ABSTRACT
A major distinguishing feature of research as compared to philosophy, for example, is that it is based on observable and measurable data. Research collects information about the world, processes it, and then through analysis draws conclusions. There is much information to be collected, and many ways of collecting it, but before discussing that it is important to acknowledge that, as researchers, we must be in a position of observing and recording. The great psychologist, Thorndike, argued that if a thing existed, it existed in some amount, and if it existed in some amount, it could be measured. Today, of course, we have a much wider spectrum of what is considered data and valid ways of measuring, but the point still holds.
