what is the scope of the study in research

How to Determine the Scope of Research | Examples & Tips

Introduction

What is the scope of a study, what is a research scope example, what is the purpose of the research scope, what considerations are relevant to the research scope, how do i write the scope in a report.

The scope of a research project is one of the more important yet sometimes understated aspects of a study. The scope of the study explains what the researchers are examining and what environment they are studying.

This article explains the general purpose of the research scope, how it informs the broader study at hand, and how it can be incorporated in a research paper to establish the necessary transparency and rigor for your research audience.

Scientific knowledge very rarely, if ever, produces universal axioms. The boiling point of water changes depending on the amount of pressure in the air and, by extension, the altitude you are at relative to sea level when you boil water. What looks like polite behavior in a given culture may look rude in another. The definition of beauty is bound to change as people get older.

Similarly, research findings that aren't contextualized are less persuasive. If you are reading a study that looks at interactional patterns between parents and their children, it's important to have a clear sense of the theoretical lens , data collection , and analysis in order to determine the extent to which the findings are applicable across contexts.

In a nutshell, the scope tells you what the researchers are looking at and are not looking at. It provides the context necessary to understand the research, how it was conducted, and what findings it generated.

Conversely, establishing the bounds of the scope also clarify what research inquiries are not addressed in the study, ensuring that the study's argumentation is clearly grounded in the theory, data, and analysis.

Let's imagine an example of a research study examining best practices for mental health. The research design centers on a survey study with a target population of college students with part-time jobs in addition to their coursework.

The researchers can focus on any number of things affecting mental health, including lifestyle factors such as sleep, socioeconomic factors such as income, and even influences further afield like the political alignment of friends and family.

Certainly, any of these things can have a profound impact on one's mental health. But when there are so many things to examine, it's necessary to narrow down what the research project at hand should examine.

The scope of the study can come down to any number of things, including the researchers' interest, the current state of theoretical development on the subject of mental health, and the design of the study, particularly how the data is collected. It might even boil down to influences like geographical location, which can determine the kind of research participants involved in the study.

All of these factors can inform an explicit description of the scope, which might look like this if found in the methodology section of a paper:

"In this study, the researchers focused on surveying college students over four months, roughly the same time frame as a semester at a university in the United States. Surveys were distributed to all college students, but this paper will narrow the data analysis to those students who reported having part-time jobs. This refined lens aligns with our interest in examining work-related factors contributing to negative mental health outcomes, as established in previous studies."

The above example of a study's scope highlights what the researchers focused on during the study and while analyzing the data. The researchers chose to study a narrow subset of their data to generate insights most applicable to their research interests. The researchers might also analyze the proportion of students that reported having part-time jobs to give a broader description of the study body, but they clearly focus on understanding the mental health of students with part-time jobs.

Moreover, the narrow scope allows the researchers to focus on a small number of elements in the relationship between mental health and work, which allows the researchers to make deeper contributions to this specific part of the conversation around students' mental health.

Defining the scope of the study benefits both the researcher and their audience. Ultimately, establishing transparency in a research project focuses the data collection and analysis processes and makes the findings more compelling and persuasive.

Describing the scope can clarify what specific concepts should be used and examined during the course of the study. A good scope can keep the researcher focused on what data to collect and what ancillary developments, however interesting or useful, should be discarded or left to another study. Setting a clear scope can greatly help researchers maintain a coherent fit between their research question, collected data, and ultimate findings. Journal editors and reviewers often reject papers for publication because of a lack of fit between these important elements, which highlights the value of a clear research scope for conducting rigorous research.

In logistical terms, a well-defined scope also ensures the feasibility of a study by limiting the researcher's lens to a small but manageable set of factors to observe and analyze during the course of the study. Conversely, an unfocused study makes the collection of data a significant challenge when the researcher is left to document as much as possible, potentially gathering all kinds of data that may not be relevant to a given research question , while not gathering enough of the appropriate data that can address a research inquiry.

The research audience also requires an understanding of the scope of the study to determine the relevance of the findings to their own research inquiry. Readers of research bring their own assumptions and preconceived notions about what to look at in a given context. A well-written scope, on the other hand, gives readers clear guidance on what to look for in the study's analysis and findings.

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Besides the research area being studied, the scope of a study has a clear description of most of the following aspects. Understanding what makes rigorous research and what readers of research look for in a well-crafted study will be useful for describing the scope of a research project.

Target population

The kind of research participants you are including in a study informs what theories are relevant and how the study should be designed. Are you researching children, young adults, or older professionals? Do they belong to a specific culture or community? Are they connected or related to each other in some way or do they just happen to belong to the same demographic?

Because qualitative, social science research seldom yields universal theories, it's important to narrow the scope of a study down to a specific set of the population. The more specific the scope, the more that the findings and resulting theoretical developments can be appropriately contextualized and thus inform how other researchers can build on those insights.

Geographical location

The geographical location covered by the study provides a necessary context for any study in the social sciences. Even if you narrow the targeted population to a specific demographic, what is true for that population in one country or region may not be true for another.

As a result, a scope that describes the location of the study explains where the findings are most relevant and where they might be relevant for further study.

Data collection

If you are conducting observational or ethnographic research , it may seem like you are facing a firehose when it comes to collecting data. Even interviews , focus groups , and surveys can provide a torrent of data, much of which may not be relevant to your inquiry if the study design isn't refined.

Without a sufficiently defined scope that identifies what aspects of the world you are looking at, the data you collect may become unmanageable at best. When crafting your study, develop the scope to determine the specific topics and aspects worth exploring.

In academic publishing , reviewers and editors need a clear understanding of the scope of the study in a manuscript when evaluating the research. Despite its importance, however, the scope doesn't necessarily have its own explicit section in a research paper.

That said, you can describe the study's scope in key areas of your research writing. Here are some of the important sections in a typical research paper for academic writing where a description of the scope is key.

Literature review

Any study disseminated for academic publishing requires a thorough understanding of the current research and existing theories that are relevant to your study. In turn, the literature review also defines the aspects of the phenomenon or concepts that you can study for the purpose of theoretical development.

Rely on the key theories in the literature review to define a useful scope that identifies key aspects of the theoretical framework that will inform the data collection and analysis .

Problem statement

A well-crafted problem statement generally sets the stage for what knowledge is missing and what novel and interesting insights can be uncovered in new research. As a result, a clear understanding of the research scope helps define the problem that a new research project seeks to address.

When incorporating a problem statement in your research paper, be sure to explicitly detail the rationale for problematizing the phenomenon you are researching.

Research question

Research questions define the relationships between the relevant concepts or phenomena being explored, and thus provide evidence of a scope that has been thoughtfully planned. Use the wording of your research question to highlight what is the central focus and, thus, the scope of the study.

At minimum, the scope of the study should narrow the focus of data collection and data analysis to the study of certain concepts relevant to addressing the given research question. Qualitative research methods can often result in open-ended data collection that can yield many insights, only a few of which may directly address the research inquiry.

Narrowing the collection of data to a set of relevant criteria can help the researcher avoid any unnecessary rabbit holes that might complicate the later analysis with irrelevant information.

Limitations

Research scope and limitations go hand in hand because, together, they define what is studied within a research project and what is not. Moreover, a good description of the study's scope can also provide direction, by way of the description of limitations, about what inquiries other researchers could pursue next.

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Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

Decoding the Scope and Delimitations of the Study in Research

Scope and delimitations of the study are two essential elements of a research paper or thesis that help to contextualize and convey the focus and boundaries of a research study. This allows readers to understand the research focus and the kind of information to expect. For researchers, especially students and early career researchers, understanding the meaning and purpose of the scope and delimitation of a study is crucial to craft a well-defined and impactful research project. In this article, we delve into the core concepts of scope and delimitation in a study, providing insightful examples, and practical tips on how to effectively incorporate them into your research endeavors.

Table of Contents

What is scope and delimitation in research

The scope of a research paper explains the context and framework for the study, outlines the extent, variables, or dimensions that will be investigated, and provides details of the parameters within which the study is conducted. Delimitations in research , on the other hand, refer to the limitations imposed on the study. It identifies aspects of the topic that will not be covered in the research, conveys why these choices were made, and how this will affect the outcome of the research. By narrowing down the scope and defining delimitations, researchers can ensure focused research and avoid pitfalls, which ensures the study remains feasible and attainable.

Example of scope and delimitation of a study

A researcher might want to study the effects of regular physical exercise on the health of senior citizens. This would be the broad scope of the study, after which the researcher would refine the scope by excluding specific groups of senior citizens, perhaps based on their age, gender, geographical location, cultural influences, and sample sizes. These then, would form the delimitations of the study; in other words, elements that describe the boundaries of the research.

The purpose of scope and delimitation in a study

The purpose of scope and delimitation in a study is to establish clear boundaries and focus for the research. This allows researchers to avoid ambiguity, set achievable objectives, and manage their project efficiently, ultimately leading to more credible and meaningful findings in their study. The scope and delimitation of a study serve several important purposes, including:

• Establishing clarity: Clearly defining the scope and delimitation of a study helps researchers and readers alike understand the boundaries of the investigation and what to expect from it.
• Focus and relevance: By setting the scope, researchers can concentrate on specific research questions, preventing the study from becoming too broad or irrelevant.
• Feasibility: Delimitations of the study prevent researchers from taking on too unrealistic or unmanageable tasks, making the research more achievable.
• Avoiding ambiguity: A well-defined scope and delimitation of the study minimizes any confusion or misinterpretation regarding the research objectives and methods.

Given the importance of both the scope and delimitations of a study, it is imperative to ensure that they are mentioned early on in the research manuscript. Most experts agree that the scope of research should be mentioned as part of the introduction and the delimitations must be mentioned as part of the methods section. Now that we’ve covered the scope and delimitation meaning and purpose, we look at how to write each of these sections.

How to write the scope of the study in research

When writing the scope of the study, remain focused on what you hope to achieve. Broadening the scope too much might make it too generic while narrowing it down too much may affect the way it would be interpreted. Ensure the scope of the study is clear, concise and accurate. Conduct a thorough literature review to understand existing literature, which will help identify gaps and refine the scope of your study.

It is helpful if you structure the scope in a way that answers the Six Ws – questions whose answers are considered basic in information-gathering.

Why: State the purpose of the research by articulating the research objectives and questions you aim to address in your study.

What: Outline the specific topic to be studied, while mentioning the variables, concepts, or aspects central to your research; these will define the extent of your study.

Where: Provide the setting or geographical location where the research study will be conducted.

When : Mention the specific timeframe within which the research data will be collected.

Who : Specify the sample size for the study and the profile of the population they will be drawn from.

How : Explain the research methodology, research design, and tools and analysis techniques.

How to write the delimitations of a study in research

When writing the delimitations of the study, researchers must provide all the details clearly and precisely. Writing the delimitations of the study requires a systematic approach to narrow down the research’s focus and establish boundaries. Follow these steps to craft delimitations effectively:

• Clearly understand the research objectives and questions you intend to address in your study.
• Conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify gaps and areas that have already been extensively covered. This helps to avoid redundancies and home in on a unique issue.
• Clearly state what aspects, variables, or factors you will be excluding in your research; mention available alternatives, if any, and why these alternatives were rejected.
• Explain how you the delimitations were set, and they contribute to the feasibility and relevance of your study, and how they align with the research objectives.
• Be sure to acknowledge limitations in your research, such as constraints related to time, resources, or data availability.

Being transparent ensures credibility, while explaining why the delimitations of your study could not be overcome with standard research methods backed up by scientific evidence can help readers understand the context better.

Differentiating between delimitations and limitations

Most early career researchers get confused and often use these two terms interchangeably which is wrong. Delimitations of a study refer to the set boundaries and specific parameters within which the research is carried out. They help narrow down your focus and makes it more relevant to what you are trying to prove.

Meanwhile, limitations in a study refer to the validity and reliability of the research being conducted. They are those elements of your study that are usually out of your immediate control but are still able to affect your findings in some way. In other words, limitation are potential weaknesses of your research.

In conclusion, scope and delimitation of a study are vital elements that shape the trajectory of your research study. The above explanations will have hopefully helped you better understand the scope and delimitations meaning, purpose, and importance in crafting focused, feasible, and impactful research studies. Be sure to follow the simple techniques to write the scope and delimitations of the study to embark on your research journey with clarity and confidence. Happy researching!

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Scope and Delimitations in Research

Delimitations are the boundaries that the researcher sets in a research study, deciding what to include and what to exclude. They help to narrow down the study and make it more manageable and relevant to the research goal.

Updated on October 19, 2022

All scientific research has boundaries, whether or not the authors clearly explain them. Your study's scope and delimitations are the sections where you define the broader parameters and boundaries of your research.

The scope details what your study will explore, such as the target population, extent, or study duration. Delimitations are factors and variables not included in the study.

Scope and delimitations are not methodological shortcomings; they're always under your control. Discussing these is essential because doing so shows that your project is manageable and scientifically sound.

This article covers:

• What's meant by “scope” and “delimitations”
• Why these are integral components of every study
• How and where to actually write about scope and delimitations in your manuscript
• Examples of scope and delimitations from published studies

What is the scope in a research paper?

Simply put, the scope is the domain of your research. It describes the extent to which the research question will be explored in your study.

Articulating your study's scope early on helps you make your research question focused and realistic.

It also helps decide what data you need to collect (and, therefore, what data collection tools you need to design). Getting this right is vital for both academic articles and funding applications.

What are delimitations in a research paper?

Delimitations are those factors or aspects of the research area that you'll exclude from your research. The scope and delimitations of the study are intimately linked.

Essentially, delimitations form a more detailed and narrowed-down formulation of the scope in terms of exclusion. The delimitations explain what was (intentionally) not considered within the given piece of research.

Scope and delimitations examples

Use the following examples provided by our expert PhD editors as a reference when coming up with your own scope and delimitations.

Scope example

Your research question is, “What is the impact of bullying on the mental health of adolescents?” This topic, on its own, doesn't say much about what's being investigated.

The scope, for example, could encompass:

• Variables: “bullying” (dependent variable), “mental health” (independent variable), and ways of defining or measuring them
• Bullying type: Both face-to-face and cyberbullying
• Target population: Adolescents aged 12–17
• Geographical coverage: France or only one specific town in France

Delimitations example

Look back at the previous example.

