Graphic designed by Evan Brooks.
We tend to just take new information in and just accept it as fact most of the time, when in reality, what qualifies as fact to us, should be supplemented by proper, peer-reviewed, tested research. But you might say, “I do not have the time to constantly research anything and everything to ensure what I know is right,” and in that analysis you would be correct.
What I want to get across in this article, is that we do not have to constantly research every new thing we take in, but we should be skeptical enough not to be gullible, and ensure that when it comes to important and relevant topics, we are informed and not just taking a friend’s word for it, even if they are reliable with information.
Misconceptions are everywhere, like the thought that anything and everything is constantly being studied, when in reality it is not. This means that there are certain gaps in the collective human knowledge that need to be filled. Now, when I say gaps, I do not mean time travel or some futuristic technology, I mean that there are gaps in places where there should already be some answers.
These gaps are usually formed when there is no high demand for the research of a particular subject. One way to plug these holes, would be to either pay for the research to be done, or do it yourself. Payment can come in the form of foundations or working to get government grants, and doing it yourself can be as simple as being a research assistant or following a profession that does research for part of their job, like a professor.
Overall, everything deserves a spot on the research pedestal, as while the outcome of the research may not always be great news, the knowledge can transfer over into other projects that need to be researched also. The power of research is the power to find our realities. Research grants us a look into how the world works more and more, the longer we study and the greater number of results we compile.
You do not have to wait to do research of your own, you can go to professor’s office hours, chat with them and see if they are doing any interesting research they need help with, and some professor’s will even let you pick the topic. You can also use some of the University’s resources via the library web pages, to access databases with plenty of peer reviewed research to get started on self-sought-after learning.
Research also changes lives – when I think of research one of the areas I think about is medical research – and any research put into the medical field, especially on low researched and rare medical issues, can help others around the world. This idea of taking research into your own hands, through foundations to fund much needed looks into rare diseases is captured in the video attached to the online version of this article.
The bottom line is that research has the ability to change lives and our perspectives on life. When we dedicate, even a little bit of our time, to look into things, we can become better informed individuals. The more informed everyone is, the better choices we make as a collective, as well as an individual.
Part of making good choices, is being informed, and being informed, takes practice and dedication to the pursuit of the correct and most factual based research. Not all research is equal, it depends on if it has been reviewed by fellow professionals, and all the variables that were present in the research. Some research can have not a significant number of participants, making it less of a reliable piece.
In the end, all research is important when done properly. We learn, and we aid in the learning of others as well.
Looking to the Future: The Power of Research – https://youtu.be/2b1ZlT2tsRM
Evan Brooks is a fourth-year Business Management major with minors in Economics and Civic and Professional Leadership. EB916132@wcupa.edu