When you ask yourself about the importance of research, you might wonder why we bother putting so much time into something that doesn’t always have a direct result at the other end.
Research involves looking into something, obtaining knowledge, and then using that knowledge to make a difference in some way. Without all three of those parts working in perfect harmony, research would be useless. Now let’s talk about some of the in-depth reasons why research is so important.
Research Helps You Build Knowledge
We all want to learn more, right? We want to obtain more knowledge so we can enhance our skills, improve our lives, and possibly even make more money in the process. All of this is possible through research.
When you want to learn a new skill, all you need to do is go out and seek information. It’s easier now than ever before. We have the world at our fingertips, but it’s all about the action you take after the fact.
It Makes You More Aware
It’s interesting when we see people who only absorb certain kinds of information. Some people only want to know what is happening in their local community, others don’t care about local issues, but they focus on the world at large. Do you ever wonder why that is?
Some might call it ignorance, but others call it bliss. Truthfully, if you’re not researching and learning about what is happening in the world around you, how are you living your best life? The importance of research teaches us that to be aware; we need to care about the rest of the world and what is happening.
Something intriguing to think about is the Ted Bundy case, and how he got away with it for so long. He was able to travel across state lines where information wasn’t shared, and forensic research wasn’t at the scale we have it today. If proper research got implemented, those women might still have their lives.
Research Helps You Grow Spiritually
We have the freedom to practice whatever beliefs we want, but what if we couldn’t research anything new? If we all had to follow one set of doctrines, we might have never learned about all the belief systems of other countries across the planet.
Research leads to spiritual and emotional growth because it helps us to relate to our fellow man or woman.
When You Research, It Opens the Doors to Truth
It’s tough when you live in a world where you never know if what you’re reading is true or false. The media lies to us; the internet lies to us; even our family members lie to us sometimes. True and factual research is the only thing that leads to the truth.
When there is hard evidence of something written in stone, there is no arguing the fact that is the truth, and without research, that wouldn’t be possible. If you’ve ever heard of the book Fahrenheit 451, you’ll know what I’m talking about here.
In the book, they talk about the government taking over and burning all textbooks, controlling what information we receive, controlling the newspapers, and so on.
Research and facts prevent us from living a world full of lies.
Information Is Valuable
Expanding on the previous point, information is so important to our society. We need to have factual data to back up everything we do, and without it, we’re left to leave things up to chance. Information and research are what save lives in hospitals, it’s what brings babies into existence, and it’s what provides education to our children.
There are people out there every day, hitting the books, testing things, and trying out new methods to help provide a better life for our children and us.
What Are the Opportunities Without Research?
Research helps us gain employment, funding, loans, and grants. How would we find these opportunities if we weren’t putting in the research to get there? In the same token, how would employers learn and understand who they’re looking to fill these roles if research wasn’t put in?
The people looking to grant opportunities to people also need to research who they are looking for, what their qualifications are, and how they will best suit the position.
Research helps us:
- Get jobs
- Learn new skills
- Figure out what we’re good at
- Find opportunities
- Even find love
For example, you wouldn’t want to hire someone with ten years of experience in food and beverage to perform plastic surgery, right? That’s an obvious example, but you likely get where we’re going with it.
Research Keeps Our Minds Fresh
There are two parts to research; there is the process of actually going in and gathering the information, but then there is also the aspect of retention. You need to learn how to get the data you need to accomplish something, but you also have to comprehend it.
When we live in a world without research, our mind starts to become numb to new concepts. We lose the ability to think critically, and that’s what often leads to narrow-mindedness, which can become a real problem.
A 2005 study shows that research has a direct correlation to brain health. When we research and learn new information, it helps to exercise our mind, which can lead to a reduced chance of dementia and other brain disorders.
Listening and absorbing others’ research helps shed light on issues that we might not have otherwise thought about. This factor keeps our mind fresh and helps us to absorb further information down the road.
The Need for Valuable Information Never Ends
Is there such a thing as too much information? Some people might say yes, and we would do it in certain instances. For the most part, research is what drives our society and helps us improve on policies and processes we currently have.
What would happen to the world if the medical professionals said, “I think we have all we need, we don’t need to learn anything else.” All medical advances would cease, we would never learn how to treat new diseases, and obvious problems would occur.
The research will never end as long as we keep needing new information to help solve the problems of the future.
Researchers Have the Advantage
What’s one sure-fire way to gain an advantage over your competition? Having valid information is a great way. To get that information, you need to research and absorb data involving new concepts.
Those who turn to factual information are the ones that have the advantage. We see this happening in our current landscape as well. Many people are prone to share and display all the information they hear as truth when, in reality, they never put in the necessary research to learn if it was true in the first place. This mistake discredits the person and shows their inability to research.
