There Is No Perfect Research

Joel Kenyakisa 24 December 2011 There Is No Perfect Research Introduction Research in its basic definition is the process of gathering and accumulating knowledge with a purpose of finding meaning, discovers new phenomena and shedding light on complex life problems. The notion that there cannot be a perfect research was first coined by Prof Morwenna Griffiths in her book Educational Research for Social Justice: Getting off the fence. Her hypothesis was that research by an individual cannot be the best research ever to be conducted.

That level of excellence is nonexistent because research in itself is amorphous among other reasons. Errors in Research Research cannot be perfect because it is subject to errors. Different research studies conducted on same subjects have yielded different findings and conclusions. A good example is the amount of research conducted in the health sector. This has resulted in having a market with a wide cross section on medical alternatives to same medical conditions. Studies on military strategy in the same war scenarios have also yielded contrasting doctrines by different war colleges.

The level of error can be minimized if more time and resources are put in these research studies. George Leard and Umardaub of expertcolumn. com noted that research studies will always have imperfections. The evolving nature of research The evolving nature of research makes it inaccurate with time. Take for instance the telecommunications industry. Several research studies have been conducted by many scientists on the need to have a perfect communication system. Alexander Graham Bell performed endless experiments that would prove his communication theory real.

Modern scientists have now partnered with wireless cell phone companies to design efficient and effective communication systems that provide faster and reliable connectivity among customers. The result is the creation of cell phones such as i-phones, androids, and blackberries. Research conducted today cannot be the ultimate solution to mankind problems but an initial step towards solving tomorrow’s problems. Research has no limits The world today has endless information. It is a sea of information that cannot be exploited fully.

What this means is that no one has monopoly of information, research that is conducted by an individual in one part of the world cannot be held as the gospel truth by all researchers. The human nature in itself does not allow a single individual no matter how brilliant he/ she is to own all knowledge, therefore a research study can never be absolute. The delayed value of research The somewhat delayed value of research makes it not perfect. It takes a long time to reduce the imperfections of research.

Some research studies especially in healthcare may take decades to reach a viable conclusion or solution to medical conditions. For instance, a research conducted on a chronic condition such as cancer, HIV/ AIDS, diabetes or arthritis may fall short of a solution in the initial attempts. Health scientists will later try to improve the progress done by previous researchers to get a solution to the problem instead to conducting the research from scratch. The result is solutions that take decades to be realized.

Discoveries such as vaccines to common diseases and cure to some cancers have taken decades to be finalized. An incomplete research study today may mean failure today but can also be an important direction to solving the problem in years to come. References 1. Allen, Robert. The New Penguin English Dictionary. India: Penguin Books; 2000. Print 2. Daily wiki. “Perfect Research-A Misnomer. ” 2011. Web Dec 2011. 3. Golafshani, Nahid. Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. 4. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers, 2nd Edition. Glenview, IL. Scott, Foresman and Company, 1976.