why are research skills important

What are research skills?

Last updated

26 April 2023

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Broadly, it includes a range of talents required to:

Find useful information

Perform critical analysis

Form hypotheses

Solve problems

It also includes processes such as time management, communication, and reporting skills to achieve those ends.

Research requires a blend of conceptual and detail-oriented modes of thinking. It tests one's ability to transition between subjective motivations and objective assessments to ensure only correct data fits into a meaningfully useful framework.

As countless fields increasingly rely on data management and analysis, polishing your research skills is an important, near-universal way to improve your potential of getting hired and advancing in your career.

Make research less tedious

Dovetail streamlines research to help you uncover and share actionable insights

What are basic research skills?

Almost any research involves some proportion of the following fundamental skills:

Organization

Decision-making

Investigation and analysis

Creative thinking

What are primary research skills?

The following are some of the most universally important research skills that will help you in a wide range of positions:

Time management — From planning and organization to task prioritization and deadline management, time-management skills are highly in-demand workplace skills.

Problem-solving — Identifying issues, their causes, and key solutions are another essential suite of research skills.

Critical thinking — The ability to make connections between data points with clear reasoning is essential to navigate data and extract what's useful towards the original objective.

Communication — In any collaborative environment, team-building and active listening will help researchers convey findings more effectively through data summarizations and report writing.

What are the most important skills in research?

Detail-oriented procedures are essential to research, which allow researchers and their audience to probe deeper into a subject and make connections they otherwise may have missed with generic overviews.

Maintaining priorities is also essential so that details fit within an overarching strategy. Lastly, decision-making is crucial because that's the only way research is translated into meaningful action.

• Why are research skills important?

Good research skills are crucial to learning more about a subject, then using that knowledge to improve an organization's capabilities. Synthesizing that research and conveying it clearly is also important, as employees seek to share useful insights and inspire effective actions.

Effective research skills are essential for those seeking to:

Analyze their target market

Investigate industry trends

Identify customer needs

Detect obstacles

Find solutions to those obstacles

Develop new products or services

Develop new, adaptive ways to meet demands

Discover more efficient ways of acquiring or using resources

Why do we need research skills?

Businesses and individuals alike need research skills to clarify their role in the marketplace, which of course, requires clarity on the market in which they function in. High-quality research helps people stay better prepared for challenges by identifying key factors involved in their day-to-day operations, along with those that might play a significant role in future goals.

• Benefits of having research skills

Research skills increase the effectiveness of any role that's dependent on information. Both individually and organization-wide, good research simplifies what can otherwise be unwieldy amounts of data. It can help maintain order by organizing information and improving efficiency, both of which set the stage for improved revenue growth.

Those with highly effective research skills can help reveal both:

Opportunities for improvement

Brand-new or previously unseen opportunities

Research skills can then help identify how to best take advantage of available opportunities. With today's increasingly data-driven economy, it will also increase your potential of getting hired and help position organizations as thought leaders in their marketplace.

• Research skills examples

Being necessarily broad, research skills encompass many sub-categories of skillsets required to extrapolate meaning and direction from dense informational resources. Identifying, interpreting, and applying research are several such subcategories—but to be specific, workplaces of almost any type have some need of:

Searching for information

Attention to detail

Taking notes

Problem-solving

Communicating results

Time management

• How to improve your research skills

Whether your research goals are to learn more about a subject or enhance workflows, you can improve research skills with this failsafe, four-step strategy:

Make an outline, and set your intention(s)

Know your sources

Learn to use advanced search techniques

Practice, practice, practice (and don't be afraid to adjust your approach)

These steps could manifest themselves in many ways, but what's most important is that it results in measurable progress toward the original goals that compelled you to research a subject.

• Using research skills at work

Different research skills will be emphasized over others, depending on the nature of your trade. To use research most effectively, concentrate on improving research skills most relevant to your position—or, if working solo, the skills most likely have the strongest impact on your goals.

You might divide the necessary research skills into categories for short, medium, and long-term goals or according to each activity your position requires. That way, when a challenge arises in your workflow, it's clearer which specific research skill requires dedicated attention.

How can I learn research skills?

Learning research skills can be done with a simple three-point framework:

Clarify the objective — Before delving into potentially overwhelming amounts of data, take a moment to define the purpose of your research. If at any point you lose sight of the original objective, take another moment to ask how you could adjust your approach to better fit the original objective.

Scrutinize sources — Cross-reference data with other sources, paying close attention to each author's credentials and motivations.

Organize research — Establish and continually refine a data-organization system that works for you. This could be an index of resources or compiling data under different categories designed for easy access.

Which careers require research skills?

Especially in today's world, most careers require some, if not extensive, research. Developers, marketers, and others dealing in primarily digital properties especially require extensive research skills—but it's just as important in building and manufacturing industries, where research is crucial to construct products correctly and safely.

Engineering, legal, medical, and literally any other specialized field will require excellent research skills. Truly, almost any career path will involve some level of research skills; and even those requiring only minimal research skills will at least require research to find and compare open positions in the first place.

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Research Skills: What they are and Benefits

Research skills play a vital role in the success of any research project, enabling individuals to navigate the vast sea of information, analyze data critically, and draw meaningful conclusions. Whether conducting academic research, professional investigations, or personal inquiries, strong research skills are essential for obtaining accurate and reliable results.

LEARN ABOUT:   Research Process Steps

By understanding and developing these skills, individuals can embark on their research endeavors with confidence, integrity, and the capability to make meaningful contributions in their chosen fields. This article will explore the importance of research skills and discuss critical competencies necessary for conducting a research project effectively.

Content Index

What are Research Skills?

Important research skills for research project, benefits of research skills.

• Improving your Research Skills

Talk to Experts to Improve Skills

Research skills are the capability a person carries to create new concepts and understand the use of data collection. These skills include techniques, documentation, and interpretation of the collected data. Research is conducted to evaluate hypotheses and share the findings most appropriately. Research skills improve as we gain experience.

To conduct efficient research, specific research skills are essential. These skills are necessary for companies to develop new products and services or enhance existing products. To develop good research skills is important for both the individual as well as the company.

When undertaking a research project, one must possess specific important skills to ensure the project’s success and accuracy. Here are some essential research skills that are crucial for conducting a project effectively:

Time Management Skills:

Time management is an essential research skill; it helps you break down your project into parts and enables you to manage it easier. One can create a dead-line oriented plan for the research project and assign time for each task. Time management skills include setting goals for the project, planning and organizing functions as per their priority, and efficiently delegating these tasks.

Communication Skills:

These skills help you understand and receive important information and also allow you to share your findings with others in an effective manner. Active listening and speaking are critical skills for solid communication. A researcher must have good communication skills.

Problem-Solving:  

The ability to handle complex situations and business challenges and come up with solutions for them is termed problem-solving. To problem-solve, you should be able to fully understand the extent of the problem and then break it down into smaller parts. Once segregated into smaller chunks, you can start thinking about each element and analyze it to find a solution.

