The study examines …
This study investigates …
The study addresses …
This study puts forward …
The study will attempt to show …
This study seeks to explain …
This study attempts to clarify …
This study evaluates …
The study seeks to combine …
The study seeks to integrate …
integration of … and …
The study aims to …
The purpose of this study is to …
The purpose of the present paper is to …
The study focuses on …
It will highlight …
… to explore …
… to examine …
… to explain …
… to attempt to …
… to develop …
… to determine whether …
… to define …
… to account for …
… to identify …
… to replicate …
the concept of …
the question whether …
the first question is whether …
a or one key question relates to …
the fundamental questions concerning …
the issue of …
the problem of …
the problem of how to …
the need to …
the origin of …
the effect of … on …
the possible effects of … on …
the relationship between … and …
Our main aim or objective here is to …
the overall aim or objective of …
a general explanation for …
We will show how …
We will show that …
What we aim to achieve is …
…, with the aim of establishing a framework …
… in the framework of a general theory of …
The aim of this study is twofold, threefold etc.:
The aim or objective of the study is …
… to put forward an explanation for …
… to put forward a theory of or for …
… to examine the types of …
… to verify the role of … in …
… to investigate what role, if any, … plays in …
… to assess the effects of … on …
… to trace the development of …
… to improve the or our understanding of …
… to broaden our understanding of …
… to gain new insights into …
… to provide better insight into …
… to highlight a number of …
… to direct attention towards …
… to establish a theoretical framework …
… to find a unified basis for …
… to lay the foundations of or for …
… to introduce new terminology
… to make recommendations for …
… to address the issues of …
… to move beyond …
… to identify and evaluate …
… to evaluate or examine critically …
… to evaluate empirically …
… to examine the value of …
… to examine the validity of …
… to examine the nature of …
… to determine the relationship between …
… to examine the development of …
… to examine the effects of … on …
… to examine whether … is affected by …
… to examine to what extent … is affected by …
… to elaborate on the idea that or of …
… to stimulate the debate on …
Our contention is that …
The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that …
a combination of breadth of coverage and depth of detail
This study seeks to strike a balance between … and …