Create a purpose of the study by indicating the intent, goal and rationale for researching the problem addressed

Keep it short. This is the purpose. Delete the second part.

• Develop your statement as a separate sentence or paragraph.
• Use words such as “purpose,” “intent,” or “objective” to draw attention to this statement as the principal controlling idea in a study.
• Focus on one idea/phenomenon to be explored or understood. This focus means that a purpose does not carry “relating” two or more variables or “comparing” two or more groups, as is typically established in quantitative research.
• Use action verbs to convey how learning will take place, e.g., “understand”, “develop,” “examine’’, “discover”, etc.
• Use neutral words and phrases, such as exploring the “experiences of individuals” rather than the “successful/positive experiences of individual”.
• Include words reflecting the strategy of inquiry to be used in data collection, analysis, and the process of research, i.e., whether the study will employ an ethnographic, grounded theory, case study, phenomenological, or narrative approach.
• Refer to the participants in the study, such as whether they are individuals, a group of people, or an entire organization.
• Identify the sites for the research, whether they are homes, classrooms, organizations, programs, or events.
• Provide general working definition of the central phenomenon/idea.

The “script” for a qualitative purpose statement is the following:

The purpose of this _________________(strategy of inquiry, such as ethnography, case study, or other type) study is to ____________ (understand? Describe? Develop? Discover?) the ____________(central phenomenon being studied) for __________ (the participants, such as the individual, groups, organization) at ____________(research site). At this stage in the research, the ____________(central phenomenon being studied) will be generally defined as ____________ (provide a general definition).

Example 1 – A Purpose Statement in a case Study

The purpose of this study was to explore affective, social, and educational factors that may have contributed to the development of reading disabilities in four adolescents. The study also sought explanation as to why students’ reading disabilities persisted despite years of instruction. This was not an intervention study and, although some students may have improved their reading, reading improvement was not the focus of the study. (Kos, 1991, pp.876-877)