Did you know that writing the research purpose is the most important step in
writing your research proposal or publication? I'm Laura Killam, a nurse
researcher who can teach you how to write amazing purpose statements! The
purpose needs to address a gap in the literature - something that is unknown.
Understanding that your purpose must help fill a gap in knowledge is where a
lot of students struggle. For this reason you need to do some reading about your
issue before formulating a study purpose or design. Research is unlikely to be
funded or published if it does not clearly add something to the current
literature base. I believe that every research proposal or publication needs a
specific, concise, and clear purpose that is worded as a statement. Everything else
in your study will be critiqued on its congruence with this one purpose
statement - so choose your words wisely. Revisit the purpose statement often to
be sure that each component of your study is congruent with it. If something
is not congruent then you need to change either the wording of the purpose
statement or change whatever is incongruent. You want to remember the finer
criteria: a feasible, interesting, novel ethical, and relevant - when deciding on a
general idea for your purpose. It is especially important to think of what
kind of study is feasible - given your resources and expertise - before writing
your purpose. It is important that you are able to finish the research you
start. The purpose needs to guide the study so you want to make sure it's
worded in a way that is pragmatic. For example, if you have a background in
qualitative research - but no quantitative research understanding, knowledge, or
resources - you will probably want to word your purpose in a way that can be
answered qualitatively. Due to space limitations in journals you might not
always see both the purpose and research questions or hypotheses listed. Yes, the
purpose and questions are closely related - but they are not exactly the
same. I will talk about that more in another video, but every study should
have a clear purpose - especially in research or ethics proposals. Let's talk
about how to write your purpose. A purpose statement needs to be clear.
Don't get too fancy start with "the purpose of this study" or "the aim of this
study." Readers critiquing your study will thank you for making your purpose
statement clear and easy to find. My favorite journals even go as far as to
have a heading and bold that says "aim" or "purpose." The purpose needs to be easily
found. You can put your methodology right into
the purpose statement by saying "the purpose of this phenomenological study"
or "the aim of this randomized control trial." However, explicitly stating the
methodology is not necessary. The reader should still be able to tell from your
purpose wording what paradigm your research should be in - and in most cases
have an idea of a more specific methodology that would be appropriate.
Also, just because you name a methodology here doesn't mean that the rest of the
purpose statement will automatically fit with that methodology - so continue to
choose your words wisely and consider if they match the methodology you have
chosen. Include a verb that indicates what your study will do. Choose this verb
wisely. The verb you choose is going to give the reader an idea of what types of
research methodologies and methods will be congruent with your purpose. There are
different keywords that fit with each methodology. I recommend looking at some
examples in the literature and reading a book with some information about how to
select the right verb for your study. I have provided a few examples here and
some helpful resources below the slide. What is required in the rest of the
purpose statement depends on the methodology of your study. Let's talk
more about qualitative purposes first, then I'll talk about quantitative
purposes. I recommend you listen to both so you know the difference in how
they're written.