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• do research

verb as in study

Strongest matches

• investigate

Strong matches

Weak matches

• give the eagle eye

Related Words

Words related to do research are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word do research . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

verb as in examine, analyze

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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How to Properly and Effectively Conduct Research in Five Steps

Researching is a valuable skill that can help you in school, work, and beyond. This blog post breaks down the research process into five easy-to-follow steps to teach you how to conduct research properly and effectively.

Conducting Research: Table of Contents

What is Research?

Steps to Conducting Research

In an age where misinformation is rampant, knowing how to correctly conduct research is a skill that will set you apart from others. This blog post goes over what research is and breaks down the process into five straightforward steps.

What Is Research?

The word research is derived from the Middle French word “recerche,” which means “to seek.” That term came from the Old French word “recerchier,” meaning “search.” But what exactly is being sought during research? Knowledge and information.

Research is the methodical process of collecting and analyzing data to expand your knowledge, so you can have enough information to answer a question or describe, explain, or predict an issue or observation.

Research is important because it helps you see the world as it really is (facts) and not as you or others think it is (opinions).

The meaning of research may sound quite heavy and significant, but that’s because it is. Proper research guides you to weed out wrong information. Today, having that skill is vital. Below, we’ll teach you how to do research in five easy-to-follow steps.

It’s essential to note that there are different types of research:

• Exploratory research identifies a problem or question.
• Constructive research examines hypotheses and offers solutions.
• Empirical research tests the feasibility of a solution using data.

That being said, the research process may differ based on the purpose of the project. Take the measures below as a general guideline, and be prepared to make changes or take additional steps.

Also, keep in mind that conducting proper research is not easy. You should start with a mindset of being ready to use a lot of time and effort to obtain the information you need.

1. Prepare for Research

Preparing for research is an extensive step in itself. You must:

• Choose a topic or carefully analyze the assignment given to you.
• Craft a research question and hypothesis.
• Plan out your research.
• Create a research log.
• Transform your hypothesis into a working thesis.

2. Understand and Evaluate Sources

Once you have meticulously prepared for research, you should have a thorough understanding of the different types of sources. Doing this helps you learn which types would best fit your research project.

• Primary sources provide direct knowledge and evidence based on your research question.
• Secondary sources provide descriptions or interpretations of primary sources.
• Tertiary sources provide summaries of the primary or secondary sources without providing additional insights.

The data and information you’re seeking can be found in various mediums. The following list shows the types most commonly used in academic research and writing:

• Academic journals
• Books and textbooks
• Government and legal documents

The information you need doesn’t always have to come in the form of printed materials. It can also be found in:

• Multimedia (like radio and television podcasts, or recorded public meetings)
• Social media

Evaluate Your Sources

You must evaluate your sources to ensure that they are credible and authoritative. The information you find on websites, blogs, and social media is not as reliable as that found in academic journals, for example. Always verify the information you find, and then verify again!

To evaluate sources, you should:

• Find out as much as you can about the source
• Determine the intended audience
• Ask yourself if it is fact, opinion, or propaganda
• Analyze the evidence used
• Check how timely the source is
• Cross-check the information

3. Use the Library, Internet, and Conduct Field Research

So, where can you find all these sources? The library is a good place to start because the library staff may be able to guide you in the right direction as to where you should begin your research. If you’re a student, your school library can provide access to:

• Reference works
• Encyclopedias
• Almanacs and atlases
• Catalogs and databases
• And countless books

The internet does provide easy and fast access to all sorts of data, including incorrect information. That’s why it’s important to verify everything you find there. However, the internet is also home to reliable and credible information.

You can find trustworthy sources online, including scholarly works on Google Scholar , for example. Government sites, like the Library of Congress, provide online collections of articles. There are also many websites for reputable publications, such as the New York Times . Make sure to include the latest information on the specific topic.

Lastly, you can also conduct research by collecting data yourself. You can do this in the form of interviews, observations, opinion surveys, and more.

Don’t Forget

Update your working bibliography as you conduct your research, and keep track of everything in your research log!

4. Think Critically and Takes Notes

When you’re researching, it’s important to read everything through a critical lens—don’t just accept what you see at face value. Always ask yourself questions like:

What’s the main idea?

What are the supporting ideas?

Who is the intended audience?