Information gathering and attention to detail:

Relevant information is the key to good research design . Searching for credible resources and collecting information from there will help you strengthen your research proposal and drive you to solutions faster. Once you have access to information, paying close attention to all the details and drawing conclusions based on the findings is essential.

Research Design and Methodology :

Understanding research design and methodology is essential for planning and conducting a project. Depending on the research question and objectives, researchers must select appropriate research methods, such as surveys, experiments, interviews, or case studies. Proficiency in designing research protocols, data collection instruments, and sampling strategies is crucial for obtaining reliable and valid results.

Data Collection and Analysis :

Researchers should be skilled in collecting and analyzing data accurately. It involves designing data collection instruments, collecting data through various methods, such as surveys or observations, and organizing and analyzing the collected data using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis techniques. Proficiency in using software tools like SPSS, Excel, or qualitative analysis software can be beneficial.

By developing and strengthening these research skills, researchers can enhance the quality and impact of their research process, contributing to good research skills in their respective fields.

Research skills are invaluable assets that can benefit individuals in various aspects of their lives. Here are some key benefits of developing and honing research skills:

Boosts Curiosity :

Curiosity is a strong desire to know things and a powerful learning driver. Curious researchers will naturally ask questions that demand answers and will stop in the search for answers. Interested people are better listeners and are open to listening to other people’s ideas and perspectives, not just their own.

Cultivates Self-awareness :

As well as being aware of other people’s subjective opinions, one must develop the importance of research skills and be mindful of the benefits of awareness research; we are exposed to many things while researching. Once we start doing research, the benefit from it reflects on the beliefs and attitudes and encourages them to open their minds to other perspectives and ways of looking at things.

Effective Communication:

Research skills contribute to practical communication skills by enhancing one’s ability to articulate ideas, opinions, and findings clearly and coherently. Through research, individuals learn to organize their thoughts, present evidence-based arguments, and effectively convey complex information to different audiences. These skills are crucial in academic research settings, professional environments, and personal interactions.

Personal and Professional Growth :

Developing research skills fosters personal and professional growth by instilling a sense of curiosity, intellectual independence, and a lifelong learning mindset. Research encourages individuals to seek knowledge, challenge assumptions, and embrace intellectual growth. These skills also enhance adaptability as individuals become adept at navigating and assimilating new information, staying updated with the latest developments, and adjusting their perspectives and strategies accordingly.

Academic Success:

Research skills are essential for academic research success. They enable students to conduct thorough literature reviews, gather evidence to support their arguments, and critically evaluate existing research. By honing their research skills, students can produce well-structured, evidence-based essays, projects, and dissertations demonstrating high academic research rigor and analytical thinking.

Professional Advancement:

Research skills are highly valued in the professional world. They are crucial for conducting market research, analyzing trends, identifying opportunities, and making data-driven decisions. Employers appreciate individuals who can effectively gather and analyze information, solve complex problems, and provide evidence-based recommendations. Research skills also enable professionals to stay updated with advancements in their field, positioning themselves as knowledgeable and competent experts.

Developing and nurturing research skills can significantly benefit individuals in numerous aspects of their lives, enabling them to thrive in an increasingly information-driven world.

Improving Your Research Skills

There are many things you can do to improve your research skills and utilize them in your research or day job. Here are some examples:

• Develop Information Literacy: Strengthening your information literacy skills is crucial for conducting thorough research. It involves identifying reliable sources, evaluating the credibility of information, and navigating different research databases.
• Enhance Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is an essential skill for effective research. It involves analyzing information, questioning assumptions, and evaluating arguments. Practice critical analysis by analyzing thoughtfully, identifying biases, and considering alternative perspectives.
• Master Research Methodologies: Familiarize yourself with different research methodologies relevant to your field. Whether it’s qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research, realizing the strengths and limitations of each approach is crucial.
• Practice Effective Time Management: Research requires dedicated time and effort. Develop good time management skills to ensure that you allocate sufficient time for each stage of the research process, including planning, data collection, analysis, and writing.
• Embrace Collaboration: Collaborating with peers and colleagues can provide a fresh perspective and enrich your research experience. Engage in discussions, share ideas, and seek feedback from others. Collaborative projects allow for exchanging knowledge and skills.
• Continuously Update Your Knowledge: Stay informed about your field’s latest developments and advancements. Regularly read scholarly articles, attend conferences, and follow reputable sources of information to stay up to date with current research trends.

There is plenty of information available on the internet about every topic; hence, learning skills to know which information is relevant and credible is very important. Today most search engines have the feature of advanced search, and you can customize the search as per your preference. Once you learn this skill, it will help you find information. 

Experts possess a wealth of knowledge, experience, and insights that can significantly enhance your understanding and abilities in conducting research. Experts have often encountered numerous challenges and hurdles throughout their research journey and have developed effective problem-solving techniques. Engaging with experts is a highly effective approach to improving research skills.

Moreover, experts can provide valuable feedback and constructive criticism on your research work. They can offer fresh perspectives, identify areas for improvement, and help you refine your research questions, methodology, and analysis.

At QuestionPro, we can help you with the necessary tools to carry out your projects, and we have created the following free resources to help you in your professional growth:

• Survey Templates

Research skills are invaluable assets that empower individuals to navigate the ever-expanding realm of information, make informed decisions, and contribute to advancing knowledge. With advanced research tools and technologies like QuestionPro Survey Software, researchers have potent resources to conduct comprehensive surveys, gather data, and analyze results efficiently.

Where data-driven decision-making is crucial, research skills supported by advanced tools like QuestionPro are essential for researchers to stay ahead and make impactful contributions to their fields. By embracing these research skills and leveraging the capabilities of powerful survey software, researchers can unlock new possibilities, gain deeper insights, and pave the way for meaningful discoveries.

Authors : Gargi Ghamandi & Sandeep Kokane

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Empowering students to develop research skills

February 8, 2021

This post is republished from   Into Practice ,  a biweekly communication of Harvard’s  Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning

Terence D. Capellini, Richard B Wolf Associate Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, empowers students to grow as researchers in his Building the Human Body course through a comprehensive, course-long collaborative project that works to understand the changes in the genome that make the human skeleton unique. For instance, of the many types of projects, some focus on the genetic basis of why human beings walk on two legs. This integrative “Evo-Devo” project demands high levels of understanding of biology and genetics that students gain in the first half of class, which is then applied hands-on in the second half of class. Students work in teams of 2-3 to collect their own morphology data by measuring skeletons at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and leverage statistics to understand patterns in their data. They then collect and analyze DNA sequences from humans and other animals to identify the DNA changes that may encode morphology. Throughout this course, students go from sometimes having “limited experience in genetics and/or morphology” to conducting their own independent research. This project culminates in a team presentation and a final research paper.

The benefits: Students develop the methodological skills required to collect and analyze morphological data. Using the UCSC Genome browser  and other tools, students sharpen their analytical skills to visualize genomics data and pinpoint meaningful genetic changes. Conducting this work in teams means students develop collaborative skills that model academic biology labs outside class, and some student projects have contributed to published papers in the field. “Every year, I have one student, if not two, join my lab to work on projects developed from class to try to get them published.”

