Outrider 3 - What is research?
Summary
TLDRIn this video script, Tara Grabazon, Dean of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin University, explores the concept of research, defining it as a systematic inquiry that develops knowledge. She emphasizes the importance of transparency, accountability, and the transformative power of research in various disciplines. Grabazon also discusses the different types of research, including exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory, and distinguishes between basic and applied research, advocating for the value of long-term, evidence-based inquiry.
Takeaways
- 📚 Research is fundamentally about developing knowledge, which can be theoretical or empirical, conceptual, or methodological.
- 🔍 Research is a systematic inquiry involving the formation of hypotheses, thesis statements, or research questions to collect, analyze, and draw conclusions from information.
- 🔄 Research is transformational, affecting social, economic, political, and intellectual aspects of life by creating an understanding of the world that was previously unknown.
- 🔬 The systematic component of research is crucial, requiring verification and peer review to ensure transparency and accountability.
- 🔗 Research dissemination is vital as it adds to new knowledge, forming the basis for new questions and the continuous transformation of knowledge over time.
- 🌐 Research aims to improve lives and environments, necessitating an understanding of what is working and what is not, based on evidence rather than opinion or experience alone.
- 🔑 Knowing what we know is essential for identifying what we don't know, which in turn triggers research questions and the pursuit of new knowledge.
- 📝 Literature reviews, referencing, and bibliographies are important in establishing the known state of knowledge and locating gaps for further research.
- 🔑 Research is not merely having an opinion or experience; it is based on rigorous, transparent study that contributes to the body of knowledge.
- 🔍 Three main purposes of research include exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory research, each serving different roles in understanding and solving problems.
- 🔬 The distinction between basic (pure) research and applied research is important, with basic research providing the foundation for the practical applications of applied research.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of research according to Tara Grabazon?
-The primary purpose of research, as stated by Tara Grabazon, is to develop knowledge, which can be theoretical or empirical, conceptual, or methodological.
How does research contribute to transparency and accountability?
-Research contributes to transparency and accountability through systematic inquiry, verification by others, and the peer-review process, which ensures that research findings are checked, robust, and honest.
What is the role of hypothesis, thesis statements, or research questions in conducting research?
-Hypotheses, thesis statements, or research questions play a crucial role in research as they guide the collection, curation, organization, analysis, and shaping of information, leading to the drawing of conclusions.
Why is repeatability important in some research methodologies?
-Repeatability is important in some research methodologies because it ensures that the results of an experiment or study can be verified and confirmed by others, adding credibility and reliability to the research findings.
How does research transform our social, economic, political, and intellectual lives?
-Research transforms our lives by creating an understanding of the world that was not known before the research was conducted. It activates change and contributes to the improvement of lives, environments, and decision-making processes.
What is the significance of exploratory research in the field of research?
-Exploratory research is significant as it often represents the first investigation into a particular problem or idea, shaping the framework for future research and enabling the development of subsequent research questions.
What is the difference between exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory research?
-Exploratory research identifies and shapes problems or events, descriptive research provides detailed accounts of phenomena, and explanatory research investigates how variables interact, often revealing correlations and causality.
Why is basic research important despite not having immediate practical applications?
-Basic research is important because it forms the foundation of knowledge upon which applied research and practical applications are built. It is essential for the long-term advancement of various fields and for solving complex problems that require deep understanding.
What is the impact of focusing solely on short-term outcomes in research?
-Focusing solely on short-term outcomes can lead to the neglect of long-term, fundamental research that is crucial for understanding and addressing complex and large-scale issues such as climate change.
What does Tara Grabazon suggest as a commitment to research?
-Tara Grabazon suggests that a commitment to research involves intellectual discipline, transcending the self, inquiry, asking questions, taking risks, and challenging what is known.
How does the script address the challenges faced by researchers in the current academic climate?
-The script acknowledges the difficulties in developing a strong research career due to short-term contracts and casualization, emphasizing the importance of supporting researchers to conduct rigorous and impactful research over time.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Research
Tara Grabazon, Dean of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin University, introduces the topic of research in the first video of the 'Outrider' series. She acknowledges the privilege of discussing research and emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability in the field. Grabazon defines research as a systematic inquiry that develops knowledge, which can be theoretical or empirical, and conceptual or methodological. She also discusses the transformative nature of research on society and the need for hypotheses, research questions, and peer review to ensure the validity and reliability of research findings.
🔍 The Importance of Verification and Accountability in Research
In the second paragraph, Grabazon stresses the necessity of verification and accountability in research, highlighting the role of peer review in maintaining the integrity and transparency of research findings. She explains the importance of dissemination in adding to the body of knowledge and how research leads to the formulation of new questions. Grabazon also touches on the significance of knowing what is unknown to trigger research questions and the importance of evidence in driving decision-making in government and businesses.
