RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES

Before a study is designed, its objectives must be clearly stated.

Research objectives specify what the researcher want to do and find
out. They give focus to the study and specify variables that are going
to be measured.

Once the research objectives have been formulated, the researcher

makes educated guesses to tentatively answer the questions implied
in the objectives. These guesses are called hypotheses. In this
chapter, objectives and hypotheses are defined, classified and
differentiated. This chapter also explains how objectives and
hypotheses are formulated.
 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the learners shall be able to:
1. Differentiate immediate objectives from specific
objectives.
2. Give examples of research objectives of descriptive,

relational and intervention studies.

3. Formulate objectives and hypotheses for sample
research problems.
4. Formulate objectives and hypotheses for their own
research problems.
 What are research objectives?
 For example in the problem, “Students’ Extent of Exposure to
Mass Media,” “exposure to mass media” is a broad concept. On the
other hand, in the objective, “To determine the students’ frequency
of reading newspapers,” “frequency of reading newspapers” is
specific and measurable.
 Research objectives are usually stated in declarative form and
start with infinitives like: “to determine,” “to find out,” “to
describe,” “to compare,” or “to test.”
 Instead of stating objectives, some researchers ask research
questions are usually introduced with a clause, such as: “This study
aims to answer the following questions,” or “This study sought
answers to the following questions.”
 Examples of objectives stated in
Examples of research objectives:
question form:

This study sought answers to the following

questions:

 “To determine the extent of high school  To what extent do high school students
students’ participation in school activities”
participate in school activities?

 “To determine the relationship between

exposure to advertising materials and  Does extent of participation in school
expenditure patterns of young professionals” activities of male students significantly
differ from the extent of participation of
 “To compare the effectiveness of classroom- female student?
based and field based training programs on the
performance of community workers”  Is there a significant relationship between
the students extent of participation in
 “To test the effectiveness of oresol in the school activities and their school
treatment of diarrhea” performance?
 Types of Objectives
Immediate/ General objectives

The immediate/General objective relates directly to the research problem and

states clearly what the researcher will do and expects to find out. The
immediate/General objective is preferably stated in behavioral terms in terms
of: who or what will be studied, who will do it, when it will be done (optional),
or where it will be done.

 The immediate/general objective specifies the activity/ties that will take place
and the variables that will be examined.\

 The way immediate/general objective is formulated suggests the type of

research that will be undertaken and the methodology that will be adopted.
Example of Immediate/General Objectives of a
Descriptive study

Research title: “A Study on the Extent of Participation in school

Activities of High School Students in City A”

Objective: A survey will be conducted to determine the extent of

participation in school activities of high school students in City A
during school year 2001-2002.
What will be done? A survey will be conducted.
For what purpose? To determine the extent of participation in school
activities.
Who will be studied? High school students
Where? In City A
When? School Year 2001-2002
Example of Immediate/General Objectives of a
Correlation/Relational Study

Research Title: “Exposure to Advertising and Expenditure Patterns of Young

Professionals in Iloilo City”

Objective: This study will be conducted to determine whether there is a

significant relationship between exposure to advertising and expenditure
patterns of young professionals in Iloilo City”

What will be done? This study will be conducted

For what purpose? To determine whether there is a significant relationship
between exposure to advertising and expenditure patterns
Who will be studied? Young professionals
Where? Iloilo city
When? (Not Specified)
Example of objectives of an
Interventional/Experimental Study

Research Title: “A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Classroom-Based

and Field-Based Training Programs in Improving the Performance of
volunteer Workers in Community X”

Objective: This experimental study will be conducted to determine and compare

the effectiveness of classroom-based and field-based training programs in
improving the performance of volunteer workers.

What will be done? This experimental study will be conducted

Why? For what purpose? To determine and compare the effectiveness of
classroom based and field based training programs in improving the
performance
Who will be studied? Community volunteer workers”
Where? Community X
 Specific Objectives

In studies with a broader coverage in terms of subjects

and variables, statement of specific objectives may be
necessary. Specific objectives may be viewed as sub-
objectives or small particles of general objective.
 The specific variables examined in the study are
identified in the specific objectives.
 The variables are expressed in measurable terms
 The specific objectives suggest the type of analysis to be
done.
 Examples of specific objectives

Research Title: “Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of health seeking behavior

of the Elderly in Southern Mindanao”

General Objective: This study will be conducted to identify demographic and socioeconomic
determinants of the health seeking behavior of the elderly in southern Mindanao.
Specifically the study aims to:
1. Determine whether there is a significant relationship between demographic factors, such
as age, sex and civil status of the elderly and their health-seeking behavior.
2. Determine whether there is a significant relationship between selected socio-economic
characteristics of the elderly, particularly educational attainment, community
involvement, occupation and income, and their health seeking behavior.
Comments: The terms “demographic socio-economic determinants” in the general objective
is still broad. The term demographic characteristics can be specified in terms of “age”
“sex” and “civil status” while socioeconomic characteristics can be studied in terms of
educational attainment,” “living arrangements” or “occupation”.
Some tips in formulating Research Objectives

In formulating research objectives be sure to:

 Use simple language

 Focus attention on the specific actions that will be

performed

 State exactly what will be done and what variables will be

measured
Examples of statements of general and specific
objectives

Example No.1
“Relationship between TV viewing and academic performance of grade six pupils in private
and public elementary school in Region VI”

General Objective
The study will be conducted to determine the existence and degree of relationship between
TV viewing and Academic performance of grade six pupils in private and public
elementary school in region VI

Specific objectives:
Specifically, this study aims to:
1.Determine whether there is a significant relationship the pupils frequency of viewing TV
and their general average in all subjects in grade six.
2. Determine whether there is a significant relationship between the amount of time spent by
all the pupils in viewing TV and their general average in all subjects in grade six
 Example no.2:

“The effect of fielding trained male family planning educators on the

improvement of contraceptive use?”

