What are research objectives?

The objectives are clearly defined measures or steps that will enable you to achieve your aim. The objectives should be presented in a logical sequence, to provide the necessary building blocks for robust research.

For example:

• Define the problematics of contemporary textile production systems for clothing, including their impacts on peoples and planet.

• Evaluate regenerative textile systems, their benefits, opportunities and limitations.

• Critically analyse the relationship between regenerative fibre production and local, social and environmental ecosystems.

• Formulate proposals for a regenerative fibre production system for fashion that offers a feasible alternative to conventional extractive systems.

The objectives should build logically to enable the achievement of your research aim.

They should be defined enough so that it is clear when you have met them.

They are not a list of tasks, but rather key components/ aspects/ elements of the research that can be met in one or more ways.

Some objectives may be met by just secondary research, others by your primary research, and still others by a combination of primary and secondary research.

What is the rationale for your research?

You will need to make very clear in the introduction to you research why it is important and why now. Why should anyone else care about it?

You should use secondary data from reliable sources to support your rationale. You should highlight any gaps in existing knowledge, any recent changes that make your research particularly important, changes in current contexts or likely future scenarios, or any new opportunities or technologies that have emerged that impact your area of research.

Next……Reviewing the literature