How to get started on research/Defining research

What is Research? Research is defined in various ways, simply because research means different things to different people.

We start with a general definition from Wikipedia.

Collis and Hussey (2003) summarise the purpose of research as follows:


 * to review and synthesise existing knowledge
 * to investigate some existing situation or problem
 * to provide solutions to a problem
 * to explore and analyse more general issues
 * to construct or create a new procedure or system
 * to explain a new phenomenon
 * to generate new knowledge
 * a combination of any of the above.