When I Think of Research

The insights I have gained about research include the fact that, as I thought, research is an extremely lengthy process.  I was surprised at all the steps that are taken to prepare for as well as conduct a research project, especially since in the beginning of the course we were educated on what is really important when reading a research paper. My reaction was…WOW, a thousand pages worth of research results and analyses and only about six paragraphs are important! I gained a greater sense of respect for researchers as well as respect for and appreciation for the participants who allowed themselves to be used to conduct the research study. My ideas about the nature of doing the research has changed because I have discovered that conducting research is much more complicated than I previously anticipated.  The lesson I learned about planning and designing research is that it is very time consuming. It requires a lot more time than I have or am willing to commit at the moment. I also learned that there are several different designs as well as the possibility of choosing multiple designs. This made me think about the validity of research that I have read in the past. How accurate are the results? What would have been the results had a different design been used? The challenge I encountered was simply understanding research and all the components of it as a whole. I’m still not sure I have completely accomplished this, but I am definitely more knowledgeable now than I was before starting this course. I would like to say thank you to all my colleagues for the support, comments, suggestions, advice, etc. It has been a struggle for me trying to figure out this research project, but your help and shared stories have given me hope and the confidence needed to proceed. Thank you again and good luck to you all!!!!!!!