Research Methods

As innovators, you will frequently be called upon to research a wide variety of

topics, and the research methods that you need to employ will recur again and
again. You will find that your research skills are fundamental to your ability to
successfully develop and refine your innovations. Gaining facility with these
research methods will be an essential part of your success.

The research methods that you select will depend on your personal knowledge of
the subject matter, the general state of knowledge within the field, and your
access to people and materials that can aid in your research. Consider the
following scenarios and the research methods that they prompt:

• If you already have a large amount of knowledge of a field, you may need
to focus on specific details using a reliable source of information. How do
you determine if a source is reliable? Sources that provide an appropriate
bibliography or are associated with well-respected organizations are far
more likely to provide good information than poorly cited sources of
questionable origin.

• If you are looking for information that is generally widely known, you may
be able to look the information up in a book or turn to a reliable internet
site for your information, remembering to always look critically at the
sources that you have selected.

• If you are looking for specialized information, you might need to consult a
trade journal, some industry-level specifications, or the academic literature
that you have access to.
 • Perhaps you are looking for information that is not widely known or
disseminated. In this case, you might need to consult an industry expert
who can provide insight into your particular question.

• If you need to learn something that nobody else knows, you will need to
conduct your own original research. This could be something as simple
as conducting a survey to determine attitudes in your community, or as
complicated as undertaking research in a high-tech laboratory. The mark
of a good original research method is not its degree of complexity.
Rather, the best original research methods are selected for the declared
purpose of providing the essential answers that advance your innovation.

As you discuss your research methods, you should also include the questions
that you are trying to answer and the thought processes that led you to a
particular technique. Ideally, you will also report on what you have learned
through your research and what further questions your research has prompted
you to investigate.

Over the course of your research, you will need to become comfortable with the
likelihood that you may not be able to identify everything that you need to
research at the start of your project. Your research is likely to uncover additional
areas that require investigation and take you down paths that you never
expected. Your research may require you to learn about topics that you know
little about. As you refine your research abilities, you will acquire the skills that
you need to deal with these emerging research paths.