Delimitations
The boundaries a researcher deliberately sets on a study's scope, such as which population, period, setting, or variables it covers.
Delimitations are the deliberate choices that narrow a study's scope: which population is examined, which time period, which setting, which variables, and which theories frame the analysis. Together they define what the research will and will not attempt, by design rather than by accident, and they should be justified rather than merely listed.
They contrast with limitations, which are weaknesses outside the researcher's control. Choosing to study only first-year students is a delimitation; a low response rate among them is a limitation.
Stating delimitations early in a thesis, usually in the introduction or methodology chapter, keeps the project feasible and protects it during examination. Clear boundaries justify why related questions were left out, prevent scope creep during data collection, and let examiners judge the work against what it claimed to do rather than everything it might have done.
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