Reflection on ‘What is Research’ by Arthur Berger.

In this reading, Arthur Berger talks about what research is and breaks it down. His opening is all about how people do research every day without realising it, even if it is something as simple as looking a recipe up online. What Berger wanted to clarify was that the difference between every day research and scholarly research is not solely “about data and numbers and statistics” (2014: 13). These factors are important but they are not what makes these forms of research different. Instead, the difference is that scholarly research focuses more on validity and truthfulness, and that every day research is normally created through a desire to justify our decisions. Scientific research is founded on facts, meaning that our own personal opinions cannot influence it.

Another important part I found about research from this reading was that “facts don’t speak for themselves; they have to be put into context and their significance explained." (2014: 18) This is important because it addresses the significance of context. Anything can be taken and misquoted, and this becomes more likely the more data spreads. That’s why whenever a researcher is researching something, they must always consider the context around the fact and why it has been constructed this way.

The final part I really liked from this reading was the quote from Robert Benchley that “’the world is divided into two groups of people: those who divide the world into two groups of people and those who don’t.” (2014: 18) This quote knowingly addresses the binary opposites that keep society functioning. There is arguably reasons as to why both these sorting mechanisms are bad, but the fact remains that these groups influence our everyday lives. There are binary opposites such as black and white, male and female, rich and poor, and these opposites feed discrimination. It’s important to consider both sides of this argument though, because while this sorting mechanism creates problems, it could also be beneficial to society.

Bibliography:

Berger, A. 2014, ‘What is research?. in Media and Communication research methods : An introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches’, 3rd ed., SAGE, Los Angeles, pp. 11-27