Definition of Research
re·search: NOUN: 1. a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online,
© Cambridge University Press 2003.
The word "research" is used to describe a number of similar and often overlapping activities involving a search for information. For example, each of the following activities involves such a search; but the differences are significant and worth examining.
| Research type | Essential characteristics |
| A search for individual facts or data. May be part of the search for a solution to a larger problem or simply the answer to a friendly, or not so friendly, bar bet! Concerned with facts rather than knowledge or analysis and answers can normally be found in a single source. |
| A report or review, not designed to create new information or insight but to collate and synthesize existing information. A summary of the past. Answers can typically be found in a selection of books, articles, and Web sites. [Note: gathering this information may often include activities like #1 above.] |
| Gathering and analyzing a body of information or data and extracting new meaning from it or developing unique solutions to problems or cases. This is "real" research and requires an open-ended question for which there is no ready answer. [Note: this will always include #2 above and usually #1. It may also involve gathering new data through experiments, surveys, or other techniques.] |
0 comments