🌟 The Three Purposes of Research
Grabazon categorizes research into three main purposes: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Exploratory research is crucial for identifying and framing problems, often leading to high citation rates. Descriptive research provides detailed accounts of phenomena, while explanatory research investigates relationships between variables. She also differentiates between basic (pure) research, which develops knowledge from existing theories, and applied research, which focuses on practical applications and immediate outcomes.
🚫 The Challenges Facing Basic Research
The fourth paragraph addresses the current challenges facing basic research, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, where there has been a shift away from supporting disciplines that are perceived as not having immediate economic benefits. Grabazon criticizes this short-term focus and argues that applied research is built upon the foundation of centuries of basic research. She emphasizes the importance of good theory and the long-term benefits of supporting basic research for future generations.
🛠 Commitment to Research and the Role of Researchers
In the final paragraph, Grabazon discusses the commitment required for a research career, which involves intellectual discipline, inquiry, and the courage to ask questions that may not have answers. She acknowledges the current volatility in universities and the difficulties in developing a research career due to short-term contracts and casualization. Grabazon concludes by emphasizing the importance of research as a commitment to challenging existing knowledge and looks forward to focusing on the role of researchers in the next 'Outrider' video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Research
💡Researcher
💡Knowledge
💡Systematic Inquiry
💡Hypotheses
💡Thesis Statements
💡Research Questions
💡Peer Review
💡Dissemination
💡Exploratory Research
💡Descriptive Research
💡Explanatory Research
💡Basic Research
💡Applied Research
Highlights
Introduction to the topic of 'What is Research?' by Tara Grabazon, Dean of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin University.
The importance of transparency and accountability in research and its transformative effect on society, economy, politics, and intellectual life.
Research defined as a systematic inquiry that develops knowledge, whether theoretical or empirical.
The necessity of hypothesis, thesis statements, or research questions in structuring research.
The role of peer review in verifying and maintaining the integrity of research.
The significance of repeatability in certain research methodologies, particularly in the experimental sciences.
The acknowledgment of non-repeatable research methodologies and their importance in creative and practice-led disciplines.
The three purposes of research: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory.
The distinction between basic (pure) research and applied research, and their respective contributions to knowledge.
The current challenges facing basic research, such as the closure of disciplines and the focus on short-term economic benefits.
The impact of short-termism on the quality and depth of research, particularly in government and academia.
The importance of evidence-driven decision making in government and business, as opposed to decisions based on opinions or feelings.
The role of research in improving problem-solving and decision-making processes.
The contribution of each discipline to epistemology, ontology, and methodology, and the importance of interdisciplinarity.
The commitment to research as a discipline, intellectual endeavor, and a means of challenging existing knowledge.
The upcoming focus on 'What is a researcher?' in the next video of the series.
The closing thoughts on the power and importance of research, and the challenges faced by researchers in the current volatile academic environment.
Transcripts
hello I'm Tara grabazon and I'm the dean
of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin
University and welcome to outrider 3.
what is research this request comes via
Ruth hi Ruth and Ruth asked two
questions of me for this video series
the first was what is research and the
second is what is a researcher now I
know this will come as a surprise to you
but this week we're looking at what is
research and in the outrider next week
we're exploring what is a researcher
these requests are a gift I would not
have come up with these requests or
ideas on my own so an enormous thank you
to Ruth and I'm also aware of the great
privilege it is to be able to talk about
this topic this is my 10th job in my
10th University in my fourth country and
now about a third of my jobs through my
life have been in research portfolios
that's a gift and that's a privilege and
it's a gift and a privilege that is very
rarely granted to women and very greatly
granted to women who have their initial
training in the humanities and the
social sciences there are many reasons
for that but I am aware as I speak to
you today about the great privilege I
have and the position I have to speak to
you about research and it's a privilege
that I have never and will never take
for granted okay so this is such a
provocative and fantastic question I'm
excited
afford it let's look at what is research
and this is a great way to start our
outrider series really to think about
okay well what actually is research and
it is a way into the discussion for
thousands tens of thousands of people
around the world and that's important
research must be transparent it must be
accountable and research must move so
let's do this at its most basic research
develops knowledge so there's your
definition if you just want a little bit
of a definition to move forward in your
life research develops knowledge right
so you can go and have a cup of coffee
now thanks for playing if you like
research and knowledge are like more
come and wise or Beyonce and Adele
knowledge is changed is developed is
enhanced
through research this knowledge can be
theoretical or empirical
it can be conceptual it can be
methodological
right so research develops knowledge
tick that's our first definition let's
now add some complexity to that
research is a systematic inquiry so
let's unpick that phrase a little bit
that involves the formation of
hypotheses thesis statements or research
questions let me tell you why because
thesis statements research questions
allow us to collect curate organize
information and then analyze and shape
that information and then we draw
conclusions from that analysis and what
we then do because research doesn't stop
just going oh this is what we found cool
what we then have to do is move that
research back into knowledge and
demonstrate how it can be implemented in
our social cultural economic but also
intellectual lives some methodologies
and research areas disciplines demand
that the research is repeatable so we do
something we do an experiment and that's
great but the result is only meaningful
if it can be repeated
we see that imperative a great deal in
the experimental Sciences but some
methodologies such as creative LED
creative based practice-led practice
based simply cannot be repeatable
doesn't mean they're they're not
research they certainly are but
different modalities to prove
transparency are activated like
positionality Theory or standpoint
Theory put another way research in all
disciplines creates an understanding of
our world and it's an understanding of
that world that was not known before the
research was conducted this is
transformational
so research is transformational of our
social economic political and
intellectual lives so research activates
change
okay the systematic component of
research is absolutely crucial
our research must be verified
and it must be checked and not checked
by us gonna always call whatever no it's
got to be verified and checked by others
and that's why peer review
is so crucial to the development of
research because we need to be checked
if we're not checked
then it's not knowledge and it's
certainly not research so from the most
Junior of academics PhD students
included in that definition right
through to our senior professors blind
peer review that means that the
reviewers don't know who you are and you
don't know who they are right so it's
something called double blind
double-blind peer review Keeps Us honest
keeps us real Keeps Us robust and most
importantly keeps our research
transparent and outward very important
without verification
and without accountability there is no
research
okay so dissemination is also part of
research as you've picked up we are
adding to new knowledge right that's
what we're doing we're developing new
knowledge and our knowledge then becomes
the foundation of new questions and the
iterations and transformations of
knowledge through research continue
through time right the point of research
is to improve the lives and the
environment of other people people other
human beings the environment other
animals for example and we have to
understand in the world what is working
and what is not working
so how do we do that
this Improvement in research is based on
knowing what we know
once we know what we know
we then have a pretty good idea that we
know what we don't know and when we know
what we don't know that's where research
is activated and we need to have some
sense of that unknowability and that's
what triggers research questions and so
forth now I know this is all sounding a
bit Donald Rumsfeld for which I really
really apologize but it's only when we
know what we know that we can know what
is unknown and therefore what is the
gift of research
and I find this so inspiring every
single day the gift of research is it
provides a bridge
a bridge from what we know to the
unknown and the role of researchers is
to walk on that bridge
The Knowing of the known
is confirmed through a literature review
so how do you prove you know stuff right
well you do a literature review you also
present references referencing and you
also present a bibliography
this is significant because having an
opinion
it's great and it's many things but
having an opinion is not research having
an experience
is not research having a particular
identity label is not research research
is based on knowing the state of
knowledge and then being able to locate
a gap
something which is unknowable and then
through rigorous careful transparent
study we're able to start to know
the unknowable and We Know It with rigor
with accountability and in some
disciplines repeatability research is
important to an array of other
Industries private and public
corporations a whole series of
businesses because what research
actually does
is it improves problem solving and it
improves decision making for Citizens
that's why it's so crucial research is
evidence driven it is accountable and it
is verifiable
now we see in governments around the
world particularly at the moment what
happens
when an opinion
an experience or a vibe
becomes more important than following
the actual research and following the
evidence and we see the impact of that
on decision making so decision making
particularly in government but I would
argue in all businesses should be
evidentially driven and that evidence is
configured and shaped by experts but
when all that stuff has gone yeah yeah
it's about a Vibe we can see the
consequences to the planet when Vibes
start to run policy each discipline has
a specific contribution to the
development of epistemology ontology and
methodology and that difference matters
it's important but if we melt the
boundaries between disciplines for a
moment
so yes every discipline has important
things to add to this conversation but
for a moment I just want to melt the
boundaries and borders between
disciplines and cut up research in a
different way to help our definition
all research all research has about
three purposes three ways of doing it
and most of us through our careers focus
on two of these it's very rare that
people have all three bases covered if
you will most of us do two of these the
first is exploratory research
exploratory research fantastically
important I've done a lot of this in my
career this is often the first research
that exists in relation to a particular
problem or event or idea so this is the
first refereed article and what
exploratory research does is in many
ways it configures a problem or it
shapes an event and does the great work
for the people that are to follow so if
like exploratory research are the real
outriders they go out there and they go
I've found something that's a problem
let's shape it for following colleagues
to create research questions and kick
this ball forward often exploratory
research does have the highest citations
right because this is the people doing
the hijacker getting the sort of
framework in place to sort of building
the house and then all the attention is
on the people that do the nice
decorating in the house after am I am I
angry am I resentful no I'm not no I'm
not but exploratory research very
exciting really interesting and again a
great way to spend your time because you
really are enabling the future of
research
the second type of research is
descriptive research we see this a great
deal in the social sciences and the
Sciences more generally and what this
does is it describes the characteristics
of a person an event a phenomenon it's
often called thick description we see it
a great deal in ethnography and a lot of
field work related methodologies thick
description this is really important
research yeah wow and it focuses on the
watch
and the how
of life
it really focuses on the why questions
but the how and the what really crucial
questions a lot of good deep
methodological work gets done here and
the final mode of research is
explanatory research explanatory
research This research is really
interesting
because it investigates how variables or
characteristics engage connect and mesh
so in this mode of research we start to
see particularly correlations emerging
so there's a correlation there fantastic
and if we're really lucky we start to
see some causality so this great way of
thinking and doing research starts to
build those relationships and render
those relationships meaningful so the
why questions are really answered here
and experimentation is particularly
dominant in this mode of research but
also a lot of theoretical work can exist
here as well okay the other way to cut
up research beyond our disciplines is
through looking at what's often called
the two basic types of research basic
research
and applied research basic
applaud
basic research is also described as pure
research which is really interesting and
this is the original investigation of a
person of an event of a phenomena it
develops Knowledge from existing
principles ideas theories and laws it
develops knowledge in a predictable
careful way acknowledging the history of
ideas it is sadly often these days
described as
non-commercial research
yeah it seemed to be not solving
practical problems
and those practical problems of course
it's all about here's an immediate
problem here's an immediate threat and
we require an immediate response to this
immediate problem
now as you can see basic research has
taken a real beating recently
particularly in Australia and Altera or
New Zealand so in the antibodies we have
really hammered as an intellectual
Community basic research and there will
be consequences of that for Generations
so what's happened in Australia New
Zealand is universities have made
decisions to close down a series of
disciplines like physics
like chemistry like philosophy and a
range of disciplines in the humanities
and in the Arts so just go we no longer
need that slice of knowledge so whenever
you see The Bachelor of Arts or The
Bachelor of Science threatened in some
form truncated or limited then what
you're seeing is a truncation of the
future of basic research
obviously a catastrophic
mistake
we have this assumption at the moment
that all research must be of immediate
economic benefit right so don't do
something unless there's some dough and
not do in the even medium term a dough
quickly right that's the new definition
of research and all of this forgets
that applied research commercial
research if you will
is based on
is founded on
centuries of basic research
so do you want your medical scientists
to not have expertise in chemistry
seriously you want medical scientists
making drugs without basic research in
chemistry do you want your engineers
to build Bridges build buildings
without physics
all this is going well now so there we
go so that's basic research I had
something to say I've said it the other
type of research is called applied
research applied research commences
knowledge generation from what's called
a practical application
now it generates knowledge with an
immediate response an immediate outcome
this I know it'll be a surprise to you
but applied research is of great
interest to National governments around
the world but the important research
the really crucial research of course is
not being supported in any way shape or
form because we're now in this
short-termism thing right so we need
this is the grant this is the Grant and
what's the outcome of the ground
and of course knowledge doesn't work
like that and research certainly doesn't
so all this focus on short-termism means
we're missing out on the big issues and
understanding what's going on
climate change anyone
all the urgency now
what was happening 30 and 40 years ago
yeah I always remember that great line I
think it was from Kurt Lewin that
remarkable German American psychologist
who specializes in organizational and
applied psychology and he stated quote
there is nothing so practical as good
Theory end of quote
nothing so practical is good theory I
live by that Max and Brilliant so as you
can see in this outrider session
research is powerful
research is important it's not personal
experience it's not emotion it's not
your lived experience it's not what you
think
it's not what you feel
research is
a demanding mistress
oh yes she is and yes the political the
social the ideological volatility around
our Universities at the moment makes it
really difficult
to have a strong research career
the best research and the best research
career is if you look at the great
Scholars that we follow we follow in the
footsteps of their careers developed
over decades
and that's because they were supported
to develop that research over decades
now through short-term contracts
casualization of contracts the
development of a research career is
increasingly difficult
but research
is important it's an important task
indeed it is a life changing task
a commitment to research
is a commitment to discipline
intellectual discipline
it's a commitment to transcending the
self
a commitment to inquiry
a commitment to asking questions
and taking the risk and showing the
courage
that we may not be able to answer those
questions
research is also a commitment
to challenging
what we know
but who activates such commitments
the answer is the researcher our focus
of the outrider next week I wish you
love light and peace
Tia
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