Type of Research Objective

Most of us learn sooner or later that when some people ask, "are you doing anything right now?", it is best to answer, "What do you want to know for?" That is, there is usually a reason behind people's questions. Knowing a bit about the motivation which lies behind a person's question does such things as:

• limit the amount of information which must be provided in order to answer the query.
• improve the quality of the response, as the information is more targeted to its primary motivation.
• help determine the amount of resource which will be needed to find out the answer (resolve the underlying problem) if the answer is not immediately available.

Because of this, classifying research according to its underlying objective or motivation is a helpful step in formulating a research proposal. It is closely related to the practice of classifying it according to its purpose. In the former case, the classification focuses on the underlying motivation. In the latter case, the classification focuses on the ultimate use of the results. Viewing ones research project from both points of view has value. In fact, the two are closely intertwined.

There is an interesting brief PowerPoint arrangement of four of these types of research , relating them to the types of questions people ask each other on dates.

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• Action Research (*)
• Analytical Research (*)
• Associative Research (*)
• Causal Research (*)
• Comparative Research (*)
• Conclusive Research (*)
• Descriptive Research (*)
• Demonstration Research (*)
• Developmental Research
• Dispositional Research
• Evaluative Research (*)
• Explanatory Research (*)
• Exploratory Research (*)
• Historical Research (*)
• Predictive Research (*)
• Prescriptive Research (*)
• Problem Solving Research (*)
• Relational Research (*)
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