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How to Generate Research Questions & Objectives

The research objectives basically entail what you want to achieve. They are in two categories; the main objective and specific objectives. This subchapter assists in informing the supervisor how you have narrowed down you scope of focus to achieve by the end of the research project.

Main / major objective: This is also referred to as the primary objective. The use if this objective is to show the supervisor what you opt to achieve and what your specific objectives are targeting to achieve as well. In simple language, a main objective is the intermediate between the research topic and the specific objectives.

Specific objectives:

This is a breakdown of different objectives that will help you to achieve your main objective. Think of it as a collection of picture-puzzle pieces that when joined, they form a picture (main objective).

Let us learn from this example below:

Research Title: The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Customer Engagement in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Main Objective: To investigate the impact of social media marketing on customer engagement in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

To assess the level of social media presence among SMEs. (This objective aims to evaluate how extensively SMEs use various social media platforms for their marketing activities.)
To analyze the types of social media content that generates the highest customer engagement. (This objective focuses on identifying which kinds of posts, such as videos, images, or text, are most effective in engaging customers.)
To examine the relationship between social media engagement and sales performance in SMEs. (This objective seeks to understand how customer engagement on social media correlates with the sales performance of SMEs.)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Just like any type of planning, it is a principle that after drawing out your goals (objectives), then you have to ask yourself how you are going to attain them. It is the same way with research questions. They act as a way to guide us achieve our research objectives. Research questions are the foundation of any research project. They guide your study and help you stay focused on what you want to find out. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you craft clear and effective research questions:

Examine your objectives: Study your specific objectives to understand what each of them seeks to achieve. By doing that, you can easily know how to achieve it by formulating the research questions in respect to each of the objectives.

Identify Key Variables: Determine the key variables or factors you want to study. Variables are the elements that you will measure or analyze in your research with one (independent) affecting the other (Dependent) , but not vice versa. For example, if you’re studying the impact of gardening programs, your variables might be “students’ nutrition knowledge” and “dietary habits.” In this case, the independent variable will be School gardening programs while the dependent variables will be Students’ nutrition knowledge, students’ dietary habits

Formulate Research Questions: Finally, Craft research questions that are specific, clear, and researchable. They should be focused on the key variables you identified and should guide your investigation. Use open-ended questions that encourage exploration and detailed answers. Remember; the research question should be clear and easily understood, focused on a specific aspect of your topic, and answerable through data collection and analysis. Below are some of the examples of research questions developed from the topic in the example above:

What are the effects of school gardening programs on elementary students’ knowledge about nutrition?
How do students who participate in school gardening programs compare to those who do not in terms of their dietary habits?
What impact do school gardening programs have on improving students’ dietary choices over the school year?