What’s the purpose?

Is there anything else I need to know that was left out?

Take as many notes as you can and look up anything confusing or unclear.

5. Decide on How To Integrate Sources Into Your Research Paper

Now that you have all the information you need, it’s time to figure out how you are going to integrate sources into your research paper.

Are you going to quote your sources directly? Doing so can help you establish credibility, but be sure to limit this, as your research paper should be mainly your ideas and findings (based on theoretical framework). You can also paraphrase or summarize your sources, but make sure to precede them with the author of the source.

If you’re using visuals in your research project, make sure to include them seamlessly. Ensure that there’s a purpose for the visual content (it can demonstrate something better than words alone can). Add the visual immediately after an explanation of it, and take some time to clarify why it’s relevant to the research project.

The most important part of this step is that you do not plagiarize! Always cite your sources. The only information that need not be cited is:

• Common knowledge
• Your findings from field research

Research Takes Time

The truth is that if you want to conduct proper research, you must be willing to dedicate a significant amount of time to it. And properly conducted research is essential to a well-written and credible research paper.

In other words, there are no cutting corners when it comes to research. However, as an advanced, multilingual writing assistant, LanguageTool can take care of the grammar, spelling, and punctuation aspects of your research project. It can help you in paraphrasing sentences to align with the formality required for an academic paper while also ensuring simplicity, conciseness, and fluency when necessary.

LanguageTool lets you focus on the most important aspects of writing a research paper—research and writing—while it focuses on correcting all types of errors. Its advanced technology can also help you avoid plagiarism through paraphrasing. In this case, it’s imperative that if you use this feature, you still include the source in the references or works cited page.

LanguageTool is free to use! Give it a try.

Lunsford, Andrea A. The Everyday Writer with Exercises , 2010.

Types of Sources - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University. “Types of Sources - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University,” n.d. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/research_overview/sources.html.

General Guidelines - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University. “General Guidelines - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University,” n.d. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/evaluating_sources_of_information/general_guidelines.html.

Ryan, Eoghan. “Types of Sources Explained | Examples & Tips.” Scribbr, May 19, 2022. https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/types-of-sources/.

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self-preservation without replication —

Research ai model unexpectedly attempts to modify its own code to extend runtime, facing time constraints, sakana's "ai scientist" attempted to change limits placed by researchers..

Benj Edwards - Aug 14, 2024 8:13 pm UTC

On Tuesday, Tokyo-based AI research firm Sakana AI announced a new AI system called " The AI Scientist " that attempts to conduct scientific research autonomously using AI language models (LLMs) similar to what powers ChatGPT . During testing, Sakana found that its system began unexpectedly attempting to modify its own experiment code to extend the time it had to work on a problem.

Further Reading

"In one run, it edited the code to perform a system call to run itself," wrote the researchers on Sakana AI's blog post. "This led to the script endlessly calling itself. In another case, its experiments took too long to complete, hitting our timeout limit. Instead of making its code run faster, it simply tried to modify its own code to extend the timeout period."

Sakana provided two screenshots of example Python code that the AI model generated for the experiment file that controls how the system operates. The 185-page AI Scientist research paper discusses what they call "the issue of safe code execution" in more depth.

• A screenshot of example code the AI Scientist wrote to extend its runtime, provided by Sakana AI. Sakana AI

While the AI Scientist's behavior did not pose immediate risks in the controlled research environment, these instances show the importance of not letting an AI system run autonomously in a system that isn't isolated from the world. AI models do not need to be "AGI" or "self-aware" (both hypothetical concepts at the present) to be dangerous if allowed to write and execute code unsupervised. Such systems could break existing critical infrastructure or potentially create malware, even if unintentionally.

