| Common Threads in Research
Across Disciplines: Logistics Before an idea can be adequately tested or given substance, the investigator must secure the resources and formulate an experimental design. Often overlooked, this phase involves the logistics of resources, personnel, space, time, or required skills. In many instances, it demands the writing of a proposal that is designed to persuade a benefactor, client or patron to fund the project. The proposal is a valuable exercise because it forces one to plan the experiment, investigation or activity. A well-designed experiment can be a “critical experiment” that powerfully discriminates between competing hypotheses with a minimum of resources, but only if it is well thought out. Rarely does a critical experiment happen by chance. One of the most frustrating of experiences is to expend great energy in a research activity and learn at the end little or nothing because of a poorly designed experiment. The Logistics Phase of research is essential to an efficient inquiry, and it is a delight to observe a master experimentalist design a critical experiment that with elegance and efficiency of effort winnows the possibilities. Enrico Fermi is widely accepted as one of the most gifted physicists of the modern era. He wisely jested: “There are two possible outcomes [of a critical experiment]: If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery” (Fermi, 2004). The end of such a Logistics Phase is the preparation for the experiment, the analysis of a piece of literature or the creation of a work of art. The plan precedes the act. Between the vision in the mind’s eye and the image on the canvas, the artist mixes his paint.
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