Exploring the adverse effects of bullying on adolescents' mental health is a preliminary delimitation. This one was chosen from among many possible research questions (e.g., the impact of bullying on suicide rates, or children or adults).

Delimiting factors could include:

• Research design : Mixed-methods research, including thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and statistical analysis of a survey
• Timeframe : Data collection to run for 3 months
• Population size : 100 survey participants; 15 interviewees
• Recruitment of participants : Quota sampling (aiming for specific portions of men, women, ethnic minority students etc.)

We can see that every choice you make in planning and conducting your research inevitably excludes other possible options.

What's the difference between limitations and delimitations?

Delimitations and limitations are entirely different, although they often get mixed up. These are the main differences:

This chart explains the difference between delimitations and limitations. Delimitations are the boundaries of the study while the limitations are the characteristics of the research design or methodology.

Delimitations encompass the elements outside of the boundaries you've set and depends on your decision of what yo include and exclude. On the flip side, limitations are the elements outside of your control, such as:

• limited financial resources
• unplanned work or expenses
• unexpected events (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic)
• time constraints
• lack of technology/instruments
• unavailable evidence or previous research on the topic

Delimitations involve narrowing your study to make it more manageable and relevant to what you're trying to prove. Limitations influence the validity and reliability of your research findings. Limitations are seen as potential weaknesses in your research.

Example of the differences

To clarify these differences, go back to the limitations of the earlier example.

Limitations could comprise:

• Sample size : Not large enough to provide generalizable conclusions.
• Sampling approach : Non-probability sampling has increased bias risk. For instance, the researchers might not manage to capture the experiences of ethnic minority students.
• Methodological pitfalls : Research participants from an urban area (Paris) are likely to be more advantaged than students in rural areas. A study exploring the latter's experiences will probably yield very different findings.

Where do you write the scope and delimitations, and why?

It can be surprisingly empowering to realize you're restricted when conducting scholarly research. But this realization also makes writing up your research easier to grasp and makes it easier to see its limits and the expectations placed on it. Properly revealing this information serves your field and the greater scientific community.

Openly (but briefly) acknowledge the scope and delimitations of your study early on. The Abstract and Introduction sections are good places to set the parameters of your paper.

Next, discuss the scope and delimitations in greater detail in the Methods section. You'll need to do this to justify your methodological approach and data collection instruments, as well as analyses

At this point, spell out why these delimitations were set. What alternative options did you consider? Why did you reject alternatives? What could your study not address?

Let's say you're gathering data that can be derived from different but related experiments. You must convince the reader that the one you selected best suits your research question.

Finally, a solid paper will return to the scope and delimitations in the Findings or Discussion section. Doing so helps readers contextualize and interpret findings because the study's scope and methods influence the results.

For instance, agricultural field experiments carried out under irrigated conditions yield different results from experiments carried out without irrigation.

Being transparent about the scope and any outstanding issues increases your research's credibility and objectivity. It helps other researchers replicate your study and advance scientific understanding of the same topic (e.g., by adopting a different approach).

How do you write the scope and delimitations?

Define the scope and delimitations of your study before collecting data. This is critical. This step should be part of your research project planning.

Answering the following questions will help you address your scope and delimitations clearly and convincingly.

• What are your study's aims and objectives?
• Why did you carry out the study?
• What was the exact topic under investigation?
• Which factors and variables were included? And state why specific variables were omitted from the research scope.
• Who or what did the study explore? What was the target population?
• What was the study's location (geographical area) or setting (e.g., laboratory)?
• What was the timeframe within which you collected your data ?
• Consider a study exploring the differences between identical twins who were raised together versus identical twins who weren't. The data collection might span 5, 10, or more years.
• A study exploring a new immigration policy will cover the period since the policy came into effect and the present moment.
• How was the research conducted (research design)?
• Experimental research, qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research, literature review, etc.
• What data collection tools and analysis techniques were used? e.g., If you chose quantitative methods, which statistical analysis techniques and software did you use?
• What did you find?
• What did you conclude?

Useful vocabulary for scope and delimitations

When explaining both the scope and delimitations, it's important to use the proper language to clearly state each.

For the scope , use the following language:

• This study focuses on/considers/investigates/covers the following:
• This study aims to . . . / Here, we aim to show . . . / In this study, we . . .
• The overall objective of the research is . . . / Our objective is to . . .

When stating the delimitations, use the following language:

• This [ . . . ] will not be the focus, for it has been frequently and exhaustively discusses in earlier studies.
• To review the [ . . . ] is a task that lies outside the scope of this study.
• The following [ . . . ] has been excluded from this study . . .
• This study does not provide a complete literature review of [ . . . ]. Instead, it draws on selected pertinent studies [ . . . ]

Analysis of a published scope

In one example, Simione and Gnagnarella (2020) compared the psychological and behavioral impact of COVID-19 on Italy's health workers and general population.

Here's a breakdown of the study's scope into smaller chunks and discussion of what works and why.

Also notable is that this study's delimitations include references to:

• Recruitment of participants: Convenience sampling
• Demographic characteristics of study participants: Age, sex, etc.
• Measurements methods: E.g., the death anxiety scale of the Existential Concerns Questionnaire (ECQ; van Bruggen et al., 2017) etc.
• Data analysis tool: The statistical software R

Analysis of published scope and delimitations

Scope of the study : Johnsson et al. (2019) explored the effect of in-hospital physiotherapy on postoperative physical capacity, physical activity, and lung function in patients who underwent lung cancer surgery.

The delimitations narrowed down the scope as follows:

Refine your scope, delimitations, and scientific English

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Scope and Delimitations – Explained & Example

• By DiscoverPhDs
• October 2, 2020

What Is Scope and Delimitation in Research?

The scope and delimitations of a thesis, dissertation or research paper define the topic and boundaries of the research problem to be investigated.

The scope details how in-depth your study is to explore the research question and the parameters in which it will operate in relation to the population and timeframe.

The delimitations of a study are the factors and variables not to be included in the investigation. In other words, they are the boundaries the researcher sets in terms of study duration, population size and type of participants, etc.

Difference Between Delimitations and Limitations

Delimitations refer to the boundaries of the research study, based on the researcher’s decision of what to include and what to exclude. They narrow your study to make it more manageable and relevant to what you are trying to prove.

Limitations relate to the validity and reliability of the study. They are characteristics of the research design or methodology that are out of your control but influence your research findings. Because of this, they determine the internal and external validity of your study and are considered potential weaknesses.

In other words, limitations are what the researcher cannot do (elements outside of their control) and delimitations are what the researcher will not do (elements outside of the boundaries they have set). Both are important because they help to put the research findings into context, and although they explain how the study is limited, they increase the credibility and validity of a research project.

Guidelines on How to Write a Scope

A good scope statement will answer the following six questions:

• Why – the general aims and objectives (purpose) of the research.
• What – the subject to be investigated, and the included variables.
• Where – the location or setting of the study, i.e. where the data will be gathered and to which entity the data will belong.
• When – the timeframe within which the data is to be collected.
• Who – the subject matter of the study and the population from which they will be selected. This population needs to be large enough to be able to make generalisations.
• How – how the research is to be conducted, including a description of the research design (e.g. whether it is experimental research, qualitative research or a case study), methodology, research tools and analysis techniques.

To make things as clear as possible, you should also state why specific variables were omitted from the research scope, and whether this was because it was a delimitation or a limitation. You should also explain why they could not be overcome with standard research methods backed up by scientific evidence.

How to Start Writing Your Study Scope

Use the below prompts as an effective way to start writing your scope:

• This study is to focus on…
• This study covers the…
• This study aims to…

Guidelines on How to Write Delimitations

Since the delimitation parameters are within the researcher’s control, readers need to know why they were set, what alternative options were available, and why these alternatives were rejected. For example, if you are collecting data that can be derived from three different but similar experiments, the reader needs to understand how and why you decided to select the one you have.

Your reasons should always be linked back to your research question, as all delimitations should result from trying to make your study more relevant to your scope. Therefore, the scope and delimitations are usually considered together when writing a paper.

How to Start Writing Your Study Delimitations

Use the below prompts as an effective way to start writing your study delimitations:

• This study does not cover…
• This study is limited to…
• The following has been excluded from this study…

Examples of Delimitation in Research

Examples of delimitations include:

• research objectives,
• research questions,
• research variables,
• target populations,
• statistical analysis techniques .

Examples of Limitations in Research

Examples of limitations include:

• Issues with sample and selection,
• Insufficient sample size, population traits or specific participants for statistical significance,
• Lack of previous research studies on the topic which has allowed for further analysis,
• Limitations in the technology/instruments used to collect your data,
• Limited financial resources and/or funding constraints.

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Setting Limits and Focusing Your Study: Exploring scope and delimitation

As a researcher, it can be easy to get lost in the vast expanse of information and data available. Thus, when starting a research project, one of the most important things to consider is the scope and delimitation of the study. Setting limits and focusing your study is essential to ensure that the research project is manageable, relevant, and able to produce useful results. In this article, we will explore the importance of setting limits and focusing your study through an in-depth analysis of scope and delimitation.

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Table of Contents

Scope and Delimitation – Definition and difference

Scope refers to the range of the research project and the study limitations set in place to define the boundaries of the project and delimitation refers to the specific aspects of the research project that the study will focus on.

In simpler words, scope is the breadth of your study, while delimitation is the depth of your study.

Scope and delimitation are both essential components of a research project, and they are often confused with one another. The scope defines the parameters of the study, while delimitation sets the boundaries within those parameters. The scope and delimitation of a study are usually established early on in the research process and guide the rest of the project.

Types of Scope and Delimitation

Significance of Scope and Delimitation

Setting limits and focusing your study through scope and delimitation is crucial for the following reasons:

• It allows researchers to define the research project’s boundaries, enabling them to focus on specific aspects of the project. This focus makes it easier to gather relevant data and avoid unnecessary information that might complicate the study’s results.
• Setting limits and focusing your study through scope and delimitation enables the researcher to stay within the parameters of the project’s resources.
• A well-defined scope and delimitation ensure that the research project can be completed within the available resources, such as time and budget, while still achieving the project’s objectives.

5 Steps to Setting Limits and Defining the Scope and Delimitation of Your Study

There are a few steps that you can take to set limits and focus your study.

1. Identify your research question or topic

The first step is to identify what you are interested in learning about. The research question should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Once you have a research question or topic, you can start to narrow your focus.

2. Consider the key terms or concepts related to your topic

What are the important terms or concepts that you need to understand in order to answer your research question? Consider all available resources, such as time, budget, and data availability, when setting scope and delimitation.

The scope and delimitation should be established within the parameters of the available resources. Once you have identified the key terms or concepts, you can start to develop a glossary or list of definitions.

3. Consider the different perspectives on your topic

There are often different perspectives on any given topic. Get feedback on the proposed scope and delimitation. Advisors can provide guidance on the feasibility of the study and offer suggestions for improvement.

It is important to consider all of the different perspectives in order to get a well-rounded understanding of your topic.

4. Narrow your focus

Be specific and concise when setting scope and delimitation. The parameters of the study should be clearly defined to avoid ambiguity and ensure that the study is focused on relevant aspects of the research question.

This means deciding which aspects of your topic you will focus on and which aspects you will eliminate.

5. Develop the final research plan

Revisit and revise the scope and delimitation as needed. As the research project progresses, the scope and delimitation may need to be adjusted to ensure that the study remains focused on the research question and can produce useful results. This plan should include your research goals, methods, and timeline.

Examples of Scope and Delimitation

To better understand scope and delimitation, let us consider two examples of research questions and how scope and delimitation would apply to them.

Research question: What are the effects of social media on mental health?

Scope: The scope of the study will focus on the impact of social media on the mental health of young adults aged 18-24 in the United States.

Delimitation: The study will specifically examine the following aspects of social media: frequency of use, types of social media platforms used, and the impact of social media on self-esteem and body image.

Research question: What are the factors that influence employee job satisfaction in the healthcare industry?

Scope: The scope of the study will focus on employee job satisfaction in the healthcare industry in the United States.

Delimitation: The study will specifically examine the following factors that influence employee job satisfaction: salary, work-life balance, job security, and opportunities for career growth.

Setting limits and defining the scope and delimitation of a research study is essential to conducting effective research. By doing so, researchers can ensure that their study is focused, manageable, and feasible within the given time frame and resources. It can also help to identify areas that require further study, providing a foundation for future research.

So, the next time you embark on a research project, don’t forget to set clear limits and define the scope and delimitation of your study. It may seem like a tedious task, but it can ultimately lead to more meaningful and impactful research. And if you still can’t find a solution, reach out to Enago Academy using #AskEnago and tag @EnagoAcademy on Twitter , Facebook , and Quora .

Frequently Asked Questions

The scope in research refers to the boundaries and extent of a study, defining its specific objectives, target population, variables, methods, and limitations, which helps researchers focus and provide a clear understanding of what will be investigated.

Delimitation in research defines the specific boundaries and limitations of a study, such as geographical, temporal, or conceptual constraints, outlining what will be excluded or not within the scope of investigation, providing clarity and ensuring the study remains focused and manageable.

To write a scope; 1. Clearly define research objectives. 2. Identify specific research questions. 3. Determine the target population for the study. 4. Outline the variables to be investigated. 5. Establish limitations and constraints. 6. Set boundaries and extent of the investigation. 7. Ensure focus, clarity, and manageability. 8. Provide context for the research project.

To write delimitations; 1. Identify geographical boundaries or constraints. 2. Define the specific time period or timeframe of the study. 3. Specify the sample size or selection criteria. 4. Clarify any demographic limitations (e.g., age, gender, occupation). 5. Address any limitations related to data collection methods. 6. Consider limitations regarding the availability of resources or data. 7. Exclude specific variables or factors from the scope of the study. 8. Clearly state any conceptual boundaries or theoretical frameworks. 9. Acknowledge any potential biases or constraints in the research design. 10. Ensure that the delimitations provide a clear focus and scope for the study.

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Post-Grad Collective [PGC]. (2017, February 13). Thesis Writing-Narrow the Scope   [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlCO5yRB9No&feature=youtu.be

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The scope of your project sets clear parameters for your research. 

A scope statement will give basic information about the depth and breadth of the project. It tells your reader exactly what you want to find out , how you will conduct your study, the reports and deliverables  that will be part of the outcome of the study, and the responsibilities of the researchers involved in the study. The extent of the scope will be a part of acknowledging any biases in the research project. 

Defining the scope of a project: 

• focuses your research goals
• clarifies the expectations for your research project
•  helps you determine potential biases in your research methodology by acknowledging the limits of your research study 
• identifies the limitations of your research 
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• Research Objectives | Definition & Examples

Research Objectives | Definition & Examples

Published on July 12, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on November 20, 2023.

Research objectives describe what your research is trying to achieve and explain why you are pursuing it. They summarize the approach and purpose of your project and help to focus your research.

Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement . They should:

• Establish the scope and depth of your project
• Contribute to your research design
• Indicate how your project will contribute to existing knowledge

Table of contents

What is a research objective, why are research objectives important, how to write research aims and objectives, smart research objectives, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research objectives.

Research objectives describe what your research project intends to accomplish. They should guide every step of the research process , including how you collect data , build your argument , and develop your conclusions .

Your research objectives may evolve slightly as your research progresses, but they should always line up with the research carried out and the actual content of your paper.

Research aims

A distinction is often made between research objectives and research aims.

A research aim typically refers to a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear at the end of your problem statement, before your research objectives.

Your research objectives are more specific than your research aim and indicate the particular focus and approach of your project. Though you will only have one research aim, you will likely have several research objectives.

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Research objectives are important because they:

• Establish the scope and depth of your project: This helps you avoid unnecessary research. It also means that your research methods and conclusions can easily be evaluated .
• Contribute to your research design: When you know what your objectives are, you have a clearer idea of what methods are most appropriate for your research.
• Indicate how your project will contribute to extant research: They allow you to display your knowledge of up-to-date research, employ or build on current research methods, and attempt to contribute to recent debates.

Once you’ve established a research problem you want to address, you need to decide how you will address it. This is where your research aim and objectives come in.

Step 1: Decide on a general aim

Your research aim should reflect your research problem and should be relatively broad.

Step 2: Decide on specific objectives

Break down your aim into a limited number of steps that will help you resolve your research problem. What specific aspects of the problem do you want to examine or understand?

Step 3: Formulate your aims and objectives

Once you’ve established your research aim and objectives, you need to explain them clearly and concisely to the reader.

You’ll lay out your aims and objectives at the end of your problem statement, which appears in your introduction. Frame them as clear declarative statements, and use appropriate verbs to accurately characterize the work that you will carry out.

The acronym “SMART” is commonly used in relation to research objectives. It states that your objectives should be:

• Specific: Make sure your objectives aren’t overly vague. Your research needs to be clearly defined in order to get useful results.
• Measurable: Know how you’ll measure whether your objectives have been achieved.
• Achievable: Your objectives may be challenging, but they should be feasible. Make sure that relevant groundwork has been done on your topic or that relevant primary or secondary sources exist. Also ensure that you have access to relevant research facilities (labs, library resources , research databases , etc.).
• Relevant: Make sure that they directly address the research problem you want to work on and that they contribute to the current state of research in your field.
• Time-based: Set clear deadlines for objectives to ensure that the project stays on track.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Research objectives describe what you intend your research project to accomplish.

They summarize the approach and purpose of the project and help to focus your research.

Your objectives should appear in the introduction of your research paper , at the end of your problem statement .

Your research objectives indicate how you’ll try to address your research problem and should be specific:

Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .

Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.

I will compare …

A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.

Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.

Scope of research is determined at the beginning of your research process , prior to the data collection stage. Sometimes called “scope of study,” your scope delineates what will and will not be covered in your project. It helps you focus your work and your time, ensuring that you’ll be able to achieve your goals and outcomes.

Defining a scope can be very useful in any research project, from a research proposal to a thesis or dissertation . A scope is needed for all types of research: quantitative , qualitative , and mixed methods .

To define your scope of research, consider the following:

• Budget constraints or any specifics of grant funding
• Your proposed timeline and duration
• Specifics about your population of study, your proposed sample size , and the research methodology you’ll pursue
• Any inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Any anticipated control , extraneous , or confounding variables that could bias your research if not accounted for properly.

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How to Write the Scope of the Study

June 12, 2023

2023   ·   PHD     ·   Blog  

Source: https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/scope-of-the-study

The scope of the study is defined at the start of the research project before data collection begins. It is used by researchers to set the boundaries and limitations within which the study will be performed.

What is the Scope of the Study?

The scope of the study refers to the boundaries within which your research project will be performed; this is sometimes also called the scope of research. To define the scope of the study is to define all aspects that will be considered in your research project. It is also just as important to make clear what aspects will not be covered; i.e. what is outside of the scope of the study.

Why is the Scope of the Study Important?

The scope of the study is always considered and agreed upon in the early stages of the project, before any data collection or experimental work has started. This is important because it focuses the work of the proposed study down to what is practically achievable within a given timeframe.

A well-defined research or study scope enables a researcher to give clarity to the study outcomes that are to be investigated. It makes clear why specific data points have been collected whilst others have been excluded.

Without this, it is difficult to define an end point for a research project since no limits have been defined on the work that could take place. Similarly, it can also make the approach to answering a research question too open ended.

How do you Write the Scope of the Study?

In order to write the scope of the study that you plan to perform, you must be clear on the research parameters that you will and won’t consider. These parameters usually consist of the sample size, the duration, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the methodology and any geographical or monetary constraints.

Each of these parameters will have limits placed on them so that the study can practically be performed, and the results interpreted relative to the limitations that have been defined. These parameters will also help to shape the direction of each research question you consider.

The term limitations’ is often used together with the scope of the study to describe the constraints of any parameters that are considered and also to clarify which parameters have not been considered at all. Make sure you get the balance right here between not making the scope too broad and unachievable, and it not being too restrictive, resulting in a lack of useful data.

The sample size is a commonly used parameter in the definition of the research scope. For example, a research project involving human participants may define at the start of the study that 100 participants will be recruited. This number will be determined based on an understanding of the difficulty in recruiting participants to studies and an agreement of an acceptable period of time in which to recruit this number.

Any results that are obtained by the research group can then be interpreted by others with the knowledge that the study was capped to 100 participants and an acceptance of this as a limitation of the study. In other words, it is acknowledged that recruiting 100 rather than 1,000 participants has limited the amount of data that could be collected, however this is an acceptable limitation due to the known difficulties in recruiting so many participants (e.g. the significant period of time it would take and the costs associated with this).

Example of a Scope of the Study

The follow is a (hypothetical) example of the definition of the scope of the study, with the research question investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health .

Whilst the immediate negative health problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been well documented, the impact of the virus on the mental health (MH) of young adults (age 18-24 years) is poorly understood. The aim of this study is to report on MH changes in population group due to the pandemic.

The scope of the study is limited to recruiting 100 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 24 who will be contacted using their university email accounts. This recruitment period will last for a maximum of 2 months and will end when either 100 volunteers have been recruited or 2 months have passed. Each volunteer to the study will be asked to complete a short questionnaire in order to evaluate any changes in their MH.

From this example we can immediately see that the scope of the study has placed a constraint on the sample size to be used and/or the time frame for recruitment of volunteers. It has also introduced a limitation by only opening recruitment to people that have university emails; i.e. anyone that does not attend university will be excluded from this study.

This may be an important factor when interpreting the results of this study; the comparison of MH during the pandemic between those that do and do not attend university, is therefore outside the scope of the study here. We are also told that the methodology used to assess any changes in MH are via a questionnaire. This is a clear definition of how the outcome measure will be investigated and any other methods are not within the scope of research and their exclusion may be a limitation of the study.

The scope of the study is important to define as it enables a researcher to focus their research to within achievable parameters.

What is the Scope of the Study in Research?

The scope of the study explains the extent to which your research area will be explored, and the parameters the study will operate. It gives the reader and the writer an insight into what the study is aimed at and what should be anticipated.

This implies that the scope of the study should define the purpose of your study, the sample size and qualities, geographical location, the timeframe at which the study will be executed, theories the study will focus on, etc.

The scope of the study is just an aspect of research writing, and great attention needs to be taken not to go beyond what is expected. Therefore, the scope of the study sheds light on areas your study will cover and what it focuses on. What your study area is not going to focus on is of no relevance to your research study, and the scope of the study eliminates that.

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Significance of the Study – Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

Significance of the Study

Definition:

Significance of the study in research refers to the potential importance, relevance, or impact of the research findings. It outlines how the research contributes to the existing body of knowledge, what gaps it fills, or what new understanding it brings to a particular field of study.

In general, the significance of a study can be assessed based on several factors, including:

• Originality : The extent to which the study advances existing knowledge or introduces new ideas and perspectives.
• Practical relevance: The potential implications of the study for real-world situations, such as improving policy or practice.
• Theoretical contribution: The extent to which the study provides new insights or perspectives on theoretical concepts or frameworks.
• Methodological rigor : The extent to which the study employs appropriate and robust methods and techniques to generate reliable and valid data.
• Social or cultural impact : The potential impact of the study on society, culture, or public perception of a particular issue.

Types of Significance of the Study

The significance of the Study can be divided into the following types:

Theoretical Significance

Theoretical significance refers to the contribution that a study makes to the existing body of theories in a specific field. This could be by confirming, refuting, or adding nuance to a currently accepted theory, or by proposing an entirely new theory.

Practical Significance

Practical significance refers to the direct applicability and usefulness of the research findings in real-world contexts. Studies with practical significance often address real-life problems and offer potential solutions or strategies. For example, a study in the field of public health might identify a new intervention that significantly reduces the spread of a certain disease.

Significance for Future Research

This pertains to the potential of a study to inspire further research. A study might open up new areas of investigation, provide new research methodologies, or propose new hypotheses that need to be tested.

How to Write Significance of the Study

Here’s a guide to writing an effective “Significance of the Study” section in research paper, thesis, or dissertation:

• Background : Begin by giving some context about your study. This could include a brief introduction to your subject area, the current state of research in the field, and the specific problem or question your study addresses.
• Identify the Gap : Demonstrate that there’s a gap in the existing literature or knowledge that needs to be filled, which is where your study comes in. The gap could be a lack of research on a particular topic, differing results in existing studies, or a new problem that has arisen and hasn’t yet been studied.
• State the Purpose of Your Study : Clearly state the main objective of your research. You may want to state the purpose as a solution to the problem or gap you’ve previously identified.
• Contributes to the existing body of knowledge.
• Addresses a significant research gap.
• Offers a new or better solution to a problem.
• Impacts policy or practice.
• Leads to improvements in a particular field or sector.
• Identify Beneficiaries : Identify who will benefit from your study. This could include other researchers, practitioners in your field, policy-makers, communities, businesses, or others. Explain how your findings could be used and by whom.
• Future Implications : Discuss the implications of your study for future research. This could involve questions that are left open, new questions that have been raised, or potential future methodologies suggested by your study.

Significance of the Study in Research Paper

The Significance of the Study in a research paper refers to the importance or relevance of the research topic being investigated. It answers the question “Why is this research important?” and highlights the potential contributions and impacts of the study.

The significance of the study can be presented in the introduction or background section of a research paper. It typically includes the following components:

• Importance of the research problem: This describes why the research problem is worth investigating and how it relates to existing knowledge and theories.
• Potential benefits and implications: This explains the potential contributions and impacts of the research on theory, practice, policy, or society.
• Originality and novelty: This highlights how the research adds new insights, approaches, or methods to the existing body of knowledge.
• Scope and limitations: This outlines the boundaries and constraints of the research and clarifies what the study will and will not address.

Suppose a researcher is conducting a study on the “Effects of social media use on the mental health of adolescents”.

The significance of the study may be:

“The present study is significant because it addresses a pressing public health issue of the negative impact of social media use on adolescent mental health. Given the widespread use of social media among this age group, understanding the effects of social media on mental health is critical for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. This study will contribute to the existing literature by examining the moderating factors that may affect the relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes. It will also shed light on the potential benefits and risks of social media use for adolescents and inform the development of evidence-based guidelines for promoting healthy social media use among this population. The limitations of this study include the use of self-reported measures and the cross-sectional design, which precludes causal inference.”

Significance of the Study In Thesis

The significance of the study in a thesis refers to the importance or relevance of the research topic and the potential impact of the study on the field of study or society as a whole. It explains why the research is worth doing and what contribution it will make to existing knowledge.

For example, the significance of a thesis on “Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare” could be:

• With the increasing availability of healthcare data and the development of advanced machine learning algorithms, AI has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry by improving diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes. Therefore, this thesis can contribute to the understanding of how AI can be applied in healthcare and how it can benefit patients and healthcare providers.
• AI in healthcare also raises ethical and social issues, such as privacy concerns, bias in algorithms, and the impact on healthcare jobs. By exploring these issues in the thesis, it can provide insights into the potential risks and benefits of AI in healthcare and inform policy decisions.
• Finally, the thesis can also advance the field of computer science by developing new AI algorithms or techniques that can be applied to healthcare data, which can have broader applications in other industries or fields of research.

Significance of the Study in Research Proposal

The significance of a study in a research proposal refers to the importance or relevance of the research question, problem, or objective that the study aims to address. It explains why the research is valuable, relevant, and important to the academic or scientific community, policymakers, or society at large. A strong statement of significance can help to persuade the reviewers or funders of the research proposal that the study is worth funding and conducting.

Here is an example of a significance statement in a research proposal:

Title : The Effects of Gamification on Learning Programming: A Comparative Study

Significance Statement:

This proposed study aims to investigate the effects of gamification on learning programming. With the increasing demand for computer science professionals, programming has become a fundamental skill in the computer field. However, learning programming can be challenging, and students may struggle with motivation and engagement. Gamification has emerged as a promising approach to improve students’ engagement and motivation in learning, but its effects on programming education are not yet fully understood. This study is significant because it can provide valuable insights into the potential benefits of gamification in programming education and inform the development of effective teaching strategies to enhance students’ learning outcomes and interest in programming.

Examples of Significance of the Study

Here are some examples of the significance of a study that indicates how you can write this into your research paper according to your research topic:

Research on an Improved Water Filtration System : This study has the potential to impact millions of people living in water-scarce regions or those with limited access to clean water. A more efficient and affordable water filtration system can reduce water-borne diseases and improve the overall health of communities, enabling them to lead healthier, more productive lives.

Study on the Impact of Remote Work on Employee Productivity : Given the shift towards remote work due to recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this study is of considerable significance. Findings could help organizations better structure their remote work policies and offer insights on how to maximize employee productivity, wellbeing, and job satisfaction.

Investigation into the Use of Solar Power in Developing Countries : With the world increasingly moving towards renewable energy, this study could provide important data on the feasibility and benefits of implementing solar power solutions in developing countries. This could potentially stimulate economic growth, reduce reliance on non-renewable resources, and contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.

Research on New Learning Strategies in Special Education : This study has the potential to greatly impact the field of special education. By understanding the effectiveness of new learning strategies, educators can improve their curriculum to provide better support for students with learning disabilities, fostering their academic growth and social development.

Examination of Mental Health Support in the Workplace : This study could highlight the impact of mental health initiatives on employee wellbeing and productivity. It could influence organizational policies across industries, promoting the implementation of mental health programs in the workplace, ultimately leading to healthier work environments.

Evaluation of a New Cancer Treatment Method : The significance of this study could be lifesaving. The research could lead to the development of more effective cancer treatments, increasing the survival rate and quality of life for patients worldwide.

When to Write Significance of the Study

The Significance of the Study section is an integral part of a research proposal or a thesis. This section is typically written after the introduction and the literature review. In the research process, the structure typically follows this order:

• Title – The name of your research.
• Abstract – A brief summary of the entire research.
• Introduction – A presentation of the problem your research aims to solve.
• Literature Review – A review of existing research on the topic to establish what is already known and where gaps exist.
• Significance of the Study – An explanation of why the research matters and its potential impact.

In the Significance of the Study section, you will discuss why your study is important, who it benefits, and how it adds to existing knowledge or practice in your field. This section is your opportunity to convince readers, and potentially funders or supervisors, that your research is valuable and worth undertaking.

Advantages of Significance of the Study

The Significance of the Study section in a research paper has multiple advantages:

• Establishes Relevance: This section helps to articulate the importance of your research to your field of study, as well as the wider society, by explicitly stating its relevance. This makes it easier for other researchers, funders, and policymakers to understand why your work is necessary and worth supporting.
• Guides the Research: Writing the significance can help you refine your research questions and objectives. This happens as you critically think about why your research is important and how it contributes to your field.
• Attracts Funding: If you are seeking funding or support for your research, having a well-written significance of the study section can be key. It helps to convince potential funders of the value of your work.
• Opens up Further Research: By stating the significance of the study, you’re also indicating what further research could be carried out in the future, based on your work. This helps to pave the way for future studies and demonstrates that your research is a valuable addition to the field.
• Provides Practical Applications: The significance of the study section often outlines how the research can be applied in real-world situations. This can be particularly important in applied sciences, where the practical implications of research are crucial.
• Enhances Understanding: This section can help readers understand how your study fits into the broader context of your field, adding value to the existing literature and contributing new knowledge or insights.

Limitations of Significance of the Study

The Significance of the Study section plays an essential role in any research. However, it is not without potential limitations. Here are some that you should be aware of:

• Subjectivity: The importance and implications of a study can be subjective and may vary from person to person. What one researcher considers significant might be seen as less critical by others. The assessment of significance often depends on personal judgement, biases, and perspectives.
• Predictability of Impact: While you can outline the potential implications of your research in the Significance of the Study section, the actual impact can be unpredictable. Research doesn’t always yield the expected results or have the predicted impact on the field or society.
• Difficulty in Measuring: The significance of a study is often qualitative and can be challenging to measure or quantify. You can explain how you think your research will contribute to your field or society, but measuring these outcomes can be complex.
• Possibility of Overstatement: Researchers may feel pressured to amplify the potential significance of their study to attract funding or interest. This can lead to overstating the potential benefits or implications, which can harm the credibility of the study if these results are not achieved.
• Overshadowing of Limitations: Sometimes, the significance of the study may overshadow the limitations of the research. It is important to balance the potential significance with a thorough discussion of the study’s limitations.
• Dependence on Successful Implementation: The significance of the study relies on the successful implementation of the research. If the research process has flaws or unexpected issues arise, the anticipated significance might not be realized.

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Research Objectives

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Research objectives are specific goals or purposes that guide a study or investigation. They are clearly defined statements that outline what the researcher aims to achieve through their research . These objectives help to focus the study, provide direction, and establish the scope of the research design . They typically include the main questions or problems the research seeks to address and are essential for designing the methodology, data collection, and analysis processes. By defining research objectives , researchers can ensure their study remains on track and addresses the key issues relevant to their topic.

What Are Research Objectives?

Research objectives are clear, specific goals that guide a study’s direction and scope. They outline what the researcher aims to achieve, helping to focus the research, design methodologies, and guide data collection and analysis. These objectives ensure the research stays on track and addresses key issues relevant to the topic.

Examples of Research Objectives

• To determine the impact of social media on adolescent mental health.
• To analyze the effectiveness of online learning platforms in primary education.
• To investigate the relationship between diet and cognitive function in adults.
• To assess customer satisfaction with a new product line.
• To explore the effects of climate change on local agriculture.
• To identify key factors influencing employee job satisfaction in the tech industry.
• To evaluate the success of a community health intervention program.
• To compare the environmental benefits of electric vs. hybrid vehicles.
• To examine the role of leadership styles in organizational performance.
• To measure the economic impact of tourism in a specific region.

Examples of Qualitative Research Objectives

• To explore the experiences of patients undergoing chronic pain management.
• To understand the perceptions of teachers on the integration of technology in the classroom.
• To investigate the motivations behind volunteerism in community service organizations.
• To examine the cultural influences on dietary habits among immigrant families.
• To assess the impact of workplace culture on employee morale in remote teams.
• To identify the challenges faced by first-generation college students in higher education.
• To analyze the role of social support networks in the lives of single parents.
• To study the decision-making processes of consumers when choosing organic products.
• To explore the lived experiences of individuals recovering from addiction.
• To understand the factors influencing career choices among high school students.

Examples of Research Objectives in a Research Proposal

• To investigate the effects of social media usage on high school students’ academic performance.
• To explore the relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction among healthcare professionals.
• To assess the impact of urban green spaces on residents’ mental health in metropolitan areas.
• To analyze the effectiveness of bilingual education programs in enhancing language proficiency among elementary students.
• To determine the influence of corporate social responsibility initiatives on consumer loyalty in the retail industry.
• To examine the role of leadership styles in fostering innovation within technology startups.
• To identify barriers to accessing healthcare services in rural communities.
• To evaluate the success of digital marketing strategies in small businesses.
• To understand the factors affecting voter turnout in local elections.
• To study the impact of remote work on team collaboration and productivity in the IT sector.

Research Objectives in Business

• To evaluate the effectiveness of digital marketing strategies in increasing online sales.
• To analyze customer satisfaction levels with the company’s new product line.
• To investigate the impact of employee training programs on productivity.
• To determine the key factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions in the retail industry.
• To assess the role of corporate social responsibility in enhancing brand reputation.
• To explore the relationship between workplace diversity and employee performance.
• To examine the effects of remote work on team collaboration and company culture.
• To identify market trends and opportunities for business expansion in emerging markets.
• To study the influence of pricing strategies on customer retention and loyalty.
• To measure the impact of leadership styles on organizational innovation and growth.

Why are Research Objectives Important?

Research objectives are crucial because they provide clear direction and focus for a study, ensuring that the research stays on track and addresses the specific goals set by the researcher. They help in the formulation of research questions and the design of the methodology, guiding data collection and analysis processes. Well-defined objectives make it easier to measure the study’s success and ensure that the findings are relevant and meaningful. They also enhance the credibility and reliability of the research by outlining a precise plan, making it easier for others to understand and replicate the study.

Importance of Research Objectives

• Provide Clarity and Focus: Research objectives clearly outline what the study aims to achieve, helping to narrow down the scope and maintain a clear direction throughout the research process.
• Guide Research Design: They help in formulating research questions and determining the most appropriate methodology, ensuring that data collection and analysis are aligned with the study’s goals.
• Ensure Relevance: Well-defined objectives ensure that the research addresses specific, relevant issues, making the findings more meaningful and applicable.
• Measure Success: They provide benchmarks against which the success of the study can be measured, making it easier to assess whether the research has achieved its intended goals.
• Enhance Credibility: Clearly stated objectives enhance the credibility and reliability of the research by demonstrating a systematic and organized approach.

Types of Research Objectives

1. Descriptive Objectives

Descriptive objectives aim to describe the characteristics or functions of a particular phenomenon or population. These objectives focus on answering the “what” aspect of research. Example : To describe the demographic characteristics of smartphone users in the United States.

2. Exploratory Objectives

Exploratory objectives aim to explore new areas where little information is available. They seek to gain insights and familiarize the researcher with the subject area. Example : To explore the potential factors influencing consumer preferences for electric vehicles.

3. Explanatory Objectives

Explanatory objectives aim to explain the relationships or causality between variables. These objectives focus on understanding the “why” and “how” aspects of research. Example : To explain the relationship between social media usage and academic performance among college students.

4. Predictive Objectives

Predictive objectives aim to predict the future trends, behaviors, or outcomes based on current data or trends. These objectives are used to forecast and anticipate future scenarios. Example : To predict the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity over the next decade.

5. Evaluative Objectives

Evaluative objectives aim to assess the effectiveness or impact of an intervention, program, or policy. These objectives focus on determining the success or value of something. Example : To evaluate the effectiveness of a new employee training program on job performance.

Characteristics of Research Objectives

Research objectives are crucial components of any study as they define the purpose and goals of the research. Well-crafted research objectives provide clarity, direction, and focus to the study. Here are the key characteristics of research objectives:

1. Specific

Research objectives should be clear and precise, leaving no room for ambiguity. They should clearly state what the research intends to achieve. Example: Specific Objective: “To determine the impact of social media marketing on consumer purchasing decisions.”

2. Measurable

Objectives should be quantifiable, allowing researchers to assess the extent to which they have been achieved. This involves using metrics or indicators that can be measured. Example: Measurable Objective: “To measure the increase in sales by 15% after implementing a social media marketing campaign.”

3. Achievable

The objectives should be realistic and attainable within the scope and resources of the study. Setting achievable goals ensures that the research can be completed successfully. Example: Achievable Objective: “To survey 500 consumers within a three-month period to understand their social media usage patterns.”

4. Relevant

Objectives must be relevant to the research problem and aligned with the overall purpose of the study. They should address the key issues and contribute to solving the research problem. Example: Relevant Objective: “To analyze the relationship between social media engagement and brand loyalty among teenagers.”

5. Time-bound

Objectives should have a clear timeframe within which they are to be achieved. This helps in planning and maintaining the research schedule. Example: Time-bound Objective: “To complete data collection within six months and publish findings within one year.”

How to write Research Objectives?

1. identify the research problem.

• Clearly define the research problem.
• Understand the main issue or question you want to address.

2. Conduct a Literature Review

• Review existing literature to understand what has already been done in the field.
• Refine your research problem and identify gaps.

3. Define the Scope of Your Study

• Determine the boundaries of your research.
• Specify what aspects of the problem you will address and what you will exclude.

4. Formulate Specific Questions

• Break down your research problem into specific, clear, and focused questions.

5. Use Action Verbs

• Use specific action verbs such as “analyze,” “determine,” “evaluate,” “explore,” and “compare” to articulate your aims.

6. Be Clear and Concise

• Ensure your objectives are clear, concise, and easy to understand.
• Avoid ambiguous language and make each objective specific and measurable.

7. Align with Research Goals

• Ensure that your objectives are aligned with the overall goals of your research.
• Each objective should contribute to achieving these goals.

8. Prioritize Objectives

• List your objectives in order of importance.
• Focus on primary objectives first, followed by secondary ones.

9. Ensure Feasibility

• Make sure your objectives are realistic and achievable within the scope of your resources, time, and capabilities.

10. Review and Refine

• Review your objectives to ensure they are comprehensive and cover all aspects of your research problem.
• Refine them as necessary for clarity and focus.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Research Objectives

Advantages of research objectives.

• Clarity and Focus Objectives provide a clear direction, helping you stay on track. Example: “To study the impact of social media on teenagers’ mental health” keeps your research focused on a specific topic.
• Guidance for Methodology They help in choosing the right methods and tools for your research. Example: “To test the effectiveness of new teaching methods” suggests using experiments and tests.
• Measurement and Evaluation Objectives make it easy to measure success. Example: “To improve test scores by 15% with a new teaching method” provides a clear goal to aim for.
• Resource Allocation They ensure efficient use of time, money, and effort. Example: If your objective is “To survey 500 people,” you can plan your resources accordingly.
• Communication Objectives help explain your research to others. Example: Clear objectives can be shared in grant proposals to get funding.

Disadvantages of Research Objectives

• Rigidity Objectives can be too rigid, limiting flexibility. Example: If new data shows something unexpected, a fixed objective might stop you from exploring it.
• Over-Simplification They might oversimplify complex issues. Example: “To study the effect of diet on health” might ignore the many factors that influence health.
• Bias Introduction Specific objectives can lead to focusing too narrowly. Example: Studying only the positive effects of a new drug might overlook side effects.
• Pressure to Achieve They can create pressure to meet specific outcomes, risking research integrity. Example: You might feel pressured to show that a new teaching method works, even if it doesn’t.
• Resource Constraints Some objectives may require more resources than available. Example: “To survey 1,000 people” might be hard if you have limited funds.

FAQ’s

Why are research objectives important.

Research objectives provide direction and focus for the study, ensuring that the research stays on track and addresses relevant questions.

How do you formulate research objectives?

Formulate research objectives by identifying key questions your research aims to answer, ensuring they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

What is the difference between research objectives and research questions?

Research objectives outline the goals of the study, while research questions specify what the researcher aims to find out.

Can research objectives change during the study?

Yes, research objectives can be refined or adjusted as the study progresses, especially if new insights emerge.

How many research objectives should a study have?

The number of research objectives depends on the scope of the study but typically ranges from two to five.

How do research objectives relate to hypotheses?

Research objectives guide the study, while hypotheses are testable predictions derived from these objectives.

Can research objectives be qualitative or quantitative?

Yes, research objectives can be either qualitative, focusing on understanding phenomena, or quantitative, focusing on measuring variables.

How do you prioritize research objectives?

Prioritize research objectives based on their relevance to the research problem and feasibility within the study’s constraints.

What role do research objectives play in a literature review?

Research objectives help structure the literature review, guiding the selection of relevant studies and identifying gaps in existing research.

How do research objectives influence data collection?

Research objectives determine the type of data needed and the appropriate methods for collecting this data.

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How to Present a Research Study’s Limitations

All studies have imperfections, but how to present them without diminishing the value of the work can be tricky..

Nathan Ni holds a PhD from Queens University. He is a science editor for The Scientist’s Creative Services Team who strives to better understand and communicate the relationships between health and disease.

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Scientists work with many different limitations. First and foremost, they navigate informational limitations, work around knowledge gaps when designing studies, formulating hypotheses, and analyzing data. They also handle technical limitations, making the most of what their hands, equipment, and instruments can achieve. Finally, researchers must also manage logistical limitations. Scientists will often experience sample scarcity, financial issues, or simply be unable to access the technology or materials that they want.

All scientific studies have limitations, and no study is perfect. Researchers should not run from this reality, but engage it directly. It is better to directly address the specific limitations of the work in question, and doing so is actually a way to demonstrate an author’s proficiency and aptitude.

Do: Be Transparent

From a practical perspective, being transparent is the main key to directly addressing the specific limitations of a study. Was there an experiment that the researchers wanted to perform but could not, or a sample that existed that the scientists could not obtain? Was there a piece of knowledge that would explain a question raised by the data presented within the current study? If the answer is yes, the authors should mention this and elaborate upon it within the discussion section.

Asking and addressing these questions demonstrates that the authors have knowledge, understanding, and expertise of the subject area beyond what the study directly investigated. It further demonstrates a solid grasp of the existing literature—which means a solid grasp of what others are doing, what techniques they are using, and what limitations impede their own studies. This information helps the authors contextualize where their study fits within what others have discovered, thereby mitigating the perceived effect of a given limitation on the study’s legitimacy. In essence, this strategy turns limitations, often considered weaknesses, into strengths.

For example, in their 2021 Cell Reports study on macrophage polarization mechanisms, dermatologist Alexander Marneros and colleagues wrote the following. 1

A limitation of studying macrophage polarization in vitro is that this approach only partially captures the tissue microenvironment context in which many different factors affect macrophage polarization. However, it is likely that the identified signaling mechanisms that promote polarization in vitro are also critical for polarization mechanisms that occur in vivo. This is supported by our observation that trametinib and panobinostat inhibited M2-type macrophage polarization not only in vitro but also in skin wounds and laser-induced CNV lesions.

This is a very effective structure. In the first sentence ( yellow ), the authors outlined the limitation. In the next sentence ( green ), they offered a rationalization that mitigates the effect of the limitation. Finally, they provided the evidence ( blue ) for this rationalization, using not just information from the literature, but also data that they obtained in their study specifically for this purpose. 

Don't: Be Defensive

It can feel natural to avoid talking about a study’s limitations. Scientists may believe that mentioning the drawbacks still present in their study will jeopardize their chances of publication. As such, researchers will sometimes skirt around the issue. They will present “boilerplate faults”—generalized concerns about sample size/diversity and time limitations that all researchers face—rather than honestly discussing their own study. Alternatively, they will describe their limitations in a defensive manner, positioning their problems as something that “could not be helped”—as something beyond what science can currently achieve.

However, their audience can see through this, because they are largely peers who understand and have experienced how modern research works. They can tell the difference between global challenges faced by every scientific study and limitations that are specific to a single study. Avoiding these specific limitations can therefore betray a lack of confidence that the study is good enough to withstand problems stemming from legitimate limitations. As such, researchers should actively engage with the greater scientific implications of the limitations that they face. Indeed, doing this is actually a way to demonstrate an author’s proficiency and aptitude.

In an example, neurogeneticist Nancy Bonini and colleagues, in their publication in Nature , discussed a question raised by their data that they have elected not to directly investigate in this study, writing “ Among the intriguing questions raised by these data is how senescent glia promote LDs in other glia. ” To show both the legitimacy of the question and how seriously they have considered it, the authors provided a comprehensive summary of the literature in the following seven sentences, offering two hypotheses backed by a combined eight different sources. 2 Rather than shying away from a limitation, they attacked it as something to be curious about and to discuss. This is not just a very effective way of demonstrating their expertise, but it frames the limitation as something that, when overcome, will build upon the present study rather than something that negatively affects the legitimacy of their current findings.

Striking the Right Balance

Scientists have to navigate the fine line between acknowledging the limitations of their study while also not diminishing the effect and value of their own work. To be aware of legitimate limitations and properly assess and dissect them shows a profound understanding of a field, where the study fits within that field, and what the rest of the scientific community are doing and what challenges they face.

All studies are parts of a greater whole. Pretending otherwise is a disservice to the scientific community.

Looking for more information on scientific writing? Check out  The Scientist’ s  TS SciComm  section. Looking for some help putting together a manuscript, a figure, a poster, or anything else?  The Scientist ’s  Scientific Services  may have the professional help that you need.

• He L, et al. Global characterization of macrophage polarization mechanisms and identification of M2-type polarization inhibitors . Cell Rep . 2021;37(5):109955.
• Byrns CN, et al. Senescent glia link mitochondrial dysfunction and lipid accumulation . Nature . 2024.

Reining in America’s $3.3 Trillion Tax-Exempt Economy

Key findings.

• For over a century, lawmakers have exempted politically favored organizations and industries from the tax A tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. code. As a result, the tax-exempt nonprofit economy now comprises 15 percent of GDP, spans more than 1.8 million organizations, and manages over $8 trillion in assets. In 2019, it pocketed more than $238 billion in net income.
• The tax-exempt sector is overdue for review and reform. The U.S. needs a principled, rules-based approach to 1) distinguish between benevolent organizations and tax-exempt businesses, and 2) level the playing field between the business activities of nonprofit and for-profit entities.
• Many industries exempted from the income tax were designated as such in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Tariffs are taxes imposed by one country on goods or services imported from another country. Tariffs are trade barriers that raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for U.S. businesses and consumers. Act of 1894 and the Tax Act of 1909, but they reflect the social norms of the 19 th century, not our 21 st century economy.
• The majority of tax-exempt organizations today are business-like in form and function, including credit unions, hospitals, utilities, insurance companies, universities, professional athletic associations, golf clubs, and consulting firms, to name a few.
• Business-like income has been the fastest growing source of income for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations over the past 30 years, now accounting for 71 percent of their income. Charitable donations make up just 12 percent of nonprofit income.
• More than half (55 percent) of all the income generated by 501(c)(3) organizations comes from tax-exempt hospitals and health-care plans. The largest nonprofit in America is Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser’s health plan, hospitals, and state health plans generated over $110 billion in revenues in 2019.
• In 2019, there were 325 501(c)(3) nonprofits with more than $1 billion in revenues—nearly all of which are hospitals and universities.
• The unrelated business income tax (UBIT) rules that were intended to rein in tax-exempt businesses have become toothless and have allowed the growth of large nonprofit businesses.
• A reasonable rewriting of the tax-exempt rules should include narrowing the definition of “public charity” and subjecting all non-charitable income to the corporate tax rate of 21 percent. Doing so could raise nearly $40 billion annually in new tax revenues.

Introduction

America has a $3.3 trillion tax gap The tax gap is the difference between taxes legally owed and taxes collected. The gross tax gap in the U.S. accounts for at least 1 billion in lost revenue each year, according to the latest estimate by the IRS (2011 to 2013), suggesting a voluntary taxpayer compliance rate of 83.6 percent. The net tax gap is calculated by subtracting late tax collections from the gross tax gap: from 2011 to 2013, the average net gap was around 1 billion. . But it’s not the tax gap we hear most about: the revenues the IRS fails to collect because of underreporting, mistakes, or outright tax avoidance. This tax gap rests squarely with Washington lawmakers who, starting more than a century ago, began exempting politically favored institutions, organizations, and activities from the tax code.

The result today is a massive untaxed economy that comprises 15 percent of GDP [1] , spans more than 1.8 million organizations [2] , manages over $8 trillion in assets, and collectively pocketed more than $238 billion in net income in 2019 [3] .

After more than a century of unbridled expansion, the scope of this untaxed economy is overdue for review and reform. Many of the nearly 30 nonprofit designations under 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code have their origins in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 and are artifacts of a more communitarian 19 th century American society, not a reflection of our modern 21 st century economy.

Contrary to the common image of nonprofits as purely benevolent organizations surviving on charitable donations, such organizations are in the minority. The vast majority of tax-exempt organizations are business-like in form and function, such as credit unions, utilities, insurance companies, hospitals, universities, professional athletic associations, golf clubs, casinos, cemeteries, and consulting firms, to name a few. And many of these organizations use their tax-exempt status to compete with taxpaying for-profit firms.

Unfortunately, the guardrails lawmakers have created to prevent unfair competition from nonprofits have been either too weak or too flexible to draw firm lines between benevolent activities, such as a local women’s shelter, and large business enterprises, such as the $1.1 billion NCAA. Both are considered “charitable” nonprofit organizations.

Business-like income has been the fastest growing source of income for 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, entities that can accept tax-deductible donations. Indeed, of the nearly $2.5 trillion in revenues that charitable organizations received in 2019, just 12 percent came from donors’ tax-deductible contributions and gifts. The majority of their income came from business-like revenues such as insurance payments, ticket sales, TV broadcast rights, royalties, and federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

This raises the question: should an organization be considered a nonprofit, or even a charity, if only a fraction of its revenues come from charitable donations?

The tax base The tax base is the total amount of income, property, assets, consumption, transactions, or other economic activity subject to taxation by a tax authority. A narrow tax base is non-neutral and inefficient. A broad tax base reduces tax administration costs and allows more revenue to be raised at lower rates. is narrower than it need be because of how much nonprofit income is fully exempt from taxation. Charitable donations are tax deductible for the donor and tax-exempt for the receiving organization, what economists call double-non-tax-income. Similarly, corporations may deduct payments to nonprofits for such things as memberships, broadcast rights, and licensing fees. Thus, all of this income is outside of the federal tax base.

As Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has observed, “There is no unifying theme or singular principle that explains tax exemption A tax exemption excludes certain income, revenue, or even taxpayers from tax altogether. For example, nonprofits that fulfill certain requirements are granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ), preventing them from having to pay income tax. for the many diverse organizations in the exempt sector.” [4] Nor, JCT says, is there an “agreed upon explanation of the rationale behind the charitable tax exemption and tax deduction A tax deduction is a provision that reduces taxable income . A standard deduction is a single deduction at a fixed amount. Itemized deductions are popular among higher-income taxpayers who often have significant deductible expenses, such as state and local taxes paid, mortgage interest , and charitable contributions. .”

A principled, rules-based approach to narrow the scope of qualified tax-exempt entities is needed. For example, taxing the income of nonprofits from sources other than charitable donations would broaden the tax base in a fair and economically efficient way. Such a rule would protect the charitable donations received by benevolent organizations while putting nonprofit businesses on the same level playing field as for-profit firms.

As we’ll see, based on 2019 data, taxing the business-like income of nonprofits could raise nearly $40 billion annually.

While there still may be a role in today’s economy for insurance-providing fraternal organizations, credit unions, and collegiate sports leagues, there is no longer a justification to exempt them from taxation.

The Scope of This Study Is Limited to 501(c) Organizations

It should be noted that the Tax Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization whose mission is to advocate for economically principled tax policy, even if it means questioning our own industry.

The scope of this paper is limited to organizations that fall under 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, but the true scope of the tax-exempt economy is much larger. Churches, for example, are not required to file tax returns, so the government does not track how much income they collect annually, although Giving USA estimates that churches raised $143.6 billion in revenues in 2022. [5] Churches are not included in the study, but some 501(c) religious organizations are included.

Another tax-exempt sector that is not included is quasi-government entities such as state public universities, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Federal Home Loan Banks. These tax-exempt enterprises generate roughly $500 billion in untaxed annual income.

The paper also ignores the charitable deduction and other tax breaks that shield income from taxation. Tax expenditures in the code topped $1.7 trillion in 2023 and deserve their own separate analysis.

The Nonprofit Tax Code Reflects America’s Pre-20 th Century Self-Help Roots

Volunteer and benevolent organizations existed in America long before our founding and even longer before the first federal income tax. Fraternal beneficiary societies provided insurance benefits for widows, aid for those too sick to work, and education for orphans. [6] Farmers banded together into cooperatives to provide lending for crops and marketing assistance. Credit unions and building and loan associations were formed to provide banking and lending to their members who worked in specific trades or lived in local communities. [7] Charity hospitals were common in most cities.

Such was the state of American society when lawmakers drafted a new income tax in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 and decided to exempt certain organizations. But their decisions seemingly were based on social conventions rather than a coherent theory or principle.

The act specifically exempted “corporations, companies, or associations organized and conducted solely for charitable, religious, or educational purposes, including fraternal beneficiary societies, orders, or associations operating upon the lodge system and providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, and other benefits to the members of such societies, orders, or associations and dependents of such members.” [8] It also exempted savings banks, institutions that lent only to members, mutual insurance companies, and the income generated by the stocks and securities owned by charitable organizations.

Although the Supreme Court struck down the 1894 income tax, the bill’s tax-exempt language became the foundation for all subsequent tax legislation addressing nonprofits, including the Revenue Act of 1909, which established an excise tax An excise tax is a tax imposed on a specific good or activity. Excise taxes are commonly levied on cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, soda , gasoline , insurance premiums, amusement activities, and betting, and typically make up a relatively small and volatile portion of state and local and, to a lesser extent, federal tax collections. on corporate profits.

The 1909 Tax Bill Formalized Many of the Exempt Sectors We Know Today

The Revenue Act of 1909 expanded the sectors first recommended for exemption in 1894 by adding labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations. It further defined the nature of nonprofit organizations as those “operated exclusively for the mutual benefit of their members.” And “no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or individual.” [9]

The prohibition against private inurement became a key factor in defining a “nonprofit” organization. “Nonprofit” is a bit of a misnomer because charitable organizations do have net income after expenses, what would otherwise be called “profits.” But nonprofit tax rules prohibit such surpluses from being distributed to any individual or “shareholder” and must be reinvested in the mission of the organization.

Despite these provisions, lawmakers never really clarified a defining theory of why some organizations should be tax-exempt and not others. Indeed, the Senate debate over the 1909 tax bill illustrated the ad hoc nature of the decision-making, not to mention the propensity of senators to stretch the definitions to include their favored industries and organizations.

Sen. Augustus Bacon (D-GA) was the lead sponsor of an amendment to define which activities should be exempt from the new corporate tax. One senator asked Sen. Bacon if the for-profit Methodist Book Concern in Nashville, Tennessee, should be exempt because it devoted all of its profits to “religious, benevolent, charitable, and educational purposes.” [10] Bacon argued that it should be tax-exempt because “It is organized for profit, but it is not organized for individual profit.” [11]

To address such questions, senators inserted the word “exclusively” into Bacon’s amendment to distinguish between the use of business profits worthy of tax exemption and profits that were not worthy.

An even more intense debate erupted over exempting building and loan associations from taxation. While some senators argued that the mission of helping the poor purchase homes was worthy of tax exemption, others argued that there were many large building and loan associations that were wholly commercial in nature and should not qualify for tax exemption. Senators ultimately agreed to add the words “mutual” and “domestic” to distinguish between small, local, and member-oriented building and loan associations and the large commercial firms.

Lawmakers Worried That Too Much of the Economy Was Exempted from Tax

Even with the adoption of qualifying language, some senators worried that too many sectors were being exempted, thus putting an unfair burden on the businesses still subject to the corporate tax.

Sen. Coe I. Crawford (R-SD) said, “The only question here is, Is it a corporation for profit and has it a net income to which this proposed [tax] law should apply? If so, why should it be exempted?”

Further, he predicted that groups would take advantage of the ambiguous language. “I think there is too much false sentiment about this matter,” he said. “Some one will come here and say ‘We are a lodge; we are an organization for the mutual help and benefit of our members, and therefore this law ought not to apply to us.’” [12]

Sen. Weldon B. Heyburn (R-ID) went a step further and asked, “Will some Senator tell me what remains and who there is remaining to pay this tax? I have just made a casual summary of the amount of capital exempted, and, according to the statistics, it is something over $1,800,000,000. There cannot be very much remaining.” [13]

Heyburn warned about the cumulative impact of the efforts by his fellow senators to exempt their special interests from the income tax. He said, “Having made a hasty mental summary as the various exemptions were proposed, and knowing as I do that you can call one of these concerns a ‘mutual benefit association,’ a ‘building association,’ or anything else, when it really may be a bank. I am merely calling attention to the fact that there will be very little left upon which to collect this revenue.”

Perhaps the most prophetic comment came from Sen. Joseph Bailey (D-TX), a strong proponent of the corporate tax, who said, “I would rather exempt some that ought to be taxed than to tax some that ought to be exempt.”

As we will see below, that philosophy likely explains the $3.3 trillion size of the untaxed economy today.

Lawmakers Continued to Exempt More Sectors and Added the Charitable Deduction

Sen. Crawford’s concern that lax definitions would lead to a proliferation of tax-exempt organizations proved to be far-sighted. The Revenue Act of 1913 expanded the list of exempt organizations even further, adding mutual savings banks, cemeteries, business leagues, chambers of commerce, civic leagues, and boards of trade. The Act also introduced the notion that civic leagues and similar organizations be “operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare,” a term lawmakers did not define. [14]

The Revenue Act of 1916, which increased income tax rates and brackets, added to the list of tax-exempt organizations “clubs organized and operated exclusively for pleasure, recreation and other non-profitable purposes . . . cooperative banks, mutual hail, cyclone, or fire insurance companies, mutual ditch or irrigation companies, mutual telephone companies . . . farmers’ marketing associations . . . federal land banks and national farm loan associations,” to name just a few. [15]

The deduction for charitable gifts was established in the Revenue Act of 1917 out of concern that the high income tax rates levied during World War I would discourage charitable giving. Deductible contributions were limited to 15 percent of taxable net income. [16]

A “Nonprofit” Pasta Company Led to Stricter Limits on Business Activity

Lawmakers’ failure to establish principled guardrails regarding how much business activity a nonprofit could engage in finally reached a head in the late 1940s when New York University acquired C.F. Meuller pasta company with the intent of benefiting from the profits generated by selling macaroni. [17] Such arrangements were not uncommon at the time because nonprofit law operated under a “destination of income” principle, which allowed income from any source to be tax-free as long as it was dedicated to a charitable purpose. [18]

In 1949, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the precursor to the Internal Revenue Service, released the first-ever analysis of 990 tax returns, representing all tax-exempt organizations in 1946. [19] The report separated the returns into two groups: business types, such as farm marketing cooperatives and mutual savings banks, and nonbusiness types such as civic clubs, charities, labor unions, and recreational groups that were not principally formed for business activities.

There were nearly 100,000 tax-exempt returns filed for 1946, and they reported total revenues of $9.8 billion. Of these, nearly 28,000 were business returns, accounting for $7.0 billion of the total revenues.

Interestingly, the report found that more than one-third of nonbusiness organizations reported business income totaling $1.1 billion. Business income accounted for 62 percent of the total revenues for “nonbusiness” organizations.

But even for organizations that did not report business-related income, charitable contributions and gifts were not a major share of their revenues. Indeed, charitable contributions and gifts composed 37.6 percent of their receipts. The majority of their income was generated by dues assessments from members as well as investment income.

Cases such as the New York University pasta company renewed concern among lawmakers that nonprofits were unfairly competing against for-profit firms and potentially shrinking the corporate tax base.

Lawmakers’ solution was to establish the unrelated business income tax (UBIT) rules as part of the Revenue Act of 1950. UBIT requires that any business income be “substantially related” to the organization’s core mission. Business income that is not substantially related is taxed at the statutory corporate tax rate.

Shortly after the passage of UBIT, Congress voted in 1951 to remove the tax exemption for mutual savings banks and savings and loan associations “to establish parity between competing financial institutions.” [20]

However, as we’ll see later, UBIT has become so generous in defining what is allowable business income for nonprofits that it generates very little revenue each year.

There Are Two Types of Nonprofits: Public-Serving and Member-Serving

The Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was a watershed moment in tax policy. [21] In addition to establishing the modern progressive income tax code that we recognize today, the Act formalized the designation of tax-exempt organizations under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The 1954 Act listed 16 types of tax-exempt organizations, but as Table 1 illustrates, the list has since grown to nearly 30 designations, although some are legacy designations and no longer in use.

The nonprofit world is generally split into two broad categories: public-serving and member-serving organizations.

• Public-Serving : The most well-known nonprofits are 501(c)(3) public charity organizations intended to serve broad, public interests such as tending to the poor, education, public health, scientific research, and cultural interests. These organizations can accept tax-deductible contributions.
• Member-Serving : All other 501(c) designations are largely member-serving organizations, including credit unions, business leagues, professional associations, rural utilities, real estate holding companies, insurance companies, and cemeteries. These organizations cannot accept charitable donations.

The Tax-Exempt Sector Is Equal to the Fifth-Largest Economy in the World

The senators who worried about the expanding list of tax-exempt entities in the Tax Act of 1909 would be shocked at the size of the tax-exempt economy today. Sen. Heyburn made a casual estimate of the amount of capital exempted at “something over $1,800,000,000,” or roughly 5 percent of U.S. GDP in 1909. [22] Today, the tax-exempt economy commands 15 percent of GDP, roughly equal to the GDP of California , which has the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Table 1 illustrates the breadth of the untaxed economy under 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. The data in this table is based on the most recent 2019 nonprofit datasets compiled and formatted by the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics. The Urban Institute datasets are drawn from various IRS data sources and include “financial information, governance details, and other organizational characteristics.” [23]

IRS data for tax-exempt organizations is available for COVID-19 years, 2020, 2021, and 2022. However, we chose not to use this data because it does not represent a typical year.

While the total number of nonprofits is over 1.8 million, the table represents organizations that file a full 990 federal income tax return providing complete financial information, which amounts to about 400,000 entities. The exception is 501(c)(1) federal credit unions that are not required to file a 990 tax return. Their financial information is sourced from the National Credit Union Administration. Many small nonprofits are allowed to file a postcard return and, thus, are generally not included in the data sets made available by the IRS.

In 2019, tax-exempt nonprofit organizations reported nearly $3.3 trillion in income and roughly $3.1 trillion in expenses, which resulted in $238 billion in net income. They commanded over $8 trillion in assets.

The largest category of nonprofit by far is the 501(c)(3) category of organizations. In 2019, these organizations booked nearly $2.5 trillion in revenues, equal to 75 percent of all nonprofit revenues. Their net income totaled nearly $152 billion, equal to 63 percent of all nonprofit net income. They also manage the majority of nonprofit assets.

The largest member-serving organizations by income include various insurance and retirement entities under sections 501(c)(4) Civic Leagues and Social Welfare Organizations (the largest of which are health insurers), 501(c)(9) Voluntary Employee’s Beneficiary Associations, and 501(c)(11) Teachers Retirement Fund Associations.

Federal and state credit unions, operating under sections 501(c)(1) and 501(c)(14), respectively, together generated $82.4 billion in revenues in 2019 and commanded over $1.5 trillion in assets in 2019, equal to 18 percent of all nonprofit assets.

Let’s first take a deeper look at public-serving nonprofits since they are by far the largest sector.

The Majority of Public-Serving 501(c)(3) Nonprofits Are Business-Like Entities

The universe of public-serving nonprofits is vast and diverse. Indeed, to manage this diversity, 501(c)(3) organizations have been further segmented into 28 codes under the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), as illustrated in Table 2 below.

However, if we were to generalize the public-serving nonprofit industry by its dominant industries, it could be called the hospital, health insurance, university, and education sector. Of the $2.5 trillion in revenues collected by 501(c)(3) organizations in 2019, 55 percent was generated by nonprofit hospitals and health insurance firms, and another 12 percent was generated by higher education entities such as colleges and universities.

There Are Many Very Rich Nonprofits

In 2019, there were 325 501(c)(3) nonprofits with more than $1 billion in revenues—nearly all were either hospitals or universities. Among the $1 billion organizations that were not hospitals or universities:

• Just three are relief-oriented: World Vision, Feeding America, and the American Red Cross.
• One is a museum: the Smithsonian Institution.
• Four are essentially government contractors: the MITRE Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Advanced Technology International, and Aerospace Corporation.
• One is the largest collegiate athletic association: the NCAA.
• Three are university-related organizations: the College Board, the Research Foundation for the State of New York, and the Educational Testing Service.
• And the rest are donor-advised funds or public foundations: the Nemours Foundation, National Philanthropic, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Schwab Charitable Fund, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund.

The largest nonprofit in America is Kaiser Permanente. In 2019, Kaiser’s health plan, hospitals, and state health plans generated more than $110 billion in combined tax-exempt revenues and over $5.6 billion in net income. No other nonprofit came close to Kaiser’s revenues. If Kaiser were for-profit, it would be among the Fortune 40 in revenues.

Nonprofit hospitals and healthcare firms comprise 55% of all 501(c)(3) revenues, booking $60 billion in profits. Higher education is the second largest sector. Most of their income comes from non-charitable sources.

The other hospitals with more than $10 billion in revenues included the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (UPMC) with $14.8 billion in revenues, Partners Health Care System with $13.6 billion, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation with $11.5 billion, and the Mayo Clinic Group with $10.4 billion.

Overall, nonprofit hospitals and health plans generated $1.4 trillion in revenues in 2019 and $61 billion in net income. They held assets of $1.9 trillion. Very little of this income comes from charitable contributions or grants. Urban Institute data shows that charitable contributions comprised 10 percent of hospital revenues and just 3 percent of health plan revenues.

Most hospital revenues are considered “program service income,” which includes insurance payments, patient reimbursements, and payments from Medicare and Medicaid. For health plans, most income is earned from insurance premiums.

Had these profitable health insurance and hospital firms been taxed at the standard corporate tax rate of 21 percent, they could have collectively been liable for nearly $13 billion in taxes in 2019.

Private Universities and Their Endowments Dominate the Education Sector

In 2019, there were 51 private universities with more than $1 billion in revenues. Ten universities reported more than $5 billion in income, including the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, New York University, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, University of Southern California, Columbia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, and Cornell. As a group, they held $264 billion in assets.

Collectively, private colleges and universities enjoyed net income of $22.2 billion in 2019. Had they been taxed as for-profit businesses they could have been liable for $4.6 billion in taxes.

Despite their tax-exempt status, the majority of university income comes from sources other than charitable donations from alumni. Overall, nearly 70 percent of university income comes from “program service revenue,” which includes tuition, fees, ticket sales from sporting events, patent royalties, rents from dorms, and cafeteria sales—all considered substantively related to their mission and, thus, exempt from taxes.

By contrast, charitable contributions accounted for 19 percent of total revenues for private universities and colleges.

Many universities have separate investment arms categorized as general “education” organizations, putting them in the same category as private primary and secondary schools.

For example, the $2 billion Gothic Corporation invests on behalf of Duke University. It held $7.6 billion in assets in 2019. Similarly, the Harvard Management Private Equity Corporation managed $31 billion in assets, while the Harvard Private Capital Realty Inc. managed $3.5 billion in assets. The University of Virginia Investment Management Corporation held $9.8 billion in assets, while the University of Wisconsin Foundation reported $4.1 billion in assets.

The Urban Institute dataset contains more than 800 university-related endowments, foundations, and fund-raising entities in 2019. These entities raised a total of $26.8 billion that year and had more than $209 billion in assets. They ended the year with $7.5 billion in net income which, had it been taxed at 21 percent, could have generated more than $1.5 billion in tax revenues.

Business-Like Organizations Abound in Unlikely 501(c)(3) Categories

Many nonprofit categories contain an eclectic mix of large business-like organizations alongside small local organizations. For example, the Arts & Culture sector contains hundreds of local arts projects, dance companies, theater groups, and orchestras. It also includes some very large institutions that could very well be considered for-profit organizations. The Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation is a good example.

In 2019, Harvard Business School Publishing (HBS) generated more than $265 million in revenues. According to its 990 tax return, it ended the year with net income of $3.9 million and paid about $1.1 million in taxes on $14 million in advertising income unrelated to its core mission. [24] On paper, it would appear that HBS generated very little in the way of “profits” on its book publishing activities, but that is because it made a $52.9 million transfer to the “President and Fellows of Harvard College” that it booked as an expense, which reduced its true net income. However, if HBS were a for-profit firm, it would be able to deduct any gifts to Harvard or any other nonprofit.

In some respects, this is similar to NYU’s attempt to use the profits from pasta sales to fund university activities. The only difference in Harvard’s case is that both entities are 501(c)(3) organizations.

Other business-like entities under the Arts & Culture umbrella include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, and the WGBH network, all nonprofit competitors of for-profit television and radio networks.

Another unique “cultural” entity is Creative Testing Solutions, which generated over $400 million in revenues in 2019, “Providing innovative, customized and exceptional laboratory testing services, in support of our healthcare partners and their life saving missions.” [25] These services seem very commercial in nature.

Conducting “Science” Can Be Big Business

Science research was one of the earliest activities to be made tax-exempt. But it is unlikely that those early lawmakers could have imagined how big of an industry “science research” and consulting services has become today and how much it lives off of government largess.

The biggest of these organizations is the Battelle Memorial Institute. By all appearances, Battelle is a government contractor. It manages nine national laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security. Battelle bills itself as providing “comprehensive scientific solutions to companies and government agencies across multiple markets.” [26] According to Battelle’s 2021 990 tax return, the organization generated $10 billion in revenues, 97 percent of which was from government grants and contracts.

Similar stories can be told about large tax-exempt science and engineering consulting organizations such as the MITRE Corporation, Aerospace Corporation, Fermi Research Alliance LLC, SRI International, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Noblis Inc., SRC Inc., and In-Q-Tel Inc. Each of these organizations provides services for the government and corporations comparable to those provided by for-profit consulting and management firms. They just provide such services as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit.

Many universities have established affiliated research and consulting organizations to provide support and resources for the research activities of the university. The largest of these is the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), which was organized in 1958 by the state universities of North Carolina along with Duke University, which is private. RTI generated more than $967 million in revenues in 2019.

RTI’s online promotional material reads like a commercial research and consulting firm. [27] RTI bills itself as “a leading independent, nonprofit research institute, with the contractual, legal, and business structures to serve any client with projects of all sizes.” It combines “the scientific rigor of a university with the focus of a project management firm . . . to deliver what our clients need—on target and on time.”

RTI’s 990 tax return reports that the organization does have “several for-profit entities subject to corporate income taxation,” and its presence in “certain foreign countries results in income taxation in these countries.” [28] Yet, RTI qualifies as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization under the U.S. tax code.

Business Income Is Now the Largest Share of Nonprofit Revenues

Because of the growth of business-like income over the past three decades, it is hard to call the 501(c)(3) sector the “charitable” sector anymore. Figure 1 shows how the growth in program service revenues has driven the overall growth in nonprofit revenues over the past 30 years. Generally speaking, program service revenues can include Medicare and Medicaid payments, payments for medical services from insurers and patients, tuition, ticket sales, royalties, insurance premiums, conference registration fees, fees and contracts from government agencies, and unrelated business income.

Since 1988, program service revenues have risen from $548 billion, in today’s dollars, to more than $1.8 trillion in 2019—an increase of 310 percent. [29]

Program revenues comprised 71 percent of nonprofit revenues in 2019, up from 67 percent in 1988. By contrast, charitable contributions comprised just 12 percent of nonprofit revenues in 2019.

As surprising as this may seem, the real story is that charitable contributions have never been the dominant source of income for 501(c)(3) organizations or for tax-exempts generally. As we saw in the Treasury Department’s 1949 study, even for organizations without business-related income, charitable donations were exceeded by dues, membership fees, and other income sources.

IRS data shows that as a share of 501(c)(3) income, contributions fell from 27 percent in 1975 to 18 percent in 1982 and 12 percent in 2019. [30]

Nonprofits Are Increasingly Dependent on Funds from Government

While the 1949 Treasury study separated tax-exempt organizations into business and nonbusiness types, a third type of nonprofit has emerged since the Great Society of the 1960s—government-dependent organizations. Such organizations derive most of their income from government grants, contracts, or programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, public housing, and anti-poverty aid.

As we saw with the research and consulting organizations discussed above, many government agencies rely on nonprofit organizations as contractors or subcontractors, managing programs such as public housing, transit systems, social services, and job training.

Figure 1 shows that government grants alone nearly equal charitable contributions in most years, and government grants do not include revenues from government contracts or programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which are considered program service income.

Identifying Purely Benevolent 501(c)(3) Organizations Is Challenging

Many of the organization types we have reviewed so far are business-like in form and function. But looking at the list of 501(c)(3) NTEE categories, a few stand out as containing more benevolent organizations than business-like organizations.

Employment and job-related organizations (category J) range from job training services to local trade unions. Perhaps the most prominent name in this category is Goodwill Industries, with some 180 local chapters. Dress for Success is another national organization with more than 50 chapters providing business attire and training to women seeking jobs. [31]

A sizeable number of organizations in this category are lesser-known community-based vocational training and apprenticeship organizations supported by government grants and private donations. Trade unions operate similar apprentice and training programs for carpenters, masons, electricians, and pipe fitters, for example.

Standing out from such training programs are numerous local union chapters, supported by member dues.

The most benevolent-centered category is K, representing food, agriculture, and nutrition organizations. The Urban Institute dataset includes more than 5,700 food, agriculture, and nutrition organizations with total revenues of nearly $17.8 billion in 2019. Here we find that nearly every organization is a food bank, food pantry, child hunger-related organization, or adult nutrition service such as Meals on Wheels. The largest such organization is the $2.8 billion Feeding America, but most are local in nature such as the $10 million Food Bank of East Alabama and the $30,000 Westlake Meals on Wheels.

Overall, contributions and grants comprised 90 percent of the revenues for food and nutrition organizations in 2019, which clearly sets these benevolent organizations apart from most other nonprofits.

The housing and shelter organizations comprising category L include a mix of benevolent organizations, government contractors, and business-like entities. Many of the larger organizations in this category are public housing providers or management contractors. The largest such organization is Navigate Affordable Housing Partners in Birmingham, Alabama, which received 99.7 percent of its $605 million in 2019 income from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants and contracts. [32]

Vetter Senior Living in Elkhorn, Nebraska , is also representative of the more business-like organizations in this category. Started in 1975 by Jack and Eldora Vetter, this chain of senior living facilities received more than half ($134 million) of its $222.5 million in revenues from Medicaid and Medicare in 2019. [33] Most of the remaining income came from “patient service revenue” and “management revenues.” [34] On the surface, it is difficult to distinguish between the services that Vetter provides as a “nonprofit” and those provided by for-profit senior living companies.

Habitat for Humanity is the largest of the more traditional volunteer-based service organizations found in this category. The vast majority of its $288 million in revenues in 2019 came from grants, contributions, and in-kind gifts. [35]

Multipurpose is the operative term for human service organizations in category P. The largest organization in this category is the American Red Cross with more than $2.8 billion in income in 2019. The AARP Foundation is also listed as a human service organization and illustrates how some large nonprofits use related tax-exempt entities to expand their operations. Its 990 for 2019 shows that it is affiliated with other AARP entities, including the main AARP entity, which is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. [36] The main AARP entity booked some $1.7 billion in revenues in 2019, including more than $977 million in tax-free royalty income. [37]

The Urban Institute datasets include more than 600 separate filings for local YMCA or WYCA chapters, which have combined income of $6.1 billion and assets of $12 billion. By contrast, the largest for-profit fitness company by income is LA Fitness, which also has 600 locations but only $2 billion in revenues.

But the category also includes an interesting variety of smaller organizations, such as dog rescues, adult day care centers, children’s day care centers, hospice care, community centers, thrift stores, pregnancy centers, diaper banks, and yoga studios.

A Look into Member-Serving Tax-Exempt Organizations: 501(c)(1) – 501(c)(29)

Almost by definition, organizations other than 501(c)(3) entities have a business orientation in some manner, even if they were intended to be member-serving. These include credit unions, rural utilities and coops, insurance companies, pension funds, business and sports leagues, cemeteries, real estate holding companies, farmer coops, fraternal organizations, social and recreation clubs, and veterans organizations.

Let’s explore a few of these categories.

501(c)(4) organizations are a good example of how tax-exempt definitions can be expanded to include big businesses. While tax laws require that such organizations be “operated exclusively to promote social welfare,” that concept seems to have been interpreted broadly. [38]

Washington insiders may associate 501(c)(4) organizations with activist and public policy organizations like the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union, but such organizations are in the minority. Social welfare organizations seem to be split between a few hundred large health-related firms and thousands of smaller 501(c)(4) organizations such as Rotary clubs, Kiwanis, Lions clubs, Optimist clubs, American Legion, Links chapters, homeowners associations, and volunteer fire departments.

The largest 501(c)(4) entities, those with more than $100 million in revenues, are predominantly health-related firms such as dental plans, HMOs, and health-care networks. Delta Dental Plans, with roughly 30 state entities, is the largest of these organizations. In 2019, it had combined revenues of more than $15 billion and net income of $339 million.

Perhaps the most unusual of these large “social welfare” organizations is the Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino Inc. in Altoona, Iowa . Originally launched as a commercial venture, which went bankrupt, it was converted into a nonprofit in 1994 and is reportedly one of only two nonprofit casinos in the U.S. With more than $2.3 billion in 2019 revenues, Prairie Meadows says it is “dedicated to lessening the burden of government by raising funds for charitable organizations and community improvement projects.” [39]

Prairie Meadows’ mission statement is an interesting justification for the tax-exempt status of what was a failed commercial venture. It harkens back to the 1909 Senate quandary whether the for-profit Methodist Book Concern should pay the corporate income tax A corporate income tax (CIT) is levied by federal and state governments on business profits. Many companies are not subject to the CIT because they are taxed as pass-through businesses , with income reportable under the individual income tax . because it gave away its profits to charitable causes. And tying a casino’s charitable status to “lessening the burden of government” is a questionable principle that could open the door to no end of dubious “commercial” but tax-exempt enterprises, such as a “nonprofit” marijuana dispensary.

The 501(c)(6) “business league” category could be called the tax-exempt home of K Street lobbyists, golf and tennis companies, professional guilds, and tourism boards. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is said to have led the effort in 1913 to exempt business membership organizations and civic leagues from tax during the debate over the Revenue Act of 1913. Indeed, some of the biggest business groups in Washington, D.C., are organized as 501(c)(6) entities, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, American Hospital Association, American Bureau of Shipping, American Chemistry Council, National Milk Producers Federation, and National Association of Broadcasters.

Many professional sports organizations are also organized as “business leagues.” While the NFL, MLB, and NBA renounced their tax-exempt status years ago, a number of prominent professional sports leagues still maintain their tax-exempt status. These include the PGA, United States Tennis Association, ATP Tour, Ladies Professional Golf Association, WTA Tour Inc., United States Polo Association, the Breeders Cup Limited, National Hot Rod Association, and Professional Golfers Association of America.

This is also a common organizational form for professional organizations, such as the American Bar Association, American Medical Association, National Association of Realtors, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Motion Picture Association.

Advertising and promotional organizations are frequently organized as 501(c)(6) organizations. Notable promotional organizations include the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee, Avocados from Mexico , United States Meat Export Federation, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Dairy Promotion Inc.

The social and recreation clubs represented in the 501(c)(7) classification may consist of some of the most exclusive golf, athletic, and social clubs in the United States. Social and recreational clubs were exempted from tax in the 1916 Tax Act. Many of the largest cities have exclusive social and athletic clubs, including the New York Athletic Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Atlanta Athletic Club, the Yale Club of New York City, the Harvard Club of New York City, and the Bohemian Club near San Francisco. Indeed, the Tax Foundation was organized at a meeting of business leaders in 1937 at the University Club in New York City.

Golf courses dominate the 501(c)(7) category of nonprofit organizations, including some of the most iconic and exclusive golf clubs in America, such as the Congressional Country Club, Baltusrol Golf Club, Winged Foot Golf Club, Oakmont Country Club, and Sawgrass Country Club. By contrast, Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the Masters tournament, is a for-profit corporate entity.

The richest of all the clubs in 2019 was the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona , which reported $68 million in revenues. Membership to this exclusive golf and lifestyle community is by “invitation only.” [40] The Club’s real estate listings include homes ranging from $1.5 million to nearly $13 million.

There are certainly smaller, less famous clubs in this category, including a Giant Schnauzer club, local boating clubs, swim and tennis clubs, kennel clubs, singing clubs, model train clubs, a Slovak Citizens club, and various cotillion clubs.

Fraternal beneficiary societies organized under 501(c)(8) of the tax code are now largely insurance companies. Fraternal beneficiary societies were a prevalent part of America’s self-help culture when the first income taxes were being drafted, first in 1894 and then in 1909. Yet, as B.H. Meyer explained in an academic study in 1900, there was always a tension between their social function and their beneficiary function.

Fraternal beneficiary societies, as the name suggests, are dual in their nature. Because they are both fraternal and beneficiary, these societies are really composed of two organizations each: a fraternity and an insurance company . . . In other words, a typical fraternal society rests upon three things: first, voluntary organization on a basis of equality; second, some ritualistic system; and third, a system of benefits. These three are united in different proportions in different societies, and in not a few of them a struggle for predominance is taking place between the first and third. This is the battle between “fraternalism and commercialism.” [41]

More than 100 years later, the commercial side of these organizations has won out. For example, WoodmenLife—which was founded in 1890—offers various types of life insurance and retirement products. [42] Modern Woodmen (unrelated to WoodmenLife) offers an even broader portfolio of products beyond life insurance, such as retirement planning, estate planning, and employee benefits. [43] The Knights of Columbus does have a well-known service side, but also offers its members retirement annuities, mutual funds, donor advised funds, and various life insurance policies. [44]

The products and services offered by these nonprofit organizations are in direct competition with similar products offered by for-profit financial service firms.

Tax-exempt public electric, water, and utility companies are a legacy of Depression-era efforts to promote rural self-help. Today’s 501(c)(12) tax-exempt utilities were formed as “cooperatives” during the early 1900s to bring electricity and water services to rural areas at a time when the larger urban utilities didn’t find it profitable to reach those markets. In 1934, Congress created the Rural Electrification Administration—now the Rural Utilities Service (RUS)—within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote the growth of rural coops and provide them low-cost financing.