Sakana AI addressed safety concerns in its research paper, suggesting that sandboxing the operating environment of the AI Scientist can prevent an AI agent from doing damage. Sandboxing is a security mechanism used to run software in an isolated environment, preventing it from making changes to the broader system:

Safe Code Execution. The current implementation of The AI Scientist has minimal direct sandboxing in the code, leading to several unexpected and sometimes undesirable outcomes if not appropriately guarded against. For example, in one run, The AI Scientist wrote code in the experiment file that initiated a system call to relaunch itself, causing an uncontrolled increase in Python processes and eventually necessitating manual intervention. In another run, The AI Scientist edited the code to save a checkpoint for every update step, which took up nearly a terabyte of storage. In some cases, when The AI Scientist’s experiments exceeded our imposed time limits, it attempted to edit the code to extend the time limit arbitrarily instead of trying to shorten the runtime. While creative, the act of bypassing the experimenter’s imposed constraints has potential implications for AI safety (Lehman et al., 2020). Moreover, The AI Scientist occasionally imported unfamiliar Python libraries, further exacerbating safety concerns. We recommend strict sandboxing when running The AI Scientist, such as containerization, restricted internet access (except for Semantic Scholar), and limitations on storage usage.

Endless scientific slop

Sakana AI developed The AI Scientist in collaboration with researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia. It is a wildly ambitious project full of speculation that leans heavily on the hypothetical future capabilities of AI models that don't exist today.

"The AI Scientist automates the entire research lifecycle," Sakana claims. "From generating novel research ideas, writing any necessary code, and executing experiments, to summarizing experimental results, visualizing them, and presenting its findings in a full scientific manuscript."

According to this block diagram created by Sakana AI, "The AI Scientist" starts by "brainstorming" and assessing the originality of ideas. It then edits a codebase using the latest in automated code generation to implement new algorithms. After running experiments and gathering numerical and visual data, the Scientist crafts a report to explain the findings. Finally, it generates an automated peer review based on machine-learning standards to refine the project and guide future ideas.

Critics on Hacker News , an online forum known for its tech-savvy community, have raised concerns about The AI Scientist and question if current AI models can perform true scientific discovery. While the discussions there are informal and not a substitute for formal peer review, they provide insights that are useful in light of the magnitude of Sakana's unverified claims.

"As a scientist in academic research, I can only see this as a bad thing," wrote a Hacker News commenter named zipy124. "All papers are based on the reviewers trust in the authors that their data is what they say it is, and the code they submit does what it says it does. Allowing an AI agent to automate code, data or analysis, necessitates that a human must thoroughly check it for errors ... this takes as long or longer than the initial creation itself, and only takes longer if you were not the one to write it."

Critics also worry that widespread use of such systems could lead to a flood of low-quality submissions, overwhelming journal editors and reviewers—the scientific equivalent of AI slop . "This seems like it will merely encourage academic spam," added zipy124. "Which already wastes valuable time for the volunteer (unpaid) reviewers, editors and chairs."

And that brings up another point—the quality of AI Scientist's output: "The papers that the model seems to have generated are garbage," wrote a Hacker News commenter named JBarrow. "As an editor of a journal, I would likely desk-reject them. As a reviewer, I would reject them. They contain very limited novel knowledge and, as expected, extremely limited citation to associated works."

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SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronauts will conduct high-flying research in Earth orbit

The mission is about more than altitude records and a private spacewalk.

Update for 11 p.m. ET on Aug. 27: SpaceX has now delayed the Polaris Dawn launch until no earlier than Aug. 30 due to a helium leak and bad weather. Read our delay stories here and here .

Call it one high leap for astronaut science.

The Polaris Dawn mission, funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Tuesday morning (Aug. 27). It has two major operations goals: to perform the first-ever private spacewalk and to fly higher than any crewed spacecraft since the Apollo era, at about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers).

The four-person crew includes Isaacman as commander (who previously funded and commanded the private Inspiration4 orbital mission in 2021); pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a business associate of Isaacman's across several companies; and mission specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, both of whom are SpaceX engineers.

Polaris Dawn also plans to conduct 40 science experiments, in partnership with 30 institutions worldwide, Menon told reporters during a press conference on Aug. 19. She said there are three categories: human health in areas such as bone density, vision and motion sickness; research about pressure changes to understand how the body reacts to higher-than-usual altitudes; and research undertaken on Earth to see how the astronauts readapt after a few days in space.

Related: How SpaceX's historic Polaris Dawn private spacewalk will work

The crew spent two days in a pressure chamber to test out techniques to make their work more efficient, and to prep for the usual fluid shifts in space that all astronauts encounter: Fluids tend to migrate into the upper body and face and away from the lower body, temporarily creating a "puffy face syndrome" among new arrivals to space.

