Sep 21st 09 Posted by Becky Morehouse in Featured Articles, Research

Starting with end in sight – defining objectives in research studies

The first step in any research project is preparing a written statement of clear research objectives. Beginning with unclear objectives can waste time, effort, and money, as well as produce information that does not sufficiently address the questions at hand. In addition, how you collect the data, the questionnaire content, and the analysis are all driven by the objectives.

When developing study objectives I consider the following guidelines and caveats before getting started:

• Don’t expect a survey to make a decision for you. It will simply provide information that enables you to make a better decision(s) than you would without this knowledge
• Research cannot correct market conditions, share levels, audience awareness, or perception; it can only measure them
• Be sure you know what decision you’re trying to make before you begin the research process
• Focus on your information needs. Don’t be tempted to expand your list to include things that might be “nice to know,” but are irrelevant to the key issue at hand
• The fewer, and more specific, the objectives the better
• Realize that it’s very unlikely that any single survey can answer all of your questions. Prioritize ruthlessly
• Agreeing on what action will be taken and under what circumstances before the research process starts will help clarify the objectives. In fact, defining these action “standards” will increase the odds that the research will in fact be used in decision making
• Finally, always consider the time and budget available, as well as the ability to take action on the information gathered

Photo by Jim Frazier