 General Objective
This experimental study will be conducted to determine the impact of fielding trained male
family planning educators in the improvement of contraceptive use in two municipalities
in region III.
Specific objectives:
Specifically, this study aims:

1. To determine whether there is a significant difference between the extent of

contraceptive use in the area where trained male family planning educators were fielded
and in the control area.
 Hypothesis
 A hypothesis is defined as an educated guess or a tentative answer to a
question. It is a statement about an expected relationship between two or more
variables that can be empirically tested.

 Hypothesis are usually tested in intervention or evaluation studies and in

correlation/relational studies.

 Purely descriptive studies and exploratory investigations do not normally

require hypothesis statements because they generally do not test casual
relationships between variables.

 A hypothesis suggest the type of analysis that must be done in order to

measure the relationship.
 Functions of a hypothesis
1. A single hypothesis might state that an independent variable is
associated with a dependent variable

Examples:
“There is a significant association between level of knowledge
about the dangers of smoking and smoking habits of young
professionals”
“Parents’ extent of participation in school activities is significantly
realted to their children’s school performance”
“Direct selling of prepaid cell cards is more profitable than selling
them in stores”
 Examples of function of a hypothesis:

2. Sometimes a hypothesis specifies that under certain conditions

variable A is associated with or can influence variable B.

Examples: “There is a significant association between level of knowledge about the dangers
of smoking and smoking habits among young medical practitioners who have positive
attitudes towards life”
Condition: If they have a positive attitude

“There is a significant relationship between men’s extent of exposure to gender issues and
their degree of involvement in child care among those living in urban areas”
Condition: Living in urban area

“Husbands who have attended gender sensitivity training are more likely to participate in
household chores when they are free than those likely who have not attended training’
Condition: when they are free
 Examples of functions of a hypothesis:

3. Some hypotheses may state that a particular characteristics of a

person or object varies according to another variable

Examples:
“The proportion of women who have experienced domestic violence
is higher in the rural areas than it is in urban areas”

“Board performance of nursing graduates varies according to the

type of school they graduated from”

“The repayment status of new clients of the PAG-IBIG housing loan

is significantly higher than that of the old clients
 Null hypothesis
 Is a negative statement which indicates the absence of relationship/correlation between
two variables, an absence of a significant difference between the proportions of two
groups of people or objects possessing a particular characteristic or an absence of
difference between or among the means of two or more groups with respect to a
particular variable such as, “Mean age of males and mean age of females” and “ Mean
score in math of students who attended tutorial classes and mean score of those who did
not attend tutorial classes”

Example of null hypothesis

 There is no significant relationship between mass media exposure and attitude towards
land reform among lowland farmers

 There is no significant difference between the mean age of male faculty members and the
mean age of female faculty members
Alternative hypothesis
This is the positive form of null hypothesis

Example of alterative hypothesis

“There is a significant relationship between mass media exposure and attitude
towards land reform among lowland farmers’

“ There is a significant difference between the mean age of male faculty members
and the mean age of female faculty members”

“There is a significant difference between the proportion of health care providers

who are smoking and the proportion of those who are not smoking”

“The amount paid in advertisement by food establishments is significantly

associated with their monthly gross sales
 How to write a hypothesis
 Hypothesis must be written in simple understandable
language

 Hypothesis must focus on the variables

 One must keep in mind the distinction between

independent and dependent variables.
 Example of statements of hypotheses:
Example no.1
“The relationship between level of awareness regarding the dangers of smoking and
smoking habits among high school students”

Objectives of the study

The study will be conducted to determine the relationship between level of awareness
regarding the dangers of smoking and smoking habits among high school students”

Specific objectives
1. To determine the relationship between students’ awareness about the dangers of
smoking and their practice of smoking
2. to determine the relationship between students level of awareness about cancer
and the number of sticks of cigarettes smokers smoke in a day
 Example of statements of hypotheses:

Hypotheses
1. A high school student who is aware of the dangers of smoking is more likely not to smoke than one
who does not know about it
2. The higher a students level of awareness about lung cancer and its causes, the fewer sticks of
cigarette he/she smokes in a day.

Another way of stating the second hypothesis is:

 There is a significant relationship between the students level of awareness about lung cancer and its
causes and the number of cigarette sticks they smoke in a day

Null hypothesis

1.There is no significant relationship between the students’ level of awareness about lung cancer and its
causes and the number of cigarette sticks they smoke in a day

2.The students level of awareness about lung cancer is not significantly related with their smoking
practices.