Research
Research is a way of looking for new information, new understanding, and new facts. A person who does research is called a researcher. Some researchers work in academia. Other researchers work for businesses, for organisations, or for the government. Research is often used for solving problems or increasing available knowledge. This can be done by testing theories and making observations. Research usually prefers to be systematic, organised, and objective.[1] Research is used in many different fields of study such as science, mathematics, and the humanities.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?[2]
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Academic research
Researchers take part in field or laboratory experiments, reading relevant books, journals or websites, taking notes and making conclusions. Teaching and lecturing is only part of the job of a professor or researcher.[3] When they are not directly teaching classes they are often working on academic research.[3] Historians for example may study historical documents to determine why an event happened as it did.
Learning institutions can vary widely in what they expect from members of their faculty.[4] Most expect faculty members to set up their own laboratories.[4] They hire their own lab employees and obtain their own funding, often from more than one source.[4] Academic researchers often compete for grants to fund research at their own university.[5] The more money researchers can attract, the higher the prestige of that university.[5]
Scientific research
The scientific method is the usual way of doing this kind of research. It is meant to improve understanding of biology, engineering, physics, chemistry and many other fields. With this kind of research, scientists can understand the world, and discover useful things.
Money for research comes from governments, private corporations, and charities. Some of these organizations combine research and development of new products and ways of doing their work.
Some basic principles of research
Any research should be:
- Systematic: from a hypothesis or working objective, researchers gather data according to a scheme set out in advance. They use the data to change ideas or add new knowledge to that already existing. The approach used in research is the scientific method.
- Organized: members of a research group use the same definitions, standards and principles. This is part of the detailed plan.
- Objective: conclusions from research must be based on observed and measured facts, not on subjective impressions. The conclusions should be unbiased.
Basic activities at research process
- Studying available information on the subject. [facts]
- Physical or computer modeling.
- Measuring the phenomena.
- Comparing the obtained results.
- Interpreting the results with the current knowledge, considering the variables which might have influenced the result.
Types of research
- Basic research, also called fundamental research or pure research, aims to understand nature.
- Applied research aims at using the new knowledge to do something.
Publishing
Research must be published so the world can learn from it. Nature, Science and Proceedings of the Royal Society, are general scientific journals. Many special journals are published. Research must pass the peer review process in order to be published.
Research Media
Aristotle, (384–322 BC), one of the early figures in the development of the scientific method
Primary scientific research being carried out at the Microscopy Laboratory of the Idaho National Laboratory
Scientific research equipment at MIT
German maritime research vessel Sonne
German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), considered to be one of the founders of modern source-based history
Research design and evidence
Some of the basic elements of the scientific method, arranged in a cycle to emphasize that it is an iterative process.
The research room at the New York Public Library, an example of secondary research in progress
Maurice Hilleman, the preeminent vaccinologist of the 20th century, is credited with saving more lives than any other scientist in that time.
Cover of the first issue of Nature, 4 November 1869
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References
- ↑ Bung, Mario 1967. Scientific research. vol 1: The search for system; vol 2: The search for truth. Berlin:Springer.
- ↑ "How to: Begin Basic Academic Research". OnlineUniversities.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Academic research and studies: How they work and why journalists should care". Journalist's Resource. Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center and the Carnegie-Knight Initiative. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Barbara M. Sanborn (January 2011). "A career in academic research – what does it take to succeed?". ASBMB Today. American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Daniel J. Howard; Frank N. Laird (Fall 2013). "The New Normal in Funding University Science". Issues in Science and Technology, Volume XXX Issue 1. University of Texas at Dallas. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
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