The character of research

Science may look like a "cut and dried process. [Many people] associate the nature of scientific knowledge with the process of deriving it and conclude that research is as objective and unambiguous as scientific results."[NAS, p. 1]

Personal observations of M. Abrams on research

• Why research is not like other human activities

  If you know exactly what steps to take to solve a problem at the onset, and are guaranteed with probability one that you will succeed, then by definition you are not doing research!

  In many human activities (i.e., building a house), one can set a goal, and then given enough time, money, and person-power, reach that goal. This is not the case in research; one has to receive feedback during the research process which modifies the goals that can be reached.

• How I plan my research

  My "tree" of lifetime research topics

  When to give up on a problem

  Whether to allow breadth or depth in the research tree

• How I organize the artifacts of my research

• How to choose a research topic

                 Unrecognized
                      |
                      | (This is a hard place to
                      | do your research)
                      | our research)
                      |
                      |                           Solution method
  low ----------------+------------------ hi      Risk
                      |
                      |
                      |
                      |
                      |
                      | Most research
                      | is done here
  
                  Recognized
  
                   Problem
                 significance