Selecting which type of research objectives to write depends on your research topic. Here are some common types of research objectives:
1. Descriptive objectives
This type of objective describes or documents behaviors, trends, characteristics, and phenomena of interest in detail to provide a clear understanding of specific contexts. Descriptive objectives focus only on documenting what exists or happening, without getting into the details about relationships or causes between variables.
Examples:
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To describe the psychographic characteristics of customers who frequently purchase online through websites.
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To document the daily routines and screen time of high-performing last year college students.
2. Exploratory objectives
As the name suggests, this type of research objective aims to explore a relatively uncharted area or topic of research, generate hypotheses, and comprehend a particular complex matter. They are focusing on gaining insight and exploring new concepts. To simply put, exploratory objectives discover something, not confirm or explain it.
Examples:
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To explore the emerging trend of sling bag flat shoes as a preferred fashion choice among corporate women aged 25-35 in urban areas.
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To investigate the attitudes and perceptions of millennials towards plant-based diets and their motivations for adopting or not adopting such diets.
3. Explanatory objectives
Explanatory objectives aim to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between variables or the reason/cause behind a particular phenomenon. Explanatory research objectives explain why and how certain phenomena or events occur and the interaction between them.
Example:
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To examine the effect of academic pressure on college students’ level of confidence during final exam week.
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To determine whether there is a causal relationship between employee job satisfaction and organizational turnover rates in the Sales Department in ABC Company.
4. Predictive objectives
Predictive objectives intend to identify phenomena, trends, patterns, or relationships based on the existing information to be employed later in making predictions and/or decisions about future outcomes or situations. The primary goal of this objective is to make accurate predictions about what may likely happen in the future.
Examples:
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To predict the quarterly sales figure for the next fiscal year based on sales data, economic indicators, and trends.
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To develop a model that predicts the decline of student performance based on attendance, grades, and punctuality in the assignment.
5. Evaluative objectives
Evaluative objectives aim to evaluate or assess the impact, quality, or effectiveness of certain programs, policies, rules, processes, etc. It later will help you to find out the value, success, or shortcomings of something by using the existing data and information.
Examples:
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To evaluate the effectiveness of GAMAWRITE in aiding English students with research proposal writing.
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To examine the impact of monthly consultation sessions on employees' job performance and behavior changes within peak season.
6. Comparative objectives
Comparative objectives involve the act of comparing two or more variables, groups, situations, and characteristics to gain insight of how different factors impact outcomes or behaviors.
Example:
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To conduct a comparative analysis of the job satisfaction level between two teams under different working conditions (working remotely and working in the office) within the same department over a 3-month period.