Aims
- The aim of the study is a generic statement about what the researcher intends to study, which is generated from a theory that they want to test
- It outlines what is being studied and what the study is trying to achieve
- For example, if the researcher wanted to investigate the effect caffeine has on memory, the aim would be: 'to investigate the effect caffeine has on memory recall'
- After the aim comes the hypothesis, which is a specific, testable statement that references the operationalised variables being investigated (more on this in Revision Note 7.2.2)
- Whilst the aim is generic and outlines the focus of the study, the hypothesis is precise and should not have any ambiguity about it
Exam Tip
Remember, if you are given a scenario and asked to write the aim of the study, ensure that you cover the main focus of the study and refer to both variables being investigated.
If you are asked to write a hypothesis, make sure it is specific and you reference both variables, operationalising them. Ask yourself, "if I gave this to another researcher, would they know exactly what I'm testing without me explaining it?". If you're not confident that they could because they would need to know something else, then the variables haven't been operationalised enough.
