RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION: HOW TO DO IT AND EXAMPLES - SCIENCE - 2025

The justification of the research, justification of the problem or of a topic, refers to the basis of the research or the reason why the research is being carried out. The justification must include an explanation for the design used and the methods used in the investigation.

The justification of the project consists in explaining why it is necessary to implement a solution to the problem described in the research. The justification must be correctly stated so that the entire research project can be strong.

In an investigation, virtually everything you do must be justified. Every aspect of the study design has an influence on what is learned from the study.

Critics may detract from the validity or relevance of the findings if they believe that there is something atypical about the people who were selected for the study, some bias that causes certain people to be selected, something unfair about the groups compared, something wrong about the approach of the questions, etc.

Therefore, you need to provide a reason for each aspect of the study. To see how a rationale makes a difference, imagine that you are reading two different studies with similar designs and methods but for different reasons. Then you have to ask yourself which one is considered more persuasive; that will have the best justification.

How to write a research justification

1- Specify the statement

A good justification narrative should begin with a brief summary of what you want to state, which will be the focus of the piece.

The statement should state what changes you think should be imposed, what budget is needed, what policies should be implemented, the problem in question, etc.

It should be a simple statement, for example: you want to carry out a study on the cultivation of peaches in this locality.

2- Establish reasons

Once the statement has been made, the reasoning should begin to be provided. For example, if you want to do research on peach growing in a town, you should provide details of why this topic is important.

In this case, it could be said that peaches are of great economic importance for this locality.

It is important to frame the argument with the audience in mind. Therefore, in this case, we should not only talk about the importance of peaches, we should talk about how this study would help increase the community's GDP, create jobs, etc.

3- Provide support

An argument can be made to strengthen the investigation, but if there is no support for these arguments, the reader will not be able to be convinced that he is telling the truth.

Any support you can in the form of statistics, studies and expert opinions should be provided.

For example, if you want to study peaches, you can include figures and studies on the impact of peaches on the local economy and jobs.

Whenever possible, serious studies should be found to support the argument. The more support is offered, the stronger the justification.

4- Discuss budget problems

The research budget should be an important part of the justification. Pertinent information on the budget should be included, including the resources that will be needed to conduct the research and the impact it will have; the possible income that will be generated or what costs will be saved.

In the case of the study of peaches, the budget necessary to carry out the research and the possible positive economic impacts on the locality that the study would have could be mentioned.

Difference between good and bad justification narratives

All aspects of a good project justification must be based on logical reasoning or rationale.

To see how good reasoning makes a difference, you might imagine that you are reading two studies with similar designs and methods but different rationales.

The most logical, partial and professional narrative will be the most indicated. In the following cases it can be observed:

Research question

Example of bad justification: I was curious.

Example of good justification: a discrepancy was noted in the investigation and wanted to be tested.

Shows

Example of bad justification: I know these teachers.

Good Justification Example: These teachers represent the population that other researchers have been studying.

Comparison

Bad Justification Example: We didn't bother comparing them to other people because we knew they were honest people.

Example of good justification: they were compared to another group that was similar to them in all respects, except for their knowledge of this particular topic of interest.

Information collection

Example of bad justification: it was easier to do it this way and / or I didn't have time to do anything else.

Example of good justification: the information we collected was directly relevant with the discrepancy that we wanted to know a little more about.

Interpretation

Example of bad justification: the patterns we observe make sense and support my personal experiences.

Good Justification Example: The patterns we observed were consistent with one version of this theory and not the other. Therefore, questions are raised about the second version of this theory.

Example of a justification for the investigation

POPPY study on the HIV epidemic in the UK and Ireland

Different reports have suggested that age-related co-morbidity occurs earlier in HIV-infected subjects on effective antiretroviral therapy compared to HIV-negative subjects.

However, control populations within these studies are not always closely matched to HIV-infected populations and therefore these findings require careful interpretation.

POPPY attempts to recruit HIV-infected subjects of different age groups and a good match from the unaffected HIV control population in order to determine the effects that HIV infection has on other medical conditions.

Across the UK, those of white or black African ethnicity, and those who acquired HIV through sex, represent 84% of older people receiving HIV treatment in 2009 (A. Brown, personal communication).

The clinics that will participate in the POPPY study have provided care for <27,000 individuals affected by HIV since 1996.

Of the patients who received treatment at these clinics in 2008-2009, 12,1620 fell into one of these groups, of which about 19% were> 50 at their most recent visit.

References

1. Justifying your study. Recovered from msu.edu
2. Background and justification for the study. Recovered from 1.imperial.ac.uk
3. Research justification. Recovered from sk.sagepub.com
4. How to write a project justification on a proposal. Recovered from fundsforngos.org
5. How to write a justification narrative. Recovered from education.seattlepi.com