classified into general and specific objectives. General objectives are broad statements that define the overall purpose of the research. They provide a broad direction for the study and help in setting the context. Specific objectives, on the other hand, are detailed objectives that describe what will be researched during the study. They are more focused and provide specific outcomes that the researcher aims to achieve. Specific objectives are derived from the general objectives and help in breaking down the research into smaller, manageable parts. The specific objectives should be clear, measurable, and achievable. They should be designed in a way that allows the researcher to answer the research questions and address the research problem.
In addition to general and specific objectives, research objective can also be categorized as descriptive or analytical objectives. Descriptive objectives focus on describing the characteristics or phenomena of a particular subject or population. They involve surveys, observations, and data collection to provide a detailed understanding of the subject. Analytical objectives, on the other hand, aim to analyze the relationships between variables or factors. They involve data analysis and interpretation to gain insights and draw conclusions.
Both descriptive and analytical objectives are important in research as they serve different purposes and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the research topic.
Here are some examples of research objectives in different fields:
1. Objective: To identify key characteristics and styles of Renaissance art.
This objective focuses on exploring the characteristics and styles of art during the Renaissance period. The research may involve analyzing various artworks, studying historical documents, and interviewing experts in the field.
2. Objective: To analyze modern art trends and their impact on society.
This objective aims to examine the current trends in modern art and understand how they influence society. The research may involve analyzing artworks, conducting surveys or interviews with artists and art enthusiasts, and studying the social and cultural implications of modern art.
3. Objective: To investigate the effects of exercise on mental health.
This objective focuses on studying the relationship between exercise and mental health. The research may involve conducting experiments or surveys to assess the impact of exercise on factors such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
4. Objective: To explore the factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions in the fashion industry.
This objective aims to understand the various factors that influence consumers’ purchasing decisions in the fashion industry. The research may involve conducting surveys, analyzing consumer behavior data, and studying the impact of marketing strategies on consumer choices.
5. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a new drug in treating a specific medical condition.
This objective focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of a newly developed drug in treating a particular medical condition. The research may involve conducting clinical trials, analyzing patient data, and comparing the outcomes of the new drug with existing treatment options.
These examples demonstrate the diversity of research objectives across different disciplines. Each objective is specific, measurable, and achievable, providing a clear direction for the research study.
Research objectives and research questions are essential components of a research project. Research objective describe what you intend your research project to accomplish. They summarize the approach and purpose of the project and provide a clear direction for the research. Research questions, on the other hand, are the starting point of any good research. They guide the overall direction of the research and help identify and focus on the research gaps .
The main difference between research questions and objectives is their form. Research questions are stated in a question form, while objectives are specific, measurable, and achievable goals that you aim to accomplish within a specified timeframe. Research questions are broad statements that provide a roadmap for the research, while objectives break down the research aim into smaller, actionable steps.
Research objectives and research questions work together to form the ‘golden thread’ of a research project. The research aim specifies what the study will answer, while the objectives and questions specify how the study will answer it. They provide a clear focus and scope for the research project, helping researchers stay on track and ensure that their study is meaningful and relevant.
When writing research objectives and questions, it is important to be clear, concise, and specific. Each objective or question should address a specific aspect of the research and contribute to the overall goal of the study. They should also be measurable, meaning that their achievement can be assessed and evaluated. Additionally, research objectives and questions should be achievable within the given timeframe and resources of the research project. By clearly defining the objectives and questions, researchers can effectively plan and execute their research, leading to valuable insights and contributions to the field.
Writing research objective is a crucial step in any research project. The objectives provide a clear direction and purpose for the study, guiding the researcher in their data collection and analysis. Here are some tips on how to write effective research objective:
1. Be clear and specific
Research objective should be written in a clear and specific manner. Avoid vague or ambiguous language that can lead to confusion. Clearly state what you intend to achieve through your research.
2. Use action verbs
Start your research objective with action verbs that describe the desired outcome. Action verbs such as ‘investigate’, ‘analyze’, ‘compare’, ‘evaluate’, or ‘identify’ help to convey the purpose of the study.
3. Align with research questions or hypotheses
Ensure that your research objectives are aligned with your research questions or hypotheses. The objectives should address the main goals of your study and provide a framework for answering your research questions or testing your hypotheses.
4. Be realistic and achievable
Set research objectives that are realistic and achievable within the scope of your study. Consider the available resources, time constraints, and feasibility of your objectives. Unrealistic objectives can lead to frustration and hinder the progress of your research.
5. Consider the significance and relevance
Reflect on the significance and relevance of your research objectives. How will achieving these objectives contribute to the existing knowledge or address a gap in the literature? Ensure that your objectives have a clear purpose and value.
6. Seek feedback
It is beneficial to seek feedback on your research objectives from colleagues, mentors, or experts in your field. They can provide valuable insights and suggestions for improving the clarity and effectiveness of your objectives.
7. Revise and refine
Research objectives are not set in stone. As you progress in your research, you may need to revise and refine your objectives to align with new findings or changes in the research context. Regularly review and update your objectives to ensure they remain relevant and focused.
By following these tips, you can write research objectives that are clear, focused, and aligned with your research goals. Well-defined objectives will guide your research process and help you achieve meaningful outcomes.
Research objectives play a crucial role in the research methodology . In research methodology, research objectives are formulated based on the research questions or problem statement. These objectives help in defining the scope and focus of the study, ensuring that the research is conducted in a systematic and organized manner.
The research objectives in research methodology act as a roadmap for the research project. They help in identifying the key variables to be studied, determining the research design and methodology, and selecting the appropriate data collection methods .
Furthermore, research objectives in research methodology assist in evaluating the success of the study. By setting clear objectives, researchers can assess whether the desired outcomes have been achieved and determine the effectiveness of the research methods employed. It is important to note that research objectives in research methodology should be aligned with the overall research aim. They should address the specific aspects or components of the research aim and provide a framework for achieving the desired outcomes.
The research objectives of a study play a crucial role in guiding the research process, ensuring that the study is focused, purposeful, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field. It is important to note that the research objectives may evolve or change as the study progresses. As new information is gathered and analyzed, the researcher may need to revise the objectives to ensure that they remain relevant and achievable.
In summary, research objectives are essential components in writing an effective research paper . They provide a roadmap for the research process, guiding the researcher in their investigation and helping to ensure that the study is purposeful and meaningful. By understanding and effectively utilizing research objectives, researchers can enhance the quality and impact of their research endeavors.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Writing a research paper, thesis, or dissertation ? If so, you’ll want to state your research objectives in the introduction of your paper to make it clear to your readers what you’re trying to accomplish. But how do you write effective research objectives? In this post, we’ll look at two key topics to help you do this:
For more advice on how to write strong research objectives, see below.
There is an important difference between research aims and research objectives:
For instance, an example research aim could be:
This study will investigate the link between dehydration and the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in intensive care patients in Australia.
To develop a set of research objectives, you would then break down the various steps involved in meeting said aim. For example:
This study will investigate the link between dehydration and the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in intensive care patients in Australia. To achieve this, the study objectives w ill include:
Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.
Note that the objectives don’t go into any great detail here. The key is to briefly summarize each component of your study. You can save details for how you will conduct the research for the methodology section of your paper.
A great way to refine your research objectives is to use SMART criteria . Borrowed from the world of project management, there are many versions of this system. However, we’re going to focus on developing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound objectives.
In other words, a good research objective should be all of the following:
If you follow this system, your research objectives will be much stronger.
Whatever your research aims and objectives, make sure to have your academic writing proofread by the experts!
Our academic editors can help you with research papers and proposals , as well as any other scholarly document you need checking. And this will help to ensure that your academic writing is always clear, concise, and precise.
