| Common Threads in Research
Across Disciplines: Vision A second phase of research is intuitive, inspirational, and tentative. An idea, for example, may spring from a reaction against the “received wisdom,” a novel idea from a synthesis of existing theories or from a dream or flight of fancy. In one of the earliest uses of the word “research” in 1799, J. Robertson remarked: “Our most profound researches are frequently nothing better than guessing at the causes of the phenomena” (OED, 2004). Indeed, the description of phenomena requires insight or vision. Perhaps the most creative of all the stages, this activity seeks to produce a hypothesis, a theory, or a concept that can be articulated, tested or manifested. Depending upon the rigor and the accepted modes of expression of the field of research, the inquiry may be qualitative or quantitative in analysis. In the physical sciences it is rarely considered adequate to stop at a vague description. What is required is a fully fleshed-out “model” that makes quantitative predictions regarding the outcome of a proposed experiment. (I am reminded of the quote of Neils Bohr, the great theoretical physicist: “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” (Bohr, 2004). Often one is presented in physics with the puzzle of observation, and one must devise a reasonable fundamental model that “predicts” the previously observed behavior. This prediction-testing dialog is absolutely fundamental to the idea of “scientific” research. Indeed, Karl Popper maintained in such works as Logik der Forschung (The Logic of Scientific Discovery) (1959), that unless a premise is testable it cannot be even considered to be “scientific.” He, moreover, argued that premises could not be proven inductively; they could only be disproved by experiment. This principle of testability may be extended or generalized, I argue, to areas of research other than science. A concept, a notion, or a vision must be actualized or manifested before it can be fully realized or evaluated. Only when the vision is thus manifest can its “truthfulness” or intellectual or aesthetic value be assessed.
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