“The beauty of this class is that the students are asking a question that’s never been asked before and they’re actually collecting data to get at an answer.”

The challenges:  Capellini observes that the most common challenge faced by students in the course is when “they have a really terrific question they want to explore, but the necessary background information is simply lacking. It is simply amazing how little we do know about human development, despite its hundreds of years of study.” Sometimes, for instance, students want to learn about the evolution, development, and genetics of a certain body part, but it is still somewhat a mystery to the field. In these cases, the teaching team (including co-instructor Dr. Neil Roach) tries to find datasets that are maximally relevant to the questions the students want to explore. Capellini also notes that the work in his class is demanding and hard, just by the nature of the work, but students “always step up and perform” and the teaching team does their best to “make it fun” and ensure they nurture students’ curiosities and questions.

Takeaways and best practices

• Incorporate previous students’ work into the course. Capellini intentionally discusses findings from previous student groups in lectures. “They’re developing real findings and we share that when we explain the project for the next groups.” Capellini also invites students to share their own progress and findings as part of class discussion, which helps them participate as independent researchers and receive feedback from their peers.
• Assign groups intentionally.  Maintaining flexibility allows the teaching team to be more responsive to students’ various needs and interests. Capellini will often place graduate students by themselves to enhance their workload and give them training directly relevant to their future thesis work. Undergraduates are able to self-select into groups or can be assigned based on shared interests. “If two people are enthusiastic about examining the knee, for instance, we’ll match them together.”
• Consider using multiple types of assessments.  Capellini notes that exams and quizzes are administered in the first half of the course and scaffolded so that students can practice the skills they need to successfully apply course material in the final project. “Lots of the initial examples are hypothetical,” he explains, even grounded in fiction and pop culture references, “but [students] have to eventually apply the skills they learned in addressing the hypothetical example to their own real example and the data they generate” for the Evo-Devo project. This is coupled with a paper and a presentation treated like a conference talk.

Bottom line:  Capellini’s top advice for professors looking to help their own students grow as researchers is to ensure research projects are designed with intentionality and fully integrated into the syllabus. “You can’t simply tack it on at the end,” he underscores. “If you want this research project to be a substantive learning opportunity, it has to happen from Day 1.” That includes carving out time in class for students to work on it and make the connections they need to conduct research. “Listen to your students and learn about them personally” so you can tap into what they’re excited about. Have some fun in the course, and they’ll be motivated to do the work.

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Developing your research skills, research skills.

Research skills contribute to informed decision-making, improve problem-solving, and increase efficiency. They enable organizations to assess performance, identify areas for growth, and stay competitive in the market.

Individuals with strong research skills are seen as ready to gather new information and share it with others, which makes them valuable assets to colleagues and stakeholders. Developing your research skills can help you open opportunities for career advancement and even tackle complex personal problems.

In this guide, we’ll explore research skills, their benefits, and how you can apply them across different industries.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills are abilities you use to gather, review, and analyze information from various sources to answer a question or find a solution. They involve the capacity to locate, retrieve, and evaluate information from diverse sources, such as books, journals, publications, and databases, and more. 

Research skills are important across various industries because they allow you to conduct investigations, contribute to existing knowledge, and make informed decisions based on evidence.

Why Are Research Skills Important?

Research skills enable you and your organization to make decisions based on evidence rather than opinions or assumptions. Here are essential reasons why research skills matter in the workplace:

• Informed decision-making: Research skills involve analyzing relevant information to identify trends, evaluate different options, and weigh the pros and cons before choosing a course of action. By correctly analyzing information, you will be able to minimize risks, leverage opportunities, and make effective decisions.
• Quality assurance and improvement: When developing, maintaining, and improving the quality of products and services, research skills enable you to identify areas for improvement, gather customer feedback, and compare against industry best practices. You can help to enhance product quality and increase customer satisfaction.
• Customer insights and market understanding: Through extensive market research, you can understand your target audience, identify market trends, and assess the competitive landscape. This knowledge can help your organization develop effective marketing strategies and stay ahead of the competition.
• Thought leadership and expertise: Through continuous research, you can stay up to date with the latest advancements and emerging industry trends. This depth of knowledge positions you as a subject matter expert and thought leaders who can contribute to industry discussions and forums.

What Are the Benefits of Having Research Skills?

You can grow and excel in your professional journey by developing your research skills. Here are some of the long-term benefits of research skills:

• Enhanced academic performance: You can conduct effective research, critically evaluate information, and excel in academic assignments, projects, and research papers. Enhanced academic performance can lead to scholarships, academic recognition, and more opportunities for further education and career advancement.
• Increased credibility: By presenting well-supported arguments demonstrating expertise in your industry, you’ll cultivate trust and confidence in colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. These Colleagues will position you as a knowledgeable and reliable resource, which can open doors to leadership roles, consulting opportunities, and increased professional visibility.
• Changing perspectives: You’ll explore diverse viewpoints, challenge assumptions, and analyze different sources of information. This exposure allows you to consider alternative solutions and approach problems from multiple angles. Flexibility in thinking expands your creativity and innovation, making you well-equipped to thrive in dynamic work environments and seize new career opportunities.
• Problem-solving: Through gathering and analyzing data, identifying patterns, and drawing evidence-based conclusions, you’ll be able to develop well-informed solutions to various problems. Strong problem-solving skills can position you as a valuable asset in the workplace and increase your potential for career growth.

Examples of Research Skills in the Workplace

Research skills are essential for making informed decisions, driving innovation, and achieving successful outcomes across various industries.

Here are some of the practical ways you can use research skills in the workplace.

Information Gathering

You can utilize online databases, search engines, library resources, and specialized tools to find relevant and reliable information to support decision-making and problem-solving.

Data Analysis

Your ability to identify patterns, trends, and insights from datasets is crucial for developing critical thinking skills in research, identifying opportunities for improvement, and assessing the effectiveness of strategies.

Literature Review

By identifying relevant academic papers, books, and publications, and critically evaluating their content, you’ll be able to provide a comprehensive overview of a given subject.

Market Research

Market research helps you understand consumer preferences, market trends, and competitors. This type of research involves designing and administering surveys, analyzing market data, and interpreting findings to inform product development, marketing strategies, and business decision-making.

Research Proposal Writing

With solid research skills, you’ll have the ability to develop research proposals that outline the objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes of a research project. Research proposal writing includes conducting background research, selecting appropriate research methods, and justifying the significance of the study.

Project Management

In project management, strong research skills equip you to facilitate effective planning, organization, and execution of projects. Effectively managing a project includes setting project timelines, allocating resources, coordinating team members, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

How Can I Use Research Skills?

You can apply research skills across various careers. In education careers, you can keep up with the latest developments in edtech and keep tabs on learner needs. Here are various ways you can use these skills:

• Designing curriculum: In many education-related careers such as designing curriculum or coordinating instruction, you can utilize research to help create the best strategies for all students in the future. 
• Identify funding opportunities: You can pursue a career such as a grant writer , where you can utilize research skills to identify funding opportunities and develop compelling grant proposals. You can gather data and evidence to support the need for funding and to present persuasive cases for various initiatives.
• Conducting literature reviews: You can use your research skills to review existing literature and synthesize information on educational theories, teaching methods, and best practices, which will assist in developing a strong theoretical foundation for educational interventions.
• Designing and implementing studies: Research skills enable you to design and conduct studies to investigate educational phenomena. You can explore areas such as student learning outcomes, instructional strategies, curriculum development, and the impact of educational policies.
• Data collection and analysis: Research skills are crucial for gathering data through surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. You can then analyze the data using statistical techniques to draw meaningful conclusions and inform evidence-based decision-making

With healthcare careers, you’re equipped to use research skills in the workplace. For example:

Medical careers: You’ll use your research skills in the workplace as a registered nurse to stay updated with the latest medical advancements, treatment protocols, and nursing interventions. You can contribute to nursing research projects and participate in initiatives to enhance patient care and safety. As a medical laboratory technician , you can conduct research to analyze medical samples, perform tests, and interpret results. 

Research skills are also important for other medical careers such as PACU Nurse , patient advocate , legal nurse consultant , military nurse , nurse case manager , or even a community health worker .

• Clinical research: Research skills are valuable for conducting clinical studies, such as randomized controlled trials or observational studies. These studies can investigate the effectiveness of medical interventions, diagnostic methods, or preventive strategies
• Data analysis: Research skills allow you to analyze medical data, such as patient records, clinical trial data, or medical imaging results. This analysis can help identify patterns, trends, and correlations that contribute to medical decision-making.
• Evidence-based medicine: Research skills enable you to critically appraise scientific literature, evaluate the quality of studies, and assess the validity of research findings. These are crucial elements for integrating research evidence into medical practice and providing the best possible care to patients.

How Can I Learn Research Skills?

WGU offers various degree programs with coursework focusing on developing and enhancing your research skills.

WGU’s School of Education offers many degrees that can take your research skills to the next level. These include the B.A. in Educational Studies, M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, M.S. in Educational Leadership, and M.A. in Mathematics Education.  

In these programs, you’ll learn to:

• Synthesize research information obtained from multiple sources.
• Research complex educational issues.
• Gather information on a research topic from multiple sources.
• Evaluate research evidence for weaknesses, inconsistencies, biases, and other problems.
• Evaluate primary and secondary sources of research.
• Develop materials and methods for data collection, analysis, and retention.

WGU’s Leavitt School of Health offers a wide array of nursing degrees. For instance, you can learn health -related skills with our M.S. in Nursing or our Post-Master's Certificate in Nursing programs where you’ll learn to: 

• Use scientific knowledge to evaluate the validity of a claim.
• Present synthesized research data based on the health literacy level of the intended audience.
• Investigate a topic or phenomenon to provide optimal care.
• Develop evidence-based processes to decrease the cost of care.
• Consider research in response to innovative healthcare challenges.

Frequently Asked Questions

What specific skills are included in research skills.

Research skills include the following abilities:

• Information gathering
• Critical thinking 
• Data analysis 
• Problem-solving
• Literature review
• Effective communication

How can research skills benefit my career?

Research skills equip you to understand industry trends, evaluate market dynamics, and make informed decisions, which helps build your career. 

By enhancing your strategic thinking, problem-solving, and innovative capabilities, research skills not only differentiate you as a professional but also prime you for leadership roles. Simply put, research skills transform you into a strategic asset for your organization, instrumental in guiding your team and business toward sustained success.

How can I improve my research skills?

Follow these tips to improve your research skills:

• Familiarize yourself with research methodologies and tools.
• Develop effective information-gathering techniques and utilize reliable sources.
• Enhance your knowledge of data collection methods for research.
• Stay updated with current literature in your field of interest.
• Seek opportunities to engage in research projects, collaborate with others, and present your findings.
• Attend workshops, courses, or seminars on research methodology.

Can research skills be applied outside of academia and the workplace?

Research skills can be applied in personal decision-making, pursuing hobbies or personal projects, and making choices in everyday life. 

For example, if your hobby is home decor, you can research different styles and trends on Instagram and Pinterest to improve your living space. Additionally, WGU offers a vast online library that is a valuable resource for students. This online library provides access to a wide range of academic journals, books, articles, and other scholarly materials that are essential for conducting research.

You can also employ online research skills to set up a new appliance or fix something in your house like a broken gadget.

Find Your Degree

We have created a degree quiz to help you find the perfect program based on your interests and goals. 

Taking a few minutes of your time, the degree quiz will provide you with recommendations tailored to your preferences.

Take the degree quiz and embark on an educational journey that will set you on the path to success.

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Fostering students’ motivation towards learning research skills: the role of autonomy, competence and relatedness support

Louise maddens.

1 Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven and KU Leuven Campus Kulak Kortrijk, Etienne Sabbelaan 51 – bus 7800, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium

2 Itec, imec Research Group at KU Leuven, imec, Leuven, Belgium

3 Vives University of Applied Sciences, Kortrijk, Belgium

Fien Depaepe

Annelies raes.

In order to design learning environments that foster students’ research skills, one can draw on instructional design models for complex learning, such as the 4C/ID model (in: van Merriënboer and Kirschner, Ten steps to complex learning, Routledge, London, 2018). However, few attempts have been undertaken to foster students’ motivation towards learning complex skills in environments based on the 4C/ID model. This study explores the effects of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support (in Deci and Ryan, Psychol Inquiry 11(4): 227–268, https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01, 2000) in a 4C/ID based online learning environment on upper secondary school behavioral sciences students’ cognitive and motivational outcomes. Students’ cognitive outcomes are measured by means of a research skills test consisting of short multiple choice and short answer items (in order to assess research skills in a broad way), and a research skills task in which students are asked to integrate their skills in writing a research proposal (in order to assess research skills in an integrative manner). Students’ motivational outcomes are measured by means of students’ autonomous and controlled motivation, and students’ amotivation. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was set up in order to compare 233 upper secondary school behavioral sciences students’ outcomes among (1) a 4C/ID based online learning environment condition, and (2) an identical condition additively providing support for students’ need satisfaction. Both learning environments proved equally effective in improving students’ scores on the research skills test. Students in the need supportive condition scored higher on the research skills task compared to their peers in the baseline condition. Students’ autonomous and controlled motivation were not affected by the intervention. Although, unexpectedly, students’ amotivation increased in both conditions, students’ amotivation was lower in the need supportive condition compared to students in the baseline condition. Theoretical relationships were established between students’ need satisfaction, students’ motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation), and students’ cognitive outcomes. These findings are discussed taking into account the COVID-19 affected setting in which the study took place.

Introduction

Several scholars have argued that the process of learning research skills is often obstructed by motivational problems (Lehti & Lehtinen, 2005 ; Murtonen, 2005 ). Some even describe these issues as students having an aversion towards research (Pietersen, 2002 ). Examples of motivational problems are that students experience research courses as boring, inaccessible, or irrelevant to their daily lives (Braguglia & Jackson, 2012 ). In a research synthesis on teaching and learning research methods, Earley ( 2014 ) argues that students fail to see the relevance of research methods courses, are anxious or nervous about the course, are uninterested and unmotivated to learn the material, and have poor attitudes towards learning research skills. It should be mentioned that the studies mentioned above focused on the field of higher university education. In upper secondary education, to date, students’ motivation towards learning research skills has rarely been studied. As difficulties while learning research seem to relate to problems involving students’ previous experiences regarding learning research skills (Murtonen, 2005 ), we argue that fostering students’ motivation from secondary education onwards is a promising area of research.

The current study combines insights from instructional design theory and self-determination theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000 ), in order to investigate the cognitive and motivational effects of providing psychological need support (support for the need for autonomy, competence and relatedness) in a 4C/ID based (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ) online learning environment fostering upper secondary schools students’ research skills. In the following section, we elaborate on the definition of research skills in the understudied domain of behavioral sciences; on 4C/ID (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ) as an instructional design model for complex learning; and on self-determination theory and its related need theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). In addition, the research questions addressed in the current study are outlined.

Conceptual framework

Research skills.

As described by Fischer et al., ( 2014 , p. 29), we define research skills 1 as a broad set of skills used “to understand how scientific knowledge is generated in different scientific disciplines, to evaluate the validity of science-related claims, to assess the relevance of new scientific concepts, methods, and findings, and to generate new knowledge using these concepts and methods”. Furthermore, eight scientific activities learners engage in while performing research are distinguished, namely: (1) problem identification, (2) questioning, (3) hypothesis generation, (4) construction and redesign of artefacts, (5) evidence generation, (6) evidence evaluation, (7) drawing conclusions, and (8) communicating and scrutinizing (Fischer et al., 2014 ). Fischer et al. ( 2014 ) argue that both the nature of, and the weights attributed to each of these activities, differ between domains. Intervention studies aiming to foster research skills are almost exclusively situated in natural sciences domains (Engelmann et al., 2016 ), leaving behavioral sciences domains largely understudied. The current study focuses on research skills in the understudied domain of behavioral sciences. We refer to the domain of behavioral sciences as the study of questions related to how people behave, and why they do so. Human behavior is understood in its broadest sense, and is the study of object in fields of psychology, educational sciences, cultural and social sciences.

The design of the learning environments used in this study is based on an existing instructional design model, namely the 4C/ID model (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). The 4C/ID model has been proven repeatedly effective in fostering complex skills (Costa et al., 2021 ), and thus drew our attention for the case of research skills, as research skills can be considered complex skills (it requires learners to integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes while performing complex learning tasks). Since the 4C/ID model focusses on supporting students’ cognitive outcomes, it might not be considered as relevant from a motivational point of view. However, since we argue that a deliberately designed learning environment from a cognitive point of view is an important prerequisite to provide qualitative motivational support, we briefly sketch the 4C/ID model and its characteristics. The 4C/ID model has a comprehensive character, integrating insights from different theories and models (Merrill, 2002 ), and highlights the relevance of four crucial components: learning tasks, supportive information, part task-practice, and just-in-time information. Central characteristics of these four components are that (a) high variability in authentic learning tasks is needed in order to deal with the complexity of the task; (b) supportive information is provided to the students in order to help them build mental models and strategies for solving the task under study (Cook & McDonald, 2008 ); (c) part-task practice is provided for recurrent skills that need to be automated; and (d) just-in-time (procedural) information is provided for recurrent skills.

Taking into account students’ cognitive struggles regarding research skills, and the existing research on the role of support in fostering research skills (see for example de Jong & van Joolingen, 1998 ), the 4C/ID model was found suitable to design a learning environment for research skills. This is partly because of its inclusion of (almost) all of the support found effective in the literature on research skills, such as providing direct access to domain information at the appropriate moment, providing learners with assignments, including model progression, the importance of students’ involvement in authentic activities, and so on (Chi, 2009 ; de Jong, 2006 ; de Jong & van Joolingen, 1998 ; Engelmann et al., 2016 ). While mainly implemented in vocational oriented programs, the 4C/ID model has been proposed as a good model to design learning environments aiming to foster research skills as well (Bastiaens et al., 2017 ; Maddens et al., 2020b ). Indeed, acquiring research skills requires complex learning processes (such as coordinating different constituent skills). Overall, the 4C/ID model can be considered to be highly suitable for designing learning environments aiming to foster research skills. Given its holistic design approach, it helps “to deal with complexity without losing sight of the interrelationships between the elements taught” (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 , p. 5).

Although the 4C/ID model has been used widely to construct learning environments enhancing students’ cognitive outcomes (see for example Fischer, 2018 ), research focusing on students’ motivational outcomes related to the 4C/ID model is scarce (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). Van Merriënboer and Kirschner ( 2018 ) suggest self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000 ) and its related need theory as a sound theoretical framework to investigate motivation in relation to 4C/ID.

Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000 ) provides a broad framework for the study of motivation and distinguishes three types of motivation: amotivation (a lacking ability to self-regulate with respect to a behaviour), extrinsic motivation (extrinsically motivated behaviours, be they self-determined versus controlled), and intrinsic motivation (the ‘highest form’ of self-determined behaviour) (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). According to Deci and Ryan ( 2000 , p. 237), intrinsic motivation can be considered “a standard against which the qualities of an extrinsically motivated behavior can be compared to determine its degree of self-determination”. Moreover, the authors (Deci & Ryan, 2000 , p. 237) argue that “extrinsic motivation does not typically become intrinsic motivation”. As the current study focuses on research skills in an academic context in which students did not voluntary chose to learn research skills, and thus learning research skills can be considered instrumental (directed to attaining a goal), the current study focuses on students’ amotivation, and students’ extrinsic motivation, realistically striving for the most self-determined types of extrinsic motivation.

Four types of extrinsic motivation are distinguished by SDT (external regulation, introjection, identification, and integration). These types can be categorized in two overarching types of motivation (autonomous and controlled motivation). Autonomous motivation contains the integrated and identified regulation towards a task (be it because the task is considered interesting, or because the task is considered personally relevant respectively). Controlled motivation refers to the external and introjected regulation towards the task (as a consequence of external or internal pressure respectively) (Vansteenkiste et al., 2009 ). More autonomous types of motivation have been found to be related to more positive cognitive and motivational outcomes (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ).

SDT further maintains that one should consider three innate psychological needs related to students’ motivation. These needs are the need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relatedness. The need for autonomy can be described as the need to experience activities as being “concordant with one’s integrated sense of self” (Deci & Ryan, 2000 , p. 231). The need for competence refers to the need to feel effective when dealing with the environment (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). The need for relatedness contains the need to have close relationships with others, including peers and teachers (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). The satisfaction of these needs is hypothesized to be related to more internalization, and thus to more autonomous types of motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). This relationship has been studied frequently (for a recent overview, see Vansteenkiste et al., 2020 ). Indeed, research established the positive relationships between perceived autonomy (see for example Deci et al., 1996 ), perceived competence (see for example Vallerand & Reid, 1984 ), and perceived relatedness (see for example Ryan & Grolnick, 1986 for a self-report based study) with students’ more positive motivational outcomes. Apart from students’ need satisfaction, several scholars also aim to investigate need frustration as a different notion, as “it involves an active threat of the psychological needs (rather than a mere absence of need satisfaction)” (Vansteenkiste et al., 2020 , p. 9). In what follows, possible operationalizations are defined for the three needs.

Possible operationalizations of autonomy need support found in the literature are: teachers accepting irritation or negative feelings related to aspects of a task perceived as “uninteresting” (Reeve, 2006 ; Reeve & Jang, 2006 ; Reeve et al., 2002 ); providing a meaningful rationale in order to explain the value/usefulness of a certain task and stressing why involving in the task is important or why a rule exists (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ); using autonomy-supportive, inviting language (Deci et al., 1996 ); and allowing learners to regulate their own learning and to work at their own pace (Martin et al., 2018 ). Related to competence support, possible operationalizations are: providing a clear task rationale and providing structure (Reeve, 2006 ; Vansteenkiste et al., 2012 ); providing informational positive feedback after a learning activity (Deci et al., 1996 ; Martin et al., 2018 ; Vansteenkiste et al., 2012 ); providing an indication of progress and dividing content into manageable blocks (Martin et al., 2018 ; Schunk, 2003 ); and evaluating performance by means of previously introduced criteria (Ringeisen & Bürgermeister, 2015 ). Possible operationalizations concerning relatedness support are: teacher’s relational supports (Ringeisen & Bürgermeister, 2015 ); encouraging interaction between course participants and providing opportunities for learners to connect with each other (Butz & Stupnisky, 2017 ; van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ); using a warm and friendly approach or welcoming learners personally into a course (Martin et al., 2018 ); and offering a platform for learners to share ideas and to connect (Butz & Stupnisky, 2017 ; Martin et al., 2018 ).

In the current research, SDT is selected as a theoretical framework to investigate students’ motivation towards learning research skills, as, in contrast to other more purely goal-directed theories, it includes the concept of innate psychological needs or the Basic Psychological Need Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Ryan, 1995 ; Vansteenkiste et al., 2020 ), and it describes the relation between these perceived needs and students’ autonomous motivation: higher levels of perceived needs relate to more autonomous forms of motivation. The inclusion of this need theory is considered an advantage in the case of research skills because research revealed problems of students with respect to both their feelings of competence in relation to research skills (Murtonen, 2005 ), as their feelings of autonomy in relation to research skills (Martin et al., 2018 ), as was indicated in the introduction. As such, fostering students’ psychological needs while learning research skills seems a promising way of fostering students’ motivation towards learning research skills.

4C/ID and SDT

One study (Bastiaens et al., 2017 ) was found to implement need support in 4C/ID based learning environments, comparing a traditional module, a 4C/ID based module and an autonomy supportive 4C/ID based module in a vocational undergraduate education context. Autonomy support was operationalized by means of providing choice to the learners. No main effect of the conditions was found on students’ motivation. Surprisingly, providing autonomy support did also not lead to an increase in students’ autonomy satisfaction. Similarly, no effects were found on students’ relatedness and competence satisfaction. Remarkably, students did qualitatively report positive experiences towards the need support, but this did not reflect in their quantitatively reported need experiences. In a previous study performed in the current research trajectory, Maddens et al. ( under review ) investigated the motivational effects of providing autonomy support in a 4C/ID based online learning environment fostering students’ research skills, compared to a learning environment not providing such support. Autonomy support was operationalized as stressing task meaningfulness to the students. Based on insights from self-determination theory, it was hypothesized that students in the autonomy condition would show more positive motivational outcomes compared to students in the baseline condition. However, results showed that students’ motivational outcomes appeared to be unaffected by the autonomy support. One possible explanation for this unexpected finding was that optimal circumstances for positive motivational outcomes are those that allow satisfaction of autonomy, competence, ánd relatedness support (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Niemiec & Ryan, 2009 ), and thus, that the intervention was insufficiently powerful for effects to occur. Autonomy support has often been manipulated in experimental research (Deci et al., 1994 ; Reeve et al., 2002 ; Sheldon & Filak, 2008 ). However, the three needs are rarely simultaneously manipulated (Sheldon & Filak, 2008 ).

Integrated need support

Although not making use of 4C/ID based learning environments, some scholars have focused on the impact of integrated (autonomy, competence and relatedness) need support on learners’ motivation. For example, Raes and Schellens ( 2015 ) found differential effects of a need supportive inquiry environment on upper secondary school students’ motivation: positive effects on autonomous motivation were only found in students in a general track, and not in students in a science track. This indicates that motivational effects of need-supportive environments might differ between tracks and disciplines. However, Raes and Schellens ( 2015 ) did not experimentally manipulate need support, as the learning environment was assumed to be need-supportive and was not compared to a non-need supportive learning environment. Pioneers in manipulating competence, relatedness and autonomy support in one study are Sheldon and Filak ( 2008 ), predicting need satisfaction and motivation based on a game-learning experience with introductory psychology students. Relatedness support (mainly operationalized by emphasizing interest in participants’ experiences in a caring way) had a significant effect on intrinsic motivation. Competence support (mainly operationalized by means of explicating positive expectations) had a marginal significant effect on intrinsic motivation. No main effects on intrinsic motivation were found regarding autonomy support (mainly operationalized by means of emphasizing choice, self-direction and participants’ perspective upon the task). However, as is often the case in motivational research based on SDT, the task at hand was quite straight forward (a timed task in which students try to form as many words as possible from a 4 × 4 letter grid), and thus, the applicability of the findings for providing need support in 4C/ID based learning environments for complex learning might be limited.

In the preceding section, several operationalizations of need support were discussed. Deci and Ryan ( 2000 ) argue that optimal circumstances for positive motivational outcomes are those that allow satisfaction of autonomy, competence, ánd relatedness support. However, such integrated need support has rarely been empirically studied (Sheldon & Filak, 2008 ). In addition, research investigating how need support can be implemented in learning environments based on the 4C/ID model is particularly scarce (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). This study aims to combine insights from instructional design theory for complex learning (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ) in order to investigate the motivational effects of providing need support in a 4C/ID based learning environment for students’ research skills. A pretest-intervention-posttest design is set up in order to compare 233 upper secondary school behavioral sciences students’ cognitive and motivational outcomes among two conditions: (1) a 4C/ID based online learning environment condition, and (2) an identical condition additively providing support for students’ need satisfaction. The following research questions are answered based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data (see ‘method’): (1) Does a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment improve students’ research skills, as measured by a research skills test and a research skills task? ; ( 2) What is the effect of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support in a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment fostering students’ research skills, on students’ motivational outcomes (i.e. students’ amotivation, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, students’ perceived value/usefulness, and students’ perceived needs of competence, relatedness and autonomy)? ; (3) What are the relationships between students’ need satisfaction, students’ need frustration, students’ autonomous and controlled motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes (research skills test and research skills task)? ; (4) How do students experience need satisfaction and need frustration in a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment? .

The first three questions are answered by means of quantitative data. Since the learning environment is constructed in line with existing instructional design principles for complex learning, we hypothesize that both learning environments will succeed in improving students’ research skills (RQ1). Relying on insights from self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ), we hypothesize that providing need support will enhance students’ autonomous motivation (RQ2). In addition, we hypothesize students’ need satisfaction to be positively related to students’ autonomous motivation (RQ3). These hypotheses on the relationship between students’ needs and students’ motivation rely on Vallerands’ ( 1997 ) finding that changes in motivation can be largely explained by students’ perceived competence, autonomy and relatedness (as psychological mediators). More specifically, Vallerand ( 1997 ) argues that environmental factors (in this case the characteristics of a learning environment) influence students’ perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness, which, in turn, influence students’ motivation and other affective outcomes. In addition, based on the self-determination literature (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ), we expect students’ motivation to be positively related to students’ cognitive outcomes. In order to answer the fourth research question, qualitative data (students’ qualitative feedback on the learning environments) is analysed and categorized based on the need satisfaction and need frustration concepts (RQ4) in order to thoroughly capture the meaning of the quantitative results collected in light of RQ1–3. No hypotheses are formulated in this respect.

Methodology

Participants.

The study took place in authentic classroom settings in upper secondary behavioral sciences classes. In total, 233 students from 12 classes from eight schools in Flanders participated in the study. All participants are 11th or 12th grade students in a behavioral sciences track 2 in general upper secondary education in Flanders (Belgium). Classes were randomly assigned to one out of two experimental conditions. Of all 233 students, 105 students (with a mean age of 16.32, SD 0.90) worked in the baseline condition (of which 62% 11th grade students, 36% 12th grade students, and 2% not determined; and of which 31% male, 68% female, and 1% ‘other’), and 128 students (with a mean age of 16.02, SD 0.59) worked in the need supportive condition (of which 80% 11th grade students, and 20% 12th grade students; and of which 19% male, and 81% female). As the current study did not randomly assign students within classes to one out of the two conditions, this study should be considered quasi-experimental. Full randomization was considered but was not feasible as students worked in the learning environments in class, and would potentially notice the experimental differences when observing their peers working in the learning environment. As such, we argued that this would potentially cause bias in the study. By taking into account students’ pretest scores on the relevant variables (cognitive and motivational outcomes) as covariates, we aimed to adjust for inter-conditional differences. No such differences were found for students’ autonomous motivation t (226) =  − 0.115, p  < 0.909, d  = 0.015, and students’ amotivation t (226) =  − 0.658, p  < 0.511, d  =  − 0.088. However, differences were observed for students’ controlled motivation t (226) =  − 2.385, p  < 0.018, d  =  − 0.318, and students’ scores on the LRST pretest t (225) = − 5.200, p  < 0.001, d  =  − 0.695.

Study design and procedure

In a pretest session of maximum two lesson hours, the Leuven Research Skills Test (LRST, Maddens et al., 2020a ), the Academic Self-Regulation Scale (ASRS, Vansteenkiste et al., 2009 ), and four items related to students’ amotivation (Aydin et al., 2014 ) were administered in class via an online questionnaire, under supervision of the teacher. In the subsequent eight weeks, participants worked in the online learning environment, one hour a week. Out of the 233 participating students, 105 students studied in a baseline online learning environment. The baseline online learning environment 3 is systematically designed using existing instructional design principles for complex learning based on the 4C/ID model (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). All four components of the 4C/ID model were taken into account in the design process: regarding the first component, the learning tasks included real-life, authentic cases. More specifically, tasks were selected from the domains of psychology, educational sciences and sociology. As such, there was a large variety in the cases used in the learning tasks. This large variety in learning tasks is expected to facilitate transfer of learners’ research skills in a wide range of contexts. Furthermore, the tasks were ill-structured and required learners to make judgments, in order to provoke deep learning processes. Regarding the second component, supportive information was provided for complex tasks in the learning environment, such as formulating a research question, where students can consult general information on what constitutes a good research question, can consult examples or demonstrations of this general information, and can receive cognitive feedback on their answers (for example by means of example answers). Examples of the implementation of the third component (procedural information) are the provision of information on how to recognize a dependent and an independent variable by means of on-demand (just-in-time) presentation by means of pop-ups; information on how to use Boolean operators; and information on how to read a graph. To avoid split attention, this kind of information was integrated with the task environment itself (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). Finally, the fourth component, part-task-practice (by means of short tests) was implemented for routine aspects of research skills that should be automated, for example the formulation of a search query.

The remaining participating students ( n  = 128) completed an adapted version of the baseline online learning environment, in which autonomy, relatedness and competence support are provided. In total, need support consisted of 12 implementations (four implementations for each need), based on existing research on need support. An overview of these adaptations can be found in Tables ​ Tables1 1 and ​ and2. 2 . Although, ideally, students would work in class, under supervision of their teacher, this was not possible for all classes, due to the COVID-19 restrictions. 4 As a consequence, some students completed the learning environment partly at home. All students were supervised by their teachers (be it virtually or in class), and the researcher kept track of students’ overall activities in order to be able to contact students who did not complete the main activities. During the last two sessions of the intervention, participants submitted a two-pages long research proposal (“two-pager”). One week after the intervention, the LRST (Maddens et al., 2020a ), the ASRS (Vansteenkiste et al., 2009 ), four items related to students’ amotivation (Aydin et al., 2014 ), the value/usefulness scale (Ryan, 1982 ) and the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSNF, Chen et al., 2015 ) were administered in a posttest session of maximum two hours. Although most classes succeeded in organizing this posttest session in class, for some classes this posttest was administered at home. However, all classes were supervised by the teacher (be it virtually or in class). These contextual differences at the test moments will be reflected upon in the discussion section.

Adaptations online learning environment

Overview instruments

a When administered at both pretest and posttest level (see ‘procedure’), the internal consistency values are reported respectively

Instruments

In this section, we elaborate on the tests used during the pretest and the posttest. Example items for each scale are presented in Appendix 1.

Motivational outcomes

In the current study, two groups of motivational outcomes are assessed: (1) students’ need satisfaction and frustration, and students’ experiences of value/usefulness; and (2) students’ level of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation. When administered at both pretest and posttest level (see ‘procedure’), the internal consistency values are reported respectively.

The BPNSNF-training scale (The Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, Chen et al., 2015 ; translated version Aelterman et al., 2016 5 ) measured students’ need satisfaction and need frustration while working in the learning environment, and consists of 24 items (four items per scale): (autonomy satisfaction, α  = 0.67; ω = 0.67; autonomy frustration, α  = 0.76; ω = 0.76; relatedness satisfaction, α  = 0.79; ω = 0.79; relatedness frustration, α  = 0.60; ω = 0.61; competence satisfaction, α  = 0.72; ω = 0.73; competence frustration, α  = 0.68; ω = 0.67). The items are Likert-type items ranging from one (not at all true) to five (entirely true). Although the current study focusses mainly on students’ need satisfaction, the scales regarding students’ need frustration are included in order to be able to also detect students’ potential ill-being and in order to detect potential critical issues regarding students’ needs. In addition to the BPNSNF, by means of seven Likert-type items ranging from one (not at all true) to seven (entirely true), the (for the purpose of this research translated) value/usefulness scale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI, Ryan, 1982 ) measured to what extent students valued the activities of the online learning environment ( α  = 0.92; ω = 0.92). Since in the research skills literature problems have been observed related to students’ perceived value/usefulness of research skills (Earley, 2014 ; Murtonen, 2005 ), and this concept is not sufficiently stressed in the BPNSNF-scale, we found it useful to include this value/usefulness scale to the study. The difference in the range of the answer possibilities (one to five vs one to seven) exists because we wanted to keep the range as initially prescribed by the authors of each instrument. All motivational measures are calculated by adding the scores on every item, and dividing this sum score by the number of items on a scale, leading to continuous outcomes. Although the IMI and the BPNSNF targeted students’ experiences while completing the online learning environment, these measures were administered during the posttest. Thus, students had to think retrospectively about their experiences. In order to prevent cognitive overload while completing the online learning environment, these measures were not administered during the intervention itself.

Students’ autonomous and controlled motivation towards learning research skills was measured by means of the Dutch version of the Academic Self-Regulation Scale (ASRS; Vansteenkiste et al., 2009 ), adapted to ‘ research skills ’. The ASRS consists of Likert-type items ranging from one (do not agree at all) to five (totally agree), and contains eight items per subscale (autonomous and controlled motivation). In the autonomous motivation scale, four items are related to identified regulation, and four items are related to intrinsic motivation. 6 In the controlled motivation scale, four items are related to external regulation, and four items are related to introjected regulation. Both scales (autonomous motivation and controlled motivation) indicated good internal consistency for the study’s data (autonomous motivation: α  = 0.91; 0.92; ω = 0.90; 0.92; controlled motivation: α  = 0.83; 0.86; ω = 0.82; 0.85). The items were adapted to the domain under study (motivation to learn about research skills). Based on students’ motivational issues related to research skills, we found it useful to also include a scale to assess students’ amotivation. This was measured with (for the purpose of the current research translated) four items related to students’ amotivation regarding learning research skills, adapted from Academic Motivation Scale for Learning Biology (Aydin et al., 2014 ) ( α  = 0.80; 0.75; ω = 0.81; 0.75). Also this measure consist of Likert-type items ranging from one (do not agree at all) to five (totally agree).

Cognitive outcomes

Students’ research skills proficiency was measured by means of a research skills test (Maddens et al., 2020a ) and a research skills task.

The research skills test used in this study is the LRST (Maddens et al., 2020a ) consisting of a combination of 37 open ended and close ended items ( α  = 0.79; 0.82; ω = 0.78; ω = 0.80 for this data set), administered via an online questionnaire. Each item of the LRST is related to one of the eight epistemic activities regarding research skills as mentioned in the introduction (Fischer et al., 2014 ), and is scored as 0 or 1. The total score on the LRST is calculated by adding the mean subscale scores (related to the eight epistemic activities), and dividing them by eight (the number of scales). In a previous study (Maddens et al., 2020a ), the LRST was checked and found suitable in light of interrater reliability ( κ  = 0.89). As the same researchers assessed the same test with a similar cohort in the current study, the interrater reliability was not calculated for this study.

In the research skills task (“two pager task”), students were asked to write a research proposal of maximum two pages long. The concrete instructions for this research proposal are given in Appendix 1. In this research proposal, students were asked to formulate a research question and its relevance; to explain how they would tackle this research question (method and participants); to explain their hypotheses or expectations; and to explain how they would communicate their results. The two-pager task was analyzed using a pairwise comparison technique, in which four evaluators (i.e. the four authors of this paper) made comparative judgements by comparing two two-pagers at a time, and indicating which two-pager they think is best. All four evaluators are researchers in educational sciences and are familiar with the research project and with assessing students’ texts. This shared understanding and expertise is a prerequisite for obtaining reliable results (Lesterhuis et al., 2018 ). The comparison technique is performed by means of the Comproved tool ( https://comproved.com ). As described by Lesterhuis et al. ( 2018 , p. 18), “the comparative judgement method involves assessing a text on its overall quality. However, instead of requiring an assessor to assign an absolute score to a single text, comparative judgement simplifies the process to a decision about which of two texts is better”. In total, 1635 comparisons were made (each evaluator made 545 comparisons), and this led to a (interrater)reliability score of 0.79. In a next step, these comparative judgements were used to rank the 218 products (15 students did not submit a two-pager) on their quality; and the products were graded based on their ranking. This method was used to grade the two-pagers because it facilitates the holistic evaluation of the tasks, based on the judgement of multiple experts (interrater reliability).

Qualitative feedback

Students’ experiences with the online learning environment were investigated in the online learning environment itself. After completing the learning environment, students were asked how they experienced the tasks, the theory, the opportunity to post answers in the forum and to ask questions via the chat, what they liked or disliked in the online learning environment, and what they disliked in the online learning environment (Fig.  1 ).

Study overview

The first research question (” Does a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment improve students’ research skills, as measured by a research skills test and a research skills task?” ) is answered by means of a paired samples t -test in order to look for overall improvements in order to detect potential general trends, followed by a full factorial MANCOVA, as this allows us to investigate the effectiveness for both conditions taking into account students’ pretest scores. Hence, the condition is included as an experimental factor, and students’ scores on the LRST and the two-pager task are included as continuous outcome variables. Students’ pretest scores on the LRST are included as a covariate. Prior to the analysis, a MANCOVA model is defined taking into account possible interaction effects between the experimental factor and the covariate.

The second research question (“ What is the effect of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support in a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment fostering students’ research skills, on students’ motivational outcomes, i.e. students’ amotivation, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, students’ perceived value/usefulness, and students’ perceived needs of competence, relatedness and autonomy)?”) ;) is answered by means of a full factorial MANCOVA. The condition (need satisfaction condition versus baseline condition) is included as an experimental factor, and students’ responses on the value/usefulness, autonomous and controlled motivation, amotivation, and need satisfaction scales are included as continuous outcome variables. ASRS pretest scores (autonomous and controlled motivation) are included as covariates in order to test the differences between group means, adjusted for students’ a priori motivation. Prior to the analysis, a MANCOVA model is defined taking into account possible interaction effects between the experimental factor and the covariates, and assumptions to be met to perform a MANCOVA are checked. 7

The third research question ( “ What are the relationships between students’ need satisfaction, students’ need frustration, students’ autonomous and controlled motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes (research skills test and research skills task)?” ), is initially answered by means of five multiple regression analyses. The first three regressions include the need satisfaction and frustration scales, and students’ value/usefulness as independent variables, and students’ (1) autonomous motivation, (2) controlled motivation, and (3) amotivation as dependent variables. The fourth and fifth regressions include students’ autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation as independent variables, and students’ (4) LRST scores, and (5) scores on the two-pager task as dependent variables. As a follow-up analysis (see ‘ results ’) two additional regression analyses are performed to look into the direct relationships between students’ perceived needs and students’ experienced value/usefulness, with students’ cognitive outcomes (LRST (6) and two-pