What is research?

I don't know about you but I think research means different things to different people. Visit: http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_leedy_practical_8/0,9599,1569572-,00.html

Ask a mother who's looking for a good school or tuition centre for her child and and she means asking around for recommendations and the reasons behind them. Ask a friend who's interested to purchase a new car and it means going to the various auto showrooms and test driving the cars. Ask an academic, and it is likely to mean selecting the most suitable research method or combination of strategies, plans, and activiities for conducting a study.

I thought that for the fun of it, provide you with several quotes on research. See if you learn anything. Here goes:

“Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.” - Werner von Braun

Isn't this what we feel some if not most of the time? There are times when we feel so lost that we don't even know who to ask what. It's exasperating.

Next . . .


"Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.” - E. L. Doctorow (American author and editor)

I know enough people who say they're writing, but . . . well, just think about it. You must write, write, write and re-write if you have to until you've exhausted all resources.

Next . . .

“When you take stuff from one writer it's plagiarism; but when you take it from many writers, it's research.” - Wilson Mizner(Playwright, 1876-1933)

Now I know you don't plan to plagiarise. But doing it could affect all your beautiful plans to graduate. We recently caught one student plagiarising work of another researcher. This is not the thing to do. So be very careful. Quote and cite whenever you are using someone else's idea, suggestion, findings, observation, etc. It's good to quote. It means you've done your research. However, don't just quote anyone or anything. The source must be a credible source. Quoting from a Wiki for example is still not regarded as the best thing to do in your thesis. Quoting from interviews with experts or respondents, for example is fine. So, find out more about this.

Well, I don't want to bore you with more quotes except for one more.

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh

Hence, remember, you've got to take little steps, one at a time. Map out your activities, contact your supervisor and get him/her to help you. The end result is worth it. You've just got to decide on how to finish the race.

On that note, I rest my case.