There are two ways of looking at research and perfect research. Conceptually, these two are oxymoron. Research is done to understand the unknown or clear doubts about the known. Perfect research is possible only when you have the full knowledge of the subject of investigation so have no room for mistakes or bias in planning, formulating, and executing the research and drawing conclusions from it. If you know everything about the subject and have no doubt about it, then there is no need for perfect research. Operationally, perfect research could be viewed as one which is better organized, formulated, and executed and whose result is interpreted without mistake and bias.
I shall therefore focus on the operational side of research. Many of the inventions and discoveries that revolutionized the world have been the products of rudimentary experiments or chance findings rather than of perfect research. The airplanes, penicillin, pacemaker, rubber, and plastic are some of the examples. A perfect research may fail to produce anything beneficial. My goal in this paper, therefore, is to demonstrate that, while there is no hope of doing perfect research, only research presents hope for perfecting life.
1. What is Research?
There is no consensus on the definition of research. It might mean different things to different people and disciplines. For instance, one organization defines research as something that “must define a series of research questions . . . specify a research context for the questions, issues or problems to be addressed . . . specify the research methods . . .” (AHRC). Another says research is “a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding” (CUP). H...
... middle of paper ...
...eases, improve their health, and prolong their longevity.
4. Conclusion
While conceptually research cannot be perfect, operationally it can be made better organized, executed and interpreted. Therefore, perfect research in the sense of making research better should be an ideal to strive for, it should not prevent us from carrying out research, though imperfect, that can help us acquire new knowledge and find solutions to our problems. The perfect must not be the enemy of the good.
Works Cited
AHRC, “Definition of Research.” Arts and Humanities Research Council, January 2009. Web. 30 July 2011.
CDO (Cambridge Dictionary Online), Cambridge University Press. n. d.. Web. 30 July 2011.
SIA (Smithsonian Institute Archive), The Write Brothers: Pioneers in Aviation. n.d. Web. 29 July 2011.
“The History of Penicillin.” About.com. n.d. Web. 29 July 2011.
Research is a systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer questions and solve problems. The ultimate goal of research is to gain knowledge that would be useful to many people. The Tuskegee study was initially started to study the effects of untreated Syphilis for about six to nine months, followed by treatment phase which gained public interest and outcry from public which led to actions initiated by US federal. The knowledge and information gathered from the study was very small compared to the risk that the men and their family endured. The participants and the families got compensated after a lawsuit was filed, but the physical, emotional and mental damaged caused cannot be
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. Chicago, IL: The
While the brothers were discovering and how to make a plane glide and ultimately how to make it fly, they kept returning to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to test their ideas once the constructed them in the back of their bicycle shop. Over the course of four years the encountered “violent storms, accidents, disappointment, public indifference, and clouds of mosquitoes” and many other setbacks that would have shoken other inquiring pioneers (McCullough 106). Nevertheless, the challenges both nature and man-made never stood a chance to the Wright Brother’s endurant nature. Their determination and ability to discover the problem and attend to it quickly were some of the reasons they got farther than other
Based on the preceding ontological and epistemological assumptions a researcher then makes methodological assumptions. Having decided on exactly what is to be studied the researcher then decides how the research can best be managed thus formulating a plan of action. Considerations include whether the research used should be primary or secondary. Whether one will test an existing hypothesis or whether one will construct a theory after having collated evidence. Finally one can draw conclusions as to which strategy to implement with the ultimate goal of producing the type of knowledge that is required. This then results in the type of method or methods of research to be used.
The research question is the first and foremost initial step in the research process, because it defines the expected outcomes and drives the project design. So it should be clear and concise once the research question is formulated, the next is defining the terms and concepts used in the research process. A literature review is needed to clarify issues, gives an understanding to the researcher how others have formulated similar research questions and defines concepts.
"The Wright Brothers | The Aerial Age Begins." National Air and Space Museum |, Alcoa, airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/wright-brothers/online/age/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.
Heppenheimer, T. (2001). A Brief History Of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Parahoo (2014) refers basic research to as pure research conducted to develop, test and refine theories and generate new knowledge to help in provision of quality and effective health services to patients. In other cases, basic research is said to seek more knowldeg for knowdleg sakes. Basic research mainly makes use of animal testing to come up with new ways and medication
Williamson, K. S. (1996). The 'Secondary The golden age of aviation. New York, N.Y.: Smithmark Books, Inc.
Research is defined as systematic investigation in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions (OUP, 2014). The biopsychosocial model has already been described.
Research is systematic way to find out facts and knowledge as Kothari (2006) has analyzed that research is the pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment; the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solutions to a problem. However there are two types of researches one is by Purpose and other is by method. The type by purpose falls into three categorize such as Basic, Applied and Action Research.
Research philosophy, refers to the development of knowledge adopted by the researchers in their research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). In other words, it is the theory that used to direct the researcher for conducting the procedure of research design, research strategy, questionnaire design and sampling (Malhotra, 2009). It is very important to have a clear understanding of the research philosophy so that we could examine the assumptions about the way we view the world, which are contained in the research philosophy we choose, knowing that whether they are appropriate or not (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), three major ways of thinking about research philosophy are examined: ontology, epistemology and axiology. Each of them carries significant differences which will have an impact on the way we consider the research procedures. Ontology, “is concerned with nature of reality”, while epistemology “concerns what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study and axiology “studies judgements about value” (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p110, p112, p116). This study is intent on creating some “facts” from objective evaluations which are made by the subjects. Therefore, epistemology will be chosen for this study as the way of thinking about the research philosophy.
Weir, William. The Wright brothers: The First to Fly. New York: PowerKids Press, 2013. Print.