In today's world, we are very much dependent on the computer and internet for almost all type of works. The same is true for the research activities. So, the actual question is the following:
Can we do research without using the computer?
How much are we dependent on the computer for research activities?
Is there anyone whose research work do not use the computer?
Kindly, discuss the use of the computer for your own research work.
Dear Mahamad,
I consider that computer is, undoubtedly, a necessary tool for completing the research process, including literature review, statistical analysis, and many other issues.
Of course, someone can do a part of a research without the use of a computer, e.g. measuring of the plant height or the plant diameters by a ruler.
All the theoretical development can be done without using the computer. However, for the verification of the develop analytic model and logic carried out by simulation. In the simulation, Computer is required.
Excellent research has been done without computers. Today all the new instruments available are computerized. All the communications are now based on computers.
No, not at all. Even a person from arts stream need to use a computer at least while preparing the thesis.
Dear Mahamad,
I consider that computer is, undoubtedly, a necessary tool for completing the research process, including literature review, statistical analysis, and many other issues.
Of course, someone can do a part of a research without the use of a computer, e.g. measuring of the plant height or the plant diameters by a ruler.
Nowadays, we cannot imagine doing research without computers and the fact is that they have become so important that nothing can replace them. They seem to be everywhere today.
Computers has revolutionized the research tools of engineers and is nowadays besides theory and experiments, essential to many scientists. Many science and engineering projects can not be done without computers.
The following shows how a Computer Just Solved This 100-Year-Old Biology Problem:
Big data—and big processing power—is a big deal for science. By crunching massive amounts of data billions of times faster than could be done by hand, computers have allowed scientists to discover faraway planets, unravel our genetic code, and even find the subatomic particle responsible for gravity. But imagine a future in which computers don't just use their awesome power to help scientists. Imagine a future in which computer can come up with useful scientific ideas and hypotheses all on their own.
Well, that just happened. As they report in the science journal PLOS, Michael Levin and Daniel Lobo, two computer scientists/biologists at Tufts University, have programmed a computer that independently created its own scientific theory.
It's one that may solve a 120-year-old mystery in biology that has eluded even our best explanations: exactly how the genes of a sliced-up flatworm conduct its symphony of cells when they regenerate into new organisms
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a15886/computer-scientific-theory/
It's difficult nowadays to do research with computer or Internet.
But sometimes it could be a good experience to visit library and read books or just to disconnect ....
Good Luck
Research Can be done without using computer but the knowledge that we will gain will be limited. Like if we can read the newspaper and magazines related to technology and all then we can get some info regarding our topic but it will be limited than what we can get from the computer through internet. So, according to me it is wise (if today's world is considered) to do research through computer.
Is it possible to do research without using the computer?
Some research are more dependent on computer whereas some are less. Generally yes - it is possible but the non-computer / manual research might take longer time or need more people resources and its research outcome / quality might below expectation. In today's ICT era, computer, Internet etc. are critical enablers in doing research.
However, it is good question to explore how well we conduct manual research without computer e.g. during blackout, power cut-off, disaster strikes etc.
Perhaps we can conduct an experimental research with 2 groups of researchers - 1 group with computer assistance & the other group is without computer assistance. Then we can assess their deliverables, challenges faced etc. so that we can have better expectations and what we need to improve on our crisis management, business continuity or disaster recovery planning before the day comes we need to do research manually.
Major research in our history is out out computer. like Thomas Alva Edison was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name. but now a days it is the necessity of human being that's why research without computer is difficult.
According to Parameshwar Shirgure (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Parameshwar_Shirgure2)
Yes we can do research without computer as far as the observations recording is concerned. But computer is required for the data storing and its analysis which is fast and accurate using computers.
yes, it is possible. great works were carried out in the history....without computers...
- You are right Nawab Alam ! nowadays we are totally dependent on computers for doing research.
- Actually research is based on data collection and data analysis; data collection is possible by two ways one primary data ,again we need questionnaire which are typed and printed on computers and another way is by collecting secondary data again data needs to be tabulate on computers.