It Helps You in Your Professional Life
In addition to simply gaining professional roles in business, research can also help you grow and improve your business. We can find any information we want at our fingertips. We no longer have to turn to experts and gurus to learn about what we need to know because it’s all available to us.
For example, the up and coming business owner might want to learn about how to improve his or her credit so they can apply for a business loan. To do that, years ago, that person would have to trust the counsel of a financial advisor or accountant to accomplish that goal.
Today, they can put in their research to discover the steps they will need to take to repair their credit to a level that will allow them to receive that loan.
Research May Show You a New Way of Doing Something
We had said the research prevents narrow-mindedness, and this is a perfect example of that. You may have gone years doing something a certain way because you didn’t know there was another possibility. After a quick bout of research, now you realize that you’ve been doing it wrong all these years.
This type of thing happens all the time, and it’s one of the most important reasons for research. We need research to help us learn from others. When we see how someone is getting a better result at something by using a different method or strategy, it makes it easier for us to follow in their footsteps.
We Never Stop Learning and Growing
From the second we’re born, we’re picking up on everything that happens around us. What if we just stopped paying attention to everything that society is doing and only focus on what we’re doing? We wouldn’t likely experience much growth in our lives.
A perfect example of this is the person who always thinks that their way is the best. This person doesn’t take criticism or direction from anyone, and as a result, they struggle through their life doing things the hard way.
Research teaches us to shy away from this mentality. It teaches us that anything is possible if you’re willing to put in the time to learn and discover a new way of thinking.
Research Helps Us Relate to the Information Provider
The importance of research doesn’t end with facts and actionable steps. Sometimes research has more to do with sociology and how we relate to one another. When we’re going through something in our lives, we tend to think the world revolves around us, and we’re the only ones experiencing this problem.
That’s until we find out that someone else is going through the same thing and maybe even worse. For example, let’s say you have a life-threatening surgery, and you’re feeling down about it.
You might turn to social networks and the internet to see if anyone else is struggling with this as well. Little do you know, thousands of people are out there in groups talking about this problem, and some of them are in a worse situation than you.
What does this do? It helps you feel better, and it makes you feel like you’re a part of a community. It’s a form of research that helps with our emotions and psychology.
Research Leads to Mastery
Without research, how would we ever get good at anything? If the expert guitar player and teacher never learned how to hone his skills, how would he have the ability to teach others? He wouldn’t, and neither would any of his students.
When we relentlessly research something we’re passionate about, it leads to perfect mastery. When we master something, we can then give that information back to others, and it becomes an endless cycle of recycled information that goes on forever.
Think about Olympic athletes who are trying to find ways to run faster, jump further, and get stronger. These incredible human beings are living and breathing examples of research put into action. They’re able to accomplish incredible feats because they put their mind to something and practiced it until they perfected it.
It’s part of what makes research so powerful. You might know something right now that you can teach someone who can then teach someone, so on and so forth.
How Can We Learn About Other Cultures Without Research?
We live in a world where we’re connected more than ever. Years ago, you couldn’t jump online and talk to someone in the Philippines, you’d likely have no way of doing that, and even if you wanted to, it would cost you a ton of money to accomplish that.
Many of us had no idea how other people lived outside of our local areas. So what does research have to do with that?
Research shows us:
- How the rest of the world lives
- What their life is like
- How we can compare our situation to theirs
It leads to empathy, but sometimes it also leads to envy. It’s important to find a comfortable balance when researching how other people live and buying into their lifestyle. Research doesn’t always provide factual and honest information.
Technology and Advancement Is the Direct Result of Research
Advancements in our society happen because of research. We’ve built incredible structures, developed advanced transportation systems, and figured out how to provide modern amenities to most people.
All of this was made possible through research. If we accepted the status quo and figured that everything was fine the way it was, we wouldn’t have these accomplishments and accolades.
Around the clock, there are researchers out there finding more affordable, economical, and environmentally-friendly ways to build structures and get us from point A to point B. These people are looking into massive amounts of data and comparing it to future plans to find out what is feasible and what is not.
Research Leads to Observations
When we research something, we often see things that we didn’t see before. We’re talking about the small minute details that you might have missed because you didn’t look closely enough the first time.
Why is it that two people can look at the same thing but see two completely different results? Is it because one person is a better researcher than the other? Possibly. It could be because they’re looking for two different things.
That’s the beauty of research. Everyone picks up on something different, and that is why we have checks and balances in our modern society. We often send something through four or five different sets of eyes because each person might find something that the previous person missed.
We Research Then We Act
Research leads to action, and a lack of research leads to inaction, why is that? Part of it is due to confidence in the process. When we have the right amount of research to back our actions, we feel more confident about what we need to accomplish, and as a result, we get it done quickly and more efficiently.
