1. What is research? How to conduct an online search

Theme: How to do research

Plan:

1. What is research?

2. How to conduct an online search

3. Research process overview

What is research?

Broadly speaking research is gathering authoritative information to support an argument or point of view. We research all the time, not just for academic purposes. For example, when you buy a pair of trainers you don't simply wander into a shop, pick up the first pair you see, pay for them and walk out. You check the various styles, you compare one pair with another, and you look at the price and perhaps compare it with other shops and online stores. You sometimes conduct primary research (gathering your own data) and try the shoes on or conduct a mini survey by asking your friends opinions. It is only after this extensive research that you make your decision whether it is worth parting with your money. We conduct research before we dress in the morning, before we agree to go out anywhere, before we decide what to eat and where to live and work. Research is a life skill.

How to conduct an online search

Checklist Guide

One useful way to understand research is to consider this definition:
"Research is a structured investigation, on a limited topic, aimed at supporting or illuminating a point of view or hypothesis"
Lets break this down…

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  Structured: A piece of research needs to be organised, it needs to have a beginning, middle and end. It needs to have a clear set of aims and objectives. A piece of research I NOT a random collection of personal opinions.
  
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  Investigation: This is a term we often come across in detective novels and TV shows. Investigation involves gathering evidence, digging deeply into source material. Some data will be "secondary", in other words evidence taken from other researchers work (remember to reference this). Secondary research is like checking reviews on a website before buying anything. Some research data will be "primary" meaning that it is information that you have gathered yourself. Primary research is often quite demanding as you have to personally collect the data yourself thorough experimentation or questionnaires for example. Trying a pair of shoes on for yourself would be primary research.
  
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