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The Most Important Research Skills (With Examples)

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Research skills are the ability to find out accurate information on a topic. They include being able to determine the data you need, find and interpret those findings, and then explain that to others. Being able to do effective research is a beneficial skill in any profession, as data and research inform how businesses operate.

Whether you’re unsure of your research skills or are looking for ways to further improve them, then this article will cover important research skills and how to become even better at research.

Key Takeaways

Having strong research skills can help you understand your competitors, develop new processes, and build your professional skills in addition to aiding you in finding new customers and saving your company money.

Some of the most valuable research skills you can have include goal setting, data collection, and analyzing information from multiple sources.

You can and should put your research skills on your resume and highlight them in your job interviews.

What are research skills?

Why are research skills important, 12 of the most important research skills, how to improve your research skills, highlighting your research skills in a job interview, how to include research skills on your resume, resume examples showcasing research skills, research skills faqs.

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Research skills are the necessary tools to be able to find, compile, and interpret information in order to answer a question. Of course, there are several aspects to this. Researchers typically have to decide how to go about researching a problem — which for most people is internet research.

In addition, you need to be able to interpret the reliability of a source, put the information you find together in an organized and logical way, and be able to present your findings to others. That means that they’re comprised of both hard skills — knowing your subject and what’s true and what isn’t — and soft skills. You need to be able to interpret sources and communicate clearly.

Research skills are useful in any industry, and have applications in innovation, product development, competitor research, and many other areas. In addition, the skills used in researching aren’t only useful for research. Being able to interpret information is a necessary skill, as is being able to clearly explain your reasoning.

Research skills are used to:

Do competitor research. Knowing what your biggest competitors are up to is an essential part of any business. Researching what works for your competitors, what they’re doing better than you, and where you can improve your standing with the lowest resource expenditure are all essential if a company wants to remain functional.

Develop new processes and products. You don’t have to be involved in research and development to make improvements in how your team gets things done. Researching new processes that make your job (and those of your team) more efficient will be valued by any sensible employer.

Foster self-improvement. Folks who have a knack and passion for research are never content with doing things the same way they’ve always been done. Organizations need independent thinkers who will seek out their own answers and improve their skills as a matter of course. These employees will also pick up new technologies more easily.

Manage customer relationships. Being able to conduct research on your customer base is positively vital in virtually every industry. It’s hard to move products or sell services if you don’t know what people are interested in. Researching your customer base’s interests, needs, and pain points is a valuable responsibility.

Save money. Whether your company is launching a new product or just looking for ways to scale back its current spending, research is crucial for finding wasted resources and redirecting them to more deserving ends. Anyone who proactively researches ways that the company can save money will be highly appreciated by their employer.

Solve problems. Problem solving is a major part of a lot of careers, and research skills are instrumental in making sure your solution is effective. Finding out the cause of the problem and determining an effective solution both require accurate information, and research is the best way to obtain that — be it via the internet or by observation.

Determine reliable information. Being able to tell whether or not the information you receive seems accurate is a very valuable skill. While research skills won’t always guarantee that you’ll be able to tell the reliability of the information at first glance, it’ll prevent you from being too trusting. And it’ll give the tools to double-check .

Experienced researchers know that worthwhile investigation involves a variety of skills. Consider which research skills come naturally to you, and which you could work on more.

Data collection . When thinking about the research process, data collection is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is the nuts and bolts of research. How data is collected can be flexible.

For some purposes, simply gathering facts and information on the internet can fulfill your need. Others may require more direct and crowd-sourced research. Having experience in various methods of data collection can make your resume more impressive to recruiters.

Data collection methods include: Observation Interviews Questionnaires Experimentation Conducting focus groups

Analysis of information from different sources. Putting all your eggs in one source basket usually results in error and disappointment. One of the skills that good researchers always incorporate into their process is an abundance of sources. It’s also best practice to consider the reliability of these sources.

Are you reading about U.S. history on a conspiracy theorist’s blog post? Taking facts for a presentation from an anonymous Twitter account?

If you can’t determine the validity of the sources you’re using, it can compromise all of your research. That doesn’t mean just disregard anything on the internet but double-check your findings. In fact, quadruple-check. You can make your research even stronger by turning to references outside of the internet.

Examples of reliable information sources include: Published books Encyclopedias Magazines Databases Scholarly journals Newspapers Library catalogs

Finding information on the internet. While it can be beneficial to consulate alternative sources, strong internet research skills drive modern-day research.

One of the great things about the internet is how much information it contains, however, this comes with digging through a lot of garbage to get to the facts you need. The ability to efficiently use the vast database of knowledge that is on the internet without getting lost in the junk is very valuable to employers.

Internet research skills include: Source checking Searching relevant questions Exploring deeper than the first options Avoiding distraction Giving credit Organizing findings

Interviewing. Some research endeavors may require a more hands-on approach than just consulting internet sources. Being prepared with strong interviewing skills can be very helpful in the research process.

Interviews can be a useful research tactic to gain first-hand information and being able to manage a successful interview can greatly improve your research skills.

Interviewing skills involves: A plan of action Specific, pointed questions Respectfulness Considering the interview setting Actively Listening Taking notes Gratitude for participation

Report writing. Possessing skills in report writing can assist you in job and scholarly research. The overall purpose of a report in any context is to convey particular information to its audience.

Effective report writing is largely dependent on communication. Your boss, professor , or general reader should walk away completely understanding your findings and conclusions.

Report writing skills involve: Proper format Including a summary Focusing on your initial goal Creating an outline Proofreading Directness

Critical thinking. Critical thinking skills can aid you greatly throughout the research process, and as an employee in general. Critical thinking refers to your data analysis skills. When you’re in the throes of research, you need to be able to analyze your results and make logical decisions about your findings.

Critical thinking skills involve: Observation Analysis Assessing issues Problem-solving Creativity Communication

Planning and scheduling. Research is a work project like any other, and that means it requires a little forethought before starting. Creating a detailed outline map for the points you want to touch on in your research produces more organized results.

It also makes it much easier to manage your time. Planning and scheduling skills are important to employers because they indicate a prepared employee.

Planning and scheduling skills include: Setting objectives Identifying tasks Prioritizing Delegating if needed Vision Communication Clarity Time-management

Note-taking. Research involves sifting through and taking in lots of information. Taking exhaustive notes ensures that you will not neglect any findings later and allows you to communicate these results to your co-workers. Being able to take good notes helps summarize research.

Examples of note-taking skills include: Focus Organization Using short-hand Keeping your objective in mind Neatness Highlighting important points Reviewing notes afterward

Communication skills. Effective research requires being able to understand and process the information you receive, either written or spoken. That means that you need strong reading comprehension and writing skills — two major aspects of communication — as well as excellent listening skills.

Most research also involves showcasing your findings. This can be via a presentation. , report, chart, or Q&A. Whatever the case, you need to be able to communicate your findings in a way that educates your audience.

Communication skills include: Reading comprehension Writing Listening skills Presenting to an audience Creating graphs or charts Explaining in layman’s terms

Time management. We’re, unfortunately, only given 24 measly hours in a day. The ability to effectively manage this time is extremely powerful in a professional context. Hiring managers seek candidates who can accomplish goals in a given timeframe.

Strong time management skills mean that you can organize a plan for how to break down larger tasks in a project and complete them by a deadline. Developing your time management skills can greatly improve the productivity of your research.

Time management skills include: Scheduling Creating task outlines Strategic thinking Stress-management Delegation Communication Utilizing resources Setting realistic expectations Meeting deadlines

Using your network. While this doesn’t seem immediately relevant to research skills, remember that there are a lot of experts out there. Knowing what people’s areas of expertise and asking for help can be tremendously beneficial — especially if it’s a subject you’re unfamiliar with.

Your coworkers are going to have different areas of expertise than you do, and your network of people will as well. You may even know someone who knows someone who’s knowledgeable in the area you’re researching. Most people are happy to share their expertise, as it’s usually also an area of interest to them.

Networking involves: Remembering people’s areas of expertise Being willing to ask for help Communication Returning favors Making use of advice Asking for specific assistance

Attention to detail. Research is inherently precise. That means that you need to be attentive to the details, both in terms of the information you’re gathering, but also in where you got it from. Making errors in statistics can have a major impact on the interpretation of the data, not to mention that it’ll reflect poorly on you.

There are proper procedures for citing sources that you should follow. That means that your sources will be properly credited, preventing accusations of plagiarism. In addition, it means that others can make use of your research by returning to the original sources.

Attention to detail includes: Double checking statistics Taking notes Keeping track of your sources Staying organized Making sure graphs are accurate and representative Properly citing sources

As with many professional skills, research skills serve us in our day to day life. Any time you search for information on the internet, you’re doing research. That means that you’re practicing it outside of work as well. If you want to continue improving your research skills, both for professional and personal use, here are some tips to try.

Differentiate between source quality. A researcher is only as good as their worst source. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you use, and be suspicious of everything your read until you check out the attributions and works cited.

Be critical and ask yourself about the author’s bias, where the author’s research aligns with the larger body of verified research in the field, and what publication sponsored or published the research.

Use multiple resources. When you can verify information from a multitude of sources, it becomes more and more credible. To bolster your faith in one source, see if you can find another source that agrees with it.

Don’t fall victim to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when a researcher expects a certain outcome and then goes to find data that supports this hypothesis. It can even go so far as disregarding anything that challenges the researcher’s initial hunch. Be prepared for surprising answers and keep an open mind.

Be open to the idea that you might not find a definitive answer. It’s best to be honest and say that you found no definitive answer instead of just confirming what you think your boss or coworkers expect or want to hear. Experts and good researchers are willing to say that they don’t know.

Stay organized. Being able to cite sources accurately and present all your findings is just as important as conducting the research itself. Start practicing good organizational skills , both on your devices and for any physical products you’re using.

Get specific as you go. There’s nothing wrong with starting your research in a general way. After all, it’s important to become familiar with the terminology and basic gist of the researcher’s findings before you dig down into all the minutia.

A job interview is itself a test of your research skills. You can expect questions on what you know about the company, the role, and your field or industry more generally. In order to give expert answers on all these topics, research is crucial.

Start by researching the company . Look into how they communicate with the public through social media, what their mission statement is, and how they describe their culture.

Pay close attention to the tone of their website. Is it hyper professional or more casual and fun-loving? All of these elements will help decide how best to sell yourself at the interview.

Next, research the role. Go beyond the job description and reach out to current employees working at your desired company and in your potential department. If you can find out what specific problems your future team is or will be facing, you’re sure to impress hiring managers and recruiters with your ability to research all the facts.

Finally, take time to research the job responsibilities you’re not as comfortable with. If you’re applying for a job that represents increased difficulty or entirely new tasks, it helps to come into the interview with at least a basic knowledge of what you’ll need to learn.

Research projects require dedication. Being committed is a valuable skill for hiring managers. Whether you’ve had research experience throughout education or a former job, including it properly can boost the success of your resume .

Consider how extensive your research background is. If you’ve worked on multiple, in-depth research projects, it might be best to include it as its own section. If you have less research experience, include it in the skills section .

Focus on your specific role in the research, as opposed to just the research itself. Try to quantify accomplishments to the best of your abilities. If you were put in charge of competitor research, for example, list that as one of the tasks you had in your career.

If it was a particular project, such as tracking the sale of women’s clothing at a tee-shirt company, you can say that you “directed analysis into women’s clothing sales statistics for a market research project.”

Ascertain how directly research skills relate to the job you’re applying for. How strongly you highlight your research skills should depend on the nature of the job the resume is for. If research looks to be a strong component of it, then showcase all of your experience.

If research looks to be tangential, then be sure to mention it — it’s a valuable skill — but don’t put it front and center.

Example #1: Academic Research

Simon Marks 767 Brighton Blvd. | Brooklyn, NY, 27368 | (683)-262-8883 | [email protected] Diligent and hardworking recent graduate seeking a position to develop professional experience and utilize research skills. B.A. in Biological Sciences from New York University. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Lixus Publishing , Brooklyn, NY Office Assistant- September 2018-present Scheduling and updating meetings Managing emails and phone calls Reading entries Worked on a science fiction campaign by researching target demographic Organizing calendars Promoted to office assistant after one year internship Mitch’s Burgers and Fries , Brooklyn, NY Restaurant Manager , June 2014-June 2018 Managed a team of five employees Responsible for coordinating the weekly schedule Hired and trained two employees Kept track of inventory Dealt with vendors Provided customer service Promoted to restaurant manager after two years as a waiter Awarded a $2.00/hr wage increase SKILLS Writing Scientific Research Data analysis Critical thinking Planning Communication RESEARCH Worked on an ecosystem biology project with responsibilities for algae collection and research (2019) Lead a group of freshmen in a research project looking into cell biology (2018) EDUCATION New York University Bachelors in Biological Sciences, September 2016-May 2020

Example #2: Professional Research

Angela Nichols 1111 Keller Dr. | San Francisco, CA | (663)-124-8827 |[email protected] Experienced and enthusiastic marketer with 7 years of professional experience. Seeking a position to apply my marketing and research knowledge. Skills in working on a team and flexibility. EXPERIENCE Apples amp; Oranges Marketing, San Francisco, CA Associate Marketer – April 2017-May 2020 Discuss marketing goals with clients Provide customer service Lead campaigns associated with women’s health Coordinating with a marketing team Quickly solving issues in service and managing conflict Awarded with two raises totaling $10,000 over three years Prestigious Marketing Company, San Francisco, CA Marketer – May 2014-April 2017 Working directly with clients Conducting market research into television streaming preferences Developing marketing campaigns related to television streaming services Report writing Analyzing campaign success statistics Promoted to Marketer from Junior Marketer after the first year Timberlake Public Relations, San Francisco, CA Public Relations Intern – September 2013–May 2014 Working cohesively with a large group of co-workers and supervisors Note-taking during meetings Running errands Managing email accounts Assisting in brainstorming Meeting work deadlines EDUCATION Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA Bachelor of Arts in Marketing with a minor in Communications – September 2009 – May 2013 SKILLS Marketing Market research Record-keeping Teamwork Presentation. Flexibility

What research skills are important?

Goal-setting and data collection are important research skills. Additional important research skills include:

Using different sources to analyze information.

Finding information on the internet.

Interviewing sources.

Writing reports.

Critical thinking.

Planning and scheduling.

Note-taking.

Managing time.

How do you develop good research skills?

You develop good research skills by learning how to find information from multiple high-quality sources, by being wary of confirmation bias, and by starting broad and getting more specific as you go.

When you learn how to tell a reliable source from an unreliable one and get in the habit of finding multiple sources that back up a claim, you’ll have better quality research.

In addition, when you learn how to keep an open mind about what you’ll find, you’ll avoid falling into the trap of confirmation bias, and by staying organized and narrowing your focus as you go (rather than before you start), you’ll be able to gather quality information more efficiently.

What is the importance of research?

The importance of research is that it informs most decisions and strategies in a business. Whether it’s deciding which products to offer or creating a marketing strategy, research should be used in every part of a company.

Because of this, employers want employees who have strong research skills. They know that you’ll be able to put them to work bettering yourself and the organization as a whole.

Should you put research skills on your resume?

Yes, you should include research skills on your resume as they are an important professional skill. Where you include your research skills on your resume will depend on whether you have a lot of experience in research from a previous job or as part of getting your degree, or if you’ve just cultivated them on your own.

If your research skills are based on experience, you could put them down under the tasks you were expected to perform at the job in question. If not, then you should likely list it in your skills section.

University of the People – The Best Research Skills for Success

Association of Internet Research Specialists — What are Research Skills and Why Are They Important?

MasterClass — How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips

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Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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10 Research Skills and How To Develop Them

• Updated December 25, 2023
• Published August 8, 2023

Are you looking to learn more about Research skills? In this article, we discuss Research skills in more detail and give you tips about how you can develop and improve them.

What are Research skills?

Research skills refer to the ability to effectively and efficiently gather, analyze, and synthesize information to answer questions, solve problems, or contribute to a body of knowledge. These skills are essential for various fields and disciplines, ranging from academic and scientific research to business, journalism, and beyond. Effective research skills involve several key components:

Information Retrieval

Source evaluation.

• Critical Thinking

Data Analysis

Problem formulation, organization and note-taking, synthesis and writing, ethical considerations, time management.

• Adaptability

Top 10 Research Skills

Below we discuss the top 10 Research skills. Each skill is discussed in more detail, and we will also give you tips on improving them.

Information Retrieval is all about mastering the art of finding relevant and credible sources of information to support your research goals. This skill involves using various online and offline tools to locate the data, articles, studies, and materials that are most pertinent to your research topic. It’s like being a detective for knowledge – you’re trying to uncover valuable insights that will contribute to your research project.

To excel in Information Retrieval, you must become adept at effectively using search engines, databases, libraries, and other resources. It’s not just about typing keywords into a search bar; it’s about understanding how to refine your searches, use advanced search operators, and explore different databases and sources.

You’ll need to evaluate the quality and reliability of sources to ensure that the information you gather is trustworthy and accurate. This skill also requires critical thinking, as you’ll need to assess the relevance of sources to your research objectives.

How to Improve Information Retrieval

Improving your Information Retrieval skills involves a combination of practice, strategy, and awareness. Start by familiarizing yourself with different research databases and libraries relevant to your field. Experiment with various search terms and use advanced search operators to narrow down results. Take the time to evaluate the credibility of sources – look for peer-reviewed articles, authoritative authors, and reliable institutions. Keep track of your searches and results to refine your strategies over time.

Stay updated with the latest developments in search technology and research databases to optimize your information retrieval process. Remember, the more you practice and fine-tune your approach, the better you’ll become at uncovering valuable gems of information for your research endeavors.

Source Evaluation is about becoming a discerning judge of the information you encounter during your research journey. It involves assessing the credibility, reliability, and relevance of the sources you come across, ensuring that you’re building your work on a foundation of trustworthy and accurate information. Think of yourself as a gatekeeper, using only the most reliable and relevant sources to support your research.

You need to develop a critical eye to enhance your Source Evaluation skills. Begin by examining the authorship – who wrote the source, and what are their credentials? Peer-reviewed articles from established researchers are more reliable than anonymous blog posts. Consider the publication source – is it a reputable journal or website in your field?

Next, look for citations and references within the source – a well-researched work will often cite other credible sources. Additionally, evaluate the publication date – while older sources can provide historical context, ensure you’re using recent information for up-to-date insights.

How to Improve Source Evaluation

Improving your Source Evaluation skills requires a combination of awareness and practice. As you encounter new sources, ask questions about their credibility and relevance. Do evidence and references support the information? Does the author have any potential biases? Take advantage of critical thinking to analyze the source’s overall quality.

To further refine your skills, seek guidance from mentors, professors, or librarians who can provide valuable insights into evaluating sources. The more you engage with this skill, the better you’ll become at building a solid foundation for your research with credible and reliable materials.

Critical Thinking is the intellectual toolset that empowers you to analyze information objectively, discern patterns, and draw well-informed conclusions based on evidence. It’s like being a detective for ideas – you sift through data, identify biases, and unravel complexities to make informed judgments that drive your research forward with clarity and precision.

To hone your Critical Thinking skills, you need to cultivate a curious and analytical mindset. Start by questioning assumptions and biases in both your own thinking and the information you encounter.

When evaluating sources, consider multiple viewpoints and sources of evidence before forming conclusions. Develop the ability to identify logical fallacies or weak arguments that may distort the validity of your findings. Embrace open-mindedness and be willing to adapt your ideas when faced with compelling evidence that challenges your initial perspective.