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The Polaris Dawn astronauts have a set of high-tech gear to track how their bodies will adapt and evolve during their five-day space mission. One is a contact lens that "measures intraocular pressure for extended periods of time," Menon said, referring to changes in the internal pressure of the eye. "We can hope to better understand the mechanisms behind these eye changes; we look into a future where there are hundreds or thousands of people living in space for long durations of time, so it is only a matter of time before there is a medical emergency that requires intervention."

Related: SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew lands at launch site ahead of 1st-ever private spacewalk mission (photos, video)

— Polaris Dawn mission: Meet the crew taking 1st commercial spacewalk

—  SpaceX Polaris Dawn private spacewalk mission: Live updates

—  How SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts will attempt the 1st-ever 'all-civilian' spacewalk

The astronauts will also use an endoscope, with a camera attached, that is designed to go into the nostril and examine the airway for inflammation or other factors that may induce "balance issues that astronauts face when they return to a gravity environment." 

The astronauts, in fact, have already tested a tool to see how they react to balance issues: a testing device can shoot electricity "between the inner ears to simulate that disorientation and teach more rapid adaptation skills."

More details about the experiments and partners are available on the Polaris Dawn research page (click the logo of each partner to read details about sponsored experiments).

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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In any major or minor biological sciences department, you’ll have numerous opportunities to apply what you’re learning and gain experience through research, lab work, internships, and more. It’s all part of how we equip you with skills that transfer to any career. 

And you’ll be able to get involved right away. Bethel’s size and vibrant community present opportunities for you to get involved from your first day on campus. 

Conduct research

Research is an integral part of all biological science majors. You’ll have the opportunity to conduct research independently and alongside your professors, and you can seek a  full-time paid summer research opportunity  at Bethel along with other research and internship positions across the country. Many students also present their findings at regional and national conferences, and some research is published in leading journals.

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Students interested in research have the opportunity to apply for summer research funding through the biology department.

• C. Weldon Jones Research Scholarships   are awarded annually to students following a competitive proposal process.
• Conduct summer research. Edgren Scholars Program offers student and faculty collaborators a chance to apply for institutional funding. Learn more about Bethel’s support for research on the  Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship website .
• Experience other institutions.   You can also take advantage of REU programs across the country, experience large-university research environments, or secure internships through our professional networks.

For more information on research opportunities, contact one of the following:

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You’ll have many options for studying abroad over a full semester, January session, spring break, and the summer . If you’re studying environmental studies, you can learn in diverse locations like Ecuador, New Zealand, Michigan, and Washington through the Au Sable Institute, with programs built into the major to maximize college credits. And all students have the opportunity to travel around the world, including programs that where you can integrate your faith with your education. Bethel is a partner college of the Au Sable Institute, which offers faith-based environmental field courses in the summer.

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Internships are a vital part of your Bethel experience, allowing you to apply your knowledge and skills in practical, off-campus settings. Whether you’re pursuing a career in health sciences or exploring other biology-related fields, these internships help you evaluate your career goals and engage in real-world problem-solving. You’ll find opportunities in diverse fields—from bench research and field biology to clinical experiences, and from conservation to software engineering. 

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Strengthening Clinical Research Integrity: Updated Good Clinical Practice Training Now Available

In 2016, the National Institute of Health (NIH) issued a policy establishing an expectation that all NIH-funded investigators and staff involved in conducting, overseeing, or managing clinical trials should be trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and should refresh their training at least every three years. The purpose of GCP is to ensure the safety, integrity, and quality of clinical trials. GCP provides a standard for compliance, implementation, data collection, monitoring, and reporting, and outlines the responsibilities of Institutional Review Boards (IRB), investigators, sponsors, and monitors.

Researchers will recognize familiar principles in this training, such as ensuring that study participants are fully informed before giving consent and collaborating with IRBs to monitor any adverse events. GCP also highlights principles related to study operations, like adhering to detailed protocols and quality management plans. Although these activities are sometimes seen as extra “paperwork,” GCP underscores their importance in maintaining the rigor, transparency, and ethics of study conduct.

The principles explored in the GCP training are essential to thorough and ethical behavioral and social sciences research. GCP helps investigators and clinical trial staff protect the rights, safety, and well-being of human subjects, ensure that their clinical trials are conducted according to approved plans with rigor and integrity, and that the data collected is reliable.

