Is it only to obtain views and contributions, or to solve problems and help in getting better life well being?
Dear Mahfuz,
I thought always that aim of scientific and research activity is making a better life for each of us and at the same time to conserve natural and cultural diversity.
Dear Mahfuz,
I thought always that aim of scientific and research activity is making a better life for each of us and at the same time to conserve natural and cultural diversity.
That really depends on the field. The first and dominating reason to do research is the wish to understand and to explain. Thats the special case for all natural sciences. The second aim is to improve our world by technical , medical and economic principles. Here the usage starts to find it´s importance. Just imagine all the progress in medicine and technique based on research in the past and in presence.
The ultimate goal of scientific research is to helping the humanity and to improve of our well being!
Scientific research has two categories: pure scientific research and applied scientific research. Pure science, is about explaining the world around us and trying to understand how the universe operates. It is about finding out what is already there without any greater purpose of research than the explanation itself.
Applied scientists looks for answers to specific questions that help humanity and our well being, For example medical research or environmental studies. Pure science builds the necessary theories and building foundations for applied science.
Pure scientific research is about explaining our world without any greater purpose of research than getting the explanation itself. This is the purpose of philosophers and scientists, perhaps all the profs and PhD's on RG :) Pure scientific research has indirect benefits, and contributes to the advancement of humanity as in silicon chips. How will our present life be like without chips?
On the other hand, applied scientists might look for answers or solutions to help humanity, as in medical or environmental research.
Dear Andras and Hanno
you are great scientists, that why you work for the humanity.
but some of us are working to occupy the world!
How Europe could colonized the world? by science,
How Israel keeps killing the Palestinians without any one could say a word?
How the US dominated the world? it is science my friends.
There are many reasons (not pink) behind scientific research, Money and greed come first.
Some case studies for discussion of the purpose of science?
Fundamental research: How can the study of so-called distant 'pulsars' or 'black holes' in the universe contribute to a better life on Earth?
Is what contributes to a better life in current generations also beneficial for future generations (e.g. chemistry to remove insects)?
If it would have clear...so many people would not have been doing this............but in my opinion scientific developments are driving the society towards a positive direction..........
Dear Ahmad,
may be that András and me are great scientist for humanity, but as for me, I´m not without realism. I see where research can lead to. But that´s an old discussion. Shall we stop scientific research, because the results could be abused?
Scientific research is to find an explanation about the things happening in the natural world and realize answers to specific questions that help humanity in various ways and above all making our life better and better.
Primary: curiosity.
Secondary: need for understanding the world and surrounding phenomena.
Tertiary: challenges and success achievement.
Of course there are scientists with much simplier goals: career, power, and money :)
With the answer to the question, I fully agree with @ András. Another question is why every researcher engaged in this. Then I agree with the answerHanno, and others.
The goal of scientific research varies across different scientific fields and disciplines.
For example,
Medical research: The goal of medical research should be to find a treatment of certain incurable diseases like Cancer, Aids etc , to develop new techniques to combat with diseases that may help to whole mankind.
Geophysics research: The goal of research in geophysics and earth science should be to discover new and perfect method to predict natural disasters like Tsunami and Earthquakes etc. Scientists working on these fields need to analyze past disasters to find patterns in natural phenomena.
Lists are endless. What I convey trough these examples is that the goal of scientific research should not only be limited to obtain views and contributions, or to solve problems but it should be aimed at helping the whole mankind.
Dear Shwetabh,
I agree with you that the objective of scientific research varies across different scientific fields and disciplines.
I think that the purpose of scientific research is all what a researcher is interesting on,
whether obtain views, contributions, to solve problem, or to help in getting better life well being.
The goals of scientific research are: description, prediction, and explanation/ understanding. Some may add control and application to the list of goals. Researcher's main purpose (of conducting a scientific research) is to keep following the leads that appear most likely to yield missing pieces of information, even if the exact applications of the new knowledge are not immediately evident.
