Libyan Academy School of Basic Science

Life Science Department

Research Methodology

7- Objectives

Spring 2024
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 Objectives
Objectives are not always part of a separate section.
Sometimes they are included with the Introduction ,
sometimes with the Review of Literature, and sometimes
they can be replaced with the Statement of the Research
Question.
It should be checked with the advisor as to his or her
personal preference. The purpose of the objectives is to
focus both researcher and the reader on the reason for
undertaking the research. 2
I- How to write research objectives :
Identifying your research objectives is crucial to
conducting a successful research project. 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. You can
identify a research focus by reading through your
industry's literature and finding gaps in existing
research.
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2. Break down your research focus into research
objectives
Once you know the primary goal of your research project,
you can break it down into smaller steps and separate
objectives. You can choose one general objective and a few
other specific, narrow objectives. In the general objective,
state in a broad sense what you aim to achieve through your
research. Then, use the specific objectives to describe how
you can achieve your general goal.
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3. Write your research objectives in the SMART format
Another key step to writing strong research objectives is to use
the SMART format. Using this format can make your
objectives clearer and easier to understand, which can make
you more likely to achieve them. Make sure your objectives
meet these criteria :
 Specific : Be specific about your desired outcomes. Your
objectives should be clearly written and leave no room for
confusion. This can help you keep them narrow and
focused.
 Measurable : Making your objectives measurable is
essential to achieving them. You can create metrics to
measure your progress toward achieving your objectives.

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Achievable : Be sure to create objectives that you can
realistically achieve to help you avoid getting
overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations. Make sure
you have the resources and budget to accomplish
your objectives.
Relevant : Make your objectives relevant to your
research and your overall goals. This can help you
stay motivated and on track throughout your research
project.
Time-based : You can establish deadlines to help you
keep your research process on track. You can set a
major deadline for your entire project as well as
smaller deadlines for each objective.
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Tips for writing your research objectives
Here are some tips you can use to help you write great
research objectives:

Be concise
One tip for writing strong research objectives is to write
your objectives as concisely as you can. Try to remove
unnecessary words and filler to make your objectives
as easy to understand as possible. If possible, try to
keep each individual objective to only one sentence.
This can make it easier to use your objectives to guide
your research process.

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Tips for writing your research objectives
Keep your number of objectives limited
It's also important to write only a few specific research
objectives. Try to limit your number of objectives to
five or less to help you avoid getting overwhelmed by
trying to accomplish a long list of objectives. You can
also choose one general objective and a few other
specific, pointed objectives.
Be realistic
Another tip for writing research objectives is to keep them
realistic. Make sure you can achieve them with the time
and resources you already have. Unrealistic objectives
can make you feel overwhelmed and discouraged, so it's
important to create objectives that you can realistically
achieve. 8
Use action verbs
Using action verbs is another way you can strengthen your
research objectives. Using action verbs can help you
measure whether you have accomplished your research
objective, and it can also make your objectives feel more
actionable and engaging. Some action verbs you could
consider using are :
 Assess
 Determine
 Calculate
 Compare
 Explain
 Describe
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Ask for feedback
You can also improve your research objectives by asking a
mentor or colleague to review your research objective drafts.
This can help you spot any errors you might have missed and
make your objectives more understandable to other people.
Proofread and review your objectives
It's also important to proofread and review your objectives to
make sure they're free of typos and other errors. Check your
spelling and grammar to ensure that your objectives appear
professional and perfectly accurate.
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II- Writing a Literature Review :
Purpose of the Literature Review
 It gives readers easy access to research on a particular
topic by selecting high quality articles or studies that
are relevant, meaningful, important and valid and
summarizing them into one complete report
 It provides an excellent starting point for researchers
beginning to do research in a new area by forcing
them to summarize, evaluate, and compare original
research in that specific area 11
II- Writing a Literature Review :
Purpose of the Literature Review

 It ensures that researchers do not duplicate work that has

already been done
 It can provide clues as to where future research is heading
or recommend areas on which to focus
 It highlights key findings
 It identifies inconsistencies, gaps and contradictions in the
literature
 It provides a constructive analysis of the methodologies
and approaches of other researchers

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III- Content of the Review :
Introduction
The introduction explains the focus and establishes the
importance of the subject. It discusses what kind of work
has been done on the topic and identifies any controversies
within the field or any recent research which has raised
questions about earlier assumptions.