How to Improve Critical Thinking

Improving your Critical Thinking skills requires practice and deliberate effort. Engage in discussions and debates within your field and beyond to expose yourself to diverse perspectives and sharpen your ability to analyze complex issues. Regularly challenge yourself to critically evaluate information, whether it’s a news article, a research paper, or a colleague’s argument.

Seek feedback from mentors or peers to refine your critical thinking process and identify areas for improvement. Remember, Critical Thinking is an ongoing journey that can be developed over time – the more you engage with it, the more adept you’ll become at navigating the intricate landscape of ideas in your research endeavors.

Related :  Critical Thinking Interview Questions & Answers

Data Analysis is the art of processing, interpreting, and extracting meaningful insights from the raw information you’ve collected during your research journey. Think of it as deciphering a puzzle – you’re transforming numbers, observations, or qualitative data into a coherent narrative that answers your research questions and adds value to your work.

To excel in Data Analysis, you need to develop both quantitative and qualitative skills. For quantitative data, embrace statistical tools and techniques that help you identify trends, correlations, and patterns in your data sets. Practice using software like Excel, SPSS, or specialized tools for your field to perform statistical tests and visualize results effectively. For qualitative data, immerse yourself in the details, coding and categorizing themes to distill rich insights from textual or visual sources.

How to Improve Data Analysis

Improving your Data Analysis skills involves a combination of practice, learning, and refining your techniques. Start by immersing yourself in the basics of statistics and data analysis methodologies relevant to your research field. Engage in tutorials and online courses to familiarize yourself with various tools and software. As you analyze data, maintain clear documentation of your process and decisions, which will be crucial when presenting your findings.

Collaborate with peers or mentors who are experienced in data analysis to gain insights and feedback on your techniques. Remember, Data Analysis is about transforming data into knowledge – the more you engage with this skill, the better you’ll become at uncovering valuable insights that contribute to the depth and impact of your research.

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Problem Formulation is like setting the compass for your research journey – it involves defining clear and focused research questions or hypotheses that guide your entire investigation. Consider it the foundation of your work, as it shapes your approach, methods, and the ultimate impact of your research.

To master Problem Formulation, you need to become skilled in asking the right questions. Begin by thoroughly understanding the topic you’re exploring. What gaps or uncertainties do you notice in the existing knowledge? What specific aspect of the topic piques your interest? Craft research questions that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

If you’re developing hypotheses, ensure they are testable and grounded in existing theories or observations. Your skills in Problem Formulation also extend to identifying the scope and boundaries of your research – understanding what you’re including and excluding from your study.

How to Improve Problem Formulation

Improving your Problem Formulation skills requires practice and iterative refinement. Start by conducting a comprehensive literature review to understand the existing research landscape in your area. This will help you identify potential gaps and formulate questions that build upon existing knowledge.

Discuss with peers, mentors, or experts in your field to gain different perspectives and insights into potential research problems. As you develop your skills, be open to revising and refining your research questions based on new information or insights. Remember, Problem Formulation is the compass that guides your research journey – the more you invest in crafting clear and well-defined questions, the more impactful and focused your research will be.

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Imagine these skills as your research toolkit for maintaining order amidst the vast sea of information you encounter. Organization involves structuring and managing your research materials, while Note-Taking ensures you capture valuable insights and details for future reference. Together, they help you stay on track and prevent valuable information from slipping through the cracks.

To excel in Organization and Note-Taking, you need to develop strategies that work best for you. Start by creating a systematic folder structure on your computer to store digital documents, articles, and data sets. For physical materials, consider using labeled folders or binders. As you gather information, employ tools like reference management software to keep track of your sources and generate citations efficiently.

Simultaneously, practice effective Note-Taking during your readings and research. Jot down key points, ideas, and relevant quotes in a structured format, whether you’re using a physical notebook or a digital note-taking app.

How to Improve Organization and Note-Taking

Improving your Organization and Note-Taking skills requires a mix of discipline and adaptability. Establish consistent routines for organizing research materials, updating folders, and managing citations. Regularly review and reorganize your notes to keep them relevant and accessible. Experiment with different note-taking techniques, such as outlining, summarizing, or mind mapping, to find the approach that aligns with your learning style.

Remember, Organization and Note-Taking are your allies in navigating the sea of information – the more you refine these skills, the smoother your research journey will become and the more confident you’ll be in tackling complex topics.

Synthesis and Writing are your means of weaving together the threads of information and insights you’ve collected into a coherent and impactful narrative. Think of it as crafting a masterpiece from the puzzle pieces of your research – you’re presenting your findings, analysis, and conclusions in a way that informs and engages your audience.

To excel in Synthesis and Writing, you must become a data and idea storyteller. Begin by outlining your research paper or report. Organize your findings logically, building a structured framework that guides your reader through your research journey. Ensure each section flows smoothly, connecting the dots between concepts and evidence. While writing, focus on clarity and conciseness – avoid jargon and convoluted language that may confuse your readers. Use effective transitions to guide them from one point to the next.

How to Improve Synthesis and Writing

Improving your Synthesis and Writing skills requires both practice and revision. Start by breaking down the writing process into manageable steps – drafting, revising, and editing. Give yourself time between drafting and revising to approach your work with fresh eyes. Critically evaluate your writing for clarity, coherence, and accuracy during revision.

Consider seeking feedback from peers, mentors, or writing centers to gain insights into improving your writing style. Study well-written papers in your field to observe how experienced researchers present their ideas effectively. Remember, Synthesis and Writing are your tools for communicating your research’s impact – the more you refine these skills, the more effectively you’ll share your discoveries and contribute to the body of knowledge in your field.

Ethical Considerations encompass the principles and guidelines that ensure your research is conducted with integrity, respect for participants’ rights, and a commitment to transparency. Think of it as the moral compass that guides your research journey, ensuring that your work upholds ethical standards and contributes positively to society.

To excel in Ethical Considerations, you need to become a guardian of ethical integrity in your research. Begin by understanding the ethical guidelines and regulations specific to your field and your research type. This involves respecting participants’ autonomy by obtaining informed consent, protecting their privacy and confidentiality, and ensuring they’re treated with dignity. Additionally, uphold intellectual honesty by properly attributing sources, avoiding plagiarism, and disclosing any potential conflicts of interest.

How to Improve Ethical Considerations

Improving your Ethical Considerations skills involves a combination of awareness and vigilance. Regularly educate yourself on the ethical codes and regulations relevant to your field and research methods. When designing your research, carefully plan how you will address ethical concerns and potential risks.

As you conduct your research, stay attuned to any ethical dilemmas that may arise and be prepared to address them appropriately. Remember, Ethical Considerations are at the heart of responsible research – the more you cultivate these skills, the more your work will contribute positively to both your field and society as a whole.

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Time Management involves the art of effectively allocating your time to different research tasks, ensuring that you meet deadlines, stay on track, and maintain a balanced workflow. Think of it as your compass for navigating the often-intricate landscape of research – it helps you stay organized, productive, and in control of your research journey.

To excel in Time Management, you need to become a master of planning and prioritization. Start by breaking down your research project into manageable tasks and setting realistic goals for each stage. Create a schedule that allocates research, data collection, analysis, writing, and revision time. Be mindful of your energy levels – tackle complex tasks during your most productive hours. Embrace tools like to-do lists, calendars, and time-tracking apps to keep yourself accountable and stay aware of your progress.

How to Improve Time Management

Improving your Time Management skills requires consistent practice and self-awareness. Continuously assess your progress against your planned schedule, adjusting as needed to accommodate unexpected challenges or new insights. Develop the skill of saying no to distractions and non-essential tasks that can derail your focus.

Break larger tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks to prevent feeling overwhelmed. Regularly reflect on your time allocation and efficiency – what strategies are working well, and where can you improve? Remember, Time Management is a skill that can significantly impact your research journey – the more you refine it, the more you’ll find yourself navigating your work with greater ease and achieving your research goals with greater success.

Related :  10 Coordinating Skills and How to Develop Them

Adaptability is the ability to flex and evolve in response to changing circumstances, unexpected findings, and new information that arise during your research journey. Think of it as your compass for navigating the dynamic and ever-changing landscape of research – it empowers you to embrace uncertainty and adjust your course to ensure the best outcomes for your work.

To excel in Adaptability, you need to cultivate a mindset that embraces change and seeks opportunities within challenges. Start by acknowledging that research is often full of surprises and plans might need to shift. Develop a sense of resilience by staying open to revising your research questions, altering methodologies, or exploring unanticipated angles.

Being adaptable also means being resourceful – finding alternative approaches when things don’t go as planned. Embrace feedback from peers, mentors, or unexpected results, and be ready to integrate this feedback to improve the quality of your research.

How to Improve Adaptability

Improving your Adaptability skills involves practicing flexibility and embracing a growth mindset. Regularly reassess your research plan and objectives in light of new information or developments. Embrace failures and setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth rather than roadblocks. Seek out interdisciplinary perspectives and engage with new ideas that challenge your assumptions.

As you navigate through unexpected turns, continuously reflect on what you’ve learned and how you’ve adapted, so you can refine your approach in the future. Remember, Adaptability is the key to thriving in the dynamic landscape of research – the more you foster this skill, the better equipped you’ll be to tackle unforeseen challenges and emerge stronger from your research journey.

Related :  Research Intern Cover Letter Examples & Writing Guide

Research Skills Conclusion

In the pursuit of knowledge and discovery, honing research skills is the linchpin that sets the stage for success. Throughout this exploration of various research skills and how to nurture them, one thing becomes evident: deliberate practice and continuous improvement are the bedrock of growth. Developing research skills is not merely a checkbox to mark; it’s a journey that empowers you to excel in your field, make meaningful contributions, and amplify the impact of your work.

Improving these skills isn’t just an option – it’s a necessity in today’s job market. The ability to gather information effectively, critically evaluate sources, analyze data, formulate problems, synthesize findings, and more, transforms the research process from a mere task into a dynamic and transformative experience. These skills serve as the pillars that uphold the credibility and validity of your work, ensuring that your contributions stand the test of scrutiny and time.

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What are research skills?

Last updated

26 April 2023

Reviewed by

Broadly, it includes a range of talents required to:

Find useful information

Perform critical analysis

Form hypotheses

Solve problems

It also includes processes such as time management, communication, and reporting skills to achieve those ends.

Research requires a blend of conceptual and detail-oriented modes of thinking. It tests one's ability to transition between subjective motivations and objective assessments to ensure only correct data fits into a meaningfully useful framework.

As countless fields increasingly rely on data management and analysis, polishing your research skills is an important, near-universal way to improve your potential of getting hired and advancing in your career.

Make research less tedious

Dovetail streamlines research to help you uncover and share actionable insights

What are basic research skills?

Almost any research involves some proportion of the following fundamental skills:

Organization

Decision-making

Investigation and analysis

Creative thinking

What are primary research skills?

The following are some of the most universally important research skills that will help you in a wide range of positions:

Time management — From planning and organization to task prioritization and deadline management, time-management skills are highly in-demand workplace skills.

Problem-solving — Identifying issues, their causes, and key solutions are another essential suite of research skills.

Critical thinking — The ability to make connections between data points with clear reasoning is essential to navigate data and extract what's useful towards the original objective.

Communication — In any collaborative environment, team-building and active listening will help researchers convey findings more effectively through data summarizations and report writing.

What are the most important skills in research?

Detail-oriented procedures are essential to research, which allow researchers and their audience to probe deeper into a subject and make connections they otherwise may have missed with generic overviews.

Maintaining priorities is also essential so that details fit within an overarching strategy. Lastly, decision-making is crucial because that's the only way research is translated into meaningful action.

• Why are research skills important?

Good research skills are crucial to learning more about a subject, then using that knowledge to improve an organization's capabilities. Synthesizing that research and conveying it clearly is also important, as employees seek to share useful insights and inspire effective actions.

Effective research skills are essential for those seeking to:

Analyze their target market

Investigate industry trends

Identify customer needs

Detect obstacles

Find solutions to those obstacles

Develop new products or services

Develop new, adaptive ways to meet demands

Discover more efficient ways of acquiring or using resources

Why do we need research skills?

Businesses and individuals alike need research skills to clarify their role in the marketplace, which of course, requires clarity on the market in which they function in. High-quality research helps people stay better prepared for challenges by identifying key factors involved in their day-to-day operations, along with those that might play a significant role in future goals.

• Benefits of having research skills

Research skills increase the effectiveness of any role that's dependent on information. Both individually and organization-wide, good research simplifies what can otherwise be unwieldy amounts of data. It can help maintain order by organizing information and improving efficiency, both of which set the stage for improved revenue growth.

Those with highly effective research skills can help reveal both:

Opportunities for improvement

Brand-new or previously unseen opportunities

Research skills can then help identify how to best take advantage of available opportunities. With today's increasingly data-driven economy, it will also increase your potential of getting hired and help position organizations as thought leaders in their marketplace.

• Research skills examples

Being necessarily broad, research skills encompass many sub-categories of skillsets required to extrapolate meaning and direction from dense informational resources. Identifying, interpreting, and applying research are several such subcategories—but to be specific, workplaces of almost any type have some need of:

Searching for information

Attention to detail

Taking notes

Problem-solving

Communicating results

Time management

• How to improve your research skills

Whether your research goals are to learn more about a subject or enhance workflows, you can improve research skills with this failsafe, four-step strategy:

Make an outline, and set your intention(s)

Know your sources

Learn to use advanced search techniques

Practice, practice, practice (and don't be afraid to adjust your approach)

These steps could manifest themselves in many ways, but what's most important is that it results in measurable progress toward the original goals that compelled you to research a subject.

• Using research skills at work

Different research skills will be emphasized over others, depending on the nature of your trade. To use research most effectively, concentrate on improving research skills most relevant to your position—or, if working solo, the skills most likely have the strongest impact on your goals.

You might divide the necessary research skills into categories for short, medium, and long-term goals or according to each activity your position requires. That way, when a challenge arises in your workflow, it's clearer which specific research skill requires dedicated attention.

How can I learn research skills?

Learning research skills can be done with a simple three-point framework:

Clarify the objective — Before delving into potentially overwhelming amounts of data, take a moment to define the purpose of your research. If at any point you lose sight of the original objective, take another moment to ask how you could adjust your approach to better fit the original objective.

Scrutinize sources — Cross-reference data with other sources, paying close attention to each author's credentials and motivations.

Organize research — Establish and continually refine a data-organization system that works for you. This could be an index of resources or compiling data under different categories designed for easy access.

Which careers require research skills?

Especially in today's world, most careers require some, if not extensive, research. Developers, marketers, and others dealing in primarily digital properties especially require extensive research skills—but it's just as important in building and manufacturing industries, where research is crucial to construct products correctly and safely.

Engineering, legal, medical, and literally any other specialized field will require excellent research skills. Truly, almost any career path will involve some level of research skills; and even those requiring only minimal research skills will at least require research to find and compare open positions in the first place.

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Research skills: Examples + how to improve them

No matter what career path you choose to take, research skills are one of the key graduate career skills that will help you impress employers in applications and support you throughout your entire working life. 

Research skills are essential in problem-solving; learning how to improve research skills is therefore a great way to prepare for the workplace and improve your overall skill set in your early career. In this article, you’ll find out what research skills are, how to improve your research skills and much more. 

• What are research skills?
• Examples of research skills
• Jobs that require research skills
• How to improve research skills

How to use research skills at your workplace

How to include research skills in a cv, how to include research skills in a cover letter.

• How to demonstrate your research skills at a job interview

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What are research skills? 

Research skills refer to an individual’s ability to source information about a certain topic, and effectively extract and evaluate the information in order to answer questions or solve problems. 

Research skills are soft skills that are highly sought after by employers as they show a candidate’s ability to understand and analyse a variety of materials and sources. Whether you’re studying or already in the workplace, research skills are important transferable skills to have in any role or sector that you choose.

These skills can be constantly improved, and this is a great way to develop in your early career and prepare for the workplace. For example, your manager might ask you to conduct research or analysis for various projects, where these skills will be essential for your success. 

Learn how to develop your entire transferable skillset with this free online learning course. You'll also get a certificate once you complete the course that you can display on your CV and LinkedIn profile.

Examples of research skills 

During your time at school and university, you will have used a variety of research skills to complete projects and assignments. If you’re not sure what research skills look like in practice, here are some examples: 

Data collection 

Data collection is the process of systematically gathering information in order to solve problems, answer questions and better understand a particular topic. The information or data that you are collecting can be quantitative or qualitative; it can be collected through using surveys, interviews, reviewing existing materials and more to solve a particular problem.

At university, you would need to read broadly on a certain topic or conduct a literature review for a certain project. This is all data collection, and you can develop and use these experiences in your future role too. 

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to interpret and analyse information in order to form a particular judgement or evaluation. Someone who is a great critical thinker will be able to apply their knowledge (informed by evidence from, for example, data collection) to think rationally and come to a conclusion. Critical thinking is key in the workplace as it means you can analyse and evaluate strategically, to come to a judgement that will inform a particular action or idea.

Detail orientation 

Another key example of a research skill is detail orientation, or the ability to focus on small details. Someone who is detail-oriented will be able to notice small mistakes and will be able to deliver high-quality and accurate work. When solving problems, this is essential, as the ability to extract and evaluate information with accuracy is important for the validity of your research and will help drive high-quality results. 

Time management 

Time management is the ability to organise your time when planning different activities and projects. Effective time management means you’re able to balance your workload and ensure all tasks are completed within an allotted time. This is important for your research skills, as it means you are able to effectively delegate your time between data collection, analysis and evaluation.

Jobs that require research skills 

• External auditors have great attention to detail to investigate organisations. In an external auditor role, you will need to research policies and regulations, analyse data provided by the organisation and draw conclusions for a report.
• A strategist in the financial sector looks at an organisation’s finances to come up with plans for the future. You need great analytical and evaluative skills in order to understand the best options for your clients and turn a rational judgement into action. 
• A role in the Civil Service involves researching, developing and maintaining policy in the UK. Being able to inform your decisions with evidence, and manage your time effectively, is key. 
• In the role of a data scientist , you will need to conduct research to understand why a client or company needs a data scientist, and be able to analyse effectively to see big patterns in large amounts of data. 
• Clinical scientists must carefully analyse and process large amounts of data, requiring strong research skills and detail orientation.

Not quite sure about the type of career you should pursue? Take our Career Path Test and get matched with the career paths and sectors that meet your interests. 

How to improve research skills 

• Practise your time management and organisation skills: Whether you’re at university or in your early career, it’s important to start learning how to balance your time effectively to complete a number of tasks. For your next project, try setting out clear activities that need to be completed, how long you need to spend on each, and a timeline for when each task will be started and completed. 
• Learn how to write reports: In any research process or project, you will need to summarise and evaluate your findings in a written report in a clear and concise way. Make sure to include the objective of your research, a summary of your findings, and the judgements you have made from the evidence you found. 
• Read more widely: One of the core aspects of research and analysis is the ability to extract information from a variety of materials. Reading more widely will improve your data collection skills and will give you experience with forming judgements from a range of sources and on a number of topics.
• Plan . Before you start a project at work, make sure you’ve taken time to plan what tasks you need to do, and how long each will take, to understand the timelines of the project. This allows you to set aside dedicated time for the research phase, for example, before analysing data or putting ideas into action.
• Read about the topic . Whatever sector you’re in, and whatever project you’re working on, reading about your subject area is key to understanding your field ahead of any decisions being made. This will help you solve problems and answer any questions you need to be answered at the offset.
• Compare your results . Following any research or data collection, it’s a good idea to compare your findings with colleagues to ensure consistency across the team. This will lead to greater accuracy for the project as a whole.
• Present . Practising your presentation and communication skills is an essential part of developing your research skills. At the end of any research you’ve conducted, get into the habit of presenting your findings in a written report, and try presenting this to your line manager and wider team.

