And the importance of a research-based mindset

There appears to be a fundamental underestimation of the importance of research. Yet those in research fields, or those trained in research methodologies, quickly learn the difference between opinion and innuendo versus data-based knowledge.

It’s not to say one is inherently superior over the other; rather, data-driven knowledge tends to be more objective and often confronts assumed beliefs because research-based information has been tested and repeatedly observed under controlled settings.

Knowing what constitutes valuable research as opposed to experiential knowledge or consumer-driven information (e.g., what is digested from the news media and online) gives you the ability to be more inquisitive, thoughtful and critical about the information around you.

Specifically,

knowing about research will give you the ability to:

1. Accurately and systematically collect data that will answer questions
2. Analyze and attack problems; and
3. Communicate and justify both your approach to a problem and your conclusions.

Each of these skills in fact makes you more marketable, especially in the age of social media that is increasingly churning out knowledge from dubious sources.

Even among the educated, the devaluation of research-based information appears too often. A recent debate on Twitter had me feebly trying to explain what the policy recommendations are for better success in education. I’m currently completing a doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education administration, so I have explored this issue to some degree.

Since I am also taking a class in this exact topic, I was quick to jump into the debate. Three recommendations came forward:

1. Mandatory uniforms for students in public schools
2. Closed campuses
3. More opportunities for experiential learning (erroneously referred to as “service learning”).

While I am paraphrasing, each of these was seen as panaceas for the myriad problems facing public education today. Each was thrown forward – with good intention and some anecdotal evidence – as a key to educational success. Yet, none of these appear in the policy literature [email me for links, as there are too many articles to list] that I have read – written by researchers and experts on these issues, who have dedicated lifetimes toward this problem – about increasing P-16 (pre-kindergarten through college) success.

Over and over I see people touting, especially under the guise of “new media” and “strategies,” what is workable and successful. Just last weekend at the Nevada Interactive Media Summit, two presenters cited the Twitter Vote Report as an example of community building using new media. The key ingredient left out of the equation, was, of course: to what end?

The point is not so much that these efforts and views aren’t valuable – to some extent they are, or can be – it’s that the religious-like gravity toward new technologies in the information age often translates into hyper-focused thought about trees while the forest itself is overlooked.

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