What did the people hope to achieve during the battle of dogger bank?

The Germans strategy was to make a surprise attack on British shipping in the North Sea. Most of the Germany navy was in port and blockaded so the attack was meant to draw some of the blockading ships away and relieve the pressure. The British wanted a resounding victory that would underline her supremacy in the North Sea and gain a psychological advantage over the Germans in conflict.

The German navy had attacked the area just prior to the battle shelling Scarborough, Hartleppol and Whitby causing some damage and inflicting over 100 civilian deaths. The intent was not to cause strategic damage but to annoy the British. That attack, by Admiral Hipper, was considered a success so the intention was to repeat it a couple of months later to demonstrate to the British that their much vaunted control of the North Sea wasn't as strong or as secure as they thought it was. This time the British North Sea fleet was ready, having intercepted signals. They attacked and sank one ship but in return the British flag ship sustained a fair amount of damage that saw her return to harbour for repairs. The German attacking fleet escaped after confusing signals were hoisted.

The battle is considered a victory for Britain, the attacking German fleet fled before they could bombard the Englisg coast and never again attempted this tactic. They also lost one ship and sustained damage to several others. Had the confusing signals not been sent then it's likely that the margin of victory would have been much greater. The German fleet was outnumbered, outgunned and were in ships that were slower than the pursuing British.