Scientific research relies on the application of the scientific method, a harnessing of curiosity. This research provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of the nature and the properties of the world around us. It makes practical applications possible. Scientific research is funded by public authorities, by charitable organizations and by private groups, including many companies. Scientific research can be subdivided into different classifications according to their academic and application disciplines.

Artistic research, also seen as ’practice-based research’, can take form when creative works are considered both the research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific methods in research in its search for knowledge and truth.

Historical research is embodied in the scientific method.

The phrase my research is also used loosely to describe a person’s entire collection of information about a particular subject.

Olin Levi Warner, Research holding the torch of knowledge (1896). Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.

The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge. This process takes three main forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure.):

• Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems
• Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
• Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence

The research room at the New York Public Library, an example of secondary research in progress.

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

• Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist)
• Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research)

In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

• Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior)
• Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships)

Research is often conducted using the hourglass model Structure of Research. The hourglass model starts with a broad spectrum for research, focusing in on the required information through the methodology of the project (like the neck of the hourglass), then expands the research in the form of discussion and results.

See also

Academic conference Advertising research Basic research Business cluster Business information Conceptual framework Creativity techniques Demonstrative evidence Due diligence Dialectical research Empirical evidence Empirical research European Charter for Researchers Genealogical research Cluster genealogy Internet research

Innovation Lab notebook List of countries by research and development spending List of fields of doctoral studies Marketing research National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) Research Methods Institute Open research Operations research Original research Participatory action research Pearl growing Phronetic social science Psychological research methods Research and development Social rese

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Scientific research and development