page_title: Research
section_title: Scientific research
hierarchical_section_title: Research / Forms of research / Scientific research
caption_attribution_description: English: The Alcator C-Mod tokamak fusion experiment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). Photo taken March 1, 2012 by Daniel Brunner. Cropping and colour adjustment done March 1, 2012 by Geoff Olynyk.
context_page_description: Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of information to increase understanding of a topic or issue. A research project may be an expansion on past work in the field. Research projects can be used to develop further knowledge on a topic, or for education. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or experiments, research may replicate elements of prior projects or the project as a whole.
  The primary purposes of basic research are documentation, discovery, interpretation, and the research and development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. Approaches to research depend on epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic, social, business, marketing, practitioner research, life, technological, etc. The scientific study of research practices is known as meta-research.
context_section_description: Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step order may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following steps are usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:
  Observations and formation of the topic: Consists of the subject area of one's interest and following that subject area to conduct subject related research. The subject area should not be randomly chosen since it requires reading a vast amount of literature on the topic to determine the gap in the literature the researcher intends to narrow. A keen interest in the chosen subject area is advisable. The research will have to be justified by linking its importance to already existing knowledge about the topic.
  Hypothesis: A testable prediction which designates the relationship between two or more variables.
  Conceptual definition: Description of a concept by relating it to other concepts.
  Operational definition: Details in regards to defining the variables and how they will be measured/assessed in the study.
  Gathering of data: Consists of identifying a population and selecting samples, gathering information from or about these samples by using specific research instruments. The instruments used for data collection must be valid and reliable.
  Analysis of data: Involves breaking down the individual pieces of data to draw conclusions about it.
  Data Interpretation: This can be represented through tables, figures, and pictures, and then described in words.
  Test, revising of hypothesis
  Conclusion, reiteration if necessary
  A common misconception is that a hypothesis will be proven (see, rather, null hypothesis). Generally, a hypothesis is used to make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected (see falsifiability). However, if the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to support the hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that alternative hypotheses may also be consistent with the observations. In this sense, a hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds of scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true.
  A useful hypothesis allows prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will be verified. As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no longer provide an accurate prediction. In this case, a new hypothesis will arise to challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate predictions than the old, the new will supplant it. Researchers can also use a null hypothesis, which states no relationship or difference between the independent or dependent variables.
caption: Scientific research equipment at MIT
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