Philosophers have debated the motivation of scientific research for centuries. Aristotle in the "Metaphysics" attributes the need to know to curiosity. Heidegger ascribes it to inner necessity for the purpose of existing. In fact, a combination of motives probably exists in each scientific researcher, varying with the individual. Research is a highly personal activity in the main, and therefore to answer this question, we must examine the researcher as a unique being. What combination of motives caused Marie Curie and Santiago Ramón y Cajal to do their ground-breaking research? Clearly, they were both very different, with differing amounts of altruism and egoism.
We conduct scientific research to investigate a certain phenomena. The purpose of which could be for information gathering, like discovering something we observed or describing information we gathered; or it could be ‘theory testing’ to understand causal relations and predict what might happen in various scenarios. Hence, it is to eventual advance by correctly solving identified problems and reaching better living.
@Mahfuz and friends, here is a parallel thread by our good friend @Prof Abdalla. It's fine to have parallel threads. They aren't exactly the same. It means many of us have been examining our reasons and purpose for doing research. Thanks.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_doing_Research_arrange_prioritize_based_on_goals_objectives_as_you_think?_tpcectx=profile_questions
Scientific research has a twofold purpose: understanding the world and nature, and as a consequence, making life accordingly as possible as that understanding allows us to. There are truly no two things: understanding, explaining on the one hand, and living on the other hand.
Research, it seems, is both and end and a mean for life to be possible.
To obtain information, one can consult experts, review books and articles, question or observe colleagues, use one’s own experience, or rely on intuition. The answers these approaches provide, however, are not always reliable. The scientific method provides an important way to obtain accurate and reliable information.
- Research Adds Knowledge
- Addresses gaps in knowledge
- Expands knowledge
- Adds voices of individuals to knowledge
It's a great question ....
The primary purpose is to expand our knowledge and our technology domain.
Unfortunately, while humanity does not achieve a reasonable level of social development, the research will also serve for other purposes.
Dear Nelson,
your cited science life and purpose of Marie Curie is a very imposing example for the "idealism" and the curiosity of a natural science researcher. I admire this fantastic woman since I have learned to read.
I agree with Nageswara that the scientific method provides an important way to obtain accurate and reliable information.
Scientific research is divided into 2 types: 1) Basic or fundamental research. 2) Applied research. Both types are important to the human beings & to advancement of their knowledge but the two are different in terms of mechanisms & anticipated goals.
Basic research is conducted almost exclusively for the purpose of gathering information & building upon existing knowledge. Few examples: research done on the composition of the atom, research on the understanding of natural phenomena such as lightening & thunder, and research on attempting to prepare ethyl alcohol from cellulose.
On the other hand, applied research is directed towards solving an existing problem in a way that can be put into practice. This research is more challenging & usually occurs under stresses of time & competition. The big names in industry emphasize applied research without ignoring basic research. This example explains: A neurologist, who studies certain details about the function(s) of a certain part of the brain, is doing basic research while a neurologist ,who is investigating the origins of Alzheimer's disease in order to cure it by a particular drug, is involved in applied research. Both researches are complementary to each other.
Dear Nizar,
As you said that both Basic and Applied researches are important to the human beings and to advancement of their knowledge but the two are different in terms of mechanisms & anticipated goals. I completely agree with you.
Science and/or scientific research may be collation and/or collection of the absolute and/or incontrovertible truth(s)!
I don’t see the problems to be solved. There are a multiplicity of answers which are leading to nowhere, so many beautiful answers are quick forgotten and everything starts from the beginning. For the sponsors it is all the same.
What we need is a solutiongate, some kind of agreement. A solution as said before for a cultural variety.
Dear Mahfuz,
Really an interesting question which every scientist might have asked himself. I mostly agrees with András. Science basically developed out of human curiosity to know the world around him. As such, any science social or Natural have passed or going through four stages of its evolution: Description including classification of objects, phenomena, structure and processes into categories, interpretation of them in a descriptive way with evidence and observations, analysis when a large number of information from observations and experimentation and finally prediction of events, objects conditions, structure etc. These developments of science are ultimately used to control nature/society to the betterment of human life.
Dear Mahfuz to me division between Basic (Pure) and Applied researches is heuristic to facilitate division of among scientific community. No applied research is possible without contribution at basic and higher level from basic research. In the same vogue concepts and methods developed in the applied science may be used in the advancement of science. Without Hubble telescope developed by applied scientists and technologists advances in cosmology are not possible. Both are geared to make human life liveable.
The specific purpose would depend on the context and intended goals but in general, it would be to gain a clearer understanding of anything that would do better with deeper exploration and investigation. In many cases, it would have a direct or indirect bearing on the improvement in the quality of life or services. The best research is also open and dynamic, not a self-contained infallible vision, but a step toward an ever-evolving exploration of truth.
The purpose of research can be a complicated issue and varies across different scientific fields and disciplines. At the most basic level, science can be split into two types, 'pure research' and 'applied research'.
Both of these types follow the same structures and protocols for propagating and testing hypotheses and predictions, but vary slightly in their ultimate purpose.
An excellent example for illustrating the difference is by using pure and applied mathematics. Pure maths are concerned with understanding underlying abstract principles and describing them with elegant theories. Applied maths, by contrast, use these principles, equations and theories to explain real life phenomena, such as mechanics, ecology and gravity.
Some science, often referred to as 'pure science', is about explaining the world around us and trying to understand how the universe operates. Scientific research is about finding out what is already there without any other purpose than the explanation itself and to expand the Mathematics’ theory. Scientific research is important because it helps generate a theory to explain why something is happening. Scientific research involves testing hypotheses and predictions using testable data and a full battery of scientific tools and methods. It is a direct descendent of philosophy, where philosophers and scientists try to understand the underlying principles of existence. Whilst offering no direct benefits, pure research often has indirect benefits, which can contribute greatly to the advancement of humanity.
For example, pure research into the structure of the atom has led to x-rays, nuclear power and silicon chips.
Applied scientific research might look for answers to specific questions that help humanity, for example medical research or environmental studies. Such research generally takes a specific question and tries to find a definitive and comprehensive answer.
The purpose of applied research is about testing theories, often generated by pure science, and applying them to real situations, addressing more than just abstract principles.
Applied scientific research can be about finding out the answer to a specific problem.
Summing up can be stated the following: The main purpose of pure scientific research is to find an explanation about why certain things happen in the natural world. In contrast, applied scientific research is looking for answers to specific questions that help humanity, such as medical research or environmental studies. Applied scientific research is more focused on testing theories, as opposed to addressing abstract principles, as is the case with pure scientific research.
Thank you Jeorge for the thorough and detailed answer, which you always do.
Dear Hanno
No we should not, but i wanted to shed the light on somewhere, just to enrich the discussion.
Dear Mahfuz. Many thanks for your comment, but this is only a small contribution to the debate.
I totally agree with above discussion..
It is always for betterment of human being either by providing ease in daily task by advancing in technologies or by providing healthy future by advancing in medical science..
The purpose of scientific research is an inquest into the unknown area of science and also for extension of existing knowledge, all for improving the human existence , standard of life and living. Mutually beneficial existence of human being, ecology and environment is essential. The scientific research works in that direction.
Dear Jaharkanti,
"The purpose of scientific research is an inquest into the unknown area of science and also for extension of existing knowledge..". It is nicely said.
I think that one of the main purpose of scientific research is trying to explain and understand why things happen.
Yes dear Jesus,
Understanding the causation relationship is very important.
Scientific research is the base line knowledge in all fields which describe,explain,predict phenomenon. The scientific knowledge supported with evidences that tested and discovered in the field of specialty.
I guess the question should be considered on different levels: for the whole humanity, for the states, for the universities and for an individual researcher.
Unfortunately for developed countries scientific research is converted into a question of competition. This means injection of huge amounts of money for scientific research for better statistical numbers. All around are speaking about factor numbers of the journals, publications and it is really unusual to hear somebody speaking about the results of the research.
The purpose of scientific research is searching of the truth. However, not all research conducted are based on the previous summation.
Dear Hashem,
I agree that the purpose of scientific research is searching of the truth, whether the research is qualitative or quantitative.
Dear Prof Shafig. The research objectives you stared were put in logical sequence.
Hi,
Scientific research is for the benefit of human being and surrounding enviroment.
Some people says that the most common purposes of scientific research are exploration, description, and explanation. Can explanation be one of the purposes of scientific research?
In my opinion the answer to your question is yes, explanation should be part of a scientific research. In some scientific research the intention to carry out it is to find a scientific explanation of a certain phenomena that the researcher knows that exist, but its main causes why this phenomena occur are unknown and you cannot change or control its consequences if you do not know which are the main causes associated with it.
Revealing a valid and convincing scientific explanation to the any traditional belief/claim, things happening in nature or information/knowledge based on experience and belief is one of the objectives of research. Many significant discoveries are the result of such research endeavors as rightly stated by Jorge Morales.
Dear Yogesh. Many thanks for your comment. It is only a small contribution.
Dear Yogesh, I agree with you in your answer that revealing a valid and convincing scientific explanation is one of the objectives of research.
Yes, I agree with Jorge, providing explanation is only a small part of the contribution.
In descriptive researches, can description of a sample or a situation be one of the purposes of research?
Dear Mahfuz. In my opinion, the description of a situation associated to the occurrence of an unknown phenomena could be an objective of a descriptive research.
Yes, dear Jeorge, the description of a situation can be one of the purposes of a descriptive research.
Doing novel research, finding solutions to problems, practical utility and beneficial implications to end users and society / population.
To reach some solution of a problem, to solve mysteries, reach a conclusion, analyse interpretation, invent some good diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutic regimens, discover/invent new technologies for humanity, advances in communications and engineering, developing infrastructure and use of resources in best way, saving earth, and development and progress in all filelds of science and humanity.
Get some solution for existing unsolved problems, which may be a great help for the scientific communities in a way or the other. Of course, these days most of the students and supervisors are focused on publications only.
The purpose of research is about testing theories and applying them to real situations, addressing more than just abstract principles. It is really an ongoing process of correcting and refining hypotheses, which should lead to the acceptance of certain scientific truths. Classically, the main goal scientific research has been building knowledge and understanding, regardless of its potential applications. However, increasingly, scientific research is undertaken with the explicit goal of solving a problem or developing a technology, and along the path to that goal; new knowledge and explanations are constructed. Either way, science aims to increase our understanding of how the natural world works.
Why research is called as research and not search - where one's findings are novel and newer?
You are welcome to read my paper on "a theory of scientific study" that contains the aim of scientific study which is close to scientific research.
You are also welcome to read my paper on "Understanding scientific study via process modeling" that distinguishes research, scientific research and scientific study.
Every phenomenon in the universe has a reason behind it, and the aims of scientific research are to understand and evaluate what is happening and ultimately generate measurable and testable facts, thus gradually adding to the accrual of human knowledge.
Many researchers agree that the goals of scientific research are: description, prediction, and explanation/understanding. Some individuals add control and application to the list of goals. For now, I am going to focus on discussing description, prediction and explanation/understanding.
Description
Description refers to the procedures used to define, classify and categorize subjects and their relationships. Descriptions allow us to establish generalizations and universals. By gathering information on a large group of people, for instance, a researcher can describe the average member or the average performance of a member of the specific group being studied.
Describing observations of large groups of people does not take away from the fact that there are important differences among individuals. That is, researchers merely attempt to describe subjects or events on the basis of average performance (generally speaking). Alternatively, description allows researchers to describe a single phenomenon and or observations of a single person.
In science, descriptions are systematic and precise. Scientific research makes use of operational definitions. Operational definitions characterize events, qualities and concepts in terms of observable operations, or procedures used to measure them.
Researchers are interested in describing only things that are relevant to the study. They have no interest in describing observations that are irrelevant to the investigation.
Prediction
In addition developing descriptions, researchers make predictions. Descriptions of events often provide a basis for prediction. Predictions are sometimes made in the form of hypotheses, which are tentative, testable predictions concerning the relationships between or among variables. Hypotheses are frequently derived from theories, or interrelated sets of concepts that explain a body of data and make predictions.
Prediction of later performance is of particular importance to researchers. For example:
- Does eating a low-calorie diet increase chances of living longer?
- Does undergraduate GPA predict how well one will do in graduate school?
- Do high levels of intelligence predict avoidance of cognitive biases?
When a variable can be used to predict another variable or variables we can say the variables are correlated. Correlation exists when different measures vary together, which makes it possible to predict values of one variable by knowing values of another variable.
Keep in mind predictions are made with varying degrees of certainty. Correlation coefficients state the degree of relationship between the variables in terms of both strength and direction of the relationship. In other words, correlation coefficients determine how well measures co-vary.
Explanation/Understanding
Arguably, the most important goal of scientific research is explanation. Explanation is achieved when the cause or causes of a phenomenon are identified. In order to determine cause and effect three pre-requisites are essential: covariation of events, proper time-order sequence and the elimination of plausible alternative causes.
Covariation of events (relationship): The variables must correlate. To determine the relationship of two variables, it must be determined if the relationship could occur due to chance. Lay observers are often not good judges of the presence of relationships, thus, statistical methods are used to measure and test the existence and strength of relationships.
Proper time-order sequence (time precedence): For 1 to cause 2, 1 must precede 2. The cause must precede the effect. Elimination of plausible alternative causes (non-spuriousness, or genuine): For a relationship between A and B to be nonspurious, there must not be a C that causes both A and B such that the relationship between A and B vanishes once C is controlled. The most difficult condition to be met when determining cause and effect relationships is the elimination of other plausible causes.
Why do we conduct Research ?
The same can be said of an artistic idea: the measure of greatness is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research. What's the difference.
The purpose of science and scientific research is to advance knowledge.
“The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.” ― Paul Dirac
It's to achieve good practical results and then to try to disseminate your research if the system lets one do it.
Yes, I believe that the judgement research quality depends on the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.
I think basic purpose of Scientific Research is to produce evidence based Knowledge, practically useful for the relevant field of knowledge as well as for humanity in general.
The purpose of scientific research is to find an explanation about why certain things happen in the natural world, to test theories and to address specific questions that help humanity,
Actually both reasons are important. However, the choice of the topic should achieve both goals: to solve problems and help in getting better life and self development and recognition by the society
"What is the purpose of scientific research? Is it only to obtain views and contributions, or to solve problems and help in getting better life well being? " Mahfuz Judeh
***
Yes.
But...
Science - evidentiary knowledge of the world.
Science is a field of human activity aimed at the development and systematization of objective knowledge of reality.
Science (from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge") is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
The ancient Greeks contrasted the most genuine science with applied science, the occupation of which was condemned. For example, the Greeks contrasted physics with science, which studies “natural”, “natural”, mechanics — applied industry, the art of creating technical devices, and the invention and design of machines. It was at that time that, against the background of the decomposition of mythological thinking, the first programs of the study of nature appeared, not only the first samples of research appeared, but also some fundamental principles of the knowledge of nature were realized.
An indispensable condition for the emergence of science is the use of idealization, which cannot arise within the framework of the material-practical relation to reality.
The most important spiritual need of man (Homo sapiens) is the desire for knowledge of the world (the laws of nature, the Universe and its laws).
(The needs related to the knowledge of the world and its place in it, the knowledge of the meaning of its existence are called spiritual or ideal).
The purpose of research can be a complicated issue and varies different scientific fields and disciplines.
I think both together, as sometimes the views and contributions suggest solving of problems and then help in getting better life well being.
“A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? And he will probably ask himself two more: 1. Could I put it more shortly? 2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly? But you are not obliged to go to all this trouble. You can shirk it by simply throwing your mind open and letting the ready-made phrases come crowding in. They will construct your sentences for you -- even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent -- and at need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your meaning even from yourself.”
― George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
Interesting question. Possibly your question contains two answers already:
1. Scientiefic papers are tackling small questions and are proving these theories scientifically, depending on the area of science we are talking about...
2. In a more global view science in general mostly aims at making the world better. However rarly single papers or items of research are successful in "making the world as a whole" better...
3. The results are mostly done by many researchers and papers in a field of topic, e.g. gene therapy or molecular biology of stroke prevention...
الغرض من البحث العلمي يختلف من اختصاص إلى آخر قد يكون لحل مشكلة معينة أو لإثبات فرضية.... إلخ
Research is necessary to solve the problems in the health or related issues. Now majority is becomes contribution to the scientific community.
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