Grant writer series

It does not matter who you are or what you have in your profession, every day of your life doing one type of research chosen to answer a question that you thought you could get. Also, is the answer to your question important to you, the most important part of the process is the journey you take to get there. If you can, for a moment, picture a dog, police on the trail of a criminal has a total exposed.

The police can take a garment and the dogs nose, making it the scent of the items they are trying to become acquainted. The issue in this case, where the suspect is, and the smell of clothes is to lead the dog to answer. As the dog begins, the area which can lurk in the search for the suspect is their frame of reference with a scent as it began. A trained hunting dog, until it finally reaches the source of the smell of the accused.

The key to the picture above is not the dog, but the education he received in order to find the answer. The dog knew where to go and how to get there. The research is not easy, requires skill and consistency. There are many places you can go to answer a question, but since the levels that you must be able to decipher the detection, with an experienced eye, reputable sources and those that are false. Booth, Colomb and Williams in The Craft of Research Status:

"Doing thoroughly investigated and reported is clearly hard work of many tasks, which often compete for our attention at once. And no matter how careful planning, research follows a crooked road, with unexpected twists, sometimes to dead ends, looping back on itself."

So how can we decide where to go in order to answer our questions? Do you know what your question, it seems that a "no brainer to know that you are, where they would find the answer, right? Wrong. The answer to your question may be in millions of places like the Internet, to books, magazines and newspapers out it is your job, which is the best resource.

Where should I go?

The Internet offers a wealth of information, but we must be careful not limited to them as a resource. Of course, there is good information for us on the web, but there are a lot of information out there, that worked are copied from other sources. Thus, using information from the Internet, the responsibility to check the sources referenced.

And how do I get there?

As we develop our research capability, it becomes easier to determine the path we should take to move in that direction. If by chance you dare in the wrong direction, is not lost. Over time you will know each other better, to the source of the smell ", because the dog is, our research better. Remember, even if you forget what it is that you have begun, there is always a way to return to the starting point - just to "smell" and start over. Research is hard work that is exciting and rewarding. While reminiscent of the solution to your problem, delight in the discovery of new and exciting things that can lead you to research.