Appropriate Level of Depth in Research

The Basic Idea

Gilbert Churchill Jr., in his Basic Marketing Research[ ], raises two basic issues which must be addressed when considering any sort of research endeavor:
  1. Why would you want to do it?
  2. How much do you need to know (really)?

The

  • Gifts Model is a good tool for considering both these issues. Pure research (e.g. finding out a piece of information just to find out all about it) tends to be preferred by "Teacher- Researchers", who like to understand whatever comes into their path, and then pass the information on to others for their enjoyment or use. Finding out the information and passing it on is an end in itself for these people.

    Applied research (e.g. taking information already collected or finding new information and considering it as a way to assist in solving a problem or accomplishing a goal) tends to be preferred by "Encouragers" and "Administrators" in particular. The usefulness of the information in addressing a problem or accomplishing a goal is the central issue for these people.

    A key difference between the two sub-types of people, is that the encourager prefers to solve the problem and, like a tow-truck operator, leave it to the administrator to follow through on the application, while the "administrator" tends to work from the inside and carry responsibility for the actual implementation of the information and accomplishing a goal. The essential difference between these two sub-types is not critical here, as both sub-types want the information applied to the situation at hand. Knowing why information is wanted is very important for staying focused in a research process, knowing when to stop, and remembering to do something appropriate with the results. For some of us, information can be quite intoxicating, and before we know it we find ourselves off in "la-la land", having lost sight of what it was we went out looking for in the first place, but having had a very enjoyable trip.

    Even if we manage to stay on track in our search for information, the problem of depth can continue as a problem. How much information is "enough"? My brother, who used to make scientific audiovisuals for agricultural product support, used to say, "you don't ever finish a show, you just abandon it". For pure researchers, all write-ups are somewhat tentative or interim "progress reports", and that last bit of new information is always "just making it under the publication deadline", the rest having to wait for the next revision.

    Applied researchers have the opposite problem. The term in business, for example, is "satisficing", going with a problem until some solution, any solution, "works", then moving along to another issue. Time and money constraints keep the pressure on applied researchers to come up with something which works, but may stop short of finding out about an expensive complication, just around the next corner.

    In Rural Community Development, there is a place for both pure and applied research, with both fields overlapping to a great extent. Churchill [ ] notes that in Canada, with such a small population base to support the high expense of formal research studies, especially in the applied field of marketing, that "pilot studies" and "limited trial runs" can be far more cost effective than formal studies for two reasons:

    1. There is more value for the money if you do a project and keep your eyes open, and make adjustments en route.
    2. If it is successful, (your Hypothesis is correct) you are half way down the road to getting already, rather than having to start the implementation of the information.

      3. Churchill goes on to note that there are six distinct stages in the process of applied research, only two of which relate to what is considered "formal research studies" which are often unnecessary. He notes that whether formal studies are included or not, the need to do a thorough job of each step along the way is critical, as each step may be all that is needed. In other words, needing no steps is better than needing one, one better than two and so on. Whether pure or applied research is being considered, most researchers would prefer to be working on a truly significant research problem when doing formal research studies, and elimination of less exciting projects can be accomplished by doing a thorough job on the early stages of the process, resolving them out quickly and efficiently.

      Churchill's six steps follow many other presentations of the same process, but suffice to frame the process well:

      1. Problem Definition he notes is the slowest stage, often accounting for 50% of the time. As in counseling, the "presenting problem" may not, in fact, be the "real problem", and discerning this distinction is central to this task.
      2. Situation Analysis is frequently the stage where problems are solved. I like to compare it to clearing logjams in a river. When two miles of logs are backed up behind the snag, the task is to locate the sang so it can be blown up allowing the logs to float down the river, then one can pick up the strays off the bank. Big problems are often caused by small glitches. The task here is to locate the glitch.
      3. Informal Investigation still falls in he "quick, cheap and informative" category. Churchill notes that industrial goods questions are often solved at this stage. The Internet has proved a boon for the need for quick access to expert information now. This is the last stage before a formal research study, and the last chance to find out if someone else has already teased out your needed information, or even part of it, thereby avoiding unnecessary time and expense. Churchill suggests the use of a six-part request for formal research, which precedes even the formal research proposal. In other words, asking questions at this stage can keep a focus on the relative usefulness of "going further", as the next stage can become quite expensive.
      4. Proposal for Formal Research Study is the "look before you leap" stage of formal research projects. this stage allows you to take careful aim at the problem, develop a proposed way of gathering the needed new information, trimming off unnecessary expenses in time and money , and having it checked by outsiders for even better process. A commitment to the question or issue is critical here, as well as an openness to the most elegant and efficient ways of teasing out the information.
      5. Formal Research Study is the stage of actually conducting the research project in order to get new information, not available anywhere else, and making the results available to the end users of that information, in a form they can most quickly and efficiently use it. The procedures for this stage are pretty well established, and new procedures are being developed all the time.
      6. Implimentation of Results is the end point of all research, regardless of which step was sufficient to discover the information. In the end, all research has a purpose, whether of the pure or applied type. Pure research has to be made available through publication, applied research has to be put to use by problem solvers of goal achievers in the pursuit of their ends.

      Index of Stages in Research

      Off-Line Resources

      On-Line Resources