In the course of any research project, we can get surprises- pleasant or unpleasant. How do you deal with them. Do you think that there is any way we can prevent their appearance? How do you manage to identify or detect research results or byproducts that you weren´t looking for? How do you communicate them to your important people-project members,department heads, stakeholders? Do you do it early-as soon as surprise comes up- or do you "wait and see" what happens?
Surprises are typically an indication of learning and knowledge development. They should thus not be avoided. Dont try to avoid them. Expecting or wanting certain answers may mean doing research for the wrong reasons and not really being objective.
Thank you both for answering promptly, @Anjay and @Brian.
I agree that surprises are normal because we do not know what we don´t know. If we did, it would not be a research project.
The problem is that research projects take place in organizational environments that sometimes deal with surprises as mistakes, especially when non-scientists are involved in the project.
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