1. Understand the identification and formulation of research problems
1.2 Develop appropriate research objectives and justify their choice;
2. Understand how to review the literature on a research topic
2.1 Evaluate literature relevant to a research problem
2.2 Critically analyse different theoretical approaches to a research problem;
3. Understand the design of business research methodologies.
3.1 Critically evaluate appropriate research methodologies in terms of research objectives;
Greener and Martelli (2018) and Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2016) argue that research methodology is built more on the understanding and attitude of an individual towards research, and the approach/strategy s/he uses to answer the related research questions.
Business research methods are driven by a clear objective purpose, and not just collating data for the sake of it. Notably, business research covers a wider scope compared technical-oriented subjected, for example, sciences. In regard’s to that, there is a need to comprehend many variables at play and how they affect a range of stakeholders; take an example of economic dynamics, and how they impact on services, products, and business operations and how these vary with time (Greener and Martelli, 2018).
When planning to conduct research in the business context, the starting point may be a wide area of management that interests the researchers, for instance, the supply chain and logistics management. It is somewhat difficult to move from the point of setting researchable questions to the point of hypothesis or objectives. The said movement calls for a number of tasks including narrowing down the topic to be studied, selecting its context, identifying the relevant theory, writing and re-writing the working title or questions, utilising the published literature, and identifying the likely outcomes.
Research objectives are a crucial component of any research undertaking.
Determining the purpose of the research naturally leads to the crafting of objectives. Research objectives are different from the study aim in that they relate directly to research questions and are more specific (Grove et al 2014; Parahoo 2014). Those research objectives that need to be achieved are categorised as primary objectives (Newell and Burnard, 2011). According to Johnson and Christensen (2014) there are five typical research objectives namely
Prediction,
Description,
Exploration,
Influence,
Explanation.
Leech and Onwuegbuie (2006) state that quantitative and qualitative research methods are associated to one or more of the five categories of research objectives.
Exploration is concerned with inductive methods to discover a phenomenon, construct, concept or situation, and generate generalisations, hypotheses, and understanding.
Take for instance a study on Toyota’s supply chain and logistics focusing on its quality management, lean production system, and continuous improvement. A sample of introduction, research questions, and research objectives are shown in Text Box 1 below;