How to Write Research Objectives for a Thesis

What are research objectives in a thesis

Research objectives state what you intend to achieve after completing your study. Readers use them to identify the issue being examined, the target group, the context, and the expected results. In a quantitative thesis, your objectives must also match the research model, hypotheses, questionnaire, and analyses you will run in SPSS or SmartPLS.

You usually place the objectives in the introduction, after the rationale for the study and before the research questions. If you are arranging this whole section, you can also see the guide to the opening section for the correct placement. Objectives list the research outcomes that need to be completed and can be checked. They are not a long introduction to the topic.

A thesis usually has one general objective and around three to five specific objectives. The general objective describes the overall direction. Specific objectives break that direction into tasks that can be observed, measured, or tested. For example, the general objective may be to evaluate the factors affecting students' intention to continue using e-wallets in Ho Chi Minh City. Specific objectives may include identifying the factors, measuring the strength of their effects, testing differences between groups, and proposing managerial implications.

In the research methods format commonly used in business theses, objectives should begin with action verbs such as identify, measure, evaluate, test, compare, or propose. Avoid broad verbs such as explore, study, or clarify unless you have stated what data will be used and how the clarification will be made. This approach is consistent with the principles of quantitative research design in the methods literature (Nguyễn Đình Thọ, 2011).

The standard structure of research objectives

Before writing complete sentences, break your topic into five components: the research verb, the research object or variables, the relationship to be examined, the survey group, and the research context. An objective does not always need all five components, but a quantitative objective usually needs to state the verb, the research content, the target group, and the scope.

The general objective answers this question: what main problem does this study aim to address. Specific objectives answer this question: to achieve the general objective, what do you need to identify, measure, or test.

You also need to distinguish research objectives from the rationale for the study. The rationale explains why the issue deserves to be studied. The objective states what you will do with that issue. If the two sections repeat each other, the introduction becomes longer while still lacking a concrete research plan.

A good objective has three characteristics. First, readers can see the result that needs to be achieved. Second, the objective can be carried out with the time, data, and tools you actually have. Third, it matches the methods section. If the objective says “measure the strength of effects” but the method only includes descriptive statistics, you will be asked why there is no regression, SEM, or appropriate hypothesis test.

Steps for writing research objectives

Step 1: State the research problem in one sentence

Write one simple sentence describing the problem you are addressing. For example: “Many students know about e-wallets, but their willingness to continue using them still differs between groups.” This sentence is not yet an objective. It keeps you from writing objectives that drift away from the original problem.

Then compare the topic with the undergraduate thesis topic guide to check whether the subject is specific enough in terms of field, target group, and context. A topic that is too broad usually produces vague objectives, a long questionnaire, and data that are difficult to process.

Step 2: Identify the variables and relationships to study

Open your research model and list the independent variables, dependent variable, mediator, or moderator separately if they are present. For the topic “Factors affecting Gen Z's intention to purchase environmentally friendly cosmetics,” the variables may include environmental awareness, perceived value, trust, and purchase intention.

Next, write the relationship to be tested: “Environmental awareness affects purchase intention.” This wording helps the specific objective match hypothesis H1, H2, and the Coefficients or Path Coefficients results table. If you do not yet have a model, complete the model before finalising the objectives instead of writing them based on intuition.

Step 3: Write the general objective

The general objective should bring the entire research direction together in one sentence. A useful formula is: “Evaluate the factors affecting [dependent variable] among [target group] in [context], thereby proposing [implications or solutions].”

For example: “Evaluate the factors affecting students' intention to continue using e-wallets in Ho Chi Minh City, thereby proposing several implications for service providers.”

If the study focuses only on testing a model, you do not have to add the proposal section. If the title or faculty requirements include “managerial implications,” the general objective should clearly show this output. Do not include an outcome that you do not have data to develop.

Step 4: Separate specific objectives according to the analysis sequence

A sequence that often fits a quantitative thesis is to identify the factors, measure the current level or status, test the relationships, compare differences where there is a basis for doing so, and then propose implications. You do not need to use every group. Keep only the objectives included in your research design.

