ABSTRACT
As teachers of research methods courses, we may begin by engaging students in thinking about the concept of research. What is research? What is the purpose of research? What are the assumptions that underlie research methodologies? What is the difference between research methodologies and research methods? The above definition of research is typical of most dictionaries and research methods texts in that it emphasizes the systematic and careful nature of the work, and the goal of the work-to discover new understandings or knowledge about a problem. The origins in Old French turn our attention to both the focus on the word search, as well as the intensity of the enterprise. Our work is a thorough and systematic search-we expect an intensive one-to understand a phenomena or a problem and to contribute our learning to an already existing knowledge base in a particular discipline or across disciplines.