We see this incredibly prevalent in science and medicine. Doctors don’t simply start making claims and performing actions on patients until they have fully researched the patient’s history, allergies, interactions, activities, and so on. They do this because it provides them with more confidence that they won’t run into any complications later on.
Without this system of checks and balances, we wouldn’t likely have as much success in any aspect of our lives. But it all starts with an important foundation of solid and comprehensive research.
Proper Data Simplifies Decision Making
This point goes hand-in-hand with having confidence in your research. When you know you have all the data to back your decision, it makes it a lot easier to make that choice. You spend time researching and gathering the data you need to decide, and then you follow through with making a decision.
When this happens, something powerful occurs after. You make the right choice. Some of us don’t understand the importance of research, and as a result, we end up making mistakes because we haven’t built a solid foundation to stand on.
This foundation is what leads to advancements and growth. Without the research to back the decisions, we don’t have leaders and trendsetters that can make the changes we need.
Why Guess When You Can Research?
It’s as simple as that. Research takes guessing out of the equation. When you have the proper research to back your decisions, now you don’t have to guess about anything because you know the outcome your actions will bring.
For example, if someone was trying to build a shed, and they knew they needed to use 8 x 8 pieces of pressure-treated wood for the base frame. They know they need to use that type of wood if they want to have a solid structure that stands the test of time.
If they choose to use something else, they’re making a mistake, and they know it. If the builder goes with something smaller, their shed might not have the strength it needs to hold up. If they don’t use pressure-treated wood, it might rot and collapse over time.
You put the factual research in so you don’t have to guess about what to do. When we have this type of information, it leads to more success in every aspect of life.
Research Leads to Consistency
Consistency is something we often struggle with as a society, but research helps with that as well. If you’re trying to lose weight and you know you need to exercise this much per week and eat this many calories per day, you know that you’ve done the research.
As a result, it will be much easier for you to stick to that routine because you know the direct result you’re looking to achieve will come from the work you put in upfront. If you choose to veer off that course and eat more calories and work out less, you also know the harm you’re doing to your goals.
When you research, it makes it easier to stay consistent with your goals because you can see the result on the horizon.
Motivation Correlates with Research
You can motivate yourself and others through your research. When it’s rich with facts, it enhances the other person’s ability to trust you and listen to what you have to say. This is exceptionally true in education.
As an educator, you might be able to motivate a classroom of students by telling them the results of their actions and what it will lead to. The students will feel motivated to do the work and accomplish their goals because you took the time to explain what they’re learning, why they are learning it, and how it will impact their lives.
How to Become a More Effective Researcher?
It’s great to understand all the important reasons for research, but how can you take this and implement it in your life in a way that helps you. Here are some ways to improve your research process and become more efficient.
1. Don’t Procrastinate
It might seem like a good idea to put off projects that have deadlines that are far away, but they creep up quickly. Next thing you know, you’re working in a panic at the last minute to finish your research, and you can’t get all the valuable information you need.
Make sure you get in the habit of starting as soon as possible on a research project and compiling as much information right away, so you have time to skim through it later and find out the most valuable points.
2. Do the Most Difficult Work First
The best researchers suggest tackling the hardest tasks right away, so you get them out of the way, and you can maintain a positive mood for the rest of your research. If you find something challenging, you’ll also have the time to ensure it gets done before you take on something else.
If you decide to put off the problematic research projects until the end, you’ll have to push through the hard stuff when time is sensitive.
3. Set Goals
This step works well if you’re trying to accomplish something as a result of your research. When we research information, there is often a reason behind it. Maybe we want to get a new job or learn a skill. Without the data and research we’re doing, we might have a hard time accomplishing that goal.
You should give yourself a timeframe to reach it and a means of doing so. When you get there, make sure you reward yourself and take note of the accomplishment. Part of what makes research so powerful is that there is always a goal at the end, and you know you can reach it if you follow the right steps.
4. Eliminate Distractions
The biggest killer of focus is distraction, so you want to make sure you conduct your research in an environment that makes sense for what you’re trying to do. If you need quiet, make sure you go to a quiet place. If you prefer white noise, you might want to go to a public place like a coffee shop.
Remember that everyone is different, and each person takes a unique approach to research so you can feed off of what you learn from others and use it to guide your research.
Turn off your phone, put it somewhere else, and make sure that no one can get in touch with you until you reach your goal. Whatever it is can wait, but your research goals are more important.
Final Thoughts
The importance of research is clear at this point. Without research, we wouldn’t have seen the many advances in medicine, technology, science, and engineering that we have today. On a smaller scale, research helps us get jobs, learn new skills, and understand the society we live in.
Research is an important part of life and something we could never live without. It teaches us to keep learning and striving for greatness no matter how much we think we know; there’s always more.