For example, the specific objectives could be written as follows:

1. Identify the factors affecting students' intention to continue using e-wallets.
2. Measure the effect of each factor on the intention to continue using e-wallets.
3. Test differences in the intention to continue using e-wallets between student groups by gender, year of study, and income.
4. Propose several managerial implications to increase the intention to continue using e-wallets.

Each objective should correspond to a section of the results chapter. If an objective includes “test differences” but the questionnaire did not collect a grouping variable, that objective cannot yet be carried out. If an objective includes “propose solutions” but there are no results on influencing factors, the proposal section will lack a basis.

Step 5: Compare the objectives with the questions and methods

After writing the objectives, create a comparison table covering the objectives, research questions, data, and analysis. You can also see the guide to research questions to make sure that each objective has a corresponding question.

For example, the objective “measure the effects of the factors” needs to match the question “Which factor has a stronger effect on the intention to continue using e-wallets” and a method such as linear regression or PLS-SEM. The objective “test differences by year of study” requires a year-of-study variable and a test appropriate for the number of groups.

You should also check the time scope. An objective that says “evaluate changes over five years” does not fit a study that collects data only once through a questionnaire. Cross-sectional data allow you to analyse relationships at the time of the survey. They do not automatically demonstrate change over time.

Step 6: Shorten the objectives and check feasibility

Read each objective and underline the main verb. If one sentence contains too many verbs, such as “identify, analyse, evaluate, compare, and propose,” you may have combined several objectives into one sentence. Separate them or remove the part you do not need.

You also need to check the number of objectives. Four specific objectives may be enough for an undergraduate thesis, while ten objectives often create an overly broad scope. The objectives must fit your sample size, data-collection period, and ability to process your .sav or .csv file.

Usable sentence templates

The sentences below are frameworks. Replace the content in square brackets with your own information. Do not copy them word for word if your target group, location, or research variables are different.

How to write this in your thesis: “This study is conducted to evaluate the effects of [independent variables] on [dependent variable] among [target group] in [location]. Based on the analytical results, the study proposes several appropriate implications for [intended users].”

When you use a template, replace “independent variables” with the actual variable names in your model. If the model includes a mediator or moderator, state the variable's role accurately. For example, the objective may say “test the mediating role of satisfaction in the relationship between service quality and revisit intention,” rather than grouping everything under “evaluate the factors affecting” the outcome.

Another point is to use the correct level of verb. “Identify” fits when you want to recognise the factors. “Measure” fits when you have a scale and survey data. “Test” fits when you have hypotheses or differences to examine. “Propose” should come after the analytical objectives because implications need to be based on results, not speculation.

A shortened example of research objectives

Suppose the topic is “Factors affecting students' intention to continue using digital banking applications in Hanoi.” The model includes perceived usefulness, ease of use, trust, perceived risk, and intention to continue using the application.

The general objective could be: “Evaluate the factors affecting students' intention to continue using digital banking applications in Hanoi, thereby proposing several implications for commercial banks.”

The specific objectives are:

1. Identify the factors affecting students' intention to continue using digital banking applications in Hanoi.
2. Test the strength and direction of the effects of perceived usefulness, ease of use, trust, and perceived risk on the intention to continue using the applications.
3. Test differences in the intention to continue using the applications between student groups by gender, year of study, and frequency of digital banking application use.
4. Propose several implications to increase students' intention to continue using digital banking applications.

From these four objectives, you can develop corresponding research questions. The first objective leads to a question about the factors in the model. The second leads to a question about the direction and strength of the effects. The third leads to a question about differences between groups. The fourth leads to a question about the implications that can be drawn from the results.

When you run the data, the second objective may relate to the Coefficients table in SPSS regression or the Path Coefficients table in SmartPLS. The third objective may require Independent-Samples T Test or One-Way ANOVA, depending on the number of groups and the variable design. You do not need to name the software in the objective, but the method that follows must be able to answer it.

