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Research proposals are commonly expected to state a research aim, research objectives and research questions, and a frequent weakness is a set in which each statement is sound on its own but the three do not point in the same direction. This article defines each element and distinguishes them: the aim as the overall goal, the objectives as what must be established to meet it, and the research questions as what the study will find out. Extracts from completed theses in nursing, business and natural resources illustrate each definition.

The article also compares parallel and nested structures for pairing objectives with questions, presents a five-step drafting procedure, and offers a test for alignment. It is suited to research-design and proposal-writing courses at master's and doctoral level. The article is the formal edition of a piece first published by Grad Coach and is released under CC BY 4.0.

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