ABSTRACT
Anyone who wants to keep up on advances in communication sciences and disorders needs to read the research. Some view the importance of research as bad news. The reason is that they find published studies about as easy to understand as those light-speed disclaimers at the end of drug commercials. As R. R. Robey and M. C. Schultz explained it, research is driven by theory building. Readers of research often pontificate on the topic of validity, wondering aloud whether the researchers really accomplished what they set out to accomplish. The reader may come across a sentence such as Descriptive data indicate that the groups are roughly equivalent in their scores, a result unsupported by previous research. As a function of the scientific method, research is a step-by-step process designed to improve understanding gradually. Research follows the scientific method to advance theory. While imperfect, it presents far fewer problems than non-research writings, with their questionable bases and lack of rigorous evaluation.
