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LIS 2110 Research Methods in Library and Information Science
Module 4: Conceptualizing and Defining a Project
Guidance on Purpose Statements, Aims and Objectives
Having described the problem or issue for investigating, in terms of what you want to study and
why it is important from an academic and/or real-world perspective, the purpose statement
further defines the study by identifying more specifically what you want to accomplish, and
particularly the types of knowledge you want to produce—such as descriptions, explanations,
predictions, evaluations, etc.
Creswell (2014, pp. 123-124) emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between the
research problem, the purpose statement, and the research questions as three key elements
that build on each other to define the study. He describes how a purpose statement not only
conveys the overall intent of the research, but also captures the central, controlling, major idea
of a proposal or a study, so that “This idea builds on a need (the problem) and is refined into
specific questions (the research questions)” [emphasis added].
The purpose statement thus provides the link between the problem or issue and what you want
to find out, by clarifying the type of investigation (i.e., your strategy of inquiry), which then
helps you to formulate clear, specific, and relevant questions.
Purpose statements can be written at various levels of specificity and can thus vary in length
from one or two sentences to a paragraph. Creswell (2014, pp. 124-125) suggests the following
elements should be included:
• Strategy of inquiry
• Central phenomenon of interest, concept or idea
• Participants in the study (or unit of analysis)
• Site for the research (or setting)
• A general working definition of the central phenomenon
Creswell (2014, pp. 128-131) suggests that quantitative research purpose statements should
also include the
• Theory, model or conceptual framework, and
specify and define the
• Variables to be studied, with provisional definitions (independent, dependent, and any
mediating, moderating or control variables).
Creswell (2014, pp. 123-138) provides examples and scripts for many different types of study.
See also the Purpose Statement Scripts handout, which includes additional examples of scripts
from other texts (Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
Personal, practical, and intellectual goals
In practice, research can have several different kinds of purposes, including personal, academic,
practical, social, or intellectual/theoretical purposes, which may also be referred to as motives,
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goals, aims or objectives. Maxwell (2013, pp. 24-29) discusses how personal, practical, and
intellectual goals all have a legitimate place in shaping a research agenda.
Personal goals or motives are important in qualitative research and should be acknowledged as
part of the introduction to a study or proposal, along with any other relevant information (e.g.,
professional background, social status) influencing the perspective of the researcher, so that
potential biases that could affect the validity of the research can be identified and managed,
particularly in analyzing data, interpreting results, and reporting findings.
Practical goals or objectives for a study generally need to be elevated or translated into
intellectual goals in order to develop well-framed research questions at the next stage of the
design process. A practitioner-researcher might want to undertake a study with the intention to
improve the quality of a particular product, service, or process, but would need to express this
statement in terms of what s/he wanted to learn or to understand to make it researchable, e.g.,
a study to explore user perceptions and expectations of a specific service.
Research aims and objectives
The purpose of a study may also be developed into a set of aims and objectives, which may be
a required element in research proposals and articles, and can be useful in project planning.
Pickard (2013, pp. 44-47) discusses how research aims and objectives can be used to elaborate
the overarching question of a study into goals at different hierarchical levels, arguing that
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An aim is concerned with the conceptual level of the research, the overall purpose,
which is not necessarily time and context bound
o Why we are doing the research and what we hope to produce as a result
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An objective is concerned with the operational level of the project, the set of activities
or task list, which will guide the practical aspects
o How we shall achieve the stated aims.
Research outcomes
Denscombe (2010, pp. 7-22) includes the expected outcomes of the research as part of the
purpose section, which may also be a required element in a research proposal, particularly
applications for funding. Typical research outcomes include contributions to knowledge,
development of theory or methodology, and recommendations for policy and/or practice.
Some journals require authors to specify implications for policy/practice in their papers.
Examples from LIS research
You can find examples of the types of statements described here among the LIS journal articles
reviewed in Modules 2 and 3. For convenience, an additional example of a set of statements
defining the purpose, aims and objectives, central research question, and expected outcomes
of an academic libraries research project is provided on pages 3 and 4 of this handout.
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References
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Denscombe, M. (2010). Purpose. In M. Denscombe, Ground rules for social research: Guidelines
for good practice (2nd ed.) (pp. 7-22). Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill/Open
University Press. [Available as eBook from ULS]
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Pickard, A. J. (2013). Research methods in information (2nd ed.). London: Facet; Chicago, IL: ALA
Neal-Schuman.
Example of a Purpose Statement, Aims and Objectives, Central Research Question,
and Expected Outcomes for an Academic Libraries Research Project
Project title and design
Designing Libraries for Research Collaboration in the Network World:
An exploratory sequential investigation (instrument-development variant)
Purpose statement
This study addresses structural designs for research libraries. The purpose of this exploratory
sequential (qual-QUAN) study is first to qualitatively explore dimensions of organizational
structure with a small single-country sample and then to determine if the qualitative findings
generalize to a large international sample. The first (instrument-development) phase of the
study was a qualitative exploration of institutional structures in which data were collected via
web pages, organization charts, strategy documents, job descriptions, case studies, newsletter
items, etc. available from institutional websites and other public-domain sources (Corrall 2014).
From this initial exploration, the qualitative findings will be used to develop assessment
measures that can be administered to a large sample. In the tentatively planned quantitative
phase, data on service configurations, reporting relationships, divisions and specializations,
coordination and integration will be collected from research library directors in Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, USA, and selected European countries, using an online questionnaire survey.
The reason for collecting qualitative data initially is that there is little guiding theory on the
subject (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011, p. 86).
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Aims
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Review structural designs of research libraries
Evaluate their fitness for purpose in the context of researcher support needs
Objectives
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Review trends and developments in library support and services for research and
researchers
Examine design dimensions and structural features of a sample of research library
organizations
Identify specific elements of library organization of particular relevance in supporting
research
Analyze strengths and weaknesses of potential organizational models
Central research question
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How are academic research libraries and their institutions organizing resources and services
to support the research enterprise?
Expected outcomes
The study will expand our understanding of organizational structures in research libraries,
including structures used in different countries, and will contribute to the development of
theory on library structural designs. Academic library practitioners will be able to use the
results of the research to review the fitness for purpose of their existing organization designs.
References
Corrall, S. (2014). Designing libraries for research collaboration in the network world: An
exploratory study. LIBER Quarterly, 24(1), 17-48. Retrieved
from http://liber.library.uu.nl/index.php/lq/article/view/9525/10082.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.