Once you’ve developed your research skills, it’s important that you know how to convey these effectively in applications – starting with your CV.

Read: How to write a CV | Advice & templates

Your CV is usually the first thing an employer sees of you, so you need to impress them from the offset. Highlighting your research skills, and how you’ve used them in your experience so far, is a great way to do this and will show your organisation, attention to detail and critical thinking.

Research skills should be included under the ‘skills and achievements section of your CV. This is where you include your technical and personal skills that relate to the role you’re applying for.

When talking about your research skills, remember to highlight how you’ve developed these in a concise way. For example, you might have developed research skills by writing a number of literature reviews at university. This might be phrased as “developed effective research skills through data collection and analysis when writing literature reviews for university projects.”

Another way to convey your research skills on your application and impress employers is through the cover letter. If an employer asks for one, it’s important to know how to structure a cover letter so that you can convey your skillset and interest in the role clearly and succinctly.

Your cover letter needs to be no more than one page and should highlight your competency for the role you’re applying for. Approach your application from the basis of ‘what I can do for you’ rather than ‘what you can do for me’. As research skills are transferable, this is a great chance to highlight how you can benefit the organisation and team you’re applying for, as it shows your ability to collect data, think critically, organise your time, analyse and more. Remember to apply these soft and transferable skills to what the job description says will be expected of you.

How to demonstrate your research skills at a job interview 

Interviews are another opportunity to impress employers with your skill set - including how you have developed strong research skills which you can use in the role you’re applying to. 

Ahead of your interview, you should be using your research skills to look into the company you’ve applied for. Get familiar with what they do, their company values and what they’re looking for in a candidate for your chosen role. 

You can also get prepared by practising to answer potential research skills questions like “give me an example of a time when you solved a problem using your research skills.” To answer this, make sure you’re identifying the specific research skills you have used, and explain a real example of when you have solved problems using them. Think about the impact using those research skills had in order to highlight how you have developed these skills effectively in practice. 

Research skills are essential for success in many different roles and fields. By learning how to improve your research skills, you are setting yourself up to impress employers at application and become an asset to a team when you enter the workplace. 

Research skills are soft skills that employers value, are essential for developing your problem-solving skills and are one of the key graduate career skills that recruiters look for. By adding ‘research skills’ to your CV, and highlighting your research capabilities at interviews, you are increasing your employability and chances for success.

Browse thousands of available graduate jobs, schemes and more and demonstrate to employers that you're able to use your research skills to succeed at interview and in your early career. 

Institute for Employment Research National Guidance Research Forum

Developing your research skills.

Developing Your Research Skills

Contribution from Jenny Bimrose, Warwick Institute for Employment Research (2003).

The following materials provide an introduction to some key issues for designing and progressing a research project in guidance through to successful completion.

Links to subsections: Contents

STAGE 1: Identifying a research need within a guidance (or related) context

Stage 2: reading for research, stage 3: selecting appropriating methods and procedures, stage 4: research models, traditions and approaches, stage 5: writing a research report.

Bibliography

Research in Practice website

Harvard Reference Style

This section will help you plan your research project.

1.1 Introduction

To carry out research, you will need to carry out a variety of tasks. Robson (1993:pxvii) identifies the main ones as:

deciding on the focus; developing the research question(s); choosing a research strategy; selecting the method(s); arranging the practicalities; collecting the data; preparing for, and carrying out analysis; reporting what you have found; and possibly acting on your findings There is no shortage of advice in books on how to approach your research (see the References and Bibliography sections - though, please note, that there are many other standard texts which contain the same type of general information). It is worth spending time reviewing the advice and suggestions contained in a selection of these texts, since learning from the experience of the experts who have written these texts can often save you time and effort in the longer term.

1.2 Objective: stage 1

The first stage in conducting successful research involves identifying a realistic and achievable research need which is relevant to your professional area, then undertaking some initial planning of your project.

By the end of this stage of your research project, you should have:

gathered and selected information from a variety of sources which is appropriate to your broad area of interest; synthesised this information to identify a research need; identified constraints associated with your chosen research focus together with possible solutions to potential problems they represent; considered likely trends related to the prospective research area; written a brief research proposal outlining your ideas for research (see 1.8 below).

1.3 Keeping a research diary

It is usual for initial ideas to change as you become more and more involved with the process of research. Because of this, it is worth keeping some informal notes about your progress, like a personal diary, which keeps a reasonably accurate record of key issues. These could include:

how and why you selected the particular focus for your study; difficulties anticipated and actually encountered; how and when difficulties are overcome; sources of inspiration; thoughts and feelings; insights and anxieties; critical turning points, etc. To ensure you do actually keep a diary, it’s important to select an approach to keeping a diary with which you feel comfortable. A small notebook would suffice or, alternatively, Blaxter et al (1996) suggest that diaries can also be kept on tape or a word processor. Whichever method of recording your choose, try to keep it readily accessible, so that ideas can be jotted down as and when they arise.

1.4 Models of research process

‘A rationale for the methods used to gather and process data, in what sequence and on what samples, taken together, constitutes a research methodology.’ Cryer, 1996: 45

The task of carrying out a research inquiry is complicated by the fact that there is no consensus about the way this should be done (Robson, 1993). A fundamental difference relates to the sequence and relationship of activities involved. One model says that you collect all the data before analysing it. One other model requires that data collection and analysis are intertwined. Another difference relates to views about the role of theory. Such differences can be categorised into two main traditions: quantitative (positivist, natural-science based, hypothetico-deductive) and qualitative (interpretative, ethnographic). The implications of adopting one as opposed to the other of these models are discussed later (4.5 and 4.6 below). However, whichever of these approaches (or combination of approaches) you decide to adopt, you will still need to develop your focus at an early stage of your research.

1.5 Selecting a topic

If you are reading this information, it is likely that you already have one (maybe several) idea(s) or a particular area of interest that you would like to research. To help you make your final selection, try to find out just how much has been written each topic. You probably won't have time to read extensively on each topic, so using a library catalogue can be a useful way of identifying relevant material. For example, try the catalogue linked to the careers library that can be accessed through this Forum). Additionally, talk to colleagues and others who might be interested. Discussing ideas about possible topics and the associated problems is an essential part of planning your research. Views may differ from (even conflict) with your own and you may be able to identify alternative approaches as a result of this process. For example, colleagues may be aware of sensitive aspects of certain topics that could cause difficulties at some stage. Use the discussion facility of the Forum to test out your ideas. If you are hoping to carry out research in your own employing organisation, early consultation with relevant individuals is essential to avoid later difficulties.

In selecting a topic, there is often a tendency to be over-ambitious. With limited resources (including time) at your disposal it’s important to prepare the ground carefully. Discussions and inquiries will help you select a topic which is likely to be of interest, which you have a good chance of completing and which may well have some practical application in a guidance context.

1.6 Ethical considerations

At a very early stage of your preparations to carry out research it is vital that you give serious thought to the ethical aspects of the enquiry you are proposing. Ethics refers to rules of conduct, and adopting an ethical approach involves conformity to a code or set of principles. Ethical problems can start at the very beginning of study. Some issues, which may be relevant to your research, are identified by Robson (1993:31):

Do individuals have the right not to take part? Even if they do, are there any overt or covert penalties for non-participation (e.g. 'it will look good on your reference if you have taken part in this study'). Do they know what they are letting themselves in for? Is their consent fully informed? Will individuals participating be protected, not only from any direct effects of the intervention, but also by the investigator ensuring that the reporting of the study maintains confidentiality? Is confidentiality always appropriate? If people have done something praiseworthy and put extra effort and time, should they get credit for this? Conversely, if inefficiency or malpractice is uncovered in your study, should the guilty ones be permitted to hide? What responsibility do investigators have for the knowledge they have acquired? Should those undertaking applied research target their knowledge and take responsibility for the consequences? These are just some examples. Each needs careful thought for your particular situation. Robson (1993: 32) lists ten questionable practices in social science research, relevant to a guidance context. These are:

Involving people without their knowledge or consent. Coercing them to participate. Withholding information about the true nature of the research. Otherwise deceiving the participant. Inducing them to commit acts diminishing their self-esteem. Violating rights of self-determination (e.g. in studies seeking to promote individual change). Exposing participants to physical or mental stress. Invading their privacy. Withholding benefits from some participants (e.g. in comparison groups). Not treating participants fairly, or with consideration, or with respect. He goes on to identify ethical principles relevant for 'action research' - one approach that you may choose to adopt, relevant to a guidance context, characterised by a collaborative effort between researcher and 'researched'. Ethical guidelines for this type of research emphasise the need for negotiation and involvement in the research process. These include:

Observe protocol: Ensure that the relevant persons, committees and authorities have been consulted and informed and that the necessary permission and approval has been obtained. Involve participants: Encourage those who have a stake in the improvement you envisage, shape the form of the work. Negotiate with those affected: Remember that not everyone will want to be directly involved. Your research should respect this. Report progress: Keep the work visible and remain open to suggestions to that both anticipated and unanticipated developments can be dealt with. All involved must have the opportunity to raise concerns with you. Negotiate descriptions of people's work. Always allow those described in your research to challenge your accounts on the grounds of fairness, relevance and accuracy. Negotiate reports for various levels of release. Different audiences demand different levels of reports. 1.7 Planning your research project

Bell (1993:23) provides a useful checklist for planning your project, which identifies the following stages:

Draw up a short list of topics; Select a broad topic for investigation; Refine the precise focus of the study; Decide on the aims and objectives; Draw up an initial project outline; Read enough to ensure you’re on the right lines; Devise a timetable to enable you to check that all stages will be covered and time allowed for writing. By the time you have completed all of these planning phases, you will be ready to write your Research Proposal.

1.8 Research proposal

It is good practice to produce a brief research proposal after your preliminary investigations. This need not be long or complicated, but helps order thoughts and organise subsequent action. It is also good preparation for when you may wish to submit a formal application for funding for research. It should include:

a statement of the research (including, aims and objectives), sources to be examined and identification of any potential ethical issues; a provisional timetable for carrying out the research and writing the report; a rationale for the research, which identifies probable outcomes (what you hope to achieve); a provisional outline of your research report, which can be expanded as your research progresses. Cryer (1996:51) identifies some examples of research outcomes, which are relevant to a guidance context:

A new product e.g. a book, a video, worksheets, etc. A development of or an improvement on something that already exists. A new theory. A reinterpretation of an existing theory. A new research tool or technique. A new model or perspective. An in-depth study. A critical analysis e.g. an analysis of the effects of a particular policy. A collection of general findings or conclusions.

Once you have written your research proposal, you are ready to move on to second stage of your research.

This section will help you focus on identifying and managing the reading materials for your research project.

2.1 Introduction

Carrying out any worthwhile research project will involve a significant amount of reading. The purpose of research is to extend and develop knowledge and understanding. Reading is an integral part of this process. Reading for research in guidance will probably involve reviewing or refreshing your current knowledge base (e.g. theories on which practice is based) as well as undertaking new reading. The types of skills required with reading for research (e.g. how to read, deciding what to read, how to interpret your reading) can be a source of anxiety, so the following sections have been designed to support and/or develop these skills.

2.2 Objective: stage 2

By the end of the second stage of your research you will be able to:

communicate effectively and clearly with others in the discipline area; develop information storage and retrieval strategies; develop skills relevant to library and resource use; develop skills relating to the organisation of reading, research time and tasks; use information to construct a rationale for your research project. 2.3 Information storage and retrieval strategies

For successful research, you will need to be familiar with the sound methods of keeping records and making notes. Whilst locating information for the first time can be difficult, re-locating it can be even more of a problem unless you have developed systematic record-keeping procedures. As well as keeping a record of useful sources, you should also keep a record of sources that proved to be of no interest (and why) to save valuable time later if you come across the same reference again. Remember that for all your sources, you need to record sufficient information for constructing your bibliography (see 2.7 below).

A number of texts on research suggest adopting a card index system (e.g. Bell, 1993 and Cryer, 1996). The merits of using different size cards are discussed (e.g. to contain more or less information) and the potential for keeping cards for various sources in different sections (e.g. cards on books in one section, cards on articles in another, etc.). Other methods could include using part of your 'Research Diary' (see 2.3 above), or using a computer to develop systems of recording.

Adopting a system may prove challenging because breaking off from reading an interesting report, article or chapter to record the necessary details requires a good deal of self-discipline – especially when you’re working under pressure. It is, however, worth persevering since your recording system will undoubtedly be a key feature of producing a high quality research report.

2.4 Reading for research

You may already have been involved in research connected with your professional role and this may have been undertaken without much direct reading (e.g. if you have been involved in administering questionnaires on someone's behalf). However, for research requiring more in-depth involvement, reading is essential since it will both be stimulated and informed by the knowledge acquired by your reading. Blaxter et al (1996:94) usefully suggest that reading should be undertaken at different stages of your research and for different purposes, as follows:

At the beginning of your research: to check what other research has been done, to focus your ideas and to explore the context for your project. During your research: to keep you interested and up to date with developments, to help you better understand the methods you are using and the field you are researching, and as a source of data. After your research: to see what impact your own work has had and to help you develop ideas for further research projects. Purposes of reading for your research are to familiarise yourself with:

research which has been undertaken on topics similar to your own; research methods being applied in ways which are similar to your own plans; accounts of the context relating to your project 2.5 Potential difficulties

One common difficulty is getting hold of relevant books, reports or journal articles. The careers library which can be accessed through this website, is one obvious source of relevant materials. However, remember that there is often competition for popular and scarce resources, so careful planning may be necessary to ensure you manage to access key texts for your research when you need them. It may also be necessary to negotiate access to libraries near to where you live. Local libraries can be very helpful - ordering specialist books on request – and you may be lucky enough to live near a University library, which often allow access to researchers. Wherever you access literature, you probably need to give some careful thought and planning to how and when you will access the material you wish to read.

Apart from libraries, you will need to use a wide variety of other sources for your reading. Your employer, colleagues, supervisors, friends, relations - even clients and research subjects - can prove to be a rich source of relevant material. The Internet can also produce relevant information and can be invaluable for identifying and locating possible material.

Blaxter et al (1996) identify four common concerns about reading for research:

the volume of literature: how do you get to grips with this? the variety of literature: how do you go about using the vast range of sources available? lack of boundaries: how do you decide which areas of literature are relevant? conflicting arguments: how do you assess and evaluate competing explanations? If you can identify with any, or all, of these concerns it is probably worth spending some time developing strategies for reading for research. Again, a number of texts that are readily available provide helpful hints on dealing with these sorts of problems. Some of these are summarised next.

2.6 Basic reading strategies

What to read Read as much as possible from as many sources as possible - books, journals, computer-based materials, reports, the popular media (daily and weekly press, magazines), memos, minutes, internal reports and even letters.

Remember that, even though it is important to be as up-to-date as possible, this does not preclude older sources like classic texts. Edited texts and literature reviews are also particularly useful for research purposes. The careers library accessed through this website is a rich source of this type of material since it contains historical collections of guidance materials. They can provide invaluable overviews of an area as well as excellent introductions to an area – though try to balance these with references to original materials where possible. Methodological accounts are also valuable sources.

Make sure you understand the extent to which the texts that you are using make use of original data:

primary sources: contain original data; secondary sources: contain discussions and interpretations of data, in which the author typically argues for a particular point of view; tertiary sources: presents information and references to the sources of that information. It’s best to try to draw from a mix of sources for your research report.

Making selections Familiarise yourself with key texts relevant to your research topic and then supplement with a broader, but selective, reading around the topic. Develop a selective approach by, for example:

Taking advice from available sources: for example from your colleagues or manager at work. Use the discussion section of this website under different section headings (e.g. Equal Opportunties; Improving Practice; Impact Analysis). Locating books or journals that appear relevant in a careers library by asking, browsing or using a catalogue. Keyword searches on computer-based catalogues are very useful. Following up interesting references from your original sources. Identifying key texts by noting those that are referred to repeatedly. Selective reading If you haven’t already done so, you will need to develop the skill of selective reading because you will not have time to read thoroughly all the written sources with which you need to be familiar. The following tips can help develop this skill:

record the author(s), title, publisher and date of the book, report or articles. Keep this safely and any notes you make on the content; look for an introduction, concluding chapter, abstract or executive summary. If it exists, read quickly, scanning the contents. If the book or report has a cover, the information printed there can be useful; with books and reports, look for the contents page. Identify any chapters that you think may be of particular relevance and focus on them, again starting from the introduction and/or conclusion. You can find your way through a chapter or section by using the sub-headings; in the text itself, key points will often be highlighted, or in the first or last paragraphs. Similarly, the first and last sentences of paragraphs are often used to indicate and summarise their contents. Remember - you should be able to understand the key points of a book or article in no more than five minutes. This should enable you to decide you need go no further, or decide which parts of the book or article you need to read in depth.

Critical reading This requires careful examination of what others have written (or said) on a particular subject. It is a difficult skill to develop but important for successful research. The types of questions you will need to ask as you are reading: does the author present convincing arguments or evidence to support assertions? Is information easy to find? Are the views expressed consistent? Are clear distinctions made between fact and opinion?

Blaxter et al (1996:106) suggest that critically sound sources:

go beyond mere descriptions by arguing their position - making a personal response to what has been written; relate different writings to each other, indicating their differences and contradictions, and highlighting what they are lacking; do not take what is written at face value; are explicit about the values and theories which inform and colour reading and writing; view research writing as contested terrain, within which alternative views and positions may be taken up; show an awareness of the power relations involved in research, and of where writers are coming from; use a particular language (e.g. the author asserts, argues, states, concludes or contends). 2.7 Referencing

There are several acceptable ways of recording sources and other information. The Harvard method is a common method that has various advantages. For example, it avoids footnotes and all sources mentioned appear at the end of your dissertation rather than at the end of each chapter. When sources are referred to in the text, only the name(s) of author(s) and year of publication appear. Even though there are different styles of referencing, they will probably contain the information identified below.

Books For all books you wish to include in your Bibliography, you will need the following information:

Author's surname and initials Year of publication (in brackets) Title (underlined) Edition, if relevant (in brackets) Place of publication Name of publisher

For example: Hodkinson, P., Sparkes, A.C. & Hodkinson, H. (1996) Triumphs and Tears: young people, markets and the transition from school to work, London, David Fulton Publishers.

References in the text should be given as follows:

Smith and Brown (1998:175) or (Smith and Brown, 1998:175)

Where there are three or more authors, only give the name of the first:

Smith et al. (1997:203) or (Smith et al., 1997:203)

When an author has published two or more items in one year, the references should be distinguished by:

Smith (1996a) Smith (1996b) and so on.

Where more than one reference has to be given at a single point in the text, they should be listed chronologically:

Brown (1986:47), Jones (1992:106) and Kaput (1997:427)

Articles and Chapters in Books quote the following:

Author's surname and initials Year of publication (in brackets) Title (in inverted commas or italics) Source of journal or book, that is: ~ Title of journal or book (underlined) ~ Volume number, issue and page numbers in journals

For example: Savickas, M.L. (1995) Current Theoretical Issues in Vocational Psychology: Convergence, Divergence, and Schism in Walsh, W.B. and Osipow, S.H. Handbook of Vocational Psychology: Theory, Research and Practice, (2nd ed) Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Articles in Journals quote the following:

Author's surname and initials Year of publication Title (inverted commas or italics) Title of journal (underlined) Volume number, issue and page numbers

For example: Betz, N.E., Harmon, L.W. & Borgen, F.H. (1996) The Relationships of Self-Efficacy for the Holland Themes to Gender, Occupational Group Membership, and Vocational Interests in Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 1, p90-98.

