Importance of Research in Daily

Lives
Learning Objectives:

1. share research experiences and

knowledge
2. explain the different life
processes
 Do you have a similar problem searching about things
you don’t know? I know during that time you were very
eager to satisfy your curiosity. How did you come up with
the answer? Have you consulted anybody? Or you switched
on your smartphone or computer and search on the
internet? Isn’t fun to know the answers to your questions?
By doing that, you are actually researching. You are now
conducting research! Continue reading this module to
remember how a student like you do research. Moreover,
you will understand how this subject differs from other
subjects that you have gone through.
If you think research is not for you, let me give you some
instances that you might have applied “researching”. Can
you still recall when your Math teacher- asked you to solve
a mathematical problem that you cannot understand?
Thus, no matter how you try you cannot find the right
answer or concepts behind it Most probably, you ask
somebody to help you out or you open your cellphone and
search for a video tutorial. Can you still recall when you first
played your favorite online game, and no matter how much
you try, you still cannot defeat your opponent’s hero?
 I think what you did was to ask your friend or an expert
to help you out or you searched on the internet for answers.
The process that you have done is research. You had a
problem, you established your methods on how to solve
your problem, you conducted a literature review or an actual
interview and survey, then you came up with solutions.
These requires you to search and to overcome your
problems. Research flows in the same manner. Doing
research does not necessarily mean creating extraordinary
things like Mark Zuckerberg who developed Facebook or
even Zhang Yiming who created TikTok.
Etymologically, research came from “re” and “search”. "Re"
is a prefix that means again and search is a word which
means to look for. Therefore, research is to look for
something (Chapman 1979). There are two (2) things that
we need to take note of in this definition. First, research is
not only about the discovery of something unknown, it is
coming up with a new explanation of something that is
known. Second, research is a process. It is a process of
searching for something to solve an existing problem or
difficulty to solve.
 Research is also understood as a systematic investigation or inquiry
entailing collection of data, documentation of critical information,
analysis, interpretation of information (Williams 2007). From the given
definition, this highlights the manner how research is conducted. It is
systematic. The question is, how does it becomes systematic and what
makes it systematic. The term systematic entails the structure. To
understand the word system, just imagine your body. Are your hands
located in your ears? Or is your nose located on your chin? Of course, you
will reason out that your hands are located to where it should be and
your nose is located in the middle of your face. The manner of how your
body parts are structured and organized implies the system. Research as
systematic means it follows the structure or method. Therefore,
whenever collecting data, documenting information, analyzing, and
interpreting information are conducted, a particular method is used.
 On the other hand, research can be also viewed as the
formation of new knowledge and the employment of
previous or existing knowledge into a new and creative way
(O’Donnell 2012). Imagine these two (2) scenarios: mother
giving birth to a baby and a potter molding a pot. The
creation of new knowledge can be compared to a mother
giving birth. The mother stands for the research itself and
the baby is new knowledge. Thus, through research, new
knowledge is born. On the other hand, a potter molding a
pot can be paralleled to the use of existing knowledge in a
new creative way.
 Here, the potter stands for the researcher, the clay as the
existing knowledge, and the pot itself is a new knowledge made
creatively. Now, do not be afraid to carry out research. It is because
you can make a research. Why? First, it is not new to you. You are
not just fully aware that what you were doing is research and you
have been doing many times. Second, research is not a demanding
activity that would exhaust your strength. However, some particular
techniques and processes are involved and needed to be carried out
in conducting this activity. What you have heard from others is a
piece of hoax and challenges. It is a hoax for research is not after all
difficult. It is a challenge for you that needs dedication and
commitment to successfully do this exciting activity.
END