FWIW,
IMHO the truth of the matter is that anyone can do research; but bear in
mind that from the very start the research that you plan to do will most
likely require acceptance by the professional academic and scientific
communities associated with the research. If you desire to go about with
a project just for yourself then the research project is just for yourself
and yourself alone. If you desire to develop and perform a research
project requiring peer approval then matters become a bit more involved;
you must show what you did and how you did it. If you desire to plan,
develop, instrument, and carry out a unique project to its designed
conclusions predicated upon previously completed and published knowledge
you must prepare your project carefully and in accordance with accepted
standards which have been developed as a fundamental manner of
establishing ideas based upon fact.
Research is a process through which new knowledge is discovered. This can
be as simple or as complicated as you wish and your project can be as
simple or as complicated as you may wish. Research is based upon the work
of others; it can be replicated; it is generalizable to other settings; it
is based on some logical rationale and is tied to theory; it is doable; it
generates new questions or is cyclical in nature; it is incremental; and,
it is an apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the betterment
of society (Salkind, 1997).
If you have an idea or you wish to know what no one else knows and you
truly want to do research to find out; then, find someone in your own
community with experience in doing research to help you. This person does
not have to be an academic or scientific guru. The process of doing
research is universal, a beekeeper in a monastery or clerk in a patent
office can publish a paper based upon scientific fact or theory. That same
beekeeper or a team of hundreds of scientists can work together on a
research project. And you can go to your mailbox and bring into your home
a Buckfast queen illuminated with a light bulb that is powered by a
nuclear reactor all because of the same universal method of carrying out
research.
I suggest that if possible enlist the aid of your state university
extension apiculturist; if he or she has no time for you then tell him
that you plan to find someone else, and then do so. Perhaps a local
agriculture extension agent may be able to help give you guidance on your
project, most of these folks carry a masters degree that required either a
masters project or a completed thesis based upon research. You may also
want to visit the local college or university and enlist the help of one
of the professors in the department of your interest; but bear in mind
that most likely you will really be helped by one of his or her graduate
students…but that’s ok. If your project is really timely and of benefit
to society grants are available to folks just like you and I ; you just
have to go through the process of getting a grant. Getting a grant is not
that hard but you have to have manuscript preparation skills and some
credibility established within your business community, be it local or
national and your research most likely will require publication.
Where to start? If you have an idea, you have already started. Now you
only have to go down the path that so many others have taken. Doing
research is like writing a book, first you have to know how to read and
write. Then you can start at “The Beginning”; and, at your own leisure
make it to the end. After you have finished your book, others can pick it
up. Some will merely read it, still others will improve upon it and write
their own books (kind of like BEE-L), and society will be better off
because of you and your “book”.
Respectively submitted,
Chuck Norton
Norton’s Nut & Honey Farm
Reidsville, North Carolina 27320 USA
Salkind, Neil J., (1997) “Exploring Research”, Prentice Hall, New Jersey
p. 3
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