Citing Web Pages As with printed references, the title should be either in Italics or underlined. Note that round brackets are used for (year) and (edition). Where there is no year given on the web material, your would record this as (no date).

Note also that square brackets are used for [medium] and [access date]. The access date is the date you last accessed that reference. This is important, given the volatility of web material, because it offers some indication of the currency of the reference. Without your access date, there might be no intention of how old the material is.

Author/editor. (Year). Title (edition).[Type of medium].Producer (optional). Available Protocol (if applicable):Site/Path/File[Access date].

For example: Equal Opportunities Commission (2003) ‘The Development of Gender Roles in Young Children’. [Online]. Available: http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/gender_roles.pdf [2003, May 22].

Whichever method you select for your Bibliography and referencing, remember that it is important to be consistent.

This section will help you to decide how to collect the evidence you require for your research project.

3.1 Introduction

Once you have decided on a research topic, you will be able to decide how to collect the evidence you require. This section will be concerned with general issues associated with the selection of methods and appropriate procedures for the project.

3.2 Objectives: stage 3

By the end of this stage of your research project, you will be able to:

identify appropriate criteria by which to judge the validity of a guidance project; approximate and estimate time involved, necessary materials and the quantities in which they are required, costs of the research, etc.; identify design principles relevant to the chosen research area; identify the major issues or problems in the specific research area; demonstrate the ability to re-formulate research design in response to unexpected circumstances; synthesise material, evidence and arguments to select appropriate methods and procedures for the project. 3.3 Validity, Reliability and Relevance

When judging the quality of any research, reliability, validity and relevance are important.

The validity of research refers to the credibility of the results. Has the research actually done the things it claims to do? Does an item measure or describe what it is supposed to measure or describe? In considering these issues, it needs to be acknowledged that discussions about validity provoke controversy amongst researchers. Some have rejected the concept of validity as inapplicable since it implies the possession of knowledge that is absolutely certain and, in this sense, knowledge can never be certain. McLeod (1999) argues that the concepts of validity and reliability that have been developed for use in quantitative research can’t be applied in the same way in qualitative studies. Nevertheless, in deciding the value of our own and other research, we need to be able to make reasoned judgements about it as a new contribution to knowledge.

Measuring the extent of validity can become extremely involved and there are different levels at which the question of validity can be considered. Put simply, if your research is valid, then you are observing, identifying or measuring what you say you are. A rough guide would be to ask the question: ‘would another researcher using my research instrument get the same responses?’ Additionally, ask other people whether the questions or items you have devised are likely to achieve what you want. Three different aspects of validity are discussed below:

Plausibility:

How plausible is this claim: that is, do we judge it to be likely to true, given our existing knowledge? Some claims may be so plausible that we can reasonably accept them at face value without needing to know anything else.

Credibility:

Does it seems likely that the researcher's judgement of matters relating to the claim is accurate, given the nature of the phenomena concerned, the circumstances of the research, the characteristics of the researcher, etc.?

Where a claim is neither sufficiently plausible, nor sufficiently credible, then we require evidence. When examining the evidence, we need to employ much the same means to assess its validity as we applied to the claim itself (plausibility and credibility) - and may require even more evidence!

McLeod (1999:101) outlines nine criteria suitable for evaluating the validity of qualitative research, which include:

Sufficient contextualisation of the study: Since qualitative research is more concerned with developing knowledge that is relevant and useful at particular times and places, it is necessary to contextualise the study in its historical, social and cultural location.

Credibility of the researcher (reflexivity):A reflexive account of internal processes of research, covering, for example, how contact was made with informants, issues of trust and rapport, how mistakes and misconceptions were dealt with, whether there was agreement over goals and tasks.

Catalytic validity: Defined as the degree to which the research process reorients, focuses and energies participants. Implicit in this is the idea that research should empower those who take part in it.

McNiff (1992) discusses the issue of validity in relation to action research, and distinguishes three types: 1) self validation, 2) peer validation and 3) learner validation. Action research is an approach that often has particular appeal to researchers working on issues related to professional practice. Because much of what McNiff (1992) discusses is applicable to a careers guidance and counselling context, a summary of some of the points she makes on validity follows.

Self-validation: If you are researching within the broad area of guidance and counselling, you are likely to be involved in interpreting your own practice and in making decisions about improving it. The implication of self-validation in this context refers to the potential of these interpretations of your own practice being recognised. McNiff (1992:133) discusses how certain criteria justify an individual's claim to knowledge. They include:

Practice as a realisation of values: where guidance and counselling research starts with a declaration (spoken or written) of values – for example, 'my clients have a right to self-determination'. Often the research inquiry is stimulated because those values are being denied in practice. If clients are being denied the service you think they deserve, this is where a cycle of imagined solutions, implementation, observation, evaluation, re-planning is enacted. Intentional critical reflection: where research inquiry occurs as a result of critical reflection, a desire to explore an intuitive understanding of practice and communicate it to others. Disciplined enquiry: where a researcher demonstrates publicly that s/he has followed a system of disciplined enquiry in arriving at a hypothesis. Personal interpretation as a basis for dialogue: where individuals recognise the potential in their interpretations of their own practice. Peer validation: This relates to the notion that a claim to knowledge or expertise derived from practice must be validated externally. It is the process whereby your findings are made available to and scrutinised by others who can agree that these findings are of interest and could be useful to their own practice. This external validation can come from a number of sources, including colleagues, manager or supervisor, the wider guidance and counselling community, other students, etc. Peer validation can be effective in moving your ideas forward. Questions may be asked which provide new insights and ways of thinking about your research, and invariably you will gain more confidence to progress your research from the process of peer validation.

Client validation: It is particularly useful to get the reactions of the clients themselves. This may be presented in short, written statements, recordings (tape or video), reports, etc. For example, data about the use of labour market information by guidance practitioners could be collected during focus group discussions. This could be written up into a report that was circulated to the practitioners who were asked to validate the accuracy of the reports. The findings could then be circulated more widely to the guidance community who are asked to comment on the relevance of these findings to their own experiences. This represents a powerful chain of validation.

Overall, validation of research findings in a guidance and counselling or related context is likely to involve the development of self-knowledge followed by a genuine attempt to share that knowledge with others.

Reliability

Whatever procedure is used for collecting data for research, it should always be examined critically to assess to what extent it is likely to be reliable, as well as valid. Reliability is the extent to which a test or procedure produces similar results under constant conditions on all occasions. Bell (1993:65) suggests two questions to ask yourself when checking items on a questionnaire or interview schedule you may devise to collect data. They are:

would two interviewers using the schedule or procedure get a similar results? would an interviewer obtain a similar picture using the procedures on different occasions? There are a number of devices for checking reliability in scales and tests. For example:

test-retest method: administering the same test some time after the first; alternate forms method: where equivalent versions of the same items in the test are given and results correlated; split-half method: where the items in the test are split into two matched halves and scores then correlated. These methods are not always feasible or necessary, and there are disadvantages and problems associated with all three. Such mechanisms are not usually necessary unless you are attempting to produce a test or scale. The check for reliability will come at the stage of wording questions and piloting your research instrument(s).

A third criterion for judging research in the area of guidance and counselling is relevance. Since the purpose of any research inquiry is to extend knowledge and understanding, it follows that this must be communicated to a wider audience. When we communicate with people, they assume that we are telling them something that is likely to be of significance to them. It follows that what is communicated should be relevant in some way to the chosen audience. Who are the appropriate audiences for your research and what sort of relevance should your research have for them? Audiences for research reports vary. If you are undertaking a research project within your employing organisation, its primary audience is likely to be members of that organisation. Additionally, your research findings should have some relevance to other audiences. These may include other researchers, a particular practitioner audience or even a more general audience. Whatever audience(s) you select as your target(s), you will need to consider two aspects of the relevance of your research:

importance of the topic: must relate to an issue of importance to the intended audience; contribution to existing: must add something to our knowledge of the issue to knowledge which they relate. Research that merely confirms what is already beyond reasonable doubt makes no contribution to the existing knowledge base. 3.4 Access

No researcher can demand access to an institution, an organisation or to materials. People will be doing you a favour if they agree to help, and will need to know exactly what they will be asked to do, how much time they will be expected to give and what use will be made of the information they provide. They will have to be convinced of your integrity and of the value of your research before they decide whether or not to cooperate. Bell (1993:58) provides a useful checklist of points to consider when negotiating access, including:

Clear official channels by formally requesting permission to carry out your research as soon as you have an agreed project outline. Speak to the people who will be asked to co-operate. Maintain strict ethical standards at all times. Submit the project outline to the principal, senior staff member. Decide what you mean by anonymity and confidentiality. Decide who will receive a copy of the report and/or see drafts of interview transcripts. Inform participants what is to be done with the information they provide. Prepare an outline of intentions and conditions under which the study will be carried out to hand to participants. Be honest about the purpose of the study and about the conditions of the research. Remember that people who agreed to help are doing you a favour. Even when strict protocol is adhered to, things can go wrong. Blaxter et al identify the following strategies to consider if access is denied (1996:144):

approach other individuals. If one person refuses to be interviewed or answer a questionnaire, try approaching another person in a similar position or sharing similar characteristics; approach another institution; approach another individual within the same institution (more risky because of possible communication with the institution); try again later, when people are less busy. Attitudes may have changed, people may have moved on, and you may have more to show to demonstrate the value of your research; change your research strategy. This is probably something you should be prepared to do, and plan for, throughout the research process. It may involve using other, perhaps less sensitive, methods for collecting data, or focusing on a slightly different set of issues, or studying alternative groups or organisations. 3.5 Managing your research project

Constraints operate on any research process. This section discusses time and costs, as well as identifying some others which may well be relevant for the type of research you are planning.

Inevitably, the nature and extent of your data collection will be constrained by your access to various resources – in particular time. Whatever the competing demands for your time and attention, it is important to think about what strategies you need to develop to manage the new demands of your research project in parallel with all the established demands.

A key strategy for managing your time effectively is to be realistic, initially, about the methods you are going to use to collect data and the amount of data needed. One common problem with new researchers is over-ambition. Since it’s likely that you will have a limited timescale to complete and write up your research, it follows that the methods you select will have to be informed by these (and other) considerations. For example, time available will limit the amount of any cross-checking you can undertake, and the size of your research sample.

The costs of research can mount up, so it is advisable to undertake a rough costing of the methods of data collection and analysis that you have considered to make sure they are affordable. The process of costing research activities will be very useful if you are, at any stage of your professional career, ever likely to apply for research funding. For applications for external funding, a detailed costing has to be submitted, and if successful, it is likely that you will have to adhere fairly closely to the original costing submitted.

The costs of your research project could include:

travel costs to your research sites and/or libraries; costs of consumables, such as paper, tapes, batteries, etc.; equipment purchase or hire costs (e.g. word processor, tape recorder, software); book, report and journal purchases; photocopying, printing and binding costs; postage and email/telephone costs. Other constraints

In addition to time and costs, there are bound to be other constraints you need to take into account when designing your research: for example, the willingness of people to be interviewed or observed. If you need to observe meetings or training sessions, you will be limited by the schedule of meetings or training events that will take place during the data-collection phase of your project. If you need to research some aspect of guidance and counselling that requires involvement with schools, colleges or universities, you are likely to be constrained by examination timetables and vacations.

To manage your research project successfully, you will need to anticipate routine constraints affecting the research process. This will help you to develop strategies to cope with these limitations and avoid difficult situations arising in the first place.

3.6 Overcoming obstacles

The process of successful research will, inevitably, involve developing problem-solving techniques. Problems that may arise can range from those relating directly to the research process (for example, the response rate is very low), to problems in other areas in your life (for example, changing your job or falling ill). Blaxter et al (1996: 137) suggest the following ways of coping with difficulties:

remind yourself that the purpose of carrying out research, particularly as a new researcher, may be as much to develop your understanding of the research process and/or the use of particular research methods as to explore substantive issues; remember that it may be just as valid to write up your research in terms of, for example, the problems of gaining access to a particular group, or of getting an adequate response from that group once access has been gained; as part of writing your research report, reflect on your research strategy, explore what went wrong and why and include recommendations for improvement; view research as being about the skills you have learnt and developed on the way. Part of doing research is about appreciating what is involved and where it may be leading you; if you have time and resources, you may choose to redirect your research strategy when you become stuck.

This section will help you understand the broader context of guidance research including consideration of both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

4.1 Introduction

This section examines the two major traditions of research methods: qualitative and quantitative. It discusses the dominant effect that one of these traditions (quantitative research) has had on current careers guidance and counselling practice and considers the value of piloting research.

4.2 Objectives: stage 4

distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research; outline some key issues from current practice which link with research method; describe the main features of qualitative research; describe the main features of quantitative research; pilot your research project. 4.3 Models of Research

The most common way of conceptualising the diversity of approaches to research is to distinguish between quantitative and qualitative models. It is this distinction that will be adopted here, though it should be stressed that this is a rather crude distinction that can be misleading. In reality, much social scientific research combines methods from the two traditions. So how are these two approaches different? Most obviously, quantitative research involves measurement on some numerical basis and usually employs statistical techniques, whereas qualitative research does not (at least to the same degree). Various other features of the research process are also associated with the different traditions. For example, quantitative research favours structured forms of data, which can consist of frequency counts or other types of measurements. In contrast, the data that qualitative researchers typically deal with are verbal descriptions in natural language often collected from an interview or some type of recorded conversation (for example, using audio tapes). They deal more in meanings, experiences and descriptions. This type of data cannot be directly subjected to counting or measuring, though, of course, they can subsequently be presented so that they can be analysed quantitatively.

Other differences have already been identified in 1.4 above. For example, the sequence and relationship of activities involved. A quantitative approach requires that the researcher collects all the data before analysing it. A qualitative approach requires that data collection and analysis are intertwined. One other important difference relates to views about the role of theory. These and other differences will be discussed in more detail later.

Methods of data collection are also varied. Some are clearly associated with quantitative research (for example, the scientific experiment) and other with qualitative research (for example, participant observation). Others are shared by both traditions (for example, questionnaires and interviews) though the precise design of the research instrument and the approach adopted by the researcher are likely to differ. There is a vast literature available on research methods. You will need to spend time reading about different methods and, once you have an idea of your research focus and methods, you will need to spend time researching issues related to different designs (for example, of questionnaires). Whichever approach (or combination of approaches) you choose to adopt for your research project and whatever methods, remember the underlying purpose is to extend knowledge and understanding about some aspect of careers guidance and counselling. As May (1996:3) expresses it more generally, the purpose of all research is:

'to understand and explain social phenomena, to focus attention on particular issues and to challenge conventionally held beliefs about the social and natural worlds'.

4.4 Research Traditions in Guidance and Counselling

Current Practice

The theories which underpin current careers guidance and counselling practice have come mainly from North America. Varied accounts exist which identify the main influences in the development of this body of knowledge (for example, Arthur et al,1989, Brown et al, 1990, Seligman, 1994, Scharf, 1997 and Zunker, 1998,). Despite disagreements about the particular strands of influence, there is agreement that Frank Parsons was the founding father of the vocational guidance movement. A seminal work by Parsons entitled Choosing a Vocation was published posthumously in 1909. His ideas about how people choose jobs came from differential psychology and were initially referred to as the 'talent matching' approach. They later developed into what became known as the 'trait and factor' theory of occupational choice, and were developed by theorists who had a major impact on practice such as John Holland (1966,1973, 1992) and Alec Rodger (1952). Parsons' core concept was that of 'matching'. He suggested that occupational choice occurs when people have achieved:

an accurate understanding of their individual traits (e.g. personal abilities, aptitudes, interests, etc.); a knowledge of jobs and the labour market and then made a rational and objective judgement about the relationship between these two groups of facts. A key assumption is that it is possible to measure both individual talents and the attributes required in particular jobs which can then be matched to achieve a 'good fit'. It is when individuals are in jobs best suited to their abilities, they perform best, and productivity is highest.

This theory of occupational choice has dominated careers guidance and counselling practice for nearly a century, partly because of its practical appeal. It provides careers guidance and counselling practitioners with a clear rationale and framework for practice. Additionally, the underlying philosophy has suited policy makers since it lends itself to the servicing of labour market requirements. Consequently, it has been embraced enthusiastically by policy makers and barely questioned by the majority of practitioners.

The theory contains, however, fatal flaws. Scharf (1997) reminds us that:

There is little research supporting or refuting trait and factor theory itself as a viable theory of career development. Rather, the research that has been done, of which there is a large amount, has related traits and factors to one another or has established the validity and reliability of measurements of traits and factors.' (p26).

There was no viable theoretical alternative during the first half of this century to this 'best fit' theory of occupational choice, and it was not until the 1950's and 1960's that theories originating from other academic disciplines such as sociology, and other branches of psychology like developmental psychology emerged as serious alternatives. Theories which were developed from these academic disciplines emphasised the context in which occupational 'choice' occurred and the importance of the maturation process of individuals, respectively. Since this time, the theories careers guidance practitioners have used to inform their practice have expanded dramatically. Whichever theories actually inform current practice, there is emerging consensus around the inadequacies of these theories. In particular, researchers are questioning the relevance of current theory for particular sectors of society.

Adequacy of Current Practice

There is a growing critique of the current practice of careers guidance and counselling which is based on theory derived from quantitative research methods. For example, Osipow and Littlejohn (1995) discuss serious weaknesses in applying current theory to Minority ethnic groups. They argue that a major problem is the manner in which all current theories use concepts which 'assume cultures that are relatively affluent and have good opportunities for education, upward mobility and family support and encouragement' (p255). Many members of minority ethnic groups, they argue, do not have access to these privileges.

Hackett (1997) identifies several problems in trying to apply current theory to girls and women: 'I am suggesting the need for formal testing of competing models as well as attempts at unification and integration....we also need to incorporate issues of sexism, racism and their interaction, along with considerations of relational orientation, support and barriers into all our developing conceptions of women's career psychology’ (p187).

Savickas (1995) relates current problems with theory to the more fundamental issue of different philosophical origins reflected in the two approaches to research. He identifies inherent tensions which arise from the academic traditions of different theories: 'sharp lines have been drawn on which philosophy of science to choose' (p15). He concludes that 'vocational psychology could benefit simultaneously from refinements forged within the distinct career theories, from advances produced by convergence among career macrotheories and from break-throughs induced by divergence in work-role microtheory' (p29).

Implications for Research Methods

Theories informing current guidance and counselling policy practice have been developed mainly by psychologists operating from scientific positivist paradigms of research using quantitative methods. What, then, are the concerns now being expressed about the limitations of this research method?

Taking just one example of careers guidance and counselling for girls and women, Harmon & Meara (1994) discuss the limitations of experimentally designed empirical inquiry that meets the criterion of internal validity for both policy and practice. They argue that 'those who are interested in career counselling for women seem to be swimming against this tide in an attempt to integrate science and practice' (p362).

Hackett (1997) reviews some of the criticisms made about the existing literature on women's career development which include research methodologies which have been used. In particular, she argues that there is a need to move beyond 'simple correlational designs' (p184) and suggests that qualitative research methods 'are highly appropriate in attempts of this sort to truly understand the experiences of a group that has received insufficient attention' (p185). She discusses the need to triangulate across different data sources using focus groups, diaries, archival documents, or observations, concluding that 'future research on this model will also benefit from the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods' (p186).

Others have also discussed the type of research methods which should be used for future research inquiry. For example, Rainey and Borders (1997) advocate the use of narratives, constructivist methods or other qualitative approaches to examine environmental factors for girls and women (p169). Edwards and Payne (1997) state simply that there is a need 'to embrace ideas from a wider moorland of study than is presently the case' (p537).

