8289: Research Foundations May 27, 2020 1

Instructor: Cristian J. Tovar Klinger, Ph.D.

The Purpose Statement
According to Locke, Spirduso, and Silverman (2000), the purpose
statement indicates “why you want to do the study and what you intend to
accomplish” (p. 9).
“In proposals, researchers need to distinguish clearly between the purpose,
the problem in the study, and the research questions” (Creswell, 2014, p.
88).
The purpose sets forth the intent of the study, it sets the aims and the main
idea of a proposal or a study. The purpose is also not the research question.
Although, when writing it meaning of the elements of a research question are
mentioned.

The purpose statement establishes the direction for the research. It orients
the reader to the central intent of the study. Purpose statements are written
in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research. In this class, we are
going to focus only on the

A Qualitative Purpose Statement

A good qualitative purpose statement contains important elements of
qualitative method and uses language applied to this type of research.
It focuses on a single phenomenon, concept, or idea. The purpose statement
of a qualitative research narrows the study to one idea to be explored or
understood.
This affirmation means that a purpose statement in qualitative studies does
not convey “relating” two or more variables or “comparing” two or more
groups, as is typically found in quantitative research.
A qualitative purpose statement uses verbs such as “describe,
“understand,” “develop,” “examine the meaning of,” or “discover”
A qualitative purpose statement includes words denoting the strategy of
research to be used in data collection, analysis, and the process of research,
such as whether the study will use an ethnographic, grounded, case study,
phenomenological, or narrative approach.
Mention the participants in the study and identify the site of the research,
such as homes, classrooms, organizations, programs, or events. Describe
this site in enough details so that the reader will know exactly where a study
will take place.

Example of Major Words and Ideas Contained in a Qualitative Purpose

Statement (Creswell 2014)

The purpose of this______________ (ethnography, narrative,

phenomenology , or other approach) study is ( was, will be) to
_____________ ( understand, describe, develop, discover)
the________________ (central phenomenon being study) for
_______________ ( the participants, such as the individual or individuals,
groups, organization ) at _____________ ( research site).

1. Example of a Purpose Statement in a Qualitative

Phenomenological Study
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the beliefs,
attitudes, and needs that current and expectant adolescent fathers and
young men who are fathers of children born to adolescent mothers have
regarding their role as a father at the school of Human Sciences in the
Department of Linguistics and languages at Nariño University . Using the
lived experiences of these adolescent fathers who work, study, and take care
of their children might help others learn, what to expect, behave, and deal
with similar situations.
 2. Example of a Purpose Statement in a Qualitative Narrative Study
The purpose of this narrative study is to describe and analyze the life of a
man with mental retardation at the municipality of Tumaco in la Playa
neighborhood. (Here, you may include some more information you consider
necessary for the reader to know about the significant and reasons for the
development of your study, as it was exemplified in the above example).

A Purpose Statement in a Quantitative Study

According to Creswell (2014), quantitative purpose statements differ
considerably from the qualitative models in terms of the language and a
focus “relating or comparing variables.” To remember, “a variable refers
to a characteristic or attribute of an individual or an organization that can be
measured or observed and that varies among the people or organization
being studied” (Creswell, 2003, p. 93).
Independent variables are variables that probably cause, influence,
or affect outcomes. They are also called treatment, manipulated,
antecedent, or predictor variables.
Dependent variables are variables that depend on the independent
variables: They are the outcomes or results of the influence of the
independent variables.
The writing of a quantitative purpose statement, therefore, begin with
identifying the proposed variables for a study by telling how the variables will
be measured. Finally, the intent of using the variables quantitatively will be
either to relate variables or to compare samples or groups in terms of an
outcomes as commonly happens in experiments.
This knowledge helps in allowing us to include in a quantitative purpose
statement the following components:
Identification of the theory, model, or theoretical framework to test in
the proposal or study
Identification of the dependent and independent variable
Words that connect the independent and independent variable to
indicate that they are being related, compared.
Mention the specific type of method used in the study (survey study or
experimental study)
 Mention the participants and the site for the study
A general definition or an operational definition of each key variable in
the study, when necessary.

Example of Major Words and Ideas Contained in a Quantitative Purpose

Statement (Creswell 2014)

The purpose of this______________ (experimental or survey study is ( was,

will be) to test the theory or hypothesis of _____________ (compare,
relate) the________________ (independent variable) to _______________
( the dependent variable), for (participants) at _____________ ( the
research site). The independent variable will be generally defined as (provide
a general definition).

1. Example of a Purpose Statement in a Quantitative Survey Study

The purpose of this survey study was to examine the relationship between
personal characteristics and job motivation of certified educators who
taught in adult correctional institutions in the Department of Nariño.
Personal characteristics were divided into background information about the
respondent, for example, institutional information, educational level, prior
training, etc. and information about the respondents’ thoughts of changing
jobs. Job motivation was defined by six general factors of concern identified
in the educational work components study (EWCS) questionnaire (Miskel &
Heller, 2018). These six factors are: potential for personal challenge and
development; competitiveness; desirability and reward of success;
tolerance for work pressures; conservative security; and willingness to seek
reward in spite of uncertainty vs. Avoidance

2. Example of a Purpose Statement in a Quantitative Experimental

Study

The purpose of this experimental study was to compare the relationship

between learning tasks methodology and audiolingual method strategies on
oral fluency development of seventh graders high-school students learning
English as a foreign language at la Normal Mixta in Barbacoas Nariño.
Two groups were organized with the subjects selected at random, each
group consisted of twenty students, with ten female students and ten male
students for the experimental study conducted during six months with an
intensity of three hours daily. In this experimental study oral fluency was
defined in terms of the verbal use of language to communicate with others.
As explained by Bygate (2009), speaking consists of three main linguistic
features: phonological, lexico-grammatical, and discourse features. The
phonological features include segmental as well as supra-segmental
features; the lexico-grammatical features deal with not only sentential but
also with morphological level utterances; and discourse features involve
sociopragmatic features which are inherent to interaction.