It may provide background or history. It concludes with a

purpose or thesis statement. In a stand-alone literature
review, this statement will sum up and evaluate the state of
the art in this field of research; in a review that is an
introduction or preparatory to a thesis or research report, it
will suggest how the review findings will lead to the
research the writer proposes to undertake. 13
 Body
Often divided by headings/subheadings, the body
summarizes and evaluates the current state of knowledge in
the field. It notes major themes or topics, the most
important trends, and any findings about which researchers
agree or disagree. If the review is preliminary to your own
thesis or research project, its purpose is to make an
argument that will justify your proposed research.
Therefore, it will discuss only that research which leads
directly to your own project. 14
 Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes all the evidence presented and

shows its significance. If the review is an introduction to
your own research, it highlights gaps and indicates how
previous research leads to your own research project and
chosen methodology. If the review is a stand-alone
assignment for a course, it should suggest any practical
applications of the research as well as the implications
and possibilities for future research.
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Writing Materials and Methods :
This section should provide detailed information on the
materials used to conduct the study and the methods
used to measure variables in the study. The term
“Materials” refers to study participants (e.g. humans,
animals, laboratory experiments, etc.) and also to
various instruments (e.g. applanation tonometry, optical
coherence tomography, etc.) and treatments (e.g. drug 1
vs. drug 2 OR phacoemulsification vs. SICS) used in
the study. 16
Writing Materials and Methods :

The term “Methods” refers to how various procedures

were performed on the study participants, how
measurements were made, how data was collected and
stored, and finally how data was analyzed. In general, it
is advisable to use questions like what, when, why, how
much, and how often to guide your explanations. The
methods should always be written in the past tense.
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Ethical considerations
When the study involves manipulations on human or
animal subjects, it is essential that the methods section
begins with a statement stating that the study was
approved by the institutional review board, informed
consent was obtained from all the participants and the
study protocol adhered to the tenets of the declaration of
Helsinki. For animal experiments, including a statement
regarding approval by the institutional animal care
committee or appropriate body. 18
Study period, location and type
Specify the duration of the study with the start and end
dates (month/year) followed by the location of the study.
It is essential to mention the type of study such as a
randomized controlled trial, prospective/retrospective
cohort study, case control study, or cross sectional
survey. The following points can be considered before
choosing a prospective or retrospective study design :

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 Subjects
It is of utmost importance to explicitly describe who the
study participants were and how they were chosen for
the study. It is useful to use words such as volunteers,
patients, controls, lab animals, etc. “Inclusion and
exclusion criteria” should be described in great detail
as these will help in establishing the limits set by the
authors and thereby help in generalizing the study
results to the population (i.e. to whom the study results
will be applicable). 20
 Subjects

For the purpose of the study, it is important to “define the

disease” in measurable terms. For e.g. for a glaucoma
study, how glaucoma was defined should be explained
using credible references. In case of controls, explain
how they were selected and how they relate to the study
group, e.g. matching by age, gender, ethnicity, clinical
condition, etc. Also, describe in brief the sampling
methods used.

Randomization and masking should be described in detail

in case the manuscript is describing a randomized
controlled trial.
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 Preparation of Subjects
In studies involving human subjects, steps taken to prepare
the participants prior to the actual study should be
described briefly. For e.g., how dilatation of pupils was
achieved or what type of anesthesia was used prior to the
actual surgical procedure. In animal experiments and
mechanical models, the setting up of the animals and
models is very important and should be described
explicitly.

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 Study design and Protocol
The research protocol is the exact sequence of manipulations
and measurements performed to answer the study question. It
should be described in precisely the same chronology as the
steps performed in the study. Typically, this first involves a
description of baseline measurements, followed by the
sequence of events to manipulate the independent variable
and the subsequent measurement of changes in the dependent
variable. It is advisable to provide a flow plan especially in
case of prospective studies to help readers understand the
protocol easily. 23
 Measurement of variables
All the tools and instruments used to manipulate the
independent variable and measure changes in the
dependent variable should be mentioned including the
name and location of the manufacturer.
Additionally, describe in detail any modifications made to
the equipment or any equipment that was constructed
specifically for the study and, if necessary, provide
illustrations or photographs of the modifications.

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 Measurement of variables ect

It is important to remember that any new method employed

for measuring a variable will require additional validation
either in the form of a previous publication that can be
referenced or by providing proof of the concept of the new
measurement technique used. The former is the better
approach. This is especially true in studies where
questionnaires are used. The questionnaires must be
developed in a systematic manner and should have been
used previously to prove its validity. 25
 Statistical Tests and Data Analysis
A statistician should be involved in the study from the
beginning and his/her help can be sought to write this
section. This section describes how the data will be
presented in the results section (e.g., mean vs. median),
which statistical tests will used for the inferential data, and
what p value is deemed to be a statistically significant
difference between groups. While using regression
analysis, it is important to mention a rationale for the
covariates used in the multivariable models. 26
 Statistical Tests and Data Analysis ect

For survival analysis, one must explain how the event and
time to the event was calculated. While using
specialized or unusual statistical methods (e.g. negative
binominal regression), one must provide a reference.
Also, it is good practice to mention the name and
version of the statistical package used for the analysis
(for e.g. Stata13 I/C, College Station, TX).

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 Thank you
For your Attention

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