This example also shows why an objective should not state the result in advance. Write “test the effect of trust,” not “prove that trust has a positive effect.” The result may support or fail to support the hypothesis. The objective describes what you will test, rather than predicting for the data.

Common errors that make the committee ask follow-up questions

The first error is writing an objective that is too broad, such as “study current consumer behaviour.” The committee will ask which behaviour, whose behaviour, where, and which variables will measure it. Limit the target group, context, and research variables in the objective itself.

The second error is confusing objectives with research activities. The sentence “collect 300 survey questionnaires” describes data collection, not a scientific objective. “Run SPSS to analyse the data” is also a method. An objective must state what you want to identify, measure, or test.

The third error is a mismatch between the objective and the title. The title may concern purchase intention while the objective discusses post-purchase satisfaction. Recheck the main dependent variable, then make the title, objectives, questions, hypotheses, and questionnaire consistent.

The fourth error is putting too many results into the objective. Writing “prove that factor X has the strongest effect” gives the objective a predetermined conclusion. Change it to “test the strength of the effects of the factors” so that the data can answer in either direction.

The fifth error is using the word “solutions” when the data do not provide enough basis. If you only surveyed consumers, consider using “managerial implications” and state clearly that the implications are derived from factors with significant effects. A questionnaire does not automatically provide information for every operational solution.

The final error is having specific objectives with no corresponding results section in the thesis. Before submitting the proposal, number the objectives from MT1 to MT4 and check whether the results chapter contains a table, test, or analytical paragraph answering each objective.

Frequently asked questions

What are research objectives, and how are they different from research questions?

Research objectives describe what you need to do to address the problem. Research questions turn those tasks into questions that the data must answer. For example, the objective is to “measure the effect of service quality on satisfaction,” while the question is “to what extent does service quality affect satisfaction.”

The two sections need to match, but you should not copy the same sentence from one section into the other. Each specific objective should have at least one corresponding question.

How many specific research objectives should a thesis have?

There is no required number for every thesis. For an undergraduate quantitative study, three to five specific objectives are often enough to cover identifying factors, testing the model, and proposing implications.

Prioritise objectives that can be carried out with the data you have. If you add objectives only to make the list longer, the methods and results chapters are likely to become disconnected.

Do research objectives need to include hypotheses?

Objectives and hypotheses are different sections. An objective states which relationship you will test. A hypothesis predicts the direction or existence of that relationship, such as perceived usefulness having a positive effect on usage intention.

For a topic with a causal model, the specific objectives should match the group of hypotheses. You do not need to put all of H1, H2, and H3 into one objective sentence.

Should you use the verb “explore” in a research objective?

You can use “explore” in an informal introduction, but a formal objective should use a more specific verb. “Identify,” “evaluate,” “measure,” “test,” and “compare” tell readers more clearly what you will do with the data.

If you are unsure which verb to use, look at the planned analysis table. If you have regression or PLS-SEM, use “test the effects” or “evaluate the strength of the effects.” If you are comparing groups, use “test differences.”

Can research objectives be revised after data collection?

You can revise the wording to make the objectives clearer and more consistent, but you should not change them simply because the results are unattractive. If you remove a variable or change the scope after viewing the output, record the reason and discuss it with your supervisor.

The final objectives in the thesis must match the approved proposal, questionnaire, research sample, and analyses actually conducted. Save the versions of the objectives as they change so that you can explain the revisions if necessary.

Do research objectives need to state the location and time?

You should state the location or context when the study is limited by a region, organisation, or target group. Time can be included when the study has a phased design or needs to limit the period of data collection.

If you surveyed respondents only once, you can write “during the survey period” in the methods section instead of making the objective too long. The important point is that readers must understand the scope represented by the data.

Open your proposal file and your data file, write one general objective and three to five specific objectives, then compare each objective with the variables, questions, and planned analysis tables. If you need to build the full model, hypotheses, scale, and questionnaire for a quantitative topic, you can use DoThesis M3 for the model, scales, and questionnaire.