What is Research?

Whether you are running an experiment in a lab, interviewing research subjects in the field, or digging through information in a library, research is the process of seeking answers to one or more questions.

Research is a science.

Research involves a process, although it may vary from discipline to discipline and from researcher to researcher. There are also rules and structure to how information is created, organized, distributed, archived, and searched.

Research is an art.

Over time, a researcher develops a sense of who is important in a field of study, which publications are highly regarded, and which institutions and research centers are advancing the knowledge of his or her field. Through serendipity, or accidental discovery, a researcher often encounters ideas he or she had not previously considered.

Research is transformative.

In the pursuit of new ideas, both the researcher and the subject of study are transformed, the research through the assimilation of ideas into his or her personal knowledge base, and the subject of study through the addition of additional perspectives and connections.

The Naked Researcher

This exhibit seeks to reveal the researcher within everyone, and to encourage a celebration of curiosity and the pursuit of new ideas.