Overall, then, there is a growing consensus that scientific research methods from within a positivist paradigm have been found to be wanting in several respects. Knowledge and understanding built up from a particular approach to research needs to be complemented with knowledge and understanding derived from different ways of investigating social phenomenon.

4.5 Quantitative Research

'Quantitative research is concerned with the collection and analysis of data in numeric form. It tends to emphasise relatively large-scale and representative sets of data, and is often........... presented or perceived as being about the gathering of facts.' (Blaxter et al (1996:60).

Quantitative or traditional experimental approaches set out to quantify and measure the contributions of different factors to phenomenon (for example, occupational choice behaviour). It can be useful if you want to compare things, like test scores under different conditions or behaviour under different conditions. However, this approach to research has certain disadvantages for small scale studies. For example, you would need a large enough sample to ensure your data is statistically significant. Additionally, your sample must be representative so that you can be confident of getting the same pattern of results again when you repeat the same procedures on a different population. Only then would you be able to generalise your findings to a wider sample than the one you are testing.

Robson (1993:19) summarises the five sequential steps which are commonly regarded as typifying the 'scientific' or quantitative approach to research. These involve:

Deducing a hypothesis (a testable proposition about the relationship between two or more events or concepts) from theory. Expressing the hypothesis in operational terms (i.e. ones indicating exactly how the variables are to be measured) which propose a relationship between two specific variables. Testing this operational hypothesis. This will involve an experiment or some other form of empirical enquiry. Examining the specific outcome of the enquiry. It will either tend to confirm the theory or indicate the need for its modification. If necessary, modifying the theory in the light of the findings. An attempt is then made to verify the revised theory by going back to the first step and repeating the whole cycle. So, adopting a quantitative approach to research involves searching for causal relationships which are conceptualised in terms of the interaction of 'variables', some of which (independent variables) are seen as the cause of other (dependent variables). It will invariably involve designing and using standardized research instruments (for example, tests, questionnaires, attitude scales) so that numerical data can be collected which will then be manipulated using statistical techniques.

Some suitable data for this research method already exists in the form of published or unpublished statistics. Often, though, researchers have to produce the data they need for analysis themselves. For example, from a laboratory experiment or from psychometric or personality tests which have been administered to relatively large groups of participants. As previously indicated, if responses to unstructured questionnaires can be coded and then counted in some way, this may also be a source of quantitative data.

4.6 Qualitative research

'Qualitative research is concerned with collecting and analysing information in as many forms, chiefly non-numeric, as possible. It tends to focus on exploring, in as much detail as possible, smaller numbers of instances or examples which are seen as being interesting or illuminating, and aims to achieve 'depth' rather than 'breadth'.' (Blaxter et al.,1996:60).

Qualitative research is concerned with life as it is lived, things as they happen or situations as they are constructed in the day-to-day course of events. Qualitative researchers seek lived experiences in real situations, try not to disturb the scene and to be unobtrusive in their methods. This is to ensure that data and analysis will closely reflect what is happening. Qualitative researchers are also interested in 'natural' experiments. For example, when ordinary processes are disrupted, basic rules and norms are thrown into relief. Usually, these types of rules and norms are tacit and understood, perhaps subconsciously, by people in a particular situation. A recent example relevant to guidance in the UK is the recent is the introduction of Personnel Advisers to work with disaffected young people in the Connexions service. Reformed organisational structures, different relations with schools, colleges, Youth Services, Social Services, Youth Offending Teams, and Educational Welfare Officers, different working practices with clients (e.g. over a two year period) are all examples of natural experiments which would be legitimate areas for research inquiry using a qualitative approach.

When studying in this way, it is important not to start off with too many preconceptions about what you might find. It is necessary to maintain an openness, not pre-judging issues and not even settling for the first (even second) impressions formed. Guesses might be made, tested along the way and abandoned, changed or revised in the light of later discoveries. This mode of study will have implications for the relationship fostered with the subjects in the research (refer to 'ethics' in 1.6, and 'access' in 3.4).

Six characteristics of qualitative research are identified by Blaxter et al (1996:61):

Events can be understood adequately only if they are seen in context. A qualitative researcher therefore immerses her/himself in the setting. The contexts of inquiry are not contrived; they are natural; nothing is predefined or taken for granted. Qualitative researchers want those who are studied to speak for themselves, to provide their perspectives in words and other actions. Therefore qualitative research is an interactive process in which the persons studied teach the researcher about their lives. Qualitative researchers attend to the experience as a whole, not as separate variables. The aim of qualitative research is to understand experience as unified. Qualitative methods are appropriate to the above statements. There is no one general method. For many qualitative researchers, the process entails appraisal about what was studied. This approach to research, therefore, involves considered selection and interpretation. It is therefore important to make the choice of focus for study principled and clear as well as being careful to make only reasonable claims in the research report or dissertation. In addition to making the basis of selections and methods clear, the researcher needs to include some biographical information because s/he cannot be regarded as an objective recorder of absolute truths, but rather a participant in the research process.

4.7 Piloting

Piloting is the process whereby you try out the research techniques and methods you have in mind to see how well they work in practice. This enables you modify your plans before you commit too much time to one procedure. If you have spent time thinking about and planning your research project, you may be tempted to believe that you are clear about what you are doing. However, the value of piloting research cannot be overestimated. Things rarely work out the way you expect - respondents can answer a questionnaire or interpret an interview question in ways that you can never anticipate! Taking time to run a pilot can save you time, frustration and even anguish in the end.

In a small scale study, even an informal pilot can prove invaluable. Try out a couple of interviews, get some friends to fill out your questionnaires, go and observe some organisational activities - or whatever else you have in mind for the data collection phase of your project. You will almost certainly gain from doing this, even if it is a more accurate idea of the time collecting data can take. If you do this early enough, you can change your strategy before it's too late!

This section provides guidelines to help structure a research report.

When writing the main body of your research report, the following points may help with the structure:

Introduction:

Use your introduction to: set the context of your study (including information about your own role); explain why you approached your study in the way you did; what you hope to demonstrate by your results; and justify your approach with reasoned argument based on relevant theory and research evidence.

Literature Review:

The literature review should employ a critical, analytical approach with an understanding of (relevant) competing perspectives. It must go beyond a descriptive account and should be logically and coherently organised. Your review should demonstrate a detailed knowledge of original sources and the field together with your understanding of main theoretical and methodological issues. Do not be afraid to add your own ideas, especially if your study challenges established wisdom.

Research Method:

The purpose of this section is to enable your reader to understand exactly what you did as part of the research process, together with the results and your interpretation of their meaning. It should include sufficient details to enable the reader to understand:

the overall design of the study; details of participants (e.g. age, gender, experience, occupational role, etc.); research instruments used; procedures used in the study. This section should also contain a description of the overall purpose, summary of content, structure and justification of why this particular approach was used. If an instrument (e.g. questionnaire) was designed especially for your study, you should also include details of its piloting and include the final version as an appendix. Issues of validity and reliability should also be addressed.

Your results should be presented in a form that enables the reader to understand exactly what your data consists of and sources. It should also identify any trends that have emerged and (where relevant) statistical techniques used as well as the results of these analyses. Finally, this section should address the way(s) in which the data illuminate your research question(s).

It is likely that the results section will be the most difficult to write. If your have undertaken a qualitative study or have huge quantities of data, then you may need to include some discussion and not just description in this section. You should not include extensive ‘raw’ data and the results must be organised, summarised and selective. Where appropriate, tables or diagrams should be used to summarise your results. It may not even be possible to include all the results, as this may overwhelm your reader and obscure your main findings.

Discussion:

The purpose of this section is to:

present your interpretation of your results; justify your interpretation by anticipating counter arguments; and urge caution in accepting your interpretation where there are defects in the design and execution of the study. Few applied studies can be perfect, so demonstrate your awareness of flaws and weaknesses in your work and your understanding of how you might improve on your research. It is also important to comment on any practical difficulties you may have encountered, especially those out of your control. In summary, adopt a ‘reflective practitioner’ approach in reviewing the research process as a whole.

Your discussion should also highlight links between your own research and the literature review and evaluate your study's contribution to professional guidance practice.

Conclusion:

Your conclusion should present a summary of what you have achieved in your research project, without containing any new material. It should also suggest the implications of the findings, identify future related research and emphasise issues which require further research or investigation.

The 'Harvard Reference Style' is one system of referencing sources used internationally by scholars and researchers. At Coventry University the Centre for Academic Writing have produced a website and downloadable guide to this system which may be of interest. It includes sections on referencing new technology sources such as websites and emails. The link address is: http://home.ched.coventry.ac.uk/caw/harvard/index.htm

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Research Skills: What they are and Benefits

Research skills play a vital role in the success of any research project, enabling individuals to navigate the vast sea of information, analyze data critically, and draw meaningful conclusions. Whether conducting academic research, professional investigations, or personal inquiries, strong research skills are essential for obtaining accurate and reliable results.

LEARN ABOUT:   Research Process Steps

By understanding and developing these skills, individuals can embark on their research endeavors with confidence, integrity, and the capability to make meaningful contributions in their chosen fields. This article will explore the importance of research skills and discuss critical competencies necessary for conducting a research project effectively.

Content Index

What are Research Skills?

Important research skills for research project, benefits of research skills.

• Improving your Research Skills

Talk to Experts to Improve Skills

Research skills are the capability a person carries to create new concepts and understand the use of data collection. These skills include techniques, documentation, and interpretation of the collected data. Research is conducted to evaluate hypotheses and share the findings most appropriately. Research skills improve as we gain experience.

To conduct efficient research, specific research skills are essential. These skills are necessary for companies to develop new products and services or enhance existing products. To develop good research skills is important for both the individual as well as the company.

When undertaking a research project, one must possess specific important skills to ensure the project’s success and accuracy. Here are some essential research skills that are crucial for conducting a project effectively:

Time Management Skills:

Time management is an essential research skill; it helps you break down your project into parts and enables you to manage it easier. One can create a dead-line oriented plan for the research project and assign time for each task. Time management skills include setting goals for the project, planning and organizing functions as per their priority, and efficiently delegating these tasks.

Communication Skills:

These skills help you understand and receive important information and also allow you to share your findings with others in an effective manner. Active listening and speaking are critical skills for solid communication. A researcher must have good communication skills.

Problem-Solving:  

The ability to handle complex situations and business challenges and come up with solutions for them is termed problem-solving. To problem-solve, you should be able to fully understand the extent of the problem and then break it down into smaller parts. Once segregated into smaller chunks, you can start thinking about each element and analyze it to find a solution.

Information gathering and attention to detail:

Relevant information is the key to good research design . Searching for credible resources and collecting information from there will help you strengthen your research proposal and drive you to solutions faster. Once you have access to information, paying close attention to all the details and drawing conclusions based on the findings is essential.

Research Design and Methodology :

Understanding research design and methodology is essential for planning and conducting a project. Depending on the research question and objectives, researchers must select appropriate research methods, such as surveys, experiments, interviews, or case studies. Proficiency in designing research protocols, data collection instruments, and sampling strategies is crucial for obtaining reliable and valid results.

Data Collection and Analysis :

Researchers should be skilled in collecting and analyzing data accurately. It involves designing data collection instruments, collecting data through various methods, such as surveys or observations, and organizing and analyzing the collected data using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis techniques. Proficiency in using software tools like SPSS, Excel, or qualitative analysis software can be beneficial.

By developing and strengthening these research skills, researchers can enhance the quality and impact of their research process, contributing to good research skills in their respective fields.

Research skills are invaluable assets that can benefit individuals in various aspects of their lives. Here are some key benefits of developing and honing research skills:

Boosts Curiosity :

Curiosity is a strong desire to know things and a powerful learning driver. Curious researchers will naturally ask questions that demand answers and will stop in the search for answers. Interested people are better listeners and are open to listening to other people’s ideas and perspectives, not just their own.

Cultivates Self-awareness :

As well as being aware of other people’s subjective opinions, one must develop the importance of research skills and be mindful of the benefits of awareness research; we are exposed to many things while researching. Once we start doing research, the benefit from it reflects on the beliefs and attitudes and encourages them to open their minds to other perspectives and ways of looking at things.

Effective Communication:

Research skills contribute to practical communication skills by enhancing one’s ability to articulate ideas, opinions, and findings clearly and coherently. Through research, individuals learn to organize their thoughts, present evidence-based arguments, and effectively convey complex information to different audiences. These skills are crucial in academic research settings, professional environments, and personal interactions.

Personal and Professional Growth :

Developing research skills fosters personal and professional growth by instilling a sense of curiosity, intellectual independence, and a lifelong learning mindset. Research encourages individuals to seek knowledge, challenge assumptions, and embrace intellectual growth. These skills also enhance adaptability as individuals become adept at navigating and assimilating new information, staying updated with the latest developments, and adjusting their perspectives and strategies accordingly.

Academic Success:

Research skills are essential for academic research success. They enable students to conduct thorough literature reviews, gather evidence to support their arguments, and critically evaluate existing research. By honing their research skills, students can produce well-structured, evidence-based essays, projects, and dissertations demonstrating high academic research rigor and analytical thinking.

Professional Advancement:

Research skills are highly valued in the professional world. They are crucial for conducting market research, analyzing trends, identifying opportunities, and making data-driven decisions. Employers appreciate individuals who can effectively gather and analyze information, solve complex problems, and provide evidence-based recommendations. Research skills also enable professionals to stay updated with advancements in their field, positioning themselves as knowledgeable and competent experts.

Developing and nurturing research skills can significantly benefit individuals in numerous aspects of their lives, enabling them to thrive in an increasingly information-driven world.

Improving Your Research Skills

There are many things you can do to improve your research skills and utilize them in your research or day job. Here are some examples:

• Develop Information Literacy: Strengthening your information literacy skills is crucial for conducting thorough research. It involves identifying reliable sources, evaluating the credibility of information, and navigating different research databases.
• Enhance Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is an essential skill for effective research. It involves analyzing information, questioning assumptions, and evaluating arguments. Practice critical analysis by analyzing thoughtfully, identifying biases, and considering alternative perspectives.
• Master Research Methodologies: Familiarize yourself with different research methodologies relevant to your field. Whether it’s qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, realizing the strengths and limitations of each approach is crucial.
• Practice Effective Time Management: Research requires dedicated time and effort. Develop good time management skills to ensure that you allocate sufficient time for each stage of the research process, including planning, data collection, analysis, and writing.
• Embrace Collaboration: Collaborating with peers and colleagues can provide a fresh perspective and enrich your research experience. Engage in discussions, share ideas, and seek feedback from others. Collaborative projects allow for exchanging knowledge and skills.
• Continuously Update Your Knowledge: Stay informed about your field’s latest developments and advancements. Regularly read scholarly articles, attend conferences, and follow reputable sources of information to stay up to date with current research trends.

There is plenty of information available on the internet about every topic; hence, learning skills to know which information is relevant and credible is very important. Today most search engines have the feature of advanced search, and you can customize the search as per your preference. Once you learn this skill, it will help you find information. 

Experts possess a wealth of knowledge, experience, and insights that can significantly enhance your understanding and abilities in conducting research. Experts have often encountered numerous challenges and hurdles throughout their research journey and have developed effective problem-solving techniques. Engaging with experts is a highly effective approach to improving research skills.

Moreover, experts can provide valuable feedback and constructive criticism on your research work. They can offer fresh perspectives, identify areas for improvement, and help you refine your research questions, methodology, and analysis.

At QuestionPro, we can help you with the necessary tools to carry out your projects, and we have created the following free resources to help you in your professional growth:

• Survey Templates

Research skills are invaluable assets that empower individuals to navigate the ever-expanding realm of information, make informed decisions, and contribute to advancing knowledge. With advanced research tools and technologies like QuestionPro Survey Software, researchers have potent resources to conduct comprehensive surveys, gather data, and analyze results efficiently.

Where data-driven decision-making is crucial, research skills supported by advanced tools like QuestionPro are essential for researchers to stay ahead and make impactful contributions to their fields. By embracing these research skills and leveraging the capabilities of powerful survey software, researchers can unlock new possibilities, gain deeper insights, and pave the way for meaningful discoveries.

Authors : Gargi Ghamandi & Sandeep Kokane

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The Ultimate Guide: Navigating the Research Process Using Advanced Research Skills

• Research Process

In this ultimate guide, we go show you how to use advanced research skills to navigate the research process.

Updated on March 7, 2024

As an experienced researcher, you're undoubtedly familiar with the mechanics of the research process. It generally looks something like this .

Embedded within the research process framework is the scientific method , a specialized approach that employs techniques like controlled experiments and empirical evidence. It follows this basic outline:

Both are firmly grounded in the development of your research skills. As you progress through the research process, your skills advance, and honing those skills enhances every part of your research journey.

What are advanced research skills?

Research skills commonly entail finding answers or solutions by gathering, reviewing, analyzing, and interpreting information. In the realm of academic research, advancing these skills involves :

• Immersing yourself in the principles of research design and analysis
• Understanding the ethics surrounding research
• Navigating scientific controversies
• Mastering the art of scientific critique
• Honing your skills in scientific communication

Here are some actionable steps to help strengthen your research skills:

Strategy 1: Develop information literacy

• Learn to identify reliable sources
• Assess information credibility
• Navigate diverse research databases effectively

Strategy 2: Enhance critical thinking

• Sharpen your ability to analyze information
• Question assumptions and evaluate arguments critically
• Identify biases.
• Consider alternative perspectives

Strategy 3: Master research methodology

• Know the different research methodologies used in your field
• Thoroughly understand the strengths and limitations of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research

Strategy 4: Improve time management

• Dedicate time and effort to each stage of the research process
• Use project management software
• Delegate tasks to those with expertise

Strategy 5: Embrace collaboration

• Engage in discussions, share ideas, and actively seek feedback
• Attend conferences and symposiums to expand your network
• Offer mentorship opportunities to gain new perspectives

Strategy 6: Update your knowledge

• Stay abreast of the latest developments and advancements in your field
• Regularly read scholarly articles
• Follow reputable sources to stay current with research trends

How can I apply these skills to the research process?

Countless benefits, from increased efficiency to improved outcomes, arise from implementing these advanced research skills throughout the research process. Let’s explore how your expertise can both streamline and bolster every step.

1. Developing a problem statement and research questions (checklist)

By guiding the reader towards a compelling question, a well-executed problem statement enhances engagement and serves as a catalyst for further investigations. It ultimately provides the framework for the introduction of your final manuscript.

Here are some tips for How to Write a Statement of the Problem for Your Research Proposal :

Do: Ensure the research problem is challenging, original, and offers new scientific insight.

Don’t: Adopt incremental problems that lack new answers.

Do : Develop a problem statement with systematic planning and realistic objectives.

Don't : Overlook the need for clear feasibility and realistic achievability.

Do : Apply feasible research methods suitable for the research question.

Don't : Use impractical or unusable research methods.

Do : Conduct literature work, drawing ideas from discussions, conferences, or papers read.

Don't : Select problems that are not thoroughly investigated and lack clarity.

Once you have identified a solid research problem, compose specific questions that precisely address that problem. Search existing literature to determine the relevance and complexity of your questions. Don’t be afraid to refine the problem statement based on these insights.

2. Composing a hypothesis that translates your research questions into predictions

The effectiveness of a study's conclusion hinges on the quality of the research hypothesis; it predicts the outcome. By proposing a relationship between an independent variable ( the part that is changed ) and a dependent variable ( the part that is measured ), a strong hypothesis offers clarity and reproducibility for the project team and the readers.

While there are various types of hypotheses , most research utilizes two broad categories:

• Null Hypothesis : Often denoted by H0, it presents no relationship between variables and is opposite of the alternative hypothesis. 
• Alternative Hypothesis : Denoted as H1 or Ha, it states that the variables have a relationship and is the proposed answer to your research question.

