Research is defined as, “diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications, etc. ” Writing can be defined in most basic form as, “the act of a person or thing that writes”. That being said, I can assume that writing can be done many ways, not neccesarily always with paper and pen, or typing on a computer. Research is done many ways also, and doesn’t always have to be academic in nature. In my opinion the first step is curiosity, to want to learn about a subject, then find a niche within that subject base and move forward on that topic. Sounds easy right? But I also think it sounds extremely scary.

A site I found from the University of Maryland really helped me sum up what I believe is the best layman’s definition of research. The article explains that research is done every day. “People research cars, appliances, clothing, books, etc. before purchasing them” (The Nature of Research: The Research Process – Online Guide to Writing and Research Ch 4 p.1). Research can be as simple as asking a friend, “do you think black or white t-shirts make the best undershirts?” Academic research is more investigative in nature though, it requires more in depth learning, more questioning about the topic and time spent reviewing previous research in order to further achieve our own personal research goals. Research is developed my having questions and curiosity and then hopefully forming those questions into a forward process on the way to an intellectual discovery.

The photo I chose above shows various forms of medical research, and all of the people in the picture look as if they are asking questions, and trying to come to a conclusion within their research process. My primary goal of research is to find a topic that will be fulfilling, interesting and worthwhile to my academic community (that being nursing/medical field). I have an interest in researching the struggles women face on their path to become a physician, especially since that is my goal after undergrad. I plan to conduct a great deal of my research through interviewing female physicians, and asking them to tell their stories from initial interest in medicine, to now career as physician. I hardly think of myself as a researcher, but I hope to immerse myself in this process, start asking questions and become an active learner in my own topic in order to reach my goals of completing my first major research assignment.