ABSTRACT
One answer is the effective use of research. In your career, you may not find yourself working in a situation like the one described above, but at some point, you will be asked to make an informed decision that is both effective and costefficient. In the case of the nonprofit animal shelter, you might be told to carry out research to find an answer. But what does that mean? What kind of knowledge are you trying to gain? What sorts of questions are you trying to answer? Understanding the basic types of research, the goals it can fulfill, and the ways in which the scientific practice of research can be superior to other types of knowledge can help you decide when it makes sense to carry out a research project and what kind of approach you should use. It all starts with understanding one of the most basic ideas of research: the relationship between variables.
