Q: Can you give an example of the "rationale of a study"?

The rationale of your research offers the reason for addressing a particular problem with a spscific solution. Your research proposal needs to explain the reasons why you are conducting the study: this forms the rationale for your research, also referred to as the justification of the study. The rationale should explain what you hope to find out, what is the significance of the subject in your field, what are the gaps in existing literature that necessitated further research, and what research method you plan to use.

Let us understand this with the help of an example from a study titled “Patient perception of pain care in hospitals in the United States.”

The authors have written the rationale of the study as follows:

"To the best of our knowledge, no analysis of the HCAHPS data has been published regarding hospital performance on pain care. Publicly evaluating data on clinical performance has catalyzed improvements in optimizing patient care in hospitals.7 Evaluating this data specifically focusing on the level of patient satisfaction with pain control will provide valuable insight into how specialists in pain medicine may be able to improve pain assessment and treatment."

Related reading:

• How to write the rationale for research?
• How to write the rationale of a study?
• How is research justification written?