5 Reasons Why You Should Conduct Research
I have heard people say that research should only be done by people who are science inclined or by people who intend to make some massive discovery that would change the world. While I laughed at the depth of ignorance contained in the entire statement, I came to a realization that, just maybe, a lot of persons have clouded their thoughts with such an ill-informed statement.
Research is for everyone!
Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, business guru, stay at home mom, fish seller or a student.
I’ll tell you why –
The world is complex and to successfully understand and survive this complexity, we need to research. Or else, we would have to rely on our intuition or suggestions by someone in power or authority over logic and proof.
But, are our intuitions, always right? There are recorded times in history of how very wrong we can be when we fail to recognize the need to back up our claims with evidence. An example of such record is the wrong assumption that the sun revolved around a flat earth. Is the earth really flat? And does the sun move around a flat earth? Fortunately, that statement has long been proven wrong.
There were also times in history when man believed some claims about some illnesses being caused by some spiritual happenings. For example, people with sickle cell anemia were thought to be possessed by a demon and were cast away or left to die.
You see, we cannot always be confident in our abilities to decipher and interact with the mystery of the world. They say knowledge is power and it is without doubt, clear that the knowledge we have about a lot of things today has put us at an advantage. In the case of sickle cell anemia, we know better now, we now know the underlining cause and ways to manage it. This is mainly as a result of research.
Where are your research skills needed?
At work: If you ought to give a presentation at work, doing a little bit of research will enable you state facts and not just your personal thoughts. This will show your audience that you know exactly that you are talking about and will accord you more listening time.
Writing: writing is a form of communication. The more you research the better your writing becomes. Research also helps polish your communication skills because, you will have extra knowledge on almost every subject matter.
Family matters: As a family, you can come together to learn more about a subject matter. For example, your dad just bought a new dog, but no one knows how to train a dog. Your family can research on how to train a dog and get the facts needed to keep a healthy dog.
Board meeting preparations: At a board meeting, you would be seated with top executives. To make contributions, you need to know exactly what you are talking about and the best way to pass the message across to them. In order to not look like the unprofessional staff that knows nothing, you should do your research.
Interview preparations: At a job interview, your credentials can never be enough no matter how good they are. You need to have a knowledge of what the “21st century” employers look for in applicants, you need to understand how to approach interview questions and what type of questions you should expect. Research is the best way to prepare properly for an interview. When you do a proper research before an interview, nothing can throw you off balance because, you came in ready for everything.
In the words of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, research is to see what everyone else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought.
Here are 5 reasons that would drive one into appreciating the gift of research and thus, engage in it.
Research is a tool that builds knowledge and makes learning more efficient
Everything we know today we owe to those who took their time to study and understand the concept of those topics or ideas. Thus, to know, we must research. As we research, we learn about those things we research on. When we have knowledge on new topics or ideas, we share our knowledge with others either in classrooms, during conferences, meetings or friendly conversations thus, making learning more effective.
Helps one understand various issues
As simple as looking up words in the dictionary is, it is a form of research. When you hear a new word or come across a new word in a novel, you might not be able to pronounce that word or tell the meaning of that word or how the word should be used in a sentence. What do you do? You research!
Grab a dictionary, check the meaning of the word, its origin, pronunciation, if it is a verb or a noun or maybe a pronoun, the plural form of the word, the synonyms and antonyms and finally, how it can be used in a sentence. By doing all of these, you have understood that word better and would be confident anytime you use that word because, you have done your research and you know exactly what you are talking about.
Research is a contributing factor to achieving business success
Many companies that have achieved some level of success got there by way of research. Especially those companies that produce consumer goods. How do they know if their product is appreciated by their consumers? They do research by conducting a consumer satisfaction exercise. They go into the market and ask people who have had a taste of their products if they liked them or if they didn’t.
Have you ever been to a restaurant, hotel, bar or mall where there are suggestion boxes? That’s a way of conducting research on the services they provide and how good they are and if there is a need to make some changes. A business cannot survive without research. It is good to do research in business in order to keep your customers satisfied.
A way to disprove lies and unwrap truths
Scientists do research to test the validity and reliability of their claim. Remember how we once thought the earth was flat? That lie was disproved and the truth about the shape of the earth was unwrapped.
If you feel like your partner is doing something shady, how do you find out if your thoughts are true or not? Sometimes, asking your partner or talking about it doesn’t make you feel less concerned about what he or she is doing outside the home at ungodly hours. While some people think that hiring a detective to follow your partner is not an option, for the sake of knowing the truth, it is important you do. The detective does his research by following your partner and “low-key” asking some people questions about your partner. After the research, the detective gives you feedback. The truth is unwrapped, and you have gotten the answers to the questions you have.
Helps people grow their potential and achieve goals
Research helps you achieve goals through various opportunities which can be in terms of employment, scholarships, training, grants, project, funding, business collaborations and budget traveling.
If you are looking for a job or scholarship, research is necessary. Through this process, you can increase your chance of finding a job by visiting job posting sites or employment agencies to check if there are available opportunities and information on what you need in order to qualify for the job.
There is no limitation to what you should research on. In the words of John Armstrong,” Aside from the pure pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, research is linked to problem solving”. The life you enjoy now and things that we have or experience now, that at some point seemed impossible to achieve, are all because of research. So, it is without argument that I say, “research plays an important role in our day to day life”.