ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with a few largely agreed definitions of research as an exercise whose findings could lead to discoveries or inventions or mostly to augmentation of existing knowledge in different fields and their applications. It describes briefly the steps involved – consciously or implicitly – in research, after elucidating the nature and possible objectives of research. Both empirical and theoretical research as well as innovation (as spelt out in TRIZ – Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) have been kept in purview. Delineating the diversity and the changing paradigms in research, the chapter devotes a somewhat detailed discussion on the need for a formally recognized Research Methodology as providing a flexible and almost essential framework for research in any field
