Types of research objectives and qualities of research objectives

Types of research objectives

There are two types: 

General objectives

General or secondary objectives provide a detailed view of the aims of the study. They provide a general overview of the study usually, there is one general objective in each study.

Specific objectives

The specific or broad objectives define what is the main aim of the study. There can be many specific objectives because every “what”, “where” and “how” of the research should'd be provided in the specific objectives. The specific objective is the essence of the study and it gives the main idea since they provide focus to the study.

They define the research and make the research valid and reliable because the research becomes focused with research objectives.

Qualities of research objective

1 - Specific – this means it must be clear what the firm is trying to achieve. For example, managers may want to increase sales, increase profit or increase customer satisfaction.

2 - Measurable – this means that all objectives should include a quantifiable element. For example, the firm might aim to increase profit by 30 %. This means that the managers can easily check whether the target has been achieved.

3- Agreed – targets need to be agreed by the different people who are involved in the process. There is no point imposing a target on someone.

4 - Realistic – a target should always be achievable. If you set an objective which cannot be achieved people will not be motivated by it. It may even discourage them, because they know the target can never be reached anyway. To work well employees must believe that their efforts can be successful.

5 - Time specific – all objectives should state quite clearly when they should be achieved. Managers need to know exactly how long they have so that they can plan accordingly.

References:

Objectives, T. (2017). Types of Research Objectives - Reading Craze. [online] Reading Craze. Available at: https://readingcraze.com/index.php/types-research-objectives/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2020].

Lessons.lerntipp.at. (2020). [online] Available at: https://lessons.lerntipp.at/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/the-features-of-a-good-objective1.pdf [Accessed 9 Apr. 2020].