The null and alternative hypotheses serve as contrasting perspectives, collaboratively establishing a foundation for an experiment by providing a baseline for testing. Incorporating mathematical symbols , they read like this:

• H0: No more than 30% of the registered voters in Santa Clara County voted in the primary election. p ≤ 30
• Ha: More than 30% of the registered voters in Santa Clara County voted in the primary election. p > 30

To ensure effectiveness, use this checklist when writing your hypothesis:

1. Testability : Is there a method for proving or disproving your claim?

2. Variables : Have you included at least one independent and one dependent variable?

3. Clarity : Is the language concise and easy to understand?

4. Relevance : Is the hypothesis clearly aligned with your research topic?

3. Constructing a project design for answering research questions and testing your predictions using empirical data

When starting a new project, you need a solid strategy for effectively navigating the complexities of the research process. By outlining how all the components work together, your project design serves as the blueprint that ensures the chosen methods match your objectives. 

While the actual layout varies with each project, all project designs incorporate these elements : 

• A clear purpose based on well-defined research questions and hypotheses
• A sensical research methodology that determines the overall approach of the project
• A thorough understanding of the target population and sampling method
• A realistic approach to data collection to gather, record, and organize information
• A data analysis plan that is specific to the project’s objectives and requirements
• A careful consideration of the resources needed to carry out the project

Delineating the various facets of your research project at the outset helps it run smoothly and efficiently by reducing errors and unnecessary busywork. As you go through this process of designing your research project, keep these key recommendations in mind:

Do : Maintain neutrality throughout study setup.

Don’t : Allow pre-conceptions to influence findings.

Do : Ensure consistent measurement for reliable results.

Don’t : Overlook random errors that may affect reliability.

Do : Minimize systematic errors for valid outcomes.

Don’t : Use measurement tools that compromise the accuracy of results.

Do : Ensure broader relevance for the larger population.

Don’t : Limit applicability of results to a small sample.

Do : Adapt research plans based on collected data.

Don’t : Stick rigidly to initial plans without considering new information.

4. Choosing data collection methods that match the goals, scope, and resources of the project

Given the abundance of available information and the various perspectives to consider when addressing questions, it is crucial to devise a specialized plan for data collection.

First, consider whether your project demands a qualitative or quantitative research approach as identified in your design. Remember:

• If you are testing a hypothesis to understand the causal or correlational relationship between variables, your overall approach is quantitative.
• If, however, your project seeks to understand a phenomenon in a real-world environment, it is using a qualitative approach.

As guidelines to help focus your efforts, these approaches are not mutually exclusive. They’re complimentary with one simply more emphasized. Overlapping your corresponding data collection methods, therefore, may lead to more comprehensive study outcomes.

Consider a combination of techniques drawn from both primary and secondary sources like these:

Primary data

Surveys and questionnaires : collecting data from individuals or groups.

Interviews : direct interaction between the researcher and the respondent.

Observations : researchers observe and record behaviors, actions, or events in their natural setting.

Experiments : manipulating variables to observe their impact on outcomes.

Focus groups : small groups of individuals discuss specific topics in a moderated setting.

Secondary data

Published sources : reading published materials that contain relevant data.

Online sources : platforms available for consuming and downloading from the internet.

Government and institutional sources : records, statistics, and other pertinent information to access and purchase.

Publicly available data : shared by individuals, organizations, or communities on public stages.

Past research : studies and results available through communal archives.

5. Employing the data analysis tactics that will extract maximum value from your collected data

When determining which data analysis strategies to use, look again at your project’s goals and objectives, revisit your proposed research questions and hypotheses, and examine the data your project has collected. Next, ask yourself and your team:

• Do we thoroughly understand the data, its structure, sources, and quality? If yes, move forward. If not, return to the data collection phase.
• What are we trying to achieve with this data, which answers are we seeking and as they relate to whom or what? Be mindful of the project’s overarching purpose.
• Which methods best fit the project’s time constraints and our team’s capabilities? Only accurate analysis that is produced on time will benefit your outcomes.

To choose the most accurate data analysis tools and techniques for your current project, evaluate how your research questions coincide with these four broad categories:

Descriptive analysis : summarizes data to reveal patterns, particularly useful for examining changes over time through data aggregation and mining techniques.

Example : Counting the number of species of trees in a forest ecosystem

Diagnostic analysis : examines data to understand the root causes, using tools like drill-down, data discovery, data mining, and correlations to identify patterns, trends, and connections.

Example : Tracking past weather patterns to understand a decrease in crop yields

Predictive analysis : utilizes statistical algorithms and machine learning to analyze historical data and forecast future events or trends by analyzing variables and their relationships.

Example : Following student attendance to predict grade outcomes

Prescriptive analysis :  provides actionable recommendations based on possible scenarios to optimize outcomes by suggesting the best course of action to achieve desired results.

Example : considering patient demographics to optimize treatment for diabetes

6. Representing data in a structured, understandable, and accessible format

Next, after carefully choosing the best methods for collecting and analyzing data, present it in a way that tells your story. To make sure this message comes across clearly, consider the data’s characteristics, your project’s goals, and the intended audience.

While you may have initial ideas about how to present your project's findings, explore various methods to ensure clarity and readability. Experimenting with different presentation approaches can help you determine the most effective way to convey the information.

Here are some conventional and more contemporary options for representing research data:

Device : Tables

Function : Organize and present numerical data in a structured format

Device : Charts and graphs

Function : Visual representations illustrating trends, patterns, and relationships in data

Device : Diagrams and illustrations

Function : Graphical representations conveying complex concepts, processes, or relationships

Device : Maps

Function : Spatial representations of geographical data, distribution patterns, and spatial relationships

Device : Infographics

Function : Combination of text, images, and graphical elements presenting information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand format

Device : Heatmaps

Function : Graphical representations using color gradients to visualize patterns, density, and correlations in large datasets

Device : Interactive visualizations

Function : Dynamic data exploration through interactive dashboards, exploration tools, and web-based visualizations

Device : Statistical Models

Function : Mathematical representations for analyzing and interpreting data

Device : Network diagrams

Function : Represent complex relationships and interactions between entities in a network

Device : Word clouds

Function : Visualize the frequency or importance of words in text by varying the size or color of each word based on its frequency or relevance

Determining the most suitable and effective method among these approaches can be challenging, especially when patterns are not readily apparent or are influenced by preconceived expectations. It is also quite daunting and time-consuming to experiment with diverse ways of representing your data.

Fortunately, there are numerous AI visualization tools built specifically to analyze datasets and present your results visually. By using advanced algorithms, they can quickly convert raw data into easy to understand formats, like graphs and diagrams.

This not only helps you identify patterns and trends that may not have been obvious but also saves time and resources that you can commit to other aspects of the project. Consider these questions when choosing an AI visualization tool:

• Is it easy to use and can I use it right away?
• Is it capable of handling the amount of data for this project?
• Can I customize the results to fit the project’s format and scale?
• Can I efficiently share with and get feedback from other team members?

These are some of the most popular options :

7. Reporting the project’s findings in a responsible and accessible way

Ultimately, all the hard work you put into this research project will culminate into a written manuscript. This comprehensive document encapsulates your experience, methodologies, and conclusions to function as your own record and a resource for others.

By communicating your project’s processes and insights with a broader audience, this manuscript paves the way for your research to positively impact the existing body of knowledge. Paying close attention to the quality of each section is vital. Here are some tips :

Title and abstract

Do : Use descriptive phrases for headings and titles, setting clear expectations for the scope of the paper.

Don't : Overextend on the content of your title, avoid excessive length or brevity. 

Do : Make sure you know the type of abstract required for your selected journal.

Don't : Assume the requirements or ignore the guidelines .

Do : Put the main points about your paper’s importance up front, summarize only the main points.

Don't : Include a long lead-in or go into needless detail.

Introduction

Do : Treat the introduction as the actual start of the paper, assuming no one reads the abstract.

Don’t : Assume that the abstract adequately covers all necessary information.

Do : Provide background information explaining the problem with recent references.

Don’t : Leave readers without context, unanswered questions, or gaps in knowledge.

Do : End the introduction with a clear hypothesis/objective statement and a brief description of how you addressed the question.

Don’t : Conclude the introduction ambiguously, leaving readers uncertain about the study's direction.

Materials and methods

Do : Thoroughly answer the question, "How did my experiments lead me to answer my questions?"

Don’t : Provide vague or incomplete descriptions of experimental methods.

Do : Check journal requirements for specific statements regarding ethics.

Don’t : Omit key ethical items like inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Do : Ensure experimental methods are explained in sufficient detail by focusing on the most relevant.

Don’t : Offer vague or incomplete descriptions of experimental methods, hindering reproducibility.

Discussion and conclusions

Do : Give a clear interpretation of the data that addresses the project’s objectives.

Don’t : Overgeneralize the discussion of results or make claims not supported by current data.

Do : Base conclusions directly on the data presented as it relates to the research questions.

Don’t : Leave readers wondering about the relevance or significance of your research.

Do : Ensure conclusions relate to the broader application and highlight the advancement achieved in the field.

Don’t : Make statements without clear proof or avoid seeking critical feedback from colleagues before submission.

This process solidifies the credibility of your work and fosters collaboration, discussion, and further advancements in your field.

8. Proofreading, editing, and revising to create a polished manuscript

The final step to telling a compelling and understandable story of your research project is one that is often overlooked and underrated. However, navigating all phases of the research process with equal vigor, including proofreading, editing, and revising, is pivotal to success.

Taking the time to polish your manuscript provides numerous benefits (I didn’t find a blog or content from AJE for this but it may exist) and improvements, such as:

• Error correction : Proofreading helps identify and correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and typographical errors, ensuring clarity and professionalism in the manuscript.
• Clarity enhancement : Editing improves coherence and flow by refining language, restructuring sentences, and eliminating redundant or ambiguous phrases.
• Content improvement : Revising clarifies arguments, expands ideas, and addresses inconsistencies or gaps in logic to refine and strengthen the content of your manuscript.
• Audience engagement : Polishing your manuscript makes it more engaging and accessible to readers.

Through these processes, the manuscript reflects your attention to detail, commitment to quality, and dedication to accuracy throughout the entire project.

Final thoughts

The importance and impact of advanced research skills on the research process cannot be overstated. While they are the linchpin holding together the intricate tapestry of your project, mastering these skills takes time, effort, and a willingness to embrace new perspectives.

As you delve deeper into the world of research, remember that honing these skills is a journey, not a destination . Each time you work through the research process, from developing a problem statement to choosing data collection methods, your understanding and expertise grows.

By embracing advanced research skills and implementing these strategies, you're not only staying ahead of the curve, but ensuring your research remains impactful and relevant in an ever-evolving landscape. So, embrace the challenges, relish the victories, and never stop learning.

Armed with the tools and insights from this guide, it's time to embark on your next research adventure. Let curiosity be your compass, skills be your guide, and your manuscript be your legacy. 

The world is waiting for your discoveries. Dive in, explore, and let your commitment to continuous learning propel your research endeavors to new heights. What will you uncover next?

Charla Viera, MS

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What Are Research Skills, and How You Can Improve Them

• Posted on March 9, 2022

Original research is an arduous task, no matter how you slice it. Conducting extensive research and collecting relevant information for an original idea is complicated. It involves much more than just reading several recently published papers.

Good research will help you develop a data collection that provides accurate and relevant information to your topic. So, is research a skill that you can develop and improve? What are research skills?

Research skills are the abilities and techniques needed to conduct research. This includes finding and assessing information and properly citing all research. Research skills are fundamental to academic success, and the more you practice, the better you will become.

Research Skills vs. Research Methods

Some people use the terms research skills and research methods interchangeably. Although they relate closely, they are different.

Research skills are a part of the process, but they also take a lot of time to master. Research methods are what you use during the research stages.

For example, one research method may be a literature review. Research skills would involve learning how to conduct the best possible literature review.

You can practice research skills and improve your speed, accuracy, and reliability. Critical thinking, project management, effective note-taking, and time management are great examples of research skills.

How To Improve Your Research Skills

Conducting high-quality research requires mastering several skills. Some of the best skills for good academic research come with practice and experience. You can improve your research skills by using outlines, sources and practicing.

Use Outlines to Your Advantage

An outline is a great way to keep yourself organized and on topic. By paying close attention to the outline you craft, you set yourself up to conduct good research that lends itself to a well-written paper. After all, an outline makes it easier to write your first draft, and a structured approach will improve your writing.

Before you even begin your research, outline what you need to do to complete your paper on time. Start with an introduction, add your first point and then supporting evidence, a second point with its supporting evidence, and then a third, fourth, or fifth, depending on how in-depth your paper will be. The last step will be your conclusion or a summary of your content.

Often outlining will give you ideas for research methods that you may not have considered before. Data collection can be challenging, but devising an outline can make the process much easier.

Because an outline allows you to think about all the topics you need to cover in your paper, you’ll be better prepared when you begin researching.

Dig Into Your Sources

It’s daunting to determine relevant information, especially if it’s a topic that you’re not knowledgeable about. It’s important to know when your sources are reliable for academic research . It’s also imperative to use different sources when finding relevant information, or you may display a bias. This also helps you avoid plagiarism by relying on multiple points of reference.

For example, you should know that an article published in a peer-reviewed journal will be more reliable than an article found on Wikipedia. Wikipedia, though often sourced, is open to be edited by anyone. The sources supplied themselves are not always credible, as the organization largely relies on unpaid editors to donate time to review articles.

A peer-reviewed journal will be fact-checked multiple times, demonstrate a history of credibility, and use reputable sources to support any arguments or claims.

Your sources should also answer the question that you are trying to ask. You should perform a light critical analysis of your source materials to determine their value. This requires investigative thinking and research itself. You need to discover:

• Who wrote the source?
• What was their agenda?
• Who sponsored the publication, if anyone?
• What was the agenda of the publisher?
• Does the publisher have a notable bias?
• Does the author have a notable bias?
• What year was the material published, and has it become outdated?

Try Advanced Search Techniques

Google and other search engines aren’t the only way to find information for your research paper. Library resources offer a wealth of services and tools, such as full-text journals and databases. Your local university library is another excellent place to start.

Often, librarians will be able to assist you with your research and can help you utilize advanced research methods you may not have thought of. They can direct you to the correct database and demonstrate how to best use it to find information about your subject. They may know of specific journals or other literature that could be a good starting point to get your footing.

During your research process, seek a different point of view and new ways to find reliable sources for your paper. When you rely on a single viewpoint or only one credible source, you not only develop a bias by showing just one side of your topic, but you run the risk of plagiarism. Where will your source’s argument end and yours begin? It may appear that you’re simply copying someone else’s hard work.

Practice Makes Perfect

Research isn’t a skill that people learn overnight. But you’d be surprised how fast these skills develop every time you conduct research. Once you get used to collecting data from reliable sources, you can become a master at it by learning from your own research paper mistakes.

One of the most overlooked aspects of research is a person’s time management skills. Those who wait until the last minute to start research run the risk of not finding adequate sources and producing a sub-par product. By giving yourself extra time, especially as you develop your research skills, you allow yourself to thoroughly investigate your sources, find appropriate support for your arguments, and develop a conclusion based on research, rather than trying to scramble to find research to support a specific conclusion.

6 Steps for Conducting Research

Conducting research isn’t easy, and many people find it frustrating. It can be like solving a puzzle to uncover the best information about the topic you’re researching. Here are 5 steps to help with your research strategy.

• Clearly define your research question. Precisely formulate your question so you know exactly which information sources are relevant to your research. This will save you lots of time.
• Draft a solid outline. Put your research question at the top of the document, then write out each of your supporting points or arguments. Include a few thoughts that go with each of those points.
• Determine the research methods you’ll use. Depending on the type of research paper you’re writing, you may need primary or secondary research. Your research will likely be either qualitative, quantitative, descriptive, or experimental.
• Find data from reliable sources. Make sure your resources are reliable by looking for things like the date of publication, author credentials, and publisher.
• Focus on your note-taking. Take detailed notes in whatever format you’re most comfortable with, whether that’s on your computer, tablet, or by hand in your notebook or on index cards.
• Draft your research paper. Combine your notes with a solid outline, and put it all together. Don’t forget to cite all of your sources . Give your paper a final review, then you’re done!

Final Thoughts

Conducting research can be a frustrating assignment. Here is the good news: the above steps and tools will make research report writing more effective.

By clearly defining your research question, determining the type of research methods you’ll use, and finding data from reliable sources, you’ll be on your way to conducting successful research.

Your last steps should be using a plagiarism detector and a citation generator, to double-check your work. Quetext is an online plagiarism checker with a built citation generator, so you can easily cite everything that you read.

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Introduction to research skills: Home

• Learning from lectures
• Managing your time
• Effective reading
• Evaluating Information
• Critical thinking
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Research skills allow you to find information and use it effectively. It includes creating a strategy to gather facts and reach conclusions so that you can answer a question.

Starting your research

think about your topic – don’t be too vague or too specific (try mind mapping or keyword searching).

read broadly around your subject (don’t just use Google and Wikipedia). Think about a research question that is clearly structured and builds on literature already produced.

find information using the subject databases. View the Database Orientation Program to learn about databases and using search strategies to refine your search and limit results. View our library tutorial on planning your literature search and look at our library subject guides for resources on your specific topic.

Another good starting point for finding information is our library catalogue Library Search  which allows you to search across the library's electronic resources as well as major subject databases and indexes.

carry out a literature review . You may want to include journals, books, websites, grey literature or data and statistics for example. See the list of sources below for more information. Keep a record and organise your references and sources. If you are intending to carry out a systematic review then take a look at the systematic review page on our Research Support library guide.

evaluate your resources – use the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose - watch the video, top right). 

reach considered conclusions and make recommendations where necessary.

Your research journey.

Why do I need research skills?

they enable you to locate appropriate information and evaluate it for quality and relevance

they allow you to make good use of information to resolve a problem

they give you the ability to synthesize and communicate your ideas in written and spoken formats

they foster critical thinking

they are highly transferable and can be adapted to many settings including the workplace

You can access more in depth information on areas such as primary research, literature reviews, research methods, and managing data, from the drop down headings under Research Skills on the Academic Skills home page. The related resources in the right-hand column of this page also contain useful supporting information.

• Conference proceedings
• Data & statistics
• Grey literature
• Official publications

Books are good for exploring new subject areas. They help define a topic and provide an in-depth account of a subject.

Scholarly books contain authoritative information including comprehensive accounts of research or scholarship and experts' views on themes and topics. Their bibliographies can lead readers to related books, articles and other sources. 

Details on the electronic books held by the University of Southampton can be found using the library catalogue .

Journals are quicker to publish than books and are often a good source of current information. They are useful when you require information to support an argument or original research written by subject experts.  The bibliographies at the end of journal articles should point you to other relevant research.

Academic journals go through a "peer-review" process. A peer-reviewed journal is one whose articles are checked by experts, so you can be more confident that the information they contain is reliable.

The Library's discovery service Library Search  is a good place to start when searching for journal articles and enables access to anything that is available electronically.

Newspapers enable you to follow current and historical events from multiple perspectives. They are an excellent record of political, social, cultural, and economic events and history.

Newspapers are popular rather than scholarly publications and their content needs to be treated with caution. For example, an account of a particular topic can be biased in favour of that newspaper’s political affiliation or point of view. Always double-check the data/statistics or any other piece of information that a newspaper has used to support an argument before you quote it in your own work.

The library subscribes to various resources which provide full-text access to both current and historical newspapers. Find out more about these on the Library's Newspaper Resources page.