Submit a free sample document today to trial our services and find out more.
Post A New Comment
5-minute read
Promoting a brand means sharing valuable insights to connect more deeply with your audience, and...
6-minute read
If you’re seeking funding to support your charitable endeavors as a nonprofit organization, you’ll need...
9-minute read
Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...
8-minute read
Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...
7-minute read
Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...
4-minute read
Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...
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:
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 A research summary is a requirement during academic research and sometimes you might need to prepare a research summary...
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...
Introduction Clinical trials are an integral part of the drug development process. They aim to assess the safety and efficacy of a new...
Collect data the right way with a versatile data collection tool. try formplus and transform your work productivity today..
How do i write a research objective.
Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .
Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.
I will compare …
A research project is an academic, scientific, or professional undertaking to answer a research question . Research projects can take many forms, such as qualitative or quantitative , descriptive , longitudinal , experimental , or correlational . What kind of research approach you choose will depend on your topic.
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.
Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .
However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:
Research questions anchor your whole project, so it’s important to spend some time refining them.
In general, they should be:
All research questions should be:
A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.
Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.
Your research objectives indicate how you’ll try to address your research problem and should be specific:
Research objectives describe what you intend your research project to accomplish.
They summarize the approach and purpose of the project and help to focus your research.
Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement .
The main guidelines for formatting a paper in Chicago style are to:
To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .
The main guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style are as follows:
To format a paper in APA Style , follow these guidelines:
No, it’s not appropriate to present new arguments or evidence in the conclusion . While you might be tempted to save a striking argument for last, research papers follow a more formal structure than this.
All your findings and arguments should be presented in the body of the text (more specifically in the results and discussion sections if you are following a scientific structure). The conclusion is meant to summarize and reflect on the evidence and arguments you have already presented, not introduce new ones.
The conclusion of a research paper has several key elements you should make sure to include:
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.
The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:
and your problem statement
Want to contact us directly? No problem. We are always here for you.
Our team helps students graduate by offering:
Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:
Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .
The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.
The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.
You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .
The research objective of a research proposal or scientific article defines the direction or content of a research investigation. Without the research objectives, the proposal or research paper is in disarray. It is like a fisherman riding on a boat without any purpose and with no destination in sight. Therefore, at the beginning of any research venture, the researcher must be clear about what he or she intends to do or achieve in conducting a study.
How do you define the objectives of a study? What are the uses of the research objective? How would a researcher write this essential part of the research? This article aims to provide answers to these questions.
Definition of a research objective.
A research objective describes, in a few words, the result of the research project after its implementation. It answers the question,
The research objective provides direction to the performance of the study.
The uses of the research objective are enumerated below:
The research design serves as the “blueprint” for the research investigation. The University of Southern California describes the different types of research design extensively. It details the data to be gathered, data collection procedure, data measurement, and statistical tests to use in the analysis.
The variables of the study include those factors that the researcher wants to evaluate in the study. These variables narrow down the research to several manageable components to see differences or correlations between them.
Specifying the data collection procedure ensures data accuracy and integrity . Thus, the probability of error is minimized. Generalizations or conclusions based on valid arguments founded on reliable data strengthens research findings on particular issues and problems.
In data mining activities where large data sets are involved, the research objective plays a crucial role. Without a clear objective to guide the machine learning process, the desired outcomes will not be met.
A research objective must be achievable, i.e., it must be framed keeping in mind the available time, infrastructure required for research, and other resources.
Before forming a research objective, you should read about all the developments in your area of research and find gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed. Readings will help you come up with suitable objectives for your research project.
The following examples of research objectives based on several published studies on various topics demonstrate how the research objectives are written:
Finally, writing the research objectives requires constant practice, experience, and knowledge about the topic investigated. Clearly written objectives save time, money, and effort.
Evans, K. L., Rodrigues, A. S., Chown, S. L., & Gaston, K. J. (2006). Protected areas and regional avian species richness in South Africa. Biology letters , 2 (2), 184-188.
Yeemin, T., Sutthacheep, M., & Pettongma, R. (2006). Coral reef restoration projects in Thailand. Ocean & Coastal Management , 49 (9-10), 562-575.
© 2020 March 23 P. A. Regoniel Updated 17 November 2020 | Updated 18 January 2024
18 species of insects from a ceiling lamp, open access journals and blogs in research, examples for research design development, about the author, patrick regoniel.
Dr. Regoniel, a hobbyist writer, served as consultant to various environmental research and development projects covering issues and concerns on climate change, coral reef resources and management, economic valuation of environmental and natural resources, mining, and waste management and pollution. He has extensive experience on applied statistics, systems modelling and analysis, an avid practitioner of LaTeX, and a multidisciplinary web developer. He leverages pioneering AI-powered content creation tools to produce unique and comprehensive articles in this website.
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.
Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .
Patricia farrugia.
* Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, the
† Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and the
‡ Departments of Surgery and
§ Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont
There is an increasing familiarity with the principles of evidence-based medicine in the surgical community. As surgeons become more aware of the hierarchy of evidence, grades of recommendations and the principles of critical appraisal, they develop an increasing familiarity with research design. Surgeons and clinicians are looking more and more to the literature and clinical trials to guide their practice; as such, it is becoming a responsibility of the clinical research community to attempt to answer questions that are not only well thought out but also clinically relevant. The development of the research question, including a supportive hypothesis and objectives, is a necessary key step in producing clinically relevant results to be used in evidence-based practice. A well-defined and specific research question is more likely to help guide us in making decisions about study design and population and subsequently what data will be collected and analyzed. 1
In this article, we discuss important considerations in the development of a research question and hypothesis and in defining objectives for research. By the end of this article, the reader will be able to appreciate the significance of constructing a good research question and developing hypotheses and research objectives for the successful design of a research study. The following article is divided into 3 sections: research question, research hypothesis and research objectives.
Interest in a particular topic usually begins the research process, but it is the familiarity with the subject that helps define an appropriate research question for a study. 1 Questions then arise out of a perceived knowledge deficit within a subject area or field of study. 2 Indeed, Haynes suggests that it is important to know “where the boundary between current knowledge and ignorance lies.” 1 The challenge in developing an appropriate research question is in determining which clinical uncertainties could or should be studied and also rationalizing the need for their investigation.
Increasing one’s knowledge about the subject of interest can be accomplished in many ways. Appropriate methods include systematically searching the literature, in-depth interviews and focus groups with patients (and proxies) and interviews with experts in the field. In addition, awareness of current trends and technological advances can assist with the development of research questions. 2 It is imperative to understand what has been studied about a topic to date in order to further the knowledge that has been previously gathered on a topic. Indeed, some granting institutions (e.g., Canadian Institute for Health Research) encourage applicants to conduct a systematic review of the available evidence if a recent review does not already exist and preferably a pilot or feasibility study before applying for a grant for a full trial.
In-depth knowledge about a subject may generate a number of questions. It then becomes necessary to ask whether these questions can be answered through one study or if more than one study needed. 1 Additional research questions can be developed, but several basic principles should be taken into consideration. 1 All questions, primary and secondary, should be developed at the beginning and planning stages of a study. Any additional questions should never compromise the primary question because it is the primary research question that forms the basis of the hypothesis and study objectives. It must be kept in mind that within the scope of one study, the presence of a number of research questions will affect and potentially increase the complexity of both the study design and subsequent statistical analyses, not to mention the actual feasibility of answering every question. 1 A sensible strategy is to establish a single primary research question around which to focus the study plan. 3 In a study, the primary research question should be clearly stated at the end of the introduction of the grant proposal, and it usually specifies the population to be studied, the intervention to be implemented and other circumstantial factors. 4
Hulley and colleagues 2 have suggested the use of the FINER criteria in the development of a good research question ( Box 1 ). The FINER criteria highlight useful points that may increase the chances of developing a successful research project. A good research question should specify the population of interest, be of interest to the scientific community and potentially to the public, have clinical relevance and further current knowledge in the field (and of course be compliant with the standards of ethical boards and national research standards).
Feasible | ||
Interesting | ||
Novel | ||
Ethical | ||
Relevant |
Adapted with permission from Wolters Kluwer Health. 2
Whereas the FINER criteria outline the important aspects of the question in general, a useful format to use in the development of a specific research question is the PICO format — consider the population (P) of interest, the intervention (I) being studied, the comparison (C) group (or to what is the intervention being compared) and the outcome of interest (O). 3 , 5 , 6 Often timing (T) is added to PICO ( Box 2 ) — that is, “Over what time frame will the study take place?” 1 The PICOT approach helps generate a question that aids in constructing the framework of the study and subsequently in protocol development by alluding to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and identifying the groups of patients to be included. Knowing the specific population of interest, intervention (and comparator) and outcome of interest may also help the researcher identify an appropriate outcome measurement tool. 7 The more defined the population of interest, and thus the more stringent the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the greater the effect on the interpretation and subsequent applicability and generalizability of the research findings. 1 , 2 A restricted study population (and exclusion criteria) may limit bias and increase the internal validity of the study; however, this approach will limit external validity of the study and, thus, the generalizability of the findings to the practical clinical setting. Conversely, a broadly defined study population and inclusion criteria may be representative of practical clinical practice but may increase bias and reduce the internal validity of the study.
Population (patients) | ||
Intervention (for intervention studies only) | ||
Comparison group | ||
Outcome of interest | ||
Time |
A poorly devised research question may affect the choice of study design, potentially lead to futile situations and, thus, hamper the chance of determining anything of clinical significance, which will then affect the potential for publication. Without devoting appropriate resources to developing the research question, the quality of the study and subsequent results may be compromised. During the initial stages of any research study, it is therefore imperative to formulate a research question that is both clinically relevant and answerable.
The primary research question should be driven by the hypothesis rather than the data. 1 , 2 That is, the research question and hypothesis should be developed before the start of the study. This sounds intuitive; however, if we take, for example, a database of information, it is potentially possible to perform multiple statistical comparisons of groups within the database to find a statistically significant association. This could then lead one to work backward from the data and develop the “question.” This is counterintuitive to the process because the question is asked specifically to then find the answer, thus collecting data along the way (i.e., in a prospective manner). Multiple statistical testing of associations from data previously collected could potentially lead to spuriously positive findings of association through chance alone. 2 Therefore, a good hypothesis must be based on a good research question at the start of a trial and, indeed, drive data collection for the study.
The research or clinical hypothesis is developed from the research question and then the main elements of the study — sampling strategy, intervention (if applicable), comparison and outcome variables — are summarized in a form that establishes the basis for testing, statistical and ultimately clinical significance. 3 For example, in a research study comparing computer-assisted acetabular component insertion versus freehand acetabular component placement in patients in need of total hip arthroplasty, the experimental group would be computer-assisted insertion and the control/conventional group would be free-hand placement. The investigative team would first state a research hypothesis. This could be expressed as a single outcome (e.g., computer-assisted acetabular component placement leads to improved functional outcome) or potentially as a complex/composite outcome; that is, more than one outcome (e.g., computer-assisted acetabular component placement leads to both improved radiographic cup placement and improved functional outcome).
However, when formally testing statistical significance, the hypothesis should be stated as a “null” hypothesis. 2 The purpose of hypothesis testing is to make an inference about the population of interest on the basis of a random sample taken from that population. The null hypothesis for the preceding research hypothesis then would be that there is no difference in mean functional outcome between the computer-assisted insertion and free-hand placement techniques. After forming the null hypothesis, the researchers would form an alternate hypothesis stating the nature of the difference, if it should appear. The alternate hypothesis would be that there is a difference in mean functional outcome between these techniques. At the end of the study, the null hypothesis is then tested statistically. If the findings of the study are not statistically significant (i.e., there is no difference in functional outcome between the groups in a statistical sense), we cannot reject the null hypothesis, whereas if the findings were significant, we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis (i.e., there is a difference in mean functional outcome between the study groups), errors in testing notwithstanding. In other words, hypothesis testing confirms or refutes the statement that the observed findings did not occur by chance alone but rather occurred because there was a true difference in outcomes between these surgical procedures. The concept of statistical hypothesis testing is complex, and the details are beyond the scope of this article.
Another important concept inherent in hypothesis testing is whether the hypotheses will be 1-sided or 2-sided. A 2-sided hypothesis states that there is a difference between the experimental group and the control group, but it does not specify in advance the expected direction of the difference. For example, we asked whether there is there an improvement in outcomes with computer-assisted surgery or whether the outcomes worse with computer-assisted surgery. We presented a 2-sided test in the above example because we did not specify the direction of the difference. A 1-sided hypothesis states a specific direction (e.g., there is an improvement in outcomes with computer-assisted surgery). A 2-sided hypothesis should be used unless there is a good justification for using a 1-sided hypothesis. As Bland and Atlman 8 stated, “One-sided hypothesis testing should never be used as a device to make a conventionally nonsignificant difference significant.”
The research hypothesis should be stated at the beginning of the study to guide the objectives for research. Whereas the investigators may state the hypothesis as being 1-sided (there is an improvement with treatment), the study and investigators must adhere to the concept of clinical equipoise. According to this principle, a clinical (or surgical) trial is ethical only if the expert community is uncertain about the relative therapeutic merits of the experimental and control groups being evaluated. 9 It means there must exist an honest and professional disagreement among expert clinicians about the preferred treatment. 9
Designing a research hypothesis is supported by a good research question and will influence the type of research design for the study. Acting on the principles of appropriate hypothesis development, the study can then confidently proceed to the development of the research objective.
The primary objective should be coupled with the hypothesis of the study. Study objectives define the specific aims of the study and should be clearly stated in the introduction of the research protocol. 7 From our previous example and using the investigative hypothesis that there is a difference in functional outcomes between computer-assisted acetabular component placement and free-hand placement, the primary objective can be stated as follows: this study will compare the functional outcomes of computer-assisted acetabular component insertion versus free-hand placement in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Note that the study objective is an active statement about how the study is going to answer the specific research question. Objectives can (and often do) state exactly which outcome measures are going to be used within their statements. They are important because they not only help guide the development of the protocol and design of study but also play a role in sample size calculations and determining the power of the study. 7 These concepts will be discussed in other articles in this series.
From the surgeon’s point of view, it is important for the study objectives to be focused on outcomes that are important to patients and clinically relevant. For example, the most methodologically sound randomized controlled trial comparing 2 techniques of distal radial fixation would have little or no clinical impact if the primary objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on intraoperative fluoroscopy time. However, if the objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on patient functional outcome at 1 year, this would have a much more significant impact on clinical decision-making. Second, more meaningful surgeon–patient discussions could ensue, incorporating patient values and preferences with the results from this study. 6 , 7 It is the precise objective and what the investigator is trying to measure that is of clinical relevance in the practical setting.
The following is an example from the literature about the relation between the research question, hypothesis and study objectives:
Study: Warden SJ, Metcalf BR, Kiss ZS, et al. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for chronic patellar tendinopathy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Rheumatology 2008;47:467–71.
Research question: How does low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) compare with a placebo device in managing the symptoms of skeletally mature patients with patellar tendinopathy?
Research hypothesis: Pain levels are reduced in patients who receive daily active-LIPUS (treatment) for 12 weeks compared with individuals who receive inactive-LIPUS (placebo).
Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of LIPUS in the management of patellar tendinopathy symptoms.
The development of the research question is the most important aspect of a research project. A research project can fail if the objectives and hypothesis are poorly focused and underdeveloped. Useful tips for surgical researchers are provided in Box 3 . Designing and developing an appropriate and relevant research question, hypothesis and objectives can be a difficult task. The critical appraisal of the research question used in a study is vital to the application of the findings to clinical practice. Focusing resources, time and dedication to these 3 very important tasks will help to guide a successful research project, influence interpretation of the results and affect future publication efforts.
FINER = feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant; PICOT = population (patients), intervention (for intervention studies only), comparison group, outcome of interest, time.
Competing interests: No funding was received in preparation of this paper. Dr. Bhandari was funded, in part, by a Canada Research Chair, McMaster University.
Formulating research aim and objectives in an appropriate manner is one of the most important aspects of your thesis. This is because research aim and objectives determine the scope, depth and the overall direction of the research. Research question is the central question of the study that has to be answered on the basis of research findings.
Research aim emphasizes what needs to be achieved within the scope of the research, by the end of the research process. Achievement of research aim provides answer to the research question.
Research objectives divide research aim into several parts and address each part separately. Research aim specifies WHAT needs to be studied and research objectives comprise a number of steps that address HOW research aim will be achieved.
As a rule of dumb, there would be one research aim and several research objectives. Achievement of each research objective will lead to the achievement of the research aim.
Consider the following as an example:
Research title: Effects of organizational culture on business profitability: a case study of Virgin Atlantic
Research aim: To assess the effects of Virgin Atlantic organizational culture on business profitability
Following research objectives would facilitate the achievement of this aim:
Figure below illustrates additional examples in formulating research aims and objectives:
Formulation of research question, aim and objectives
Common mistakes in the formulation of research aim relate to the following:
1. Choosing the topic too broadly . This is the most common mistake. For example, a research title of “an analysis of leadership practices” can be classified as too broad because the title fails to answer the following questions:
a) Which aspects of leadership practices? Leadership has many aspects such as employee motivation, ethical behaviour, strategic planning, change management etc. An attempt to cover all of these aspects of organizational leadership within a single research will result in an unfocused and poor work.
b) An analysis of leadership practices in which country? Leadership practices tend to be different in various countries due to cross-cultural differences, legislations and a range of other region-specific factors. Therefore, a study of leadership practices needs to be country-specific.
c) Analysis of leadership practices in which company or industry? Similar to the point above, analysis of leadership practices needs to take into account industry-specific and/or company-specific differences, and there is no way to conduct a leadership research that relates to all industries and organizations in an equal manner.
Accordingly, as an example “a study into the impacts of ethical behaviour of a leader on the level of employee motivation in US healthcare sector” would be a more appropriate title than simply “An analysis of leadership practices”.
2. Setting an unrealistic aim . Formulation of a research aim that involves in-depth interviews with Apple strategic level management by an undergraduate level student can be specified as a bit over-ambitious. This is because securing an interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook or members of Apple Board of Directors might not be easy. This is an extreme example of course, but you got the idea. Instead, you may aim to interview the manager of your local Apple store and adopt a more feasible strategy to get your dissertation completed.
3. Choosing research methods incompatible with the timeframe available . Conducting interviews with 20 sample group members and collecting primary data through 2 focus groups when only three months left until submission of your dissertation can be very difficult, if not impossible. Accordingly, timeframe available need to be taken into account when formulating research aims and objectives and selecting research methods.
Moreover, research objectives need to be formulated according to SMART principle,
where the abbreviation stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.
Study employee motivation of Coca-Cola | To study the impacts of management practices on the levels of employee motivation at Coca-Cola US by December 5, 2022
|
Analyze consumer behaviour in catering industry
| Analyzing changes in consumer behaviour in catering industry in the 21 century in the UK by March 1, 2022 |
Recommend Toyota Motor Corporation management on new market entry strategy
| Formulating recommendations to Toyota Motor Corporation management on the choice of appropriate strategy to enter Vietnam market by June 9, 2022
|
Analyze the impact of social media marketing on business
| Assessing impacts of integration of social media into marketing strategy on the level of brand awareness by March 30, 2022
|
Finding out about time management principles used by Accenture managers | Identifying main time-management strategies used by managers of Accenture France by December 1, 2022 |
Examples of SMART research objectives
At the conclusion part of your research project you will need to reflect on the level of achievement of research aims and objectives. In case your research aims and objectives are not fully achieved by the end of the study, you will need to discuss the reasons. These may include initial inappropriate formulation of research aims and objectives, effects of other variables that were not considered at the beginning of the research or changes in some circumstances during the research process.
John Dudovskiy
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
Get Started Now
A research objective, also known as a goal or an objective, is a sentence or question that summarizes the purpose of your study or test. In other words, it’s an idea you want to understand deeper by performing research. Objectives should be the driving force behind every task you assign and each question that you ask. These objectives should be centered on specific features or processes of your product. By having a solid understanding of the information you need when running your usability study, you’ll be able to better stay on track throughout your development process.
Before you write your objective, you need a problem statement , which you can source from your support team and the frequent customer issues they encounter, negative customer reviews , or feedback from social media. From there, your objective might look like, “Do people find value in this new product idea?” or “How do our competitors describe their offerings compared to us?”
Many UX researchers agree that the more specific the objectives, the easier it is to write tasks and questions. Subsequently, it’ll also be easier to extract answers later on in the analysis. In addition, your objective doesn’t have to spark one angle alone; it could have the potential to inspire multiple test directions. For instance, take this research objective, “I want to understand and resolve the barriers customers face when looking for answers about products and services on our website.”
From this one objective, potential study angles could be:
As you can see, the above objective can be branched out to address content, usability, and design. For further inspiration, collaborate with the product’s stakeholders. You can start the conversation at a high level by determining what features or processes they want test participants to review, like a navigation menu or website messaging.
And before you put a stamp of approval on a research objective, ask for feedback from your team. Two researchers could write very different test plans when an objective is unclear or misaligned. For example, one researcher may hone in on design while another focuses on usability. Meanwhile, another may keep their objective more broad while another writes on that’s more detailed. And while the findings from either case would be insightful, they might not match up with what the team actually needs to learn. So to summarize, start the process with a problem statement, loop in stakeholders early if applicable, and ensure your team is aligned on your objective(s).
Writing and refining your research objective should come after you have a clear problem statement and before you decide on a research method and test plan to execute your study.
After you’ve written a rough draft of your research objective, the ink might not even be dry when stakeholders could get involved by offering you an abundance of objectives. To figure out what to tackle first, ask your stakeholders to prioritize their needs. This step could happen via email or in a meeting, but another method could be to list out all of the possible objectives in a Google form and have everyone rearrange the list into their ideal order.
And if stakeholders haven’t handed you a list of objectives and you’re on your own for brainstorming and prioritizing, opt for the objective that’s tied to a KPI—from increasing website conversions to driving more daily active users in your SaaS product. This will help you size up the relevance and impact your research has on the metrics your business is measuring. The added benefit here is when you’re asked about the impact of that research, you can tie back your ROI calculations to tangible and relatable objectives that you know the business is tracking.
The type of research you do will depend on the stage of product development you’re in. Each stage of development has different research objectives—and different questions that need to be answered. And once you’ve decided on a problem statement, you could either have one or multiple research objectives that tie back to that statement. Typically, this means that you’ll want to select one to three objectives; the less you have, the more manageable your test (and timeline) will be.
For more, the UserTesting template library is a great place to start for common questions that you need answers to or inspiration for your research objective.
Human understanding. Human experiences.
Oh no! We're unable to display this form.
Please check that you’re not running an adblocker and if you are please whitelist usertesting.com.
If you’re still having problems please drop us an email .
By submitting the form, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
Imagine you’re a student planning a vacation in a foreign country. You’re on a tight budget and need to draw…
Imagine you’re a student planning a vacation in a foreign country. You’re on a tight budget and need to draw up a pocket-friendly plan. Where do you begin? The first step is to do your research.
Before that, you make a mental list of your objectives—finding reasonably-priced hotels, traveling safely and finding ways of communicating with someone back home. These objectives help you focus sharply during your research and be aware of the finer details of your trip.
More often than not, research is a part of our daily lives. Whether it’s to pick a restaurant for your next birthday dinner or to prepare a presentation at work, good research is the foundation of effective learning. Read on to understand the meaning, importance and examples of research objectives.
What are the objectives of research, what goes into a research plan.
Research is a careful and detailed study of a particular problem or concern, using scientific methods. An in-depth analysis of information creates space for generating new questions, concepts and understandings. The main objective of research is to explore the unknown and unlock new possibilities. It’s an essential component of success.
Over the years, businesses have started emphasizing the need for research. You’ve probably noticed organizations hiring research managers and analysts. The primary purpose of business research is to determine the goals and opportunities of an organization. It’s critical in making business decisions and appropriately allocating available resources.
Here are a few benefits of research that’ll explain why it is a vital aspect of our professional lives:
One of the greatest benefits of research is to learn and gain a deeper understanding. The deeper you dig into a topic, the more well-versed you are. Furthermore, research has the power to help you build on any personal experience you have on the subject.
Research encourages you to discover the most recent information available. Updated information prevents you from falling behind and helps you present accurate information. You’re better equipped to develop ideas or talk about a topic when you’re armed with the latest inputs.
Research provides you with a good foundation upon which you can develop your thoughts and ideas. People take you more seriously when your suggestions are backed by research. You can speak with greater confidence because you know that the information is accurate.
Take any leading nonprofit organization, you’ll see how they have a strong research arm supported by real-life stories. Research also becomes the base upon which real-life connections and impact can be made. It even helps you communicate better with others and conveys why you’re pursuing something.
As we’ve already established, research is mostly about using existing information to create new ideas and opinions. In the process, it sparks curiosity as you’re encouraged to explore and gain deeper insights into a subject. Curiosity leads to higher levels of positivity and lower levels of anxiety.
Well-defined objectives of research are an essential component of successful research engagement. If you want to drive all aspects of your research methodology such as data collection, design, analysis and recommendation, you need to lay down the objectives of research methodology. In other words, the objectives of research should address the underlying purpose of investigation and analysis. It should outline the steps you’d take to achieve desirable outcomes. Research objectives help you stay focused and adjust your expectations as you progress.
The objectives of research should be closely related to the problem statement, giving way to specific and achievable goals. Here are the four types of research objectives for you to explore:
Also known as secondary objectives, general objectives provide a detailed view of the aim of a study. In other words, you get a general overview of what you want to achieve by the end of your study. For example, if you want to study an organization’s contribution to environmental sustainability, your general objective could be: a study of sustainable practices and the use of renewable energy by the organization.
Specific objectives define the primary aim of the study. Typically, general objectives provide the foundation for identifying specific objectives. In other words, when general objectives are broken down into smaller and logically connected objectives, they’re known as specific objectives. They help define the who, what, why, when and how aspects of your project. Once you identify the main objective of research, it’s easier to develop and pursue a plan of action.
Let’s take the example of ‘a study of an organization’s contribution to environmental sustainability’ again. The specific objectives will look like this:
To determine through history how the organization has changed its practices and adopted new solutions
To assess how the new practices, technology and strategies will contribute to the overall effectiveness
Once you’ve identified the objectives of research, it’s time to organize your thoughts and streamline your research goals. Here are a few effective tips to develop a powerful research plan and improve your business performance.
Your research objectives should be SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-constrained. When you focus on utilizing available resources and setting realistic timeframes and milestones, it’s easier to prioritize objectives. Continuously track your progress and check whether you need to revise your expectations or targets. This way, you’re in greater control over the process.
Create a plan that’ll help you select appropriate methods to collect accurate information. A well-structured plan allows you to use logical and creative approaches towards problem-solving. The complexity of information and your skills are bound to influence your plan, which is why you need to make room for flexibility. The availability of resources will also play a big role in influencing your decisions.
After you’ve created a plan for the research process, make a list of the data you’re going to collect and the methods you’ll use. Not only will it help make sense of your insights but also keep track of your approach. The information you collect should be:
Logical, rigorous and objective
Can be reproduced by other people working on the same subject
Free of errors and highlighting necessary details
Current and updated
Includes everything required to support your argument/suggestions
Data analysis is the most crucial part of the process and there are many ways in which the information can be utilized. Four types of data analysis are often seen in a professional environment. While they may be divided into separate categories, they’re linked to each other.
The most commonly used data analysis, descriptive analysis simply summarizes past data. For example, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) use descriptive analysis. It establishes certain benchmarks after studying how someone has been performing in the past.
The next step is to identify why something happened. Diagnostic analysis uses the information gathered through descriptive analysis and helps find the underlying causes of an outcome. For example, if a marketing initiative was successful, you deep-dive into the strategies that worked.
It attempts to answer ‘what’s likely to happen’. Predictive analysis makes use of past data to predict future outcomes. However, the accuracy of predictions depends on the quality of the data provided. Risk assessment is an ideal example of using predictive analysis.
The most sought-after type of data analysis, prescriptive analysis combines the insights of all of the previous analyses. It’s a huge organizational commitment as it requires plenty of effort and resources. A great example of prescriptive analysis is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which consumes large amounts of data. You need to be prepared to commit to this type of analysis.
Once you’ve collected and collated your data, it’s time to review it and draw accurate conclusions. Here are a few ways to improve the review process:
Identify the fundamental issues, opportunities and problems and make note of recurring trends if any
Make a list of your insights and check which is the most or the least common. In short, keep track of the frequency of each insight
Conduct a SWOT analysis and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Write down your conclusions and recommendations of the research
When we think about research, we often associate it with academicians and students. but the truth is research is for everybody who is willing to learn and enhance their knowledge. If you want to master the art of strategically upgrading your knowledge, Harappa Education’s Learning Expertly course has all the answers. Not only will it help you look at things from a fresh perspective but also show you how to acquire new information with greater efficiency. The Growth Mindset framework will teach you how to believe in your abilities to grow and improve. The Learning Transfer framework will help you apply your learnings from one context to another. Begin the journey of tactful learning and self-improvement today!
Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics related to the THINK Habit such as Learning From Experience , Critical Thinking & What is Brainstorming to think clearly and rationally.
Published on 27.8.2024 in Vol 26 (2024)
Authors of this article:
1 The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Herston, Australia
2 Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service Metro North Health and University of Queensland, Herston, Australia
3 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Australia
4 School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Australia
5 Cancer Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, Australia
6 The University of Queensland Clinical School, St Lucia, Australia
Natasha Anne Roberts, BN, PhD
The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research
Herston Road
Herston, 4029
Phone: 61 7 36468100
Email: [email protected]
Background: Clinical trials have demonstrated that patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can improve mortality and morbidity outcomes when used in clinical practice.
Objective: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the implementation of PROMs in routine oncology. Outcomes measured included improved symptom detection, clinical response to symptom information, and health service outcomes.
Methods: Two of 12 eligible clinics were randomized to implement symptom PROMs in a medical oncology outpatient department in Australia. Randomization was carried out at the clinic level. Patients in control clinics continued with usual care; those in intervention clinics completed a symptom PROM at presentation. This was a pilot study investigating symptom detection, using binary logistic models, and clinical response to PROMs investigated using multiple regression models.
Results: A total of 461 patient encounters were included, consisting of 242 encounters in the control and 222 in the intervention condition. Patients in these clinics most commonly had head and neck, lung, prostate, breast, or colorectal cancer and were seen in the clinic for surveillance and oral or systemic treatments for curative, metastatic, or palliative cancer care pathways. Compared with control encounters, the proportion of symptoms detected increased in intervention encounters (odds ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.99-1.11; P =.08). The odds of receiving supportive care, demonstrated by nonroutine allied health review, increased in the intervention compared with control encounters (odds ratio 3.54, 95% CI 1.26-9.90; P =.02).
Conclusions: Implementation of PROMs in routine care did not significantly improve symptom detection but increased the likelihood of nonroutine allied health reviews for supportive care. Larger studies are needed to investigate health service outcomes.
Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618000398202; https://tinyurl.com/3cxbemy4
The use of symptom patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in stringent randomized clinical trials has been shown to improve oncology outpatient care outcomes. Randomized clinical trials reported on individual patient outcomes such as improved physical functioning, better treatment adherence, self-efficacy, quality of life, and overall survival [ 1 - 4 ]. For health services, the use of PROMs for symptom measurement has led to a reduction in emergency presentations and hospital admissions, without increasing clinical workloads [ 5 - 7 ]. These benefits are thought to be due to improved symptom detection by clinicians enabling better supportive care [ 8 - 10 ].
Despite this evidence and an increased uptake of PROMs in routine care, successful implementation in routine care has been inconsistent due to the complex nature of PROMs interventions [ 4 ]. More than 2 decades ago, the review by Greenhalgh and Meadows [ 11 ] identified that PROMs are challenging to implement, and this was a persisting concern. Recently, guidelines from the European Society for Medical Oncology identified that evidence informing implementation of PROMs in clinical practice is still scarce and further studies that shed light on the barriers to implementation are needed [ 4 ].
In 2017, a prospective pilot study (iPROMOS) was designed to investigate the feasibility of investigating implementation of PROMs in medical oncology outpatient care using a type II hybrid implementation clinical trial method [ 12 ]. This study structured its implementation approach around the recommendations of the integrated-Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARIHS) implementation science framework and found that despite some challenges, implementing PROMs in routine oncology clinics was feasible and acceptable [ 13 ]. It also showed that it is important to measure underlying processes to ensure that the intervention was delivered in the way it is intended [ 14 ]. It was proposed that since PROMs were successfully implemented, clinical benefits such as improved symptom detection and corresponding supportive care would occur. This paper reports on these clinical outcome results of the iPROMOS study.
A hybrid feasibility implementation clinical trial was designed to measure both intervention and implementation outcomes [ 15 ]. The trial randomized at the level of the outpatient clinic with preimplementation data compared with that of postimplementation data across 2 clinics, with weeks and clinic as fixed effects [ 12 ]. The introduction of the intervention was phased for practical reasons, mainly to limit the demand on local resources. The purpose of this study design was to investigate implementation of PROMs taking into consideration the learnings of previous research identifying randomization at the level of the patient was not optimal [ 5 , 11 , 16 ]. Implementation design features were structured following the iPARIHS framework [ 17 ].
The intervention (defined as the “innovation construct” according to the iPARIHS framework) contained 3 components:
The PRO-CTCAE core set evaluates symptoms of fatigue, insomnia, pain, anorexia, dyspnea, anxiety, depression, peripheral sensory neuropathy, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, generating a summary symptom report of all responses by the patient from that encounter.
The facilitator supported the implementation of the intervention, including being available in-person to support patients to complete the PROM, and staff to obtain the PROM report, if needed. Facilitation actions have been reported as a part of the study findings [ 13 ].
This study took place in the medical oncology outpatient department in a large tertiary teaching and training hospital in Southeast Queensland, within the largest public health service in Australia. The hospital serves as a quaternary referral center with specialist medical oncology, hematology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology specialties, medical imaging, nuclear medicine, pathology services, and a high-acuity clinical research unit.
All patients attending the included clinics were eligible to participate if they provided informed consent. At this hospital, 12 medical oncology clinics were potentially eligible, of which 2 clinics were randomly chosen for this study, using a random draw of clinics names in blank envelopes, first by day of the week (so that the study took place on the same day) and then the clinic type. During the preintervention data collection phase both clinics continued to provide usual care (staff noted symptoms or adverse events for their patients that were discovered during anamnesis in the medical chart) [ 22 ]. For each patient encounter, staff members documented patient symptoms and symptom details, and whether a patient had a consultation with allied health in the patient chart, a case report was offered initially but this did not get used. This study was conducted over 20 calendar weeks. Clinic 1 then started with the intervention at week 5, while clinic 2 continued with usual care for another 3 months until week 17 and then started the same intervention [ 14 ].
The primary outcome was the proportion of doctors and nursing staff documenting symptoms during each patient encounter. A sample size calculation used estimated effect sizes as published by Berry et al [ 23 ]. Given a baseline symptom detection level of 75%, it was estimated that 500 participant encounters would be needed to show improvement by 10% or more with 80% power. This was a feasibility study, and it was not to focus on a difference between a particular outcome and having it powered based on this end point.
Secondary outcomes were the proportion of patient encounters with a response to PROMs information, including whether they received additional supportive care by allied health staff (recorded as seen by allied health); proportion of patient encounters that proceeded to an emergency department presentation; and subsequent hospital admissions.
Exploratory outcomes were added to the analysis. These included (1) an analysis of whether the clinician type (doctor or nurse) had an influence on the clinicians’ response to symptom information, and (2) an analysis of any emergent care, other than an emergency presentation. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess whether public holidays that fell at calendar weeks 8, 13, and 16 had any effect on findings.
Clinic characteristics and outcomes were summarized using descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentages. To assess whether the intervention resulted in a change to the proportion of symptoms assessed by clinicians and additional supportive care consultations, binary logistic regression models were used. Three separate univariable models were fitted for intervention, week (as continuous measure) and clinic, and all 3 clinician types were included in a multivariable model. P values less than .05 were indicated as statistically significant. A fixed effect for clinic was chosen for better statistical efficiency.
Emergent care (patient-initiated ad hoc phone calls to clinics, cancer care coordinators, or additional treatments through outpatients), emergency presentations, and hospital admissions were presented as counts and proportions. The study protocol has been published [ 12 ].
The iPROMOS study protocol underwent full review by the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/17/QRBW/416). Participants completed PROMs after providing informed consent via the touch screen computer. Participation was voluntary. All participant data were made nonidentifiable and stored on password-protected hospital servers.
The consort diagram is presented in Figure 1 . There were 464 patient encounters from 421 patients recruited between March and June 2018. The majority of patients (421/464, 91%) had only 1 encounter, while 15 patients had more than 1 (2-7) encounter.
Patient characteristics by intervention period and clinic are shown in Table 1 . Reasons for clinic attendance included new patient appointments, intravenous treatments (including standard of care and clinical trials), oral treatments (including standard of care and clinical trials), follow-up, or surveillance for either localized or metastatic disease.
Preintervention (n=242) | Intervention (n=222) | ||||||||
Clinic 1 (n=61) | Clinic 2 (n=181) | Clinic 1 (n=177) | Clinic 2 (n=45) | ||||||
None | 2 (3) | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | |||||
New | 5 (8) | 27 (15) | 26 (15) | 2 (4) | |||||
Intravenous | 43 (70) | 91 (50) | 99 (56) | 23 (51) | |||||
Intravenous clinical trial | 2 (3) | 2 (1) | 23 (13) | 4 (9) | |||||
Oral | 1 (2) | 18 (10) | 6 (3) | 6 (13) | |||||
Oral clinical trial | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | |||||
Follow-up | 7 (11) | 34 (19) | 16 (9) | 8 (18) | |||||
Surveillance | 1 (2) | 8 (4) | 5 (3) | 1 (2) | |||||
Localized | 44 (75) | 82 (46) | 120 (69) | 19 (42) | |||||
Metastatic | 14 (24) | 95 (53) | 50 (29) | 26 (58) | |||||
Recurrence | 1 (2) | 1 (1) | 5 (3) | 0 (0) | |||||
Palliative | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||||
Thyroid | 4 (7) | 2 (1) | 18 (10) | 0 (0) | |||||
Lung | 8 (13) | 1 (1) | 41 (23) | 2 (4) | |||||
Colorectal | 0 (0) | 4 (2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||||
Breast | 0 (0) | 50 (28) | 0 (0) | 10 (22) | |||||
Prostate | 0 (0) | 68 (38) | 0 (0) | 22 (49) | |||||
Gynecologic | 0 (0) | 14 (8) | 0 (0) | 5 (11) | |||||
Head and neck | 49 (80) | 0 (0) | 117 (66) | 0 (0) | |||||
Genitourinary | 0 (0) | 42 (23) | 1 (1) | 6 (13) |
For the primary outcome of symptom detection, 125 of 242 (52%) recorded patient encounters with a doctor had a symptom detected during the preintervention period. During the intervention period, 137 of 222 (62%) patient encounters with doctors had a symptom detected ( P =.08). For encounters with a nurse, 43 of 97 (44%) identified a symptom before the intervention. During the intervention period, 99 of 130 (76%) documented encounters recorded a symptom detected ( P =.004).
There was an increase of 3.54 (95% CI 1.26-9.90; P =.02) fold in the odds of being seen by allied health in the intervention period compared with the preintervention period after accounting for study week and clinic. A sensitivity analysis of considering week as calendar week instead of study week number (Table S1 in Multimedia Appendix 1 ) yielded similar results.
Exploratory analyses of symptom detection by clinician type ( Table 2 ) identified that 125 of 242 (52%) recorded patient encounters with a doctor had a symptom detected during the preintervention period, compared with 137 of 222 (62%) patient encounters with doctors during the intervention period. For encounters with a nurse, 43 of 97 (44%) identified a symptom during the preintervention period, and 99 of 130 (76%) identified a symptom during the intervention period. Exploration of models including clinician type indicated that when a doctor identified a symptom (but not nurse) the odds that the patients would be seen by allied health increased during the intervention period (odds ratio 2.32, 95% CI 1.19-4.52; P =.013) (Table S2 in Multimedia Appendix 1 ).
Compared to the preintervention period, emergent care through the service line increased, while emergency presentations and hospital admissions decreased during the intervention period. Before the intervention, there were 57/242 (24%) encounters resulting in emergent care, 27/242 (12%) presenting to an emergency department, and 14/242 (1%) unplanned admissions to hospital. During the intervention period, 60/222 (27%) encounters resulted in required emergent care, 8/222 (0.5%) resulted in presentations to an emergency department, and 8/222 (0.5%) unplanned admissions to hospital.
Total, N | Outcome, n (%) | Unadjusted OR (95% CI) | values | Adjusted OR (95% CI) | values | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preintervention | 242 | 117 (48) | 125 (52) | Reference | .029 | Reference | .43 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intervention | 222 | 85 (38) | 137 (62) | 1.51 (1.04-2.18) | 1.29 (0.68-2.44) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Study week number | 464 | 1.07 (1.03-1.11) | .001 | 1.05 (0.99-1.11) | .079 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | 238 | 106 (45) | 132 (55) | Reference | .66 | Reference | .41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | 226 | 96 (42) | 130 (58) | 1.09 (0.75-1.57) | 1.24 (0.74-2.09) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preintervention | 97 | 54 (56) | 43 (44) | Reference | <.001 | Reference | .91 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intervention | 130 | 31 (24) | 99 (76) | 4.01 (2.27-7.08) | 0.95 (0.37-2.41) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Study week number | 227 | 1.13 (1.06-1.20) | <.001 | 1.14 (1.04-1.25) | .004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | 153 | 41 (27) | 112 (73) | Reference | <.001 | Reference | <.001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | 74 | 44 (59) | 30 (41) | 0.25 (0.14-0.45) | 0.22 (0.10-0.50) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preintervention | 242 | 231 (95) | 11 (5) | Reference | <.001 | Reference | .016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intervention | 222 | 179 (81) | 43 (19) | 5.04 (2.53-10.06) | 3.54 (1.26-9.90) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Study week number | 464 | 0.99 (0.94-1.05) | .77 | 0.92 (0.84-1.01) | .069 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | 238 | 187 (79) | 51 (21) | Reference | <.001 | Reference | <.001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | 226 | 223 (99) | 3 (1) | 0.05 (0.02-0.16) | 0.10 (0.03-0.36) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preintervention | 11 | 0 (0) | 11 (100) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Intervention | 43 | 8 (19) | 35 (81) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Study week number | 54 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | 51 | 8 (16) | 43 (84) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | 3 | 0 (0) | 3 (100) | — | — | — | — |
a Unadjusted ORs: each predictor runs as a separate model for each outcome.
b OR: odd ratio.
c Adjusted OR: all 3 predictors included in 1 model for each outcome.
d No: n=202; Yes: n=262.
e No: n=85; Yes: n=142.
f No: n=410; Yes: n=54.
g No: n=8; Yes: n=46.
h Not applicable.
Our findings identified that the use of symptom PROMs in oncology outpatient care may potentially benefit clinical and health service outcomes, in line with other clinical studies. As a pilot study, we established that it would be feasible to conduct larger studies. Implementation outcomes were previously reported. We did not identify a statistically significant association between the intervention and symptom identification but there was an association between intervention and the clinical response to symptoms, that is, whether patients received a formal supportive care consultation by allied health. Participants in the intervention period had an increased odds of being seen by allied health compared to those in the preintervention period. This was more likely if a doctor identified a symptom but not if a nurse identified the symptom. While the sample was not powered to detect a significant difference [ 4 ], it appears that emergency presentations and unplanned hospital admissions reduced during the intervention period compared with the preintervention period. Emergent care by cancer care coordinators increased during the intervention period.
This study was designed to investigate the structured implementation of a PROMs intervention on clinical outcomes. Larger data sets from clinical practice cohort studies have proven effective in identifying health service benefits of PROMs intervention [ 6 , 24 - 26 ]. However, the mechanisms underlying these outcomes have not been clear. The use of an implementation science framework, iPARIHS [ 17 ], guided implementation and potentially brought to light the clinical mechanisms underlying outcomes. In addition, the use of randomization at the level of clinic aimed to mitigate selection or performance bias, which has been an identified concern in other study designs [ 5 , 11 ]. We identified that more allied health teams and cancer care coordinators were engaged through increased supportive care provision, offering a potential explanation for why the use of PROMs has impacts on health service outcomes.
In this study, symptom detection was not significantly different between the preintervention and intervention groups after the sensitivity analysis, even though the literature has broadly understood that PROMs improve symptom identification [ 8 - 10 ]. This result may be because medical assessment using CTCAE criteria [ 22 ] is routine practice for assessing adverse events in the unit and a requirement across the large number of clinical trials recruiting on an ongoing basis. What is also a unique aspect of the setting is cancer care coordinator provision of emergent care in line with an emergency avoidance model of care, where patients will be brought into the outpatients’ department to avoid emergency presentations [ 27 , 28 ]. This service may have also contributed to allied health encounters and health service outcomes and brings attention to the multidisciplinary nature of cancer care.
The electronic system used for patient reporting and clinician review was basic in nature, but it also gave flexibility to tailor it to workflows, communication, and referral processes. The introduction of any technology into a clinical setting can be challenging. For PROMs, this literature supports the use of a simple design with ongoing quality improvement methods to ensure the intervention fidelity [ 29 ], which supports the approach taken in this study.
This was a small clinical trial, but it offers learnings for the future. The iPROMOS study highlights the need to understand how to build from a small intense facilitated implementation for scale-up and sustainability. Economic analyses of implementation in such a context of a constantly changing complex clinical environment are needed [ 29 - 31 ]. The potential clinical benefits amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic have forced us to reconsider how clinical care is delivered but ongoing research is needed. The heterogeneity of the populations included in this study indicates that the results may be generalizable [ 5 , 32 ].
The study design was explanatory and documented a series of public holidays impacting the preplanned carrying out of the study across sequential weeks which is a potential limitation in this work. However, a sensitivity analysis did not identify this to affect the results. It cannot be assumed that the presence of symptoms across the phases of this study was equal. Future research could include a reference assessment by a researcher blinded to the intervention. The use of PROMs was not clearly consistently associated with symptom detection across clinician groups. Understanding this variation across clinician groups warrants further research. In addition, patients with head and neck cancer were a larger proportion of one of the randomized clinics. At the facility, these patients are engaged in a multidisciplinary clinic prior to starting treatment and additional funded access to supportive care during treatment. It is unclear whether this contextual factor influenced outcomes. With the large number of patients seen at the facility, and the small number of patients reported in this study, it is possible that the health service outcomes described are random in nature.
The authors thank Gary Power and Anita McGrath, consumer representatives, who contributed to the study design and methods.
None declared.
Summaries and logistic regression models of symptom identification or referral where week is defined as the calendar week: sensitivity analysis Summaries and logistic regression models of symptom identification or referral using study week.
integrated-Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services |
Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events |
patient-reported outcome measure |
Research Electronic Data Capture |
Edited by Y Zhuang; submitted 27.12.23; peer-reviewed by A von Huben, G Carot-Sans; comments to author 05.04.24; revised version received 25.04.24; accepted 13.05.24; published 27.08.24.
©Natasha Anne Roberts, Anita Pelecanos, Kimberly Alexander, David Wyld, Monika Janda. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 27.08.2024.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (ISSN 1438-8871), is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and potential risk factors associated with skin lesions resulting from the use of medical disinfectants and personal protective equipment (PPE) among epidemic prevention workers (including healthcare professionals, temporary sampling site workers, community members and volunteers) during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic lockdown period in China.
Methods We conducted a survey to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with skin lesions during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic lockdown period among epidemic prevention workers in Gaojing town of Baoshan distract, Shanghai, China.
Results A total of 1033 questionnaires were reviewed, with 995 deemed valid. Among the 995 respondents, 209 (21.01%) reported comorbidities, while 786 (78.99%) were considered as controls. Autoimmune diseases, family history of dermatitis, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis, allergic diseases and the total time spent on skin cleansing and antisepsis procedures were identified as independent risk factors for these s kin lesions.
Conclusion During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic lockdown period, skin lesions among epidemic prevention workers was prevalent, which was primarily attributed to the use of medical disinfectants and PPE. These skin lesions frequently manifested as a combination of various subtypes across different areas of the body. Several individual factors, along with the total time spent on skin cleansing and skin antisepsis procedures, were identified as significant risk factors for the development of these skin lesions.
The authors have declared no competing interest.
The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. This study was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Wusong Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University (IRB No.2022-SYY-15)
I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.
All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.
View the discussion thread.
Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about medRxiv.
NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.
IMAGES
COMMENTS
Learn what research objectives are and how to write them for your research project. Find out the difference between research objectives and aims, and see examples of SMART objectives.
Learn what research objectives are, why they are important, and how to write them clearly and concisely. Find out the types, characteristics, and advantages of research objectives, and see examples of general and specific objectives.
Learn what research objectives are and how to write them using the SMART framework. See 21 examples of research objectives from different fields and how they relate to the research aim.
Learn what research objectives are and how to write them for different types of research studies. Find out the SMART criteria, the steps to follow, and an example of research objectives for a topic on artificial intelligence and employment.
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.
Research Aims: Examples. 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 ...
Learn what a research objective is and how to formulate it for different types of research studies. See examples of research objectives in various domains and follow the best practices for clarity, specificity, measurability, relevance, and realism.
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 ...
Learn what research objectives are, how they guide the research process, and how to write effective ones. Explore the characteristics, types, and examples of research objectives in different fields.
In order to write effective research aims and objectives, researchers should consider all aspects of their proposed work. For example, the sample(s) to be approached for participation in the primary data collection. Identifying research objectives that are SMART is key to ensuring key aspects of the work are considered prior to any data collection.
To develop a set of research objectives, you would then break down the various steps involved in meeting said aim. For example: This study will investigate the link between dehydration and the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in intensive care patients in Australia. To achieve this, the study objectives w ill include:
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 ...
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 ...
A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement, before your research objectives. Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you'll address the overarching aim.
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.
5 Examples of Research Objectives. The following examples of research objectives based on several published studies on various topics demonstrate how the research objectives are written: This study aims to find out if there is a difference in quiz scores between students exposed to direct instruction and flipped classrooms (Webb and Doman, 2016).
The development of the research question, including a supportive hypothesis and objectives, is a necessary key step in producing clinically relevant results to be used in evidence-based practice. A well-defined and specific research question is more likely to help guide us in making decisions about study design and population and subsequently ...
Answer: Research objectives describe concisely what the research is trying to achieve. They summarize the accomplishments a researcher wishes to achieve through the project and provides direction to the study. A research objective must be achievable, i.e., it must be framed keeping in mind the available time, infrastructure required for ...
Formulating research aim and objectives in an appropriate manner is one of the most important aspects of your thesis. This is because research aim and objectives determine the scope, depth and the overall direction of the research. Research question is the central question of the study that has to be answered on the basis of research findings.
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: To explore and describe a phenomenon: Research can be conducted to describe and understand a phenomenon or situation in greater detail.
Research objective. A research objective, also known as a goal or an objective, is a sentence or question that summarizes the purpose of your study or test. In other words, it's an idea you want to understand deeper by performing research. Objectives should be the driving force behind every task you assign and each question that you ask.
An in-depth analysis of information creates space for generating new questions, concepts and understandings. The main objective of research is to explore the unknown and unlock new possibilities. It's an essential component of success. Over the years, businesses have started emphasizing the need for research.
Background: Clinical trials have demonstrated that patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can improve mortality and morbidity outcomes when used in clinical practice. Objective: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the implementation of PROMs in routine oncology. Outcomes measured included improved symptom detection, clinical response to symptom information, and health service ...
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and potential risk factors associated with skin lesions resulting from the use of medical disinfectants and personal protective equipment (PPE) among epidemic prevention workers (including healthcare professionals, temporary sampling site workers, community members and volunteers) during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ...
Abstract Objective To estimate the number of people in Australia with long COVID by age group, and the associated medium term productivity and economic losses. ... The outcomes of our modelling study indicate that further research into the population impact of expanded access to COVID-19 vaccine boosters and antiviral medications is needed. Our ...
Plan and track enterprise projects, gain visibility into capacity, ensure alignment to business objectives, monitor insights and results, and support data-driven decision-making. Make informed decisions and gather insights by building effective dashboards with user-friendly, visual tools.
Introduction: The primary objective of this research is to examine acrophobia, a widely prevalent and highly severe phobia characterized by an overwhelming dread of heights, which has a substantial impact on a significant proportion of individuals worldwide. The objective of our study was to develop a real-time and precise instrument for evaluating levels of acrophobia by utilizing ...