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<br />To be meaningful and useful, an objective must (1) state fully what the <br />worker intends to accomplish; (2) exclude fully what is not the intent; and <br />(3) specify a recognizable end point so progress or attainment can be deter- <br />mined. Consider the following objective for example: <br /> <br />To study the relationship between black bullheads and <br />channel catfish. <br /> <br />This objective fits none of the three guidelines. The intent of the <br />researcher was narrower than this, and the following wording is much <br />improved: <br /> <br />To measure the influence of black bullheads on: <br />(1) reproduction, <br />(2) fry survival, and <br />(3) growth of 0-, 1-, and 2-year-old <br />channel catfish in 1/2-acre experimental ponds. <br /> <br />This objective includes much, and yet it also excludes a great deal. <br />First, it restricts the direction of the investigation to one where only the <br />effects of bullheads on catfish are to be examined. There is further exclu- <br />sion by noting the location of the work, and the use of experimental ponds <br />implies controlled conditions. Perhaps the time-frame is not so evident, and <br />yet careful experimental design should allow specified measurements to be made <br />within a relatively short period of time, three to five years or less. <br /> <br />It is helpful if an objective can be worded in performance terms; that <br />is, in terms where an act, behavior, or measured accomplishment demonstrates <br />attainment of an objective. Consider this example: <br /> <br />To produce a manual of techniques for use in aspen management <br />by commercial cutting which will, at no cost to the depart- <br />ment of natural resources, provide an average annual harvest <br />potential of four ruffed grouse per square mile and winter 20 <br />white-tailed deer per square mile. <br /> <br />This objective has an end point of immediate significance in performance <br />terms: production of the manual. The effectiveness of the manual at a <br />later terminal end point is also measurable in performance terms. This end <br />point is a harvest of four ruffed grouse per square mile and a wintering <br />population of 20 white-tailed deer per square mile. <br /> <br />If some area, species, or situation is important enough for expenditure <br />of time and money in management or research, then it is important enough for <br />the worker to think, plan, and set forth attainable objectives complete and <br />discrete in content. In research studies these objectives are subject to <br />experimental design. In management endeavors these objectives are the basis <br />of scheduled field operations. The tactical plan is not complete until these <br />action objectives are stated clearly. Many workers neglect proper attention <br />to this critical step, probably because they underestimate its importance. <br /> <br />13 <br />