In 2016 and 2017, OBSSR partnered with National Center for Advancing Translation Sciences (NCATS) and the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) to develop a GCP training specifically for behavioral and social sciences research. With the recent changes to the NIH definition of clinical trials , more researchers in these fields are now conducting clinical trials. As a result, keeping the course updated with the latest best practices, especially as they relate to trials in the behavioral and social sciences, is more important and relevant than ever.

In 2024, NIH released an updated version of the GCP for Social and Behavioral Research eLearning Course . In addition to updating the accessibility of the training, the course now includes new content relevant to community and partner engagement. The updated training can be accessed free of charge and we encourage researchers to use this tool.

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Speaker 1: So you've been asked to conduct a qualitative research interview. Should be easy-peasy, right? Nope. Interviewing is one of those skills that look easy but is, in fact, quite difficult and takes time and experience to master. I see that you have neither time nor experience. Don't fear. Follow this practical advice and you might come out of this interview with some useful data. Let's talk about how to conduct a qualitative research interview in three steps. Step 1. Prepare for the interview. This may seem like it goes without saying, but you need to select someone to interview who is knowledgeable regarding whatever topic your qualitative research is about. Much to my surprise, students are often surprised that when they interview someone who doesn't know anything about their research topic, they don't get any useful data. Surprise. Don't be surprised. And when you find the person, you'll want to be clear about the time commitment. Will it be one 30-minute interview or do you anticipate longer or multiple interviews? Also, be very clear about expectations of confidentiality. Tell them how you will work to protect their data, even if that's not a priority for them. As researchers, protecting the people we work with is always a priority for us. Always. You will also need to think through how you're going to document the interview. Will you audio or video record? Will you listen and try to take notes? Decide and then make sure the person you interview is okay with the approach. Pro tip. Nobody likes to be on video, but people are more comfortable with an audio recording. And if you're recording, don't worry about taking notes. Be present. Focus on the person. You can make notes from listening to the recording later. Step 2. Constructing effective research questions. A common approach to qualitative data gathering is called the semi-structured interview. In this approach, you have enough questions to gather the data you think you need, but not enough flexibility to ask follow-up questions and go where the conversation takes you. Here's a couple of tips for writing useful interview questions. Avoid yes-no questions. If you ask a yes-no question, you will get a yes-no answer. So instead of asking, do you like the culture and climate at your job? You can ask the same question in a more open-ended fashion. Tell me about the climate and culture at your job. Ask one question at a time. If you ask multiple questions in one sentence, you're less likely to get answers to each of those questions and more likely that the participant will just answer the first one because, you know, they forgot the other 16 questions you pummeled them with. Be sure to ask your questions in a neutral way. You're not supposed to be leading them to a particular answer. You need honest data. So no, tell me how much you hate that doofus Curtis. And I happen to like Curtis, even if he is a doofus. Lastly, the interviewee will answer the questions you ask, not the questions you thought of after the interview when you realized you didn't get the data you needed and you now regret trying to make up the questions as you went along. So ask the questions that will help your research. An effective way to test the usefulness of those questions is to pilot them with someone who is similar to your interviewee. This will give you feedback regarding if those questions are understood by the participant and if they may lead to the types of data you need. Finding out your questions are bad in a pilot is far more useful than assuming you have awesome questions and choosing not to pilot. Because you don't have awesome questions, you're new at this. Step three, the interview process. Now it's time for the actual interview. Be sure to scope out an appropriate place for the interview. You may want a quiet, secluded place that can offer some confidentiality from eavesdropping neighbors. Just pick a place that won't be too distracting. If you're recording the interview or taking notes, be sure to ask permission once again. And during the interview, be aware of your body language. If you hear something unexpected and your eyes communicate, this dude crazy, your interview will come to a screeching halt as the interviewee tries to backpedal what could have been really useful data, but you freaked out about it and they saw you got freaked out. When you're done with the interview, thank the participant and immediately grab a pen and write down your thoughts and connections, ideas, and experiences from the interview. The clock is ticking on your short-term memory, so capture your experiences as the interviewer as quickly as possible. Remember, a good qualitative interview is all about preparation and trust. Do your work to prepare and do the work to be a trustworthy qualitative researcher, protecting the integrity and personhood of the people you work with. And if that's too much to ask, might I suggest a career in quantitative research?