Some 90 years later, rural coops are still dependent upon their tax-exempt status and subsidized loans. Notably, many of the “rural” communities these coops were created to serve are now prosperous suburbs of cities such as Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia , not to mention tony resort communities such as Sanibel and Marco Island in Florida .

This ecosystem of tax-exempt utilities is supported by two larger tax-exempt organizations. The industry’s lobbying arm is the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a 501(c)(6) membership organization. [45] The industry’s lending arm—independent of the federal RUS—is the $1.38 billion National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). CFC is a 501(c)(4) entity and bills itself as “Bridging the financial needs of the rural electric cooperative network with global capital markets.” [46] It has more than $35 billion in assets.

The Paper Tiger of Nonprofit Law: The Unrelated Business Income Tax

Congress enacted UBIT in 1950 with the aim of leveling the playing field between tax-exempt organizations and for-profit firms. But as Jeffrey Scott Tenenbaum wrote in his primer on UBIT for the American Bar Association, “instead of prohibiting tax-exempt entities from engaging in any business activities at all . . . Congress chose to specifically permit a certain degree of business activity by tax-exempt organizations, but tax that activity like any other for-profit business.” [47]

Thus, writes Tenenbaum, “such business activities are permissible, so long as the activities are not a ‘substantial part of [the nonprofit’s] activities.’ The tax applies to virtually all tax-exempt entities.”

A frequent example of the difference between taxable and non-taxable sales activities is a museum gift shop that sells greeting cards bearing reproductions of paintings in the museum’s collection as well as local maps and souvenirs. UBIT rules would require the museum to pay tax on the income generated by the souvenirs because those items are not related to the museum’s mission. But it would not pay UBIT on income generated by the greeting cards with an image of a Monet because those sales are related to the museum’s mission of advancing art appreciation. [48]

The Harvard Business School magazine is another example. HBS does not pay tax on the income generated by its business publications or magazine subscriptions because they are determined to be a key element of the organization’s mission. However, HBS does pay tax on the income generated by the advertising in the magazine because those promote private and commercial interests separate from HBS’s mission.

There are, however, numerous exemptions to UBIT that give organizations wide latitude to earn business-like income. This includes income from corporate sponsorships, royalties, TV broadcast rights, certain rents, interest, dividends, and convention fees to name a few.

As a result of UBIT’s narrow scope and numerous exemptions, the tax raises very few revenue. IRS data on UBIT revenues from 1990 to 2017 shows that, on average, 17 percent of nonprofit charitable organizations reported unrelated business income and roughly half of those organizations were liable for UBIT. After adjusting for inflation Inflation is when the general price of goods and services increases across the economy, reducing the purchasing power of a currency and the value of certain assets. The same paycheck covers less goods, services, and bills. It is sometimes referred to as a “ hidden tax ,” as it leaves taxpayers less well-off due to higher costs and “bracket creep,” while increasing the government’s spending power. , UBIT raised an average of $586 million per year from 1990 to 2017, less than 0.5 percent of the billions in net income charitable nonprofits generated each year. [49]

So rather than level the playing field, UBIT has had little to no effect on preventing nonprofits from engaging in business-like activities nor competing directly with for-profit firms.

Three Reforms Can Level the Playing Field and Broaden the Tax Base

After more than 100 years of nonprofit expansion into the business economy, it is time that lawmakers developed some simple and uniform rules that accomplish two things: 1) distinguish between benevolent organizations and business-like entities, and 2) expressly level the playing field between the business activities of nonprofit and for-profit entities.

Three changes would remove the tax advantage that business-like nonprofits have over for-profit firms while protecting the charitable income of benevolent organizations.

Step 1: The first step is to raise the threshold for the percentage of charitable contributions a 501(c)(3) organization must receive to be considered a “publicly supported” charity. Currently, an organization needs to show that it receives at least 30 percent of its revenues from “public” sources to be considered a public charity eligible to accept tax-deductible donations. Public sources is a broad concept that includes contributions from the public, government grants, grants from charitable foundations, net income from unrelated business activities, membership fees, and gross investment income. [50]

Since our goal is to narrow the definition of a “publicly supported” charity to focus on benevolent organizations, the income threshold should be increased to 80 percent and limited to donations from private individuals and grants from charitable foundations. Income from government contracts, government grants for services, membership fees, investment income, and business income should not be included as these sources are more business-like than charitable in nature.

Such a rule would protect the “public charity” status of a women’s shelter that hosts an annual charity ball but would likely deny that status for a nonprofit group such as the Battelle Memorial Institute that receives most of its income from contracts or grants for service from the departments of Energy or Defense, for example.

Step 2: The second step would be to eliminate UBIT and apply the 21 percent corporate income tax to the net program service income of all nonprofit organizations. The calculation of net program service income would differ between 501(c)(3) organizations and other nonprofits because of the need to separate charitable income from program service revenues.

As was discussed earlier, most 501(c)(3) organizations generate income from charitable donations and program service revenue. Program service revenues are the kind of income that a for-profit firm would normally pay tax on, including tuition, fees, Medicare and Medicaid payments, insurance reimbursements, rents, contract income, royalties, and broadcast rights. Under this proposed rule, nonprofits would subtract their program-related expenses from their program service revenues and pay income tax on the remainder.

In the table below, we estimate that 501(c)(3) organizations had $92 billion in net program service income in 2019. Had this net income, or profits, been taxed at the 21 percent corporate tax rate, it could have raised $19 billion in new tax revenues. This estimate does not account for any behavioral effects, nor have we accounted for an adjustment to corporate accounting standards such as bonus expensing.

Calculating taxable income Taxable income is the amount of income subject to tax , after deductions and exemptions . For both individuals and corporations, taxable income differs from—and is less than—gross income. is much simpler for all other exempt organizations since they don’t have to account for charitable contributions. All of their income is assumed to be program service income. These organizations would simply pay the corporate income tax rate on their income net of expenses like any private business.

In 2019, these organizations had $87 billion in net income, or profits. Had these profits been taxed at the 21 percent corporate tax rate, it could have raised $18 billion in revenues.

Lastly, federal credit unions generated $7 billion in net income in 2019 and would have been liable for $2 billion in taxes had they been taxed at 21 percent.

Combined, taxing the net program income of all nonprofits could have raised $39 billion in new revenues in 2019.

Using 2019 data, taxing the net program income of 501(c)(3) organizations could raise as much as $19 billion in revenues. Taxing all other 501(c) organizations on their net income could raise $18 billion. Overall, the policy could raise upwards of $39 billion.

Step 3: The final step would be to decide how to tax the investment income—dividends, interest, and capital gains—of tax-exempt organizations. Table 3 includes investment income in the total net “profits” of tax-exempt organizations and, thus, assumes they are taxed at 21 percent. Currently, most nonprofits pay no tax on their investment income under the theory that such income supports the mission of the organization. However, private foundations are required to pay a 1.39 percent excise tax on their investment income. Large university endowments are also required to pay a 1.4 percent excise tax if the endowment assets exceed $500,000 per student.

The rate at which nonprofit investment income is taxed is not a trivial matter. In 2019, the Urban Institute dataset shows that 501(c)(3) organizations reported $51.8 billion in investment income. All other 501(c) organizations reported $19.4 billion in investment income, which brings the total of nonprofit investment income to $71.2 billion. Taxing this income at roughly 1.4 percent rather than 21 percent would yield much less revenue.

The tax exemption for investment income has allowed some large nonprofits to become tax-exempt hedge funds. Tax neutrality demands that all taxpayers pay the same rate on their investment income. Thus, it would make sense to tax the investment income of nonprofits at the 21 percent corporate rate and remove any incentive for arbitrage or income shifting.

Washington faces a brewing fiscal crisis that will force lawmakers to look for additional tax revenues, either to address mounting deficits or to offset the extension of key portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—perhaps even both. The fairest and least economically harmful way to raise new revenues is to expand the federal tax base to include business-like income earned by tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.

The rules governing the tax-exempt sector are long overdue for reform. The $3.3 trillion nonprofit economy is dominated by large, business-like organizations that overshadow the truly benevolent organizations the tax exemption should be reserved for.

A reasonable rewriting of the tax-exempt rules should include narrowing the definition of “public charity,” repealing the toothless UBIT, and subjecting all non-charitable income to taxation. Doing so would protect the charitable income of benevolent organizations while leveling the playing field between nonprofits and for-profit entities. Most importantly, tighter rules would also give a principled foundation to the nonprofit sector that has been missing for the past 120 years.

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[1] Author calculations.

[2] Internal Revenue Service, “Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract (EO BMF),” https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organizations-business-master-file-extract-eo-bmf

[3] Author calculations, See Table 1.

[4] Congress of the United States, Joint Committee on Taxation, Historical Development and Present Law of the Federal Tax Exemption for Charities and Other Tax-Exempt Organizations , Apr. 19, 2005, https://www.jct.gov/publications/2005/jcx-29-05/ .

[5] Giving USA, “Giving USA Limited Data Tableau Visualization, 2022 Giving Overview,” https://givingusa.org/giving-usa-limited-data-tableau-visualization/ .

[6] B.H. Meyer, “Fraternal Beneficiary Societies in the United States,” American Journal of Sociology 6:5 (March 1901): 647, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2762005 .

[7] Scott Hodge, “After 90 Years, It Is Time to Wean Credit Unions off Taxpayer Subsidies,” Tax Foundation, Jan. 30, 2024, https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/credit-union-tax-treatment/

[8] Tariff of 1894 (Wilson-Gorman Tariff), Aug. 27, 1894, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/5901 . (The income tax is defined on p. 553 and the tax-exempt language begins on p. 556.)

[9] American Association of Public Accountants, The Corporation Tax Law of 1909, https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1955&context=aicpa_guides .

[10] 44 Cong. Rec. 4151 (1909).

[12] Ibid., p. 4155.

[13] Ibid., p. 4156.

[14] H.R. 3321, 63 rd Cong. (1913), p. 172, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/historical/congressional/underwood-tariff-1913.pdf .

[15] E. Gordon Keith, “New Data on Tax-Exempt Organizations,” Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation under the Auspices of the National Tax Association 38 (1945): 257-269, www.jstor.org/stable/23404793 .

[16] Individual Income Tax An individual income tax (or personal income tax) is levied on the wages, salaries, investments, or other forms of income an individual or household earns. The U.S. imposes a progressive income tax where rates increase with income. The Federal Income Tax was established in 1913 with the ratification of the 16th Amendment . Though barely 100 years old, individual income taxes are the largest source of tax revenue in the U.S. Return for Calendar Year 1917, Form 1040 Instructions, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1917.pdf .

[17] Mark B. Edwards, “It All Started With Macaroni: A Trip Through the Shadowy World of UBIT,” prepared for the 2005 Legal Forum, September 2005, https://www.inumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/unrelatedbusinessincome-1.pdf .

[18] Joint Committee on Taxation (2005), 100.

[19] United States Treasury Department, Bureau of Internal Revenue, “Supplement to Statistics of Income for 1946, Part 2,” October 1949, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/46eosupsec2.pdf .

[20] Hodge, “After 90 Years, It Is Time to Wean Credit Unions off Taxpayer Subsidies.”

[21] Internal Revenue Code of 1954, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-68/pdf/STATUTE-68A-Pg1.pdf .

[22] U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Part 1 , (Washington, DC, 1975), 224. Note: In 1909, U.S. GDP was $33.4 billion in current dollars.

[23] “NCCS Core Series Overview,” National Center for Charitable Statistics, https://nccs.urban.org/nccs/datasets/core/ .

[24] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2018 , Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/043177990_201906_990_2021012817670018.pdf .

[25] Creative Testing Solutions, https://www.mycts.org/ .

[26] Battelle Memorial Institute, https://www.battelle.org/about-us .

[27] RTI International, https://www.rti.org/about-us .

[28] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2018 , Research Triangle Institute, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/560686338_201909_990_2020101517377917.pdf .

[29] Scott Hodge, “Nonprofits are Financially Healthy and Doing Big Business,” Tax Foundation, Oct. 6, 2023. https://taxfoundation.org/blog/501c3-nonprofit-revenue/ .

[31] Dress for Success, https://www.dressforsuccessqc.org/ .

[32] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2019, Navigate Affordable Housing Partners Inc., https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/630985617_201912_990_2020110517414338.pdf .

[33] Vetter Senior Living, https://www.vetterseniorliving.com/we-believe/history/ .

[34] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2018, Vetter Senior Living, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/471108168_201906_990_2021012817669748.pdf .

[35] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2018 , Habitat for Humanity International Inc., https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/911914868_201906_990_2020020617119545.pdf .

[36] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax 2019, AARP Foundation, 2018 https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/520794300_201912_990_2021022617763807.pdf .

[37] IRS, Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2019, AARP, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/951985500_201912_990O_2022042920018144.pdf .

[38] Internal Revenue Service, “Social welfare organizations,” https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/other-non-profits/social-welfare-organizations .

[39] Prairie Meadows, https://www.prairiemeadows.com/about-us/our-company .

[40] Desert Mountain Club Inc., https://www.desertmountain.com/membership-information/ .

[41] B.H. Meyer, “Fraternal Beneficiary Societies in the United States,” American Journal of Sociology 6:5 (March 1901): 646-661, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2762005 .

[42] Woodmen Life, https://www.woodmenlife.org/extras/ .

[43] Modern Woodmen, https://www.modernwoodmen.org/financial-planning/protection/ .

[44] Knights of Columbus, https://www.kofc.org/en/what-we-do/insurance/index.html .

[45] Cooperative Services Corporation, https://www.cooperative.com/cfc/pages/ncsc.aspx .

[46] National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, https://www.nrucfc.coop/content/nrucfc/en/about-cfc.html .

[47] Jeffrey Scott Tenenbaum, “Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT): A Comprehensive Overview for Nonprofits,” Business Law Today, November 2021, https://americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2021-november/unrelated-business-income-tax/ .

[48] Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Publication 598: Tax on Unrelated Business Income of Exempt Organizations , Mar. 22, 2021, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p598.pdf .

[49] Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, Table 16: Nonprofit Charitable Organization and Domestic Private Foundation Information Returns, and Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Returns: Selected Financial Data, Expanded , https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-historical-table-16 .

[50] U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization , revised January 2014, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf .