THE 10 MOST COMMON RESEARCHER MOTIVATIONS - SCIENCE - 2024

Some of the main researcher motivations are to solve global problems, increase knowledge, human curiosity, obtain university degrees or increase salary.

Research is a process that consists of inquiring about a specific issue to solve a problem, answer a question, solve a conflict, among others.

Investigations can be compelled or motivated. In the case of the former, the researcher does not decide what will be the topic to be discussed, but rather it is entrusted to her by another individual.

For their part, in motivated research, it is the researchers themselves who decide the topic to be investigated and the approach they want to give to that topic.

The motivations to carry out can be diverse, from academic reasons, such as the desire to obtain a university degree or a promotion, to more humanitarian reasons, such as the need to give back to society through the resolution of a problem.

To establish why an investigation is being conducted, investigators must answer a number of questions:

1. What do I want to know?
2. Why do I want to know?
3. Who is my research useful for?
4. Who else is interested in the topic of my research?
5. What do other people want to know about this topic?

Main motivations of the researchers

- Solve problems

The investigations are not only theoretical works, destined to remain in a library, but they allow to analyze and understand problems that can arise at any level of our society (in the family, educational, work environment, among others).

In this way, investigations can shed new light on this phenomenon, since they allow to know the background of the problem and the consequences that it generates or could generate. Likewise, the investigations offer alternative solutions.

This is why many individuals, when faced with a problem, decide to carry out investigations and not other types of work.

- Salary increase

Getting a better salary or job is one of the motivations that an investigator can have.

In some universities it is necessary to do several investigations a year to obtain a raise in salary or a better position in the organizational scale. This can result in a disadvantage; more research is generated instead of higher quality.

- Innovate

In some researchers the main motivation is to innovate in some field of science. For example, they might want to innovate in treatments for a medical condition or in a sector of industry.

- Develop relationships

Not everything is a better salary, curiosity, solving problems or innovating; some researchers want to develop professional and personal relationships from research.

- Acquire knowledge

One of the most important reasons why research is carried out is interest. When an individual is interested in a topic, the most common thing is that they investigate it to learn more about it.

For example, if a person is interested in painting, they could investigate the different artistic movements that have arisen around painting, the characteristics and exponents of each movement, and so on.

In this way, the researcher will have expanded his knowledge on the subject that is of interest to him.

- Impart knowledge

Research papers (academic research, research variants) offer detailed and analyzed information on a given topic.

In this way, if said research work manages to be distributed satisfactorily and is available to even a portion of the population, it will allow other people to understand and even be interested in the problem presented by the researcher.

- Get titles

College students conduct academic research, called graduate work, because it enables them to earn a college degree.

The degree works are essential requirements in many educational institutions, however, this type of research is not considered compulsory since the student is the one who decides the subject.

Similarly, graduated professionals carry out promotion theses to obtain promotions in the workplace.

- Recognition

Investigations are a way for investigators to gain recognition from other members of their guild.

If these are carried out correctly and are on a transcendental topic, they can generate prestige for the researcher.

- Love research

Another essential motive for conducting research is a love of theory. All areas of study have two aspects: a practical and a theoretical, both necessary since practice without theory is blind and theory without practice is sterile.

For this reason, some professionals in an area of ​​knowledge dedicate themselves to research so that later other members of the area benefit from it in practice.

- Willingness and interest in learning

As already explained, people conduct research because they are interested in a topic. However, not everyone has the time or tools to carry out this process.

This is why disposition is an important factor when deciding to conduct an investigation.

- Center object of interest

When it comes to research, it does not only refer to research papers (such as theses), but to any process that involves investigating a specific topic.

In this sense, many researchers use this information gathering process as a method to focus their object of interest. For example, if you are interested in literature, the researcher could inquire about the different literary styles, genres, the most relevant exponents of each genre.

In this process, the researcher could be interested in a specific author and, after having investigated the works of this author, could focus his interest on a specific book.

- Preparation for future studies

Investigations are valuable studies for researchers because they allow them to collect information and statistical data from various sources.

For this reason, many professionals decide to carry out investigations, since they can be useful for future studies.

- Investigations offer greater scope than evaluations

When you want to delve into a problem in a professional way, there are two alternatives: evaluations and investigations.

Evaluations are shallow studies that do not have the scope that an investigation could have. This is why many professionals prefer research to other jobs.

References

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5. Motivation for research and publication. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from sciencedirect.com
6. Research Methodology. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from research.vtu.ac.in
7. What can we do to motivate scientific research in the academic field? Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from researchgate.net.