Aims and Objectives of a Research Proposal

Formulating aims and objectives for your research studies helps sculpt and guide your work after you've decided on a topic. While your aims give your research thematic and theoretic direction, objectives give concrete steps on how to manifest those concepts and theories. A strong topic begins with an area you're interested in researching, then focuses on a need, problem or unexplored issue in that area, usually from a particular perspective or approach.

A research proposal's aims are statements that broadly point out what you hope to accomplish and your desired outcomes from the research. Aims focus on long-term intended outcomes or your aspirations in reference to the research. They're typically not numbered in a research proposal. Strong research proposals include only a few aims with multiple supporting objectives.

Objectives lay out how you plan to accomplish your aims. While aims are broad in nature, objectives are focused and practical. They tend to pinpoint your research's more immediate effects. Additionally, the objectives include an outline of practical steps and tasks that you will take in the process of finding the outcomes and impact of your defined aims. Objectives are typically numbered, so each one stands alone. Each objective must have a concrete method defined. If you're having trouble developing concrete objectives and methods, writing out a research timeline before defining your objectives may help.

Both aims and objectives should be brief and concise. They must be interrelated. Each aim should have one or more objectives describing how that aim should be met. Aims and objectives should both be realistic goals and methods with respect to what resources you have available and the scope of research. Don't choose something too broad, for instance, or that would take much more research time than you have. Aims and objectives also let your advisers know how you intend to approach a given subject and how you plan to get access to subjects, goods and services, samplings and other resources. They also provide plans for dealing with ethical or practical problems you may encounter.

When you're writing your aims and objectives, don't make them too broad or vague. Aims are more general by definition than more focused objectives. However, in that broad scope, the included aims shouldn't be over-optimistic or unrealistic about what you want to achieve. They shouldn't repeat each other or be simple lists of items related to your research. Stay away from focusing content on your research site or job. Stick to the specific aims and objectives of your actual research study. Check that your aims and objectives contain methods that can sustain what you hope to find. If they don't match, rethink the methods or aims and objectives of your research.