What is the difference between reading and research?

Beverly Level X³

September 2, 2014, 4:33 pm

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What is the difference between reading and research?

Research is a process of investigation. An examination of a subject from different points of view. It’s not just a trip to the library to pick up a stack of materials, or picking the first five hits from a computer search. Research is a hunt for the truth. It is getting to know a subject by reading up on it, reflecting, playing with the ideas, choosing the areas that interest you and following up on them. Research is the way you educate yourself.

Source: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/...foage01_03.phtml

1. to search or investigate exhaustively
2. studious inquiry or examination; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws
3. the collecting of information about a particular subject
© Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition

When it comes to researching your articles or books, do you use this definition to guide the process? For instance, how indepth do you make your searches for the truth?

How do you define research and what is the difference between merely reading about a subject and researching it?

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1seocom

1seocom

I think researching involves a lot more than just reading into something. I work for a keyword research company, and the amount of work that goes into it is relentless. For me, researching means finding everything possible that involves the subjects or services your reading about. I like to find out how many other people are searching using those keywords every month, I need to know where they rank up against other similar words and finally I find out if any body else is going after those same keywords.

10 years ago

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Ezekielzz

Ezekielzz

Writing assignments have always been very difficult for me. Because it is difficult for me to formulate an opinion and the problem is in quality design. Therefore, I found a way out and use the proven service Bestessay.com It helps me not to be nervous and to spend free time for self-development.

2 years ago

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evie

evie

I agree that it takes more time to research than it does to read something. Research involves looking into more than one place.

10 years ago

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adlaiadney

adlaiadney

Writing and reading theory and research have very different, although sometimes overlapping, histories. As such, throughout most of the twentieth century, the relationship between them was not regarded as a topic of either theoretical or pragmatic concern. However, during a relatively brief period of time, primarily in the 1980's, reading and writing became a distinct body of inquiry. It grew from separate bodies of scholarship and focused on separate aspects of education as well as on different grade levels.

10 years ago

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angie828

angie828

I think that research involves more time and effort. Yes you read it but you also are looking for key notes when doing research.

10 years ago

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meldwelling

meldwelling

I'm embarrassed to say that I actually showed this paper (with my highlights) to the professor teaching my machine vision class, asking him for advice on how to read papers. Looking back, I'm surprised he didn't burst out laughing on the spot.
I've since accumulated more experience. Nowadays, I read most papers fairly quickly. If the paper is in my area, I usually skip the intro/related work (unless the paper has a very novel take on the area), and go straight to the technical part of the paper. I try to map the model/assumptions in the paper to work I've done/encountered in the past, in order to understand what's new (if anything).
I read a few papers more carefully, typically because they're more interesting/relevant to my research interests at the time. In these cases, I struggle just like how I've always struggled, because understanding new technical content is hard and takes time. I am able to process certain things faster than before, but understanding truly new stuff takes about the same amount of time as before. There are, of course, shades of grey between these two extremes.
For me, the biggest difference between when I started out and now is how quickly I can make a high-level pass over a paper to tease out the main contributions, and to decide if it's something I want to understand in detail. This also has the nice side-effect of me being able to quickly write introduction & related work sections because I've developed a nice global view on research in my area.

9 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

Research also involves reading. While doing research, you will look after relevant information in books, articles, and journals. No research will be complete without reading. The primary purpose of reading is to discover new information, to learn something new, to be entertained.
Reseach involves finding new information, interpreting something. You read to gain knowledge, you research to find something new so that you can use those findings in your work, or establish something.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

It is obvious that reading about a subject is an informal way of adding information to your knowledge because you usually read for that purpose. Take for example the newspaper in the morning, you want to learn about the news. When doing a research, you are targeting a particular information so that when the site you are in looks inadequate, you tend to move to another site of the same niche until you find what you are looking for. There is actually not much difference between reading and researching except for the purpose and intention.

7 years ago

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Ficks1951

Ficks1951

Thank you, very helpful clarification. Indeed, research more globally shows the problem, on the part of analyzing facts, https://researchpapers.io/do-my-research-paper-cheap/ is an excellent tool for writing research of various kinds. Often, I use reading only for general reference, and research for a global vision

6 years ago

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