3 research methods to work smarter, not harder

You’ve likely heard of the phrase “curiosity killed the cat,” though not many know the rest of the phrase goes “but satisfaction brought it back.”

This feeling is probably something that researchers are most familiar with — spending hours upon hours diving into their findings, using various research methods to find the answers they seek.

It’s rewarding, but taxing work. 

It can take years, sometimes with no real result to show for your hard work. Funding can also be cut off at any time, making the outlook for doing research very bleak.

Yet people still carry out research anyway to quell their curiosity.

Interestingly enough, a study done in 2022 has shown that deprivation curiosity, the desire to know something because you can’t have it, is detrimental. It is associated with errors, confusion, and worst of them all, deprivation curious people are more likely to fall for fake news.

Hence why it’s important to use the proper research methods to ensure you’re getting the correct facts and figures that’ll help you get your research published.

And it’s not all bad, curiosity is associated with better problem-solving skills and curious people have a happier mindset.

What’s more, you’re not alone in your research journey.

Many universities incorporate research methods courses into undergraduate programmes to increase student’s confidence in their research skills and to discover what graduate school will be like.

There are so many things you need to know before you read a research paper, don’t worry if you feel like a child reading for the first time. Source: AFP

How to read a research paper

To be a good researcher, reading research literature regularly and expansively is a good habit to hone.

Unfortunately, reading tends to slip down the priority list when there’s grant writing, fieldwork, publishing, teaching, and analysis to be done. It gets even harder if you’re unfamiliar with the structure and technical language often used in academic papers.

And let’s not talk about the struggle of finding the right journals — though there’s definitely a solution to that somewhere online.

Having said that, learning how to read a research paper doesn’t have to be rocket science. 

Begin by skimming through the abstract, introduction, heading, and conclusion. Doing so will give you a quick overview of the paper’s contents, which can help you decide whether the paper is worth investing your time in.

Then, go through the entire paper. While reading, take notes like its key takeaways and how can you use or improve them. Such efforts are helpful when you have to re-read a paper after some time.

Once you’re done with your first read-through, check if you’ve understood the questions and answers posted by the author. After this, you can go back and outline the paper again to uncover more details you might have missed before.

All in all, when you adopt a systematic approach, it becomes much easier to absorb and understand a research paper’s content.

Political, corporate, and celebrity scandals, surprise – there are scandals in the research world too. Source: AFP

Never take the easy way out

People are inherently lazy. According to Psychology Today, even when we do choose to move, we naturally try to do it in the least strenuous way possible.

Another common characteristic lazy people have is that they try to take shortcuts for easy success, but that doesn’t mean it ends well for them.

Take Bernie Madoff; a renowned investment advisor. He built a Ponzi scheme that lasted for decades, offering investors incredibly high returns with little to no risk. While he enjoyed immense wealth and prestige for a time, his scheme eventually collapsed, leading to his arrest and a lengthy prison sentence.

Another example is Lance Armstrong, a cyclist who has won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. However, his success was marred by the revelation of his extensive doping practices. Eventually, he was stripped of his titles and left with a tarnished reputation.

Shortcuts are taken in academia as well, whether in college admissions, cheating in examinations, or publishing research. 

To think that even the world of academia isn’t spared from unsavoury events like cheating and admission scandals. Source: AFP

In 2023, the alarming rise of fake scientific papers became an international scandal. Over 10,000 fabricated papers, produced by “paper mills” that churn out fake research for a fee, had to be taken down.

More recently in 2024, tech journalism site 404 Media reported that over 100 papers on Google Scholar were written by AI.

It found that papers covering spinal injuries, medicine, cryptocurrency, and more contained the phrase “As of my last knowledge update,” which coincided with actual ChatGPT knowledge updates.

These issues highlight the need for proper research methods and practices to ensure that findings are accurate so that the public can maintain their trust in researchers. Otherwise, false reports can lead to harmful policy decisions, damage reputations, and undermine public health. 

3 basic but crucial research methods to know

Numbers don’t lie, unless they’re fabricated, of course. Source: AFP

Quantitative research methods

Quantitative research is all about numbers.

By collecting and studying data, researchers can spot trends, make predictions, and even generalise their findings to a larger group. This type of research is useful when you need clear, measurable results.

Popular quantitative research methods include closed-ended surveys or structured interviews. In closed-ended surveys, respondents choose from predefined options, making data easy to interpret.

Then there are structured interviews. These follow a strict script, which means everyone gets asked the same questions in the same way, making the results reliable. You can do these interviews in person, over the phone, or online.

Think about event companies.

Event organisers often use surveys to gather feedback from attendees, focusing on things like how satisfied they were, how much value they felt the event offered, and whether they’d recommend it to others.

By crunching the numbers from these surveys, organisers can figure out what worked well and what needs tweaking to make future events even better for everyone involved.

Qualitative research methods

Ever wondered why people do what they do? That’s where qualitative research methods come in. 

Qualitative research collects and analyses non-numerical data like text and video to understand opinions, concepts, or experiences. It’s often used to gather detailed insights or explore new research ideas.

Some common ways to gather qualitative data are through one-on-one interviews or open-ended surveys, where people can share their thoughts in detail.

There’s also observation, where you note what you see and hear, and focus groups, where you get people talking to see how they feel about a topic.

You’ll learn qualitative research methods in subjects like the humanities and social sciences, but it’s also widely used in marketing and product development.

Disney is a great example.

When working on “Sofia the First,” the media giant used focus groups to get feedback from kids and parents. This helped them tweak the character of Sofia and fine-tune other parts of the show.

By listening to what its audience wanted, Disney stayed ahead of the competition and broke away from the usual princess stereotypes, making sure Disney Junior kept its spot as a favourite among young viewers.

Just like how DJs mix songs, you can mix quantitative and qualitative research methods to get your desired results. Source: AFP

Mixed approach

The mixed methods approach does exactly what it sounds like — it combines both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

You can have participants choose from set answers for some questions while allowing them to write out their thoughts for others. This gives you the best of both worlds: hard data and personal insights.

But it’s important to think carefully about how you’ll examine all this information to draw accurate conclusions.

Universities use this research method a lot when they want to hear from students.

At the end of every semester, lecturers ask students to fill out forms that include both rating questions (like rating their experience from one to five) and open-ended ones (like explaining what they enjoyed most about the course). This way, universities get a clearer picture of student experiences.