- The aim refers to what you want to achieve, state in one sentence
- The aim of this research proposal is to …
- The aim of this research project is to …..
- To explore…
- Always number your objective, outcomes and success criteria
- The objective is how you are going to achieve it
- The deliverables are objects which you will produce along the way
- These are not hypotheses and are often used as key components within the action plan
- The outcomes (or success criteria) are what the artefact will allow us to achieve:
- Increase in processing speed will give a quicker response time
- A load balance across multiple nodes will reduce the risk of server crashing
- Some universities and students like to divide the objectives into different groups, but this is dependent on your report as you may not have business objectives.
- Report objectives
- Personal objectives
- Technical objectives
- Business objectives
- They can be highlighted in a table, written in bullet points or within-text
- I have highlighted two of the most common approaches below
- Ask your supervisor which method they require\ want
Computer Science tend to prefer this approach
- Aim
- The aim of this research project is to explore the relationship between customers and website interaction leading to a confirmed sale
- Objectives
- To investigate (alternative solution or software)
- To design (an artefact to overcome problem)
- To explore (potential software requirements)
- To examine (how users interact with the software)
- To compare (performance or features)
- To document (the system using technical drawings)
- Deliverables
- Write (a literature review on ‘topic’)
- Create (a project plan in the form of a Gantt chart)
- Produce (design documentation)
- Manufacture (a prototype of the ‘software’)
- Test (the function of the prototype)
- Demonstrate (the ‘software’ solving the problem)
- See deliverables
- Outcome (Success Criteria)
- The number of website sales will increase, identified through sales comparison
- Promotions and reminders (call to action) will lead to website sales, identified through web metrics
- The speed to find an item will increase (time to target), identified through web metrics
- Customer satisfaction level will increase, identified through web metrics
Social Sciences tend to prefer this approach
| No | Aim | Objective | Measure or Outcome | |
| 1 | (I want) to explore the relationship between the teaching assistants estimation of students level of engagement and disruption during the course of a lesson | 1) I will achieve this by using the captured data from the teaching assistant ratings to plot a line graph to identify the relationship between the students level of engagement and disruption during the course of a lesson | 1) The line graph will show that has the students level of engagement increases the level of disruption decreases | |
| 2 | (I want) to explore the relationship between the teaching assistants estimation of student targets success along with levels of engagement and disruption | 2) I will achieve this by using the captured data from the teaching assistant ratings to plot a line graph to identify the relationship between the students level of engagement and disruption and target success during the course of a lesson | 2) The line graph will show that has the students level of engagement increases their target success will also increase but their level of disruption will decrease | |
| 3 | (I want) to compare the teaching assistant rating values with that of the teacher when assessing the students targets success along with levels of engagement and disruption | 3) I will achieve this by using the captured data from teachers and teaching assistants a line graph will be plotted to show any divergence relationship between the teacher and teaching assistants ratings. | 3) The line graph will show that the teaching assistant ratings for engagement, disruption and target success will reflect that of the teacher | |