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 …

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