The statement by Griffiths (1998) that there is no hope in doing perfect research (97) has raised a few eyebrows and has become a highly controversial issue over the past decade. Reading and Writing sources (2010) defines research as a systematic examination to obtain facts. According to this definition, research is obtaining accurate, reliable information, with the use of a method. Now, how do we define accuracy and reliability in a world where human beings dominate?
In addition, research is also defined by the Google English dictionary (2010) as a carefully planned and performed analysis, searching for previously unknown facts. If this investigation were so carefully planned and performed, why can all the facts be acquired at the time of the research? Human beings are not perfect; thus, there will always be flaws. Therefore, it would be supremely cynical to think that research, which literally means to search again, can be flawless. In gist, I agree that there is no hope in doing perfect research.
People conduct researches for all sorts of reasons. However, the main aim of research according to Francis Dane (1990) is to gain knowledge, understanding and answering questions about things of the world (212).
There are several types of research methods. Among them is the Scientific method. This method determines the answers to questions through experimentation. Science is applied to an idea or issue to answer these questions. This research process relies on the result over documentation. Scientific methods of the research activity involve the creation of topics, a hypothesis, conceptual definitions, operational definitions, gathering data, analysing data, followed by testing and changing the hypothesis until reaching a conclusion.
Controversially, there are no guarantees that consistent procedures are 100% effective. For instance, in conducting a medical examination
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