- Data analysis cant be done without using software like SPSS /GRTEL/Eviews/micro fit/RAT etc.
- For me it is impossible to do research without computers.
- Yes there may be some research in which networking techniques or budgeting techniques may be used for forecasting and predictions.
Dear Khan Muhammad
I have realised the need of the computer for research activities. That is the reason I asked this question to know opinions of the researchers/experts working in the various areas. As we know nowadays RG provides us with a good platform to do such discussion.
Let us know more and more opinions on the need of computer for the research
The importance of computers in scientific research is exceptionally high and the use of a computer can help scientific research immensely, and is an almost invaluable tool
http://www.ijrst.com/images/short_pdf/Oct_2014_JATINKUMAR%20Dec%207.pdf
Yes. Absolutely possible!
But as Er. Jani quoted "Computer reduces your repeated effort and increase your calculation accuracy", is true and, additionally, prediction and modelling part will become weak without computers.
Dear Mr. Mahamad Nabab Alam,
Let me tell you first that in India fast computing facilities were not available to common researchers till early 1990's. But very good research were carried out successfully.
We did our engineering only with log table and later, with the help of slide rules. But we are successful in our learning process.
Now world is moving fast. We should move with the same pace and to synchronize with the speed or otherwise, how can we say that this is a reserch; when we dont know about thew search.
To me it is not possible to carry out any research without usage of computing and technologies of current world.
Computer is a tool, provides fast and accurate research. It is possible to do research without computer, would required more time only. I was using slide rule for calculation, during my study in engineering, then comes computer and calculator.......
Now-a-days, it is not possible but it is possible depends on our mindset. We people always throw our pasts...so...
Even for publishing a simple idea, use of a small computer is necessary for writing a paper on that idea.
Computers play a very powerful role as far as research work is research work is concerned. With the help of computers, it is possible to conduct complex processing calculations on data collected for research. The results achieved through computer are accurate and reliable. As a result of using computers, we can easily visit online research libraries, online journals, research reports and other useful resources needed for conducting effective research. Keeping in mind the above benefits of computers in Research, it can be mentioned that quality research is just not possible without the help of computers.
According to Dalibor Cevizovic (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dalibor_Cevizovic)
Information technologies are very useful in scientific research because it allows the rapid exchange of ideas between researchers. On the other hand, computer technology enables faster execution of complex numerical calculations. From this point of view, computers can speed up the work of scientists. It should, however, always bear in mind that scientific discovery represents a psychophysical process, which primarily depends on the inspiration of a researcher, their abilities, and a sense that it is necessary to explain a natural phenomenon on some (another) way (and this is a purely psychological factor). Therefore in scientific work, computers (in my opinion) are very useful, but the process of the scientific investigation is possible without the usage of computer technologies (in fact, it is independent of usage of such technologies).
Yes, dear Mahamad. Let us not forget the greatest of researchers from the foundation of Sciences to the mid-20th century.
They produced the best quality original research.
Of course the monks in medieval libraries, who hand-copied original papers, where a special kind of human-computers.
Mendel, the father of Genetics was a copist monk.
You just reminded me of one of the very first questions I posted in RG, nearly 2 years ago... (there you'll find some interesting contributes tio your present question):
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_we_growing_dependent_on_the_Internet_for_scientific_research_and_exchange_of_knowledge_in_terms_of_science?_tpcectx=profile_questions
Computer is essential tool for research but it is possible to do research without computer.
Computers play a very powerful role as far as research work is research work is concerned. With the help of computers, it is possible to conduct complex processing calculations on data collected for research. The results achieved through computer are accurate and reliable. As a result of using computers, we can easily visit online research libraries, online journals, research reports and other useful resources needed for conducting effective research. Keeping in mind the above benefits of computers in Research, it can be mentioned that quality research is just not possible without the help of computers.
In my point of view, it is not possible even for experimental work. At least for writing paper, we need a computer.
Dear Mahamad Nabab Alam,
You don't essentially need a computer to apply your research methodologies if you are not doing any simulation (basically if you are doing theoretical research). But it is very helpful for all the works like downloading papers, writing paper as mentioned by (Mohammad Tamsir). You can get print copies of some journals (as some journals are only published online), but through internet, you can have access to almost all journals of the world and that is quite easier too. For numerical simulations, of course you have to use computer.
Mr. Tamsir,
If you browse a really good library at least 20-30% books and notes or theses will be in typeset.
One should never think that without computers research can not happen.
Referring you to development of all the statistical, chemical, physical and biological sciences, do you think Fischer, Morgan, Faraday, Dirac and Heisenberg had access to very modern computing techniques??
My friend John Wheeler always insisted that one had to be able to put a result into a few words, apart from presenting a calculation.
And I would add that the more important results are those that arise from pure simple thinking.
It is probably difficult, but in the humanities is still possible (similar - though more rarely - in some research work in the social sciences); In the sciences - certainly not.
Maria Bettencourt Pires in her answer really "hit the nail on the head" as one might say. Neither Newton nor Einstein had access to computers and look at their profound research contributions to physics, and quantum mechanics was "invented" without the aid of computers. Before data are input into a computer it requires human intelligence and reasoning to develop the hypothesis or whatever it is that the computer is going to do. If computers rise to the level of doing the original thinking we might just be in a heap of trouble. I recall a joke at the beginning of the computer age that when the mother of all supercomputers was turned on it was asked the question "Is there a God?" and the computer replied "There is one now."
When I started my studies for Mechanical Engineering (Maschinenbau) at Hannover University of Technology, Germany (Technische Hochschule Hannover) in 1955 we still worked with the slide rule or for higher accuracy with tables of logarithms. I have experienced that computers are a very helpful and effective tool for research and development.
Had the question been posed to que Greeks, it would saying something like: Can science be done without compass and square? These were the equivalents of the computer for the Greeks.
In the Middle age the question would sound +/- like this: can science be done without pencil and notebook? (Remember that that was the time before Gutenberg).
In the Modern age it would be something of the sort: can science be done without te telescope or the microscope?
The computer is a conceptual tool, not just a tool. This is the big difference with other tools and rods. The importance of the computer goes far beyond modelling and simulation. The simple non-linear copy/paste is a monstrous advance here,
All in all, the computer - and computation - is a great achievement that makes life better and knowledge stronger.
It depends. There are countries with an electronic gap and spite of this problem, the creatitivity was increased and the results are superior that the ones that has a lot of computing facilities.
Of course if you combine creativity with computer facilities the results will be superior.
Computers exist since decades but the science exists since milleniums.
if one has the support of a dedicated team that each with super human intelligence plus handling of artificial intelligence, then that person do NOT need to interact with machine directly... right?
Hi,
This is so interesting question and you can see some answers of my students below:
1. I never thought about it before. I think the answer is no.
2. If computers didn’t exist life would be a whole lot easier, that’s for sure. I think that is possible.
3. I agree that many people have problems with the use of computers, especially in terms of game addictions, social media addictions etc. None the less I think that without computers we would be worse off. So my own opinion is that research without computers is rarely possible.
But I prefer Mr. Banovac 's opinion: "Nowadays, using a computer has become a way of life."
Dear Mahamad:
I don't know every possible research area, but nowadays the computer is a tool that we hardly can afford not to use. Why should we be worried? Once the printed book was invented, for example, people became dependent on books to keep informed. As we humans develop a technological environment more and more sophisticated, every aspect of our lives is more dependent on it.
Yes, Mr. Banovac's contribution stated "Nowadays, using a computer has become a way of life". Indeed! And what better example than ResearchGate!
I think it would be practically impossible to do research in today's world without the computer....call it the necessary evil!....we need it for data analysis, for searching recent literature in field of research, for typing the research reports, for linking with other researchers like we are doing now and for a lot of other things.....point is we need the computer
I think it is possible to conduct research without the use of computer
I can't see that anybody could have any benefit from reading any answer to this question.
Dear Dr. Mutze,
Dear All,
In my opinion, sharing and exchanging views in a discussion thread, irrespective of matter, strengthens all of us, not only as scientists.
Regards
The computer is useful in performing the operations, searching and comparisons, tests quickly and accurately in a massive of information. so, It is possible to do research without using the computer, but there is a waste of time.
The crux here is that we do not just use computers, but computers, i.e. computation has changed the way we do research.
We did do research before computers (as we use them today) were invented. I remember, writing a comprehensive review with a pile of index cards and a typewriter - a task which is now so much easier and quicker electronically !!
Researchers have conducted research before the advent of computers, fax machine or cell phones. Researchers are curious people forever asking questions to find solutions to their research problems. They will record the answers be it on paper, discuss with their peers with or without computers, fax machine or cell phones.
Even the purest of the pure use computers for text processing or web surfing. Maybe a more adequate question is obtained by replacing computer by programming?!
I once theoritcally designed an IC chip without any computer 3 years ago...But in practical research going on in the world, it is not possible without computer and internet specifically if you want to cite some articles you use for referencing...
My ans:
Can we do research without using the computer?
Yes.
How much are we dependent on the computer for research activities?
It depends on the research domain. In the case of simulation, u depend on 100%
Is there anyone whose research work do not use the computer?
Yes. Eg: Archaeology; Agriculture; Astronomy and many more...
Kindly, discuss the use of the computer for your own research work
Computer facilitates our research to make it faster and avoids duplicates.
Computers have forever changed the way we do research.t hey have made many things easier and many impossibles possible!
Computer simulation methods have gained importance in many disciplines. Computer simulation is used as a comprehensive method for studying systems. This process includes choosing a model; finding a way of implementing that model in a form that can be run on a computer; calculating the output of the algorithm; and visualizing and studying the resultant data.
Computer is a very valuable tool which its optimal usage depends on the user. Verification and validation of the models and a careful analysis of outputs areabsolutely necessary. We have heard of the expression"Garbage in, garbage out".
GiGo refers to the fact that computers, since they operate by logical processes, will unquestioningly process unintended, even nonsensical, input data ("garbage in") and produce undesired, often nonsensical, output
Therefore, the importance of critical thinking and logical reasoning should not be undermined and neglected.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out
The collection of data in science, say geology, does not need a computer until it is time to compile them and write a report.
Field work, collection of samples, analysis in a lab are all can be done without computers. Some will use digital equipment to record results right from the start, but others use the old method of writing them down. It depends how much money you have in your disposal.
I think we need to have a computer, we can manage how and how much use it.
Areas such as Nursing have started using Computers for their Nursing Research
https://prezi.com/7aihjihn7din/use-of-computers-in-nursing-research/
To use or not to use computers for research sometimes depends upon the field of research. Today, even though we have become highly dependant upon computers for every small bits of work and even though this device is greatly helping researchers in their works still, i have seen many people of language and literature domain, especially those who have done reseach in 'Sankrit', 'Odia' etc, have not used computers at all!
Well, here is one more answer. Of course it is possible to do research without using the computer. The point is about doing good research. Then the use of the computer is compulsory.
Dear Mahamad,
I think it is possible to do research without using the computer. So far as, quality of research is concerned, I would like to remind that major breakthroughs in sciences have been achieved before invention of computers. All new research is almost extension of what has already been achieved.
The answer is Yes you can do research without the computer. That was the case before inventing the computer. However, for the time being, it is not preferable to do research without computers as it saves a lot of time, secure your data easy deployment of your work, etc.
According to Richa Sharma (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richa_Sharma63)
Nowadays doing research without computers is impossible as mostly data is available on various sites we can update our knowledge and check the plagiarism easily.
It is probably difficult, but in the humanities is still possible (similar - though more rarely - in some research work in the social sciences); In the sciences - certainly not.
The computer is a resource--a versatile tool--that can help you solve some of the problems that you encounter.
http://pages.uoregon.edu/moursund/Books/PS-Expertise/chapter-1.htm
Yes, Krishnan, a computer is a versatile tool for research like many others, but I beg to differ with the implied implication of "impossibility" of research without computers as made explicit above making reference to Richa Sharma by Mahamad Nabab Alam.
@Carlos Eduardo Maldonado : sir, by saying 'for a good research computers are compulsory' hope u dont mean to say that those who have obtained their research degrees or are continuing their works without computer have done or are doing some substandard work. .
Actually, computer/ internet are important for literature reviews, modeling, analysis etc but for a perticulr domain where there is not enough material available online or in soft form for review or some topic that does not require any computerised modeling/ analysis then why can not one do a good research without using computers?
Without computers, progress in science will definitely slow down. Theoretically research is possible without computers as computers have been invented a few decades ago and great discoveries of Newton, Faraday, Da Vinci were done without computers, however, projects like Human genome project were impossible to do without computers.
This is fantasy question and there is no going back now. Computers have changed our approach in doing research and every researcher uses the computers for literature review, writing, etc.
Tools are necessary.. these certainly ease our work but no tool is inevitable for purpose whatsoever.
Power of human brain + passion+curiosity + necessary tools= advancement of science.
In the present era, computers are versatile tools for researchers in many fields including all branches of science of technology.
Recent rapid advances in information and communication technologies has resulted in a a faster rate of scientific discoveries Over the past several decades.
What I will say may have already been stated among the long line of answers, but for me - as a mathematician - I do not necessarily need the computer to perform my research, until the stage at which I transfer my handwritten notes into LaTeX for the purpose of submitting a manuscript to a scientific journal, or into a beamer presentation in pdf form so that I can provide an oral presentation at a seminar. So the answer to the question is: "Yes, quite often!"
"Yes, quite often!" is pretty strong words!. I wonder how these researchers perform their literature review and write their manuscripts without using computers?
In 1993, when I was doing my M.Eng. , we had to go to library, get a DVD, do the search with keywords and get a printout of abstracts. That followed by ordering the article through library. It took ages to finish the literature review.
My runs (nonlinear Finite element analysis) was taking 2 weeks on a state of art Unix system. It takes a few hours with today's computers.
Yes, theoretically it is possible to do research without computers as it has been done by many scientist's in the past. However, for doing a good research efficiently, we do need computers.
i think nowadays nobody can not use computer in researches especially in engineering filed
of coarse any researcher now depends on internet databases to collect resources also editing, submitting, publishing researches are completely computerized now, but when it comes to the core of the research it self, researcher is free to use numerical methods (using computers) or manually hard mathematics depending on his research and his background. Generally, experimental researches are less depending on computers than theoretical ones. Any way, even if the researcher used computers in his research, he has to roughly check the results manually.
People have been doing research without using computers for many years until the end of XXth century. But today, especially in some fields, it will be very difficult and even impossible to do research without using computers. We do need computers for experimental work, data analysis and presentation of the results. Yes, computers have more information and are more quick in calculations than us, but do not forget that human brain, imagination and intuition are the heart of each research.
There has quite possibly been a misunderstanding here and there in the interpretation of the question. When performing research in certain theoretical sciences - like fields within theoretical physics and abstract mathematics, there is indeed not always a need for a computer at all.while developing the theory, once you have gotten hold of the articles that you will refer to - pen and paper is enough!
Of course, when you then write it all up for publication, the computer is used to process LaTeX codes, and when you need to relate your own work to previous ditto for the survey part, you might use your computer to download related work, and so on, but that bit is not associated with the theoretical work per se.
When I was a fresh PhD student there was indeed much more manual work involved. Before LaTeX I wrote my manuscripts by hand and gave the result to a staff member who used a Philips typewriter with special technical/mathematical types. Also the survey bit was done manually to a very large degree: the search for related literature was done through the use of forward and backwards search in the big books of Science Citation, where you could locate a paper's abstract and reference list, through which you made continued manual searches in the indices and papers from those reference lists. So indeed there was a clear majority of manual work.
Varieties of technology gadgets are more nowadays
However, tablets will eventually slow laptop sales but increase sales of desktop PCs. That’s because many people, especially information workers, will still need conventional PCs for any intensely creative work at a desk that requires a large display or significant processing power.
http://blogs.forrester.com/frank_gillett/12-04-23-why_tablets_will_become_our_primary_computing_device
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