Websites provide information about every topic imaginable, and many will be relevant to your studies.

Use websites with caution as anyone can publish on the Internet and therefore the quality of the information provided is variable. When you’re researching and come across a website you think might be useful, consider whether or not it provides information that is reliable and authoritative enough to use in your work.

Proceedings are collections of papers presented by researchers at academic conferences or symposia. They may be printed volumes or in electronic format.

You can use the information in conference proceedings with a high degree of confidence as the quality is ensured by having external experts read & review the papers before they are accepted in the proceedings.

Find the data and statistics you need, from economics to health, environment to oceanography - and everywhere between - http://library.soton.ac.uk/data .

Grey literature is the term given to non-traditional publications (material not published by mainstream publishers). For example - leaflets, reports, conference proceedings, government documents, preprints, theses, clinical trials, blogs, tweets, etc.. 

The majority of Grey literature is generally not peer-reviewed so it is very important to critically appraise any grey literature before using it.

Most aspects of life are touched by national governments, or by inter-governmental bodies such as the European Union or the United Nations.  Official publications are the documentary evidence of that interest. 

Our main printed collections and online services are for British and EU official publications, but we can give advice on accessing official publications from other places and organisations. Find out more from our web pages  http://library.soton.ac.uk/officialpublications .

Patents protect inventions - the owner can stop other people making, using or selling the item without their permission. This applies for a limited period and a separate application is needed for each country.

Patents can be useful since they contain full technical details on how an invention works. If you use an active patent outside of research - permission or a license is probably needed.

Related resources:

Checking for CRAAP - UMW New Media Archive

How to Develop a STRONG Research Question - Scribbr

Guide to dissertation and project writing - by University of Southampton (Enabling Services)

Guide to writing your dissertation - by the Royal Literary Fund  

Guidance on the Conduct of Narrative Synthesis in Systematic Reviews  - by ESRC Methods Programme

Guidelines for preparing a Research Proposal - by University of Southampton

Choosing good keywords - by the Open University

Developing a Research or Guided Question  - a self-guided tutorial produced by Arizona State University

Evaluating information - a 7 minute tutorial from the University of Southampton which covers thinking critically, and understanding how to find quality and reliable information.

Hints on conducting a literature review  - by the University of Toronto

Planning your literature search  - a short tutorial by the University of Southampton

Using Overleaf for scientific writing and publishing  -  a popular  LaTeX/Rich Text based online collaborative tool for students and researchers alike. It is designed to make the process of writing, editing, and producing scientific papers quicker and easier for authors. 

Systematic reviews  - by the University of Southampton. 

Create your own research proposal - by the University of Southampton

• Last Updated: Mar 13, 2024 3:14 PM
• URL: https://library.soton.ac.uk/sash/introduction-to-research-skills

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Research Skills: How to Find the Right Answers

Most jobs require some form of problem-solving. You might encounter an obstacle and come up with a question that you will need to answer to move forward. To answer this question, chances are you will need to have research skills to do some investigating. This kind of investigation is known as research.

What Is Research?

Research is the investigation of sources or facts to establish or draw conclusions. In an academic context, people often think of research in the sciences and the social sciences. But really, you will need to conduct some kind of research in any academic subject or while performing any job.

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In fact, nearly every profession or job requires some amount of research and research skills. As long as you come across a question, which is a natural occurrence in almost everything, you should come across an opportunity to research. And when there is a call to research, strong research skills definitely come in handy.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills mean that you are able to identify the answer to a question or a set of questions. Research questioning can lead to many different kinds of research. You might get started by using search engines to find reliable sources. You can evaluate information by scanning search results to embark on your research project. 

What Is the Purpose of Research?

Research can serve a few different purposes, depending on the kind of research you are doing. The three main kinds of research are exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. 

Exploratory research seeks to explore a general question and possible answers without necessarily seeking one singular, specific answer. Descriptive research is often data-driven and seeks to describe research findings in great detail. Explanatory research is often more qualitative and does seek explanations to substantiate it and its findings. 

Below is a deep dive into the kinds of general research skills you will need to excel in any field, especially tech.

Different Kinds of Research Skills

Below are a few basic types of research skills that might help you get a better sense of what research is and why you need to master research skills.

Searching for Information

In its most basic sense, research is the search for information. This can take on many different forms. Though in 2020, we are all used to using Google as one of our primary research methods. 

Older generations remember having to go to the library any time they had a question about the way the world works or any time they needed to search for information.

Attention to Detail

By paying close attention to detail, you can conduct better research on a micro-level, noticing details and storing them away for future reference. During job training, an information session, or a webinar, for example, you can conduct research just by paying close attention to detail. This can also involve taking notes so you don’t end up forgetting all of this detail.

Time Management

You will likely never come across a question or a research question with absolutely no time limit. Research almost always requires time management skills to make sure you can get everything done on time. 

Depending on the kind of research you’re conducting, you may have to manage your time between one kind of research, interviews, for example, and another kind of research, such as online web searches. 

Problem-Solving

Research is all about problem-solving. Without problem-solving, research would just be looking for information. But research is about searching and then identifying information that provides a potential answer to a question or a solution to a problem. 

Communicating Results

Research results are useless if you don’t know what to do with them. Ideally, you will have the resources and ability to apply your research findings to your question or your problem. 

If you’re working on a team, you should be able to describe your research, your research methods, and your research results to your teammates. The goal is to get others on board by communicating your results. 

Online Research Skills

In a time when the Internet is overloaded with so much information, it’s hard to know what to trust. Though online research is by far the most accessible, it can also be the most difficult. 

Internet users using the web for research, including simple search engine searches, should understand how search engine results work and how to discern the reliable from the unreliable sources.

Below are a few tips for conducting discerning online research responsibly. 

Ask the Right Questions

Remember that all research starts with at least one question. The question you are asking absolutely makes a difference in the kind of research you will want to be conducting. It also makes a difference in how fruitful your online research might be. 

Ask the right question by considering how you are phrasing the question and what words and terms you are including in the question. To do this, try to be as specific as possible to get to the root of the question you are asking.

Check Your Sources

Always do some research on your source pages. Is the domain something you’ve never heard of? Does it look very outdated and low-budget? If the answer to these questions is yes, you might want to find more reliable sources. You will also need to evaluate the actual information you find from your sources, which might even require a bit of fact-checking.

Never Plagiarize, Always Interpet

Even if you find exactly what you’re looking for in an Internet search, you will need to interpret what you find. Never take anything for granted and always reinterpret information in your own words.

Conclusion: Start Your Research

Whatever your question, all you have to do to develop research skills is get started. Like with anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Good luck and check out our other Career Karma resources as you embark on your research projects.

About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication .

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Discover the nine competencies required to become a researcher

What essential skills do researchers need? For those just starting on the road to research, breaking the process down into achievable and measurable milestones can help

Cynthia López

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When studying education, researchers often face the challenge of trying to figure out what, how and when to research, often believing that if a researcher is not an expert in a specific area, they are unable to carry out research on it. However, certain core competencies can help you effectively research any topic related to your teaching practice, as well as incorporate technological and/or pedagogical trends.

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Several models outline the basic knowledge and competencies that a professional (in this case, a teacher) must have in order to carry out research, including the LART model suggested by Luis Arturo Rivas-Tovar , which lists the key competencies as:

• The ability to state a research problem : start from what is known and move to what is desired to be known.
• Know how to elaborate a contextual framework : analyse how the stated problem occurs within a whole and in the context you want to research.
• Examine the state of the art : review what is already known about the defined problem in the literature in order to aid the search for new knowledge. Each part of the problem must be studied separately.
• Prepare and validate data collection instruments: while considering the objective of the study, define the type of research best suited to it, the instrument(s) to be used, and the individuals who will validate and answer them.
• Build a research model: once you have visualised the problem or event to be researched, establish the process you will follow to analyse it and achieve the study objectives.
• Know how to analyse the data obtained: recognise that different techniques are available to process the results, which are linked to the type of research and the scale used in the data collection instruments.
• Know how to write scientific articles : any professional researcher must learn the citation styles: MLA (for literature), CBE (for basic sciences) and APA (for social sciences). Write briefly and concisely and use the IMRaD structure (introduction, method, results and discussion) to present your work.
• Present your results at a conference:  this ability means the new knowledge will be communicated and, most likely, doors will be opened to exchange experiences with other researchers – in this case, teachers from different disciplines and educational institutions.
• Master a second language : English is the universal language, so it is necessary to learn it to be able to communicate in international journals or at conferences.

These nine skills can help guide professionals interested in researching teaching, although they can also, of course, be applied to almost any field. Even if you do not have a particularly scientific profile, they can help instigate a critical view of any topic or event, even one already defined or being tested.

Indeed, as educational engineers, we often analyse educational models to help gauge the impact of pedagogical innovations.

But for what purpose? To answer, here are three key reasons that can apply to any research:

• To gain in-depth knowledge of a topic, event or situation and visualise the place each of its components occupies.
• To communicate the knowledge obtained to the people involved to help them grasp the scope of their participation in the field studied.
• To help make decisions that favour or produce changes in the object/subject of research.

These three purposes, I think, show the usefulness of the nine competencies. They can help us detect strengths as well as opportunities for improvement – and provide the information needed to adjust or optimise.

Finally, the central argument for mastering these nine competencies is that it demonstrates the commitment and passion that any person, whether they are a researcher or not, must put into a field they want to know better. Only through displaying the correct level of rigour can we prepare to find and then solve those aspects of education (or any other field) that remain to be discovered.

Cynthia López is an educational engineer at Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico.

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What are Research Skills and why are they important?

Most jobs actually require some level of problem-solving. You may come across an impediment and come up with a question that you must answer in order to proceed. To answer this question, you will almost certainly need to conduct some research. People with research skills can identify a problem, gather informational resources that can help address the problem, assess the quality and relevance of these resources, and come up with an effective solution to the problem.

By the way, to diversify your research paper process you can find unique research paper topics .

What is Research?

Internet Research is the practice of conducting research using Internet information, particularly free information on Internet-based educational resources (such as Internet discussion forums).

Simply put, research is the process of discovering new knowledge. This knowledge can be either the development of new concepts or the advancement of existing knowledge and theories, leading to a new understanding that was not previously known.

In fact, almost every profession or job necessitates some level of research and research skills. As long as you encounter a question, which is a natural occurrence in almost everything, you should encounter an opportunity to conduct research. When there is a need for research, strong research skills come in handy.

What are Research Skills?

Research skills enable you to focus on a specific goal, gather relevant information, and communicate your findings to others. We are taught from a young age to develop research skills, and for good reason.

Teachers in academia required answers to a series of topic-related questions in an essay. Similarly, your boss may eventually request that you investigate a work-related topic or figure out how to solve a problem.

Why are Research Skills Important?

Research skills are important in the workplace for a variety of reasons, including the ability for individuals and businesses to:

• Develop new processes and outcomes. You don't have to be involved in research and development to improve the way your team works. Any sensible employer will value your efforts in researching new processes that will make your job (and those of your team) more efficient.
• Personal Growth. People who have a knack and a passion for research are never satisfied with doing things the same way they've always done them. Organizations require independent thinkers who will seek their own answers and continually improve their skills. These employees will also learn new technologies more quickly.
• Customer relationship management. In almost every industry, being able to conduct research on your customer base is critical. It's difficult to move products or sell services if you don't know what people want. It is a valuable responsibility to research your customer base's interests, needs, and pain points.
• Cost Effective. Whether your organization is launching a new product or simply trying to cut costs, research is critical for identifying wasted resources and redirecting them to more worthy causes. Anyone who goes out of their way to find ways for the company to save money will be praised by their boss.
• Competitor Analysis. Knowing what your top competitors are up to is crucial for any company. If a company wants to stay functioning, it must research what works for its competitors, what they do better than you, and where it may improve its standing with the least amount of resources.

Types of Research Skills

Experienced researchers understand that conducting a worthwhile investigation necessitates a wide range of abilities. Consider which research abilities you have naturally and which you could improve.

Goal Setting

You must first know what you're looking for before you can conduct any form of productive research. Setting goals is a skill just like any other. It will be lot easier to construct a path there if you can imagine the conclusion you're aiming to attain by investing effort into research. Goal-setting skills include:

• Specificity
• Time-Management
• Planning ahead
• Organization
• Accountable

Data Collection

The collection of data is often the first thing to remember when thinking about the research process. It is a systematic process to collect and measure information on variables of interest that allows one to respond to research questions, to test hypothesis and to assess results.

Simply collecting facts and information on the internet can meet your needs for some purposes. More direct and popular research may be needed by others. You will be more impressive with your experience in different methods of data collection. Methods of data collection are:

• Questionnaires and surveys
• Observations
• Documents and records
• Focus groups
• Oral histories

Evaluate and Analyze Information and Sources

In research, it is important to find reliable information suitable for your task. Some tasks may require the use of certain types of sources, such as primary or secondary sources or certain types of journals, like scientific journals. You may need to restrict the numbers sources you use for other assignments.

In all cases, the information contained in your assignments should always be assessed. Knowing how to assess information helps you with research tasks and with your life's bigger decisions. Knowing where to go for information that is relevant, credible, and accurate can assist you in making informed decisions about graduate school, a new car purchase, financial aid opportunities, daycare options, and other topics.

• Published books
• Encyclopedias
• Scholarly journals
• Library catalogs

Using the internet to gather information

Search engines are used to find the majority of information on the Internet. A search engine is an online service that employs web robots to query millions of web pages and compile an index of the results. Internet users can then utilize these services to search the web for information. While it is beneficial to consult different sources, today's research is driven by good online research skills.

One of the greatest things about the internet is how much information it holds; unfortunately, getting to the data you need requires sifting through a lot of rubbish. Employers value the ability to efficiently utilise the large reservoir of knowledge available on the internet without getting lost in the clutter. The following are some examples of internet research skills:

• Source checking
• Searching relevant questions
• Exploring deeper than the first options
• Avoiding distraction
• Giving credit
• Organizing findings

Due to the sheer size of the World Wide Web, and with the rapid growth of indexed web pages, finding relevant and reliable information demands specialized training and Internet research skills . We provide a centralized virtual platform for knowledge professionals that use the Internet as a primary source of information. This AofIRS is more than just a virtual collaboration and networking platform for researchers and knowledge professionals. The website is filled with free, up-to-date content and reference material that is ideal for research.

Interviewing

Some research projects may demand a more hands-on approach than relying just on online resources. In the research process, being prepared with great interviewing skills can be really beneficial. Interviews can be a good way to get first-hand knowledge for your research, and knowing how to conduct an effective interview can help you improve your research skills. Interviewing abilities include:

• A plan of action
• Specific, pointed questions
• Respectfulness
• Considering the interview setting
• Actively Listening
• Taking notes

Report Writing

Report writing skills can help you in both your employment and your academic studies. In any case, the overall goal of a report is to transmit specific facts to its audience.

Communication is crucial for effective report writing. Your supervisor, professor, or general reader should comprehend your findings and conclusions clearly. Skills in report writing include:

• Formatting is important.
• Including a synopsis
• Keeping your focus on your main goal
• Developing a plan
• Proofreading\sDirectness

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking skills can help you a lot in the research process and in general as an employee. Your data analysis skills are referred to as critical thinking. When you're conducting research, you'll need to be able to interpret your findings and make rational judgments based on them. The following are examples of critical thinking skills:

• Observation
• Assessing issues
• Problem-solving
• Communication

Planning and Scheduling 

The development of baseline productivity and success standards is one of the most significant components of planning and scheduling. You won't know if you're meeting goals until you have a particular strategy in place with a specific desired outcome defined by a completion date.

It also makes time management considerably easy. Employers value planning and scheduling abilities because they suggest a well-prepared employee. Skills in planning and scheduling include:

• Setting objectives
• Identifying tasks
• Prioritizing
• Delegating if needed
• Time-management

Note-taking

Research involves sifting through and taking in lots of information. Taking thorough notes ensures that you do not overlook any findings and allows you to communicate these findings to your coworkers. Being able to take good notes aids in the summarization of research. Here are some examples of note-taking abilities:

• Using short-hand
• Keeping your goal in mind
• Emphasizing important points
• Reviewing notes afterward

Time Management

Unfortunately, we only have 24 measly hours in a day. In a professional setting, the ability to effectively manage this time is extremely valuable. Hiring managers look for candidates who can complete tasks within a specific time frame.

Strong time management skills imply that you can organize a strategy for breaking down larger tasks in a project and completing them by a deadline. Improving your time management skills can significantly boost the productivity of your research. Time management abilities include the following:

• Creating task outlines
• Thinking strategically
• Stress-management
• Utilizing resources
• Setting reasonable expectations
• Meeting deadlines

Other Helpful Research Skills

The definition of research skills is broad, and there are many traits that could help you in the research process. Consider some of the additional research skills below.

• Attention to detail
• Reading and writing skills
• Considering keywords
• Competitor comparison
• Multitasking
• Summarization
• Presentation

How to Improve Your Research Skills

The great thing about research skills is that many of us use them on a daily basis. When you use a search engine to find information on a topic, you are conducting research. However, there are more proactive ways to begin improving your research skills today:

• Make a distinction between source quality. A researcher's worst source determines how good they are. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you're using, and be wary of anything you read until you've double-checked the attributions and works cited. Examine the author's bias, the author's research's alignment with the greater body of confirmed research in the subject, and the journal that sponsored or published the research.
• Verify information from several sources. It gets increasingly trustworthy when you can verify information from a variety of sources. If you want to strengthen your belief in one source, check if you can locate another that agrees with it. When you run into contradictions and conflicts in your study, you know you need to keep going until you reach a more definitive conclusion.
• Don't be influenced by confirmation bias. Confirmation bias occurs when a researcher expects a specific result and then searches for data to support that hypothesis, ignoring any sources that contradict or invalidate the researcher's initial idea. Be ready for unexpected responses and keep an open mind. Also, keep in mind that you might not be able to discover a definitive answer. It's preferable to provide the important points of your research to someone (such as your employer) and explain that it didn't lead to a concrete plan of action than to alter your data and give the answer you or your boss want to hear.
• Stay organized. You'll encounter a lot of material during the data gathering process, from webpages to PDFs to videos. To avoid losing something or not being able to properly mention something, it's critical that you maintain all of this information organized in some way. There are numerous methods for keeping your research project structured, but here are a few of the most common: Bookmarks in your browser, index cards, and an annotated bibliography that you update as you go are all useful tools.
• Develop your research skills. Professional certification will help you improve your research skills. CIRS™ (Certified Internet Research Specialist), is by far the only professional credential that meets this challenge. Professional researchers owe it to themselves to seek structured certification programs and stay in touch with new materials and tools that are available to transform research problems from very difficult or impossible to quick and simple tasks. We have developed a CIRS Certification (Certified Internet Research Specialist) to educate and train Online Researchers that now form a significantly large group of people involved in digital information research work.
• Get specific as you go. There's nothing wrong with commencing your investigation in a broad sense. After all, it's critical to become acquainted with the vocabulary and substance of the researcher's results before delving into the details. Orienting yourself to a new topic is an important step that will prevent you from being discouraged and working backwards.
• Learn how to spot a reliable source. Because not all sources are trustworthy, it's critical to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad. To find a trustworthy source, utilize your critical thinking and analytical skills to ask yourself the following questions: Is this source consistent with other sources I've discovered? Is the author a subject matter expert? Is there a conflict of interest in the author's point of view on this subject?

