What is research & who is it for?
Contrary to popular belief, research isn’t just about numbers, isn’t just for universities, and isn’t something you can only do in a lab with a white coat.
Research is simply asking the right questions and then making an intentional plan to get the information you need to answer them well.
Research equips you with better information to help create the good you want to see in the world. And, it’s a team sport. That’s right, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Research should be open-sourced, customizable, and accessible to everyone. It isn’t one size fits all, and we should stop treating it that way. Research can be quick, small, digestible, and responsive, so that people can actually use it. And, so that people are excited to use it, know what it means, and understand why it matters to their work.
That’s why I do what I do. I make research simple, so people can engage with it authentically, and create a narrative of success (and challenge) that honors their values and communities.
What is “good” research?
There's a narrative about what good research entails — typically lots of people/data points and, of course, the infamous randomized control trial — the “gold standard” of research. People spend lots of time, money, and effort to design and implement large, randomized studies that test whether or not their idea works. And, in some cases, that totally makes sense. If you’re say 3, 5, 10 years into running a program or a school or offering a product, you may be at a stage where you want the gold standard test of whether or not everything is working.
But, what if you’re only a few weeks, months, or a year or two into your idea? What if instead of 1 million dollars, you only have $5,000? Does that mean you can’t do good research? That you should wait to test your idea? Heck no.
After engaging in research on many levels and in a diversity of spaces during my academic training, I developed a worldview that challenges this status quo.
I don’t think you need lots of money, time, people, or the university stamp of approval to do good research.
There are things that you do need to do good research:
You need to have a clear question.
You need to collect the information in a way that makes sense to answer your question.
You need to be ethical and make sure that people are protected.
There’s value in rigor and structure, and experts are great, but, I also believe that you can work on a small scale in a quick time frame, with measures of success to reflect your community's values and still have quality research. That's my 'why.' The choice shouldn't be between research that’s locked away in an ivory tower and going rogue with data collection.
I believe that good research can look many different ways, and that different levels of rigor are appropriate for different stages of ideas. I think you can have small sample sizes and descriptive or exploratory studies that are still super powerful. I believe that cheap and quick doesn’t imply a lack of quality. I believe in what I like to call the aluminum standard for research: be practical, flexible, and accessible.
Here’s my motto:
Don’t go for gold; be aluminum.
It’s practical. And, it gets the job done.