"It is like learning to play tennis. You can read all day that you are to cock your wrist, take your backswing shoulder high and shift your weight to the front foot, which is pointing at a 45-degree angle to the net, but until you get out on the court and begin to swing you never experience the movement and flow of the operation, nor do you start improving your skills."
We approach research methods as both consumers and as researchers. As we practice information work, we frequently encounter published research or summaries of published research. For example, if you read of a study where a library eliminated overdue fines and notices to good effect you might wonder if the findings in that study are appropriate to your situation. As a citizen, you may read popular articles in the mass media where various claims are made based on someone's research study. It is important to know enough about research methods so that you can ask leading questions and take an appropriately critical stance. Hopefully, this course will provide you with the skills and experiences needed to be a thoughtful consumer of published research.
One might be arbitrary and place research into two arbitrary categories:
Both types of research respond to a problem and attempt to solve that problem by providing information that reveals the relationship between the variables involved. If you are an academic librarian and your budget is reduced, you may need to reduce public service hours. The problem is which times should be cut? A systematic survey of library use during typical days should reveal which days and hours are used less. With that information, library hours can be reduced with an appropriate rationale.
Scholarly research also attempts to solve problems. These problems may be similar to the example above or deal with a less immediate and more complex problem. The key aspect of scholarly research is that it is usually linked to a reward system. In fact, scholarly research is not nearly as important as published scholarly research. By tradition, scholarly research must be original.
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