If you're ready to conduct research to enhance your search efforts, the following resources will be useful:

• Educational Search Engines for Students
• Top 100  Academic Search Engines
• 3 ways to help students do efficient online research

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Empowering students to develop research skills

February 8, 2021

This post is republished from   Into Practice ,  a biweekly communication of Harvard’s  Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning

Terence D. Capellini, Richard B Wolf Associate Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, empowers students to grow as researchers in his Building the Human Body course through a comprehensive, course-long collaborative project that works to understand the changes in the genome that make the human skeleton unique. For instance, of the many types of projects, some focus on the genetic basis of why human beings walk on two legs. This integrative “Evo-Devo” project demands high levels of understanding of biology and genetics that students gain in the first half of class, which is then applied hands-on in the second half of class. Students work in teams of 2-3 to collect their own morphology data by measuring skeletons at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and leverage statistics to understand patterns in their data. They then collect and analyze DNA sequences from humans and other animals to identify the DNA changes that may encode morphology. Throughout this course, students go from sometimes having “limited experience in genetics and/or morphology” to conducting their own independent research. This project culminates in a team presentation and a final research paper.

The benefits: Students develop the methodological skills required to collect and analyze morphological data. Using the UCSC Genome browser  and other tools, students sharpen their analytical skills to visualize genomics data and pinpoint meaningful genetic changes. Conducting this work in teams means students develop collaborative skills that model academic biology labs outside class, and some student projects have contributed to published papers in the field. “Every year, I have one student, if not two, join my lab to work on projects developed from class to try to get them published.”

“The beauty of this class is that the students are asking a question that’s never been asked before and they’re actually collecting data to get at an answer.”

The challenges:  Capellini observes that the most common challenge faced by students in the course is when “they have a really terrific question they want to explore, but the necessary background information is simply lacking. It is simply amazing how little we do know about human development, despite its hundreds of years of study.” Sometimes, for instance, students want to learn about the evolution, development, and genetics of a certain body part, but it is still somewhat a mystery to the field. In these cases, the teaching team (including co-instructor Dr. Neil Roach) tries to find datasets that are maximally relevant to the questions the students want to explore. Capellini also notes that the work in his class is demanding and hard, just by the nature of the work, but students “always step up and perform” and the teaching team does their best to “make it fun” and ensure they nurture students’ curiosities and questions.

Takeaways and best practices

• Incorporate previous students’ work into the course. Capellini intentionally discusses findings from previous student groups in lectures. “They’re developing real findings and we share that when we explain the project for the next groups.” Capellini also invites students to share their own progress and findings as part of class discussion, which helps them participate as independent researchers and receive feedback from their peers.
• Assign groups intentionally.  Maintaining flexibility allows the teaching team to be more responsive to students’ various needs and interests. Capellini will often place graduate students by themselves to enhance their workload and give them training directly relevant to their future thesis work. Undergraduates are able to self-select into groups or can be assigned based on shared interests. “If two people are enthusiastic about examining the knee, for instance, we’ll match them together.”
• Consider using multiple types of assessments.  Capellini notes that exams and quizzes are administered in the first half of the course and scaffolded so that students can practice the skills they need to successfully apply course material in the final project. “Lots of the initial examples are hypothetical,” he explains, even grounded in fiction and pop culture references, “but [students] have to eventually apply the skills they learned in addressing the hypothetical example to their own real example and the data they generate” for the Evo-Devo project. This is coupled with a paper and a presentation treated like a conference talk.

Bottom line:  Capellini’s top advice for professors looking to help their own students grow as researchers is to ensure research projects are designed with intentionality and fully integrated into the syllabus. “You can’t simply tack it on at the end,” he underscores. “If you want this research project to be a substantive learning opportunity, it has to happen from Day 1.” That includes carving out time in class for students to work on it and make the connections they need to conduct research. “Listen to your students and learn about them personally” so you can tap into what they’re excited about. Have some fun in the course, and they’ll be motivated to do the work.

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Research and innovation menu, research and innovation, research skills development.

Willison & O’Regan (2007) believe that the development of research skills occurs on a continuum of knowledge production, from that which is new to the learner to fringe research that is new to everyone, or to move from “the commonly known, to the commonly not known, to the totally unknown" (p. 394). From this perspective, they developed a  Research Skills Development Framework   that outlines six facets of research and describes how each skill/activity manifests along a continuum based on the level of student autonomy.

Key Terms*:

• Prescribed Research –  highly structured directions and modeling from faculty
• Bounded Research –  boundaries set by and limited directions from faculty
• Scaffolded Research –  scaffolds placed by faculty shape the students’ research
• Student-initiated Research –  student-initiated research under the guidance of a faculty member
• Open Research –  independent student research that is guided by disciplinary standards

* Please see the  RSD Framework for a full description.

The Research Skills Development Framework is useful as both a conceptual and planning tool as well as an assessment mechanism.  It can be used to develop course and program activities that are appropriate for the level of research being conducted, it can help clarify learning outcomes, develop assessment measurements, and track student progress and development.

Equipped with an understanding of student development and research skills development, one can begin to conceptualize and plan undergraduate research activities that best suit the characteristics of the student population you are working with and/or the students that you are targeting to conduct research with – whether it be in a course or extra-curricular activity.

Next – Strategies 

• Willison, J.W. & O’Regan, K. (2007). Commonly known, commonly not known, totally unknown: A framework for students becoming researchers.  Higher Education Research and Development , 26, 393-409.

Mentoring Undergraduate Research Directory

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Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning

Jonathan Lambert

If you're like many digitally savvy Americans, it has likely been a while since you've spent much time writing by hand.

The laborious process of tracing out our thoughts, letter by letter, on the page is becoming a relic of the past in our screen-dominated world, where text messages and thumb-typed grocery lists have replaced handwritten letters and sticky notes. Electronic keyboards offer obvious efficiency benefits that have undoubtedly boosted our productivity — imagine having to write all your emails longhand.

To keep up, many schools are introducing computers as early as preschool, meaning some kids may learn the basics of typing before writing by hand.

But giving up this slower, more tactile way of expressing ourselves may come at a significant cost, according to a growing body of research that's uncovering the surprising cognitive benefits of taking pen to paper, or even stylus to iPad — for both children and adults.

Is this some kind of joke? A school facing shortages starts teaching standup comedy

In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material.

"There's actually some very important things going on during the embodied experience of writing by hand," says Ramesh Balasubramaniam , a neuroscientist at the University of California, Merced. "It has important cognitive benefits."

While those benefits have long been recognized by some (for instance, many authors, including Jennifer Egan and Neil Gaiman , draft their stories by hand to stoke creativity), scientists have only recently started investigating why writing by hand has these effects.

A slew of recent brain imaging research suggests handwriting's power stems from the relative complexity of the process and how it forces different brain systems to work together to reproduce the shapes of letters in our heads onto the page.

Your brain on handwriting

Both handwriting and typing involve moving our hands and fingers to create words on a page. But handwriting, it turns out, requires a lot more fine-tuned coordination between the motor and visual systems. This seems to more deeply engage the brain in ways that support learning.

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"Handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of," says Marieke Longcamp , a cognitive neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille Université.

Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page.

"Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter," says Sophia Vinci-Booher , an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it's formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters' shapes, says Vinci-Booher.

That's not true for typing.

To type "tap" your fingers don't have to trace out the form of the letters — they just make three relatively simple and uniform movements. In comparison, it takes a lot more brainpower, as well as cross-talk between brain areas, to write than type.

Recent brain imaging studies bolster this idea. A study published in January found that when students write by hand, brain areas involved in motor and visual information processing " sync up " with areas crucial to memory formation, firing at frequencies associated with learning.

"We don't see that [synchronized activity] in typewriting at all," says Audrey van der Meer , a psychologist and study co-author at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She suggests that writing by hand is a neurobiologically richer process and that this richness may confer some cognitive benefits.

Other experts agree. "There seems to be something fundamental about engaging your body to produce these shapes," says Robert Wiley , a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. "It lets you make associations between your body and what you're seeing and hearing," he says, which might give the mind more footholds for accessing a given concept or idea.

Those extra footholds are especially important for learning in kids, but they may give adults a leg up too. Wiley and others worry that ditching handwriting for typing could have serious consequences for how we all learn and think.

What might be lost as handwriting wanes

The clearest consequence of screens and keyboards replacing pen and paper might be on kids' ability to learn the building blocks of literacy — letters.

"Letter recognition in early childhood is actually one of the best predictors of later reading and math attainment," says Vinci-Booher. Her work suggests the process of learning to write letters by hand is crucial for learning to read them.

"When kids write letters, they're just messy," she says. As kids practice writing "A," each iteration is different, and that variability helps solidify their conceptual understanding of the letter.

Research suggests kids learn to recognize letters better when seeing variable handwritten examples, compared with uniform typed examples.

This helps develop areas of the brain used during reading in older children and adults, Vinci-Booher found.

"This could be one of the ways that early experiences actually translate to long-term life outcomes," she says. "These visually demanding, fine motor actions bake in neural communication patterns that are really important for learning later on."

Ditching handwriting instruction could mean that those skills don't get developed as well, which could impair kids' ability to learn down the road.

"If young children are not receiving any handwriting training, which is very good brain stimulation, then their brains simply won't reach their full potential," says van der Meer. "It's scary to think of the potential consequences."

Many states are trying to avoid these risks by mandating cursive instruction. This year, California started requiring elementary school students to learn cursive , and similar bills are moving through state legislatures in several states, including Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wisconsin. (So far, evidence suggests that it's the writing by hand that matters, not whether it's print or cursive.)

Slowing down and processing information

For adults, one of the main benefits of writing by hand is that it simply forces us to slow down.

During a meeting or lecture, it's possible to type what you're hearing verbatim. But often, "you're not actually processing that information — you're just typing in the blind," says van der Meer. "If you take notes by hand, you can't write everything down," she says.

The relative slowness of the medium forces you to process the information, writing key words or phrases and using drawing or arrows to work through ideas, she says. "You make the information your own," she says, which helps it stick in the brain.

Such connections and integration are still possible when typing, but they need to be made more intentionally. And sometimes, efficiency wins out. "When you're writing a long essay, it's obviously much more practical to use a keyboard," says van der Meer.

Still, given our long history of using our hands to mark meaning in the world, some scientists worry about the more diffuse consequences of offloading our thinking to computers.

"We're foisting a lot of our knowledge, extending our cognition, to other devices, so it's only natural that we've started using these other agents to do our writing for us," says Balasubramaniam.

It's possible that this might free up our minds to do other kinds of hard thinking, he says. Or we might be sacrificing a fundamental process that's crucial for the kinds of immersive cognitive experiences that enable us to learn and think at our full potential.

Balasubramaniam stresses, however, that we don't have to ditch digital tools to harness the power of handwriting. So far, research suggests that scribbling with a stylus on a screen activates the same brain pathways as etching ink on paper. It's the movement that counts, he says, not its final form.

Jonathan Lambert is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist who covers science, health and policy.

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Stanford-led study links school environment to brain development.

For decades, researchers have linked differences in school-age children’s brain development to their out-of-school environment, using indirect socioeconomic factors such as parental income and neighborhood characteristics. 

In a new paper , researchers from Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) demonstrate for the first time that, even when controlling for those other factors, there is a direct link between a child’s school environment and the development of their white matter, or the network of nerve fibers that allows different parts of the brain to communicate. 

In other words, schools that do better than average at promoting learning are showing greater year-by-year advances in brain development, even for students coming from a wide range of socioeconomic environments. 

For their study, the authors, including GSE doctoral candidate Ethan Roy , Professor Bruce McCandliss , and Associate Professor Jason Yeatman , leveraged data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States, and the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), a national database of academic performance developed by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. 

Their findings show that children who attend higher-performing schools have accelerated white matter development, including in an area of the brain closely associated with reading skills.

Roy said the results, published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience on April 26, were “striking.”

“What jumped off the page for us is that, even when controlling for things like parental income, parental education, neighborhood context, and household conflict levels, we were still able to observe a significant relationship between the school environment of an individual and growth properties of their brain,” he said.

Filling a gap in learning science research

Yeatman, who along with McCandliss serves as an advisor to Roy, said the study is the first to show how variation in the educational opportunities afforded to children is related to brain development.

“Essentially, two children from similar families who are born on two sides of a school boundary have measurable differences in how their brains wire together,” said Yeatman, who holds a joint faculty appointment at the GSE and Stanford Medicine, is a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning , and directs the Brain Development & Education Lab and Rapid Online Assessment of Reading . 

The study looked at fractional anisotropy, a measure of how water moves through brain tissue and an indication of how insulated, or myelinated, a neuron’s axons are (higher myelination increases the speed of transmission between neurons and is associated with improved learning). The observational results show that fractional anisotropy is directly linked to a school’s national grade equivalence score, or a measure of how third graders from that school perform compared with the national average.

The paper fills a gap in learning science research. Although past studies have linked socioeconomic status to white matter development, they have not been able to focus in on specific attributes of a child’s development, such as the school they attend. Other research — including from Yeatman’s lab — has shown that educational interventions can lead to changes in white matter, but those have been relatively small-scale studies with participants who are not representative of the broader population. 

“This is one of the first cases where we can measure the thing we actually care about at the population level,” Yeatman said.

The authors also trained a deep learning model to conduct a global analysis of white matter, finding that children who attend schools with higher SEDA scores had brains that appeared developmentally “more mature” than their chronological age.

A measurable impact

The implications are “potentially game-changing,” said McCandliss, who directs the Stanford Educational Neuroscience Initiative (SENSI) and is a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning. 

“National discussions of the importance of elementary school quality have never before been framed in terms of having a measurable impact on physical brain development of our young children,” he said. “I think this changes the frame of the discussion and decision-making around the impact of inequity.”

The study was only possible because of the comprehensive data included in the ABCD Study and SEDA, the researchers said. McCandliss, an investigator in the ABCD Study, first approached the ABCD team leaders about linking the SEDA data with the ABCD data in 2018, and his SENSI team spent about two years creating the resulting “crosswalk.” 

McCandliss called the ABCD study a “dream come true,” and the linked data a way to “finally” answer “elusive questions about how inequities in educational opportunities may actually be changing the course of physical and functional brain development during the vulnerable elementary school years across the nation.”

To analyze the brain white matter from the MRI data included in the ABCD study, the authors used pyAFQ , an open-source software developed by Yeatman’s lab. “It was a really fruitful collaboration across both labs,” Roy said.

The authors hope their methods and the newly linked ABCD and SEDA data, which is now freely available to a community of registered researchers around the world, will allow other scholars to pursue their own ideas and hypotheses at the intersection of education and neuroscience.

Yeatman said the methods and data used in the study will allow researchers to be more precise about environmental factors linked to brain development and the mechanisms behind those connections.

“The environment influences brain development,” he said. “That’s obvious. But what about the environment influences brain development? This is the first step in actually unraveling that specificity.”

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6 Negotiation Skills All Professionals Can Benefit From

• 11 May 2023

As a business professional, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll need to participate in negotiations, regardless of your job title or industry. Chances are you already participate in them more often than you realize.

Negotiating a job offer, asking for a raise , making the case for a budget increase, buying and selling property , and closing a sale are just a few examples of the deals you might be involved in.

You likely flex your negotiation skills in your personal life, too, making it crucial to become a skilled negotiator in all areas of life.

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If you want to strike effective deals and improve the outcomes of future negotiations, you need an arsenal of skills. Investing time and energy into developing them and learning the negotiation process can prepare you to maximize value at the bargaining table.

“Enhancing your negotiation skills has an enormous payoff,” says Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler in the online course Negotiation Mastery . “It allows you to reach agreements that might otherwise slip through your fingers. It allows you to expand the pie—create value—so you get more benefits from the agreements that you do reach. It also, in some cases, allows you to resolve small differences before they escalate into big conflicts.”

Here are six essential negotiation skills and ways to develop your knowledge and confidence.

Check out our video on negotiation skills below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more explainer content!

Negotiation Skills

1. communication.

To achieve your ideal outcome at the bargaining table, it’s essential to clearly communicate what you’re hoping to walk away with and where your boundaries lie.

Effective negotiators develop communication skills that allow them to engage in civil discussion and work toward an agreeable solution.

Deal-making requires give and take; it’s critical to articulate your thoughts and actively listen to others’ ideas and needs. Not doing so can cause you to overlook key components of negotiations and leave them dissatisfied.

2. Emotional Intelligence

For better or worse, emotions play a role in negotiation, and you can use them to your advantage.

For example, positive emotions can increase feelings of trust at the bargaining table. Similarly, you can channel anxiety or nervousness into excitement.

You need a high degree of emotional intelligence to read other parties’ emotions. This can enable you to pick up on what they’re implying rather than explicitly stating and advantageously manage and use your emotions.

Related: The Impact of Emotions in Negotiation

3. Planning

Planning ahead with a clear idea of what you hope to achieve and where your boundaries lie is essential to any negotiation. Without adequate preparation, you can overlook important terms of your deal or alternative solutions.

First, consider the zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) . Sometimes called the bargaining zone, ZOPA is the range in which you and other parties can find common ground. A positive bargaining zone exists when the terms you’re willing to agree to overlap. A negative one exists when they don’t.

Next, it’s beneficial to understand your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA). If your discussion lands in a negative bargaining zone, your BATNA is the course of action you’ll take if the negotiation is unsuccessful. Knowing your BATNA can ensure you have a backup plan if you can’t reach an agreement. It can also help you avoid leaving the table empty-handed.

4. Value Creation

Value creation is one of the key skills you should add to your negotiation toolkit.

To illustrate its importance, consider this analogy: When participating in a negotiation, you and the other parties typically try to obtain the biggest “slice of the pie” possible. Vying to maximize your slice inherently means someone will get a smaller piece.

To avoid this, shift your goals from growing your slice to expanding the whole pie. The benefits of doing so are twofold: First, you can realize greater value; second, you can establish a sense of rapport and trust that benefits future discussions.

5. Strategy

In addition to thorough preparation and the ability to create value, you need a clear understanding of effective negotiation tactics . By knowing what works and what doesn’t, you can tailor your strategy for every negotiation.

To develop a strong negotiation strategy , take the following steps:

• Define your role
• Understand your value
• Consider your counterpart’s vantage point
• Check in with yourself

Following this process can enable you to formulate a clear plan for the bargaining table. By understanding the roles of those involved, the value they offer, and their advantages, you can work toward a common goal. Checking in with yourself throughout the negotiation can also ensure you stay on the path to success.

6. Reflection

Finally, to round out your negotiation skills and develop your proficiency, reflect on past negotiations and identify areas for improvement.

After each negotiation—successful or not—think about what went well and what could have gone better. Doing so can allow you to evaluate the tactics that worked in your favor and those that fell short.

Next, identify areas you want to work on and create a plan of action. For example, if you had trouble aligning your goals with your counterpart’s, review concepts like ZOPA and BATNA. If your negotiations often leave you dissatisfied, learn new ways to create value.

How to Negotiate Professionally

No matter your strengths and weaknesses, practice is a surefire way to develop your skills. The more you negotiate, the more prepared you’ll be in the future.

Structured learning opportunities can be highly beneficial. Negotiation books and articles are effective starting points for learning deal-making basics. Those that explore real-life examples of successful negotiations can provide perspective on how others navigated difficult discussions and approached conflict resolution.

Another option is to take an online course, such as Negotiation Mastery . In addition to learning from real experts—including public officials, executives, and military officers—you can participate in interactive negotiation simulations that allow you to apply your knowledge and develop your skills. You can also gain insight into negotiation’s emotional aspects and learn how to conduct an after-action review to inform future dealings.

Do you want to hone your bargaining skills? Explore our online course Negotiation Mastery and download our free leadership e-book to discover how you can become a more effective deal-maker.

This post was updated and republished on May 11, 2023. It was originally published on Sept. 2, 2021.

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