In this video, we are going head-to-head research limitations versus delimitations.
We will unpack what both of these mean, how they are similar and how they are different.
So that you can write up these sections the right way. Now, if you are currently working
on a dissertation a thesis or a research project be sure to grab our free templates to fast-track
your write-up. These tried and tested templates provide a detailed roadmap to guide you through
each chapter section by section. If that sounds helpful you can find the link in the description.
All right so let us start with the most important point of this video. Research limitations and
research delimitations are not the same but they are related to each other. I will unpack
that a little later. So if you hear someone using these two words interchangeably be sure to direct
them to this video. So what do each of these terms mean? Well, let us start with research
limitations. Research limitations are at the simplest level the weaknesses of the study based
on the factors that are often outside of your control as the researcher. These factors could
include things like time, access to funding, equipment data or participants. For example,
if you were not able to access a random sample of participants for your study and had to adopt
a convenience sampling strategy instead that would impact the generalisability of your findings and
therefore reflect a limitation of your study. Research limitations can also emerge from the
research design itself. For example, if you were undertaking a correlational study you would not be
able to infer causality since correlation does not mean certain causation. Similarly, if you
utilised online surveys to collect data from your participants you naturally would not be able to
get the same degree of rich data that you would from in-person interviews. Simply put research
limitations reflect the shortcomings of a study based on practical or theoretical constraints that
the researcher faced. These shortcomings limit what you can conclude from a study but at the same
time present a foundation for future research. Importantly all research has limitations so
there is no need to hide anything here as long as you discuss how the limitations might affect your
findings it is all good. By the way, if you want to learn more about research limitations check out
this video where we discuss the five most common limitations we see in dissertations, theses and
research projects. If you are enjoying this video so far please help us out by hitting that like
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All right, now that we have unpacked the limitations let us move on to the delimitations.
Research delimitations are similar to limitations in that they also limit the study but their focus
is entirely different. Specifically, the delimitations of a study refer to the scope
of the research aims and research questions. In other words, delimitations reflect the choices you
as the researcher intentionally make in terms of what you will and will not try to achieve
with your study. As we have spoken about many times before it is important to have a tight,
narrow focus for your research so that you can dive deeply into your topic,
apply your energy to one specific area and develop meaningful insights. If you have an overly broad
scope or unfocused topic your research will often pull in multiple even opposing directions and you
will just end up with a muddy mess of findings. So the delimitation section is where you will
clearly state what your research aims and research questions will focus on. And just as importantly
what they will exclude, for example, you might investigate a widespread phenomenon
but choose to focus your study on a specific age group, ethnicity or gender. Similarly,
your study may focus exclusively on one country, city or even organisation. As long
as the scope is well justified, in other words, it represents a novel, valuable research topic
this is perfectly acceptable, in fact, it is essential. Remember focus is your friend. Okay,
so let us recap. Research limitations and research delimitations are related in that they both refer
to limits within a study but they are distinctly different. Limitations reflect the shortcomings
of your study based on practical or theoretical constraints that you faced. Contrasted to that
delimitations reflect the choices that you made in terms of the focus and scope of your research
aims and research questions. By the way, if you want to learn more about research aims
and research questions you can check out this video where we unpack those concepts in detail.
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dissertation, thesis or research project be sure to check out our private coaching
service where we hold your hand throughout the research process step by step. You can
learn more about that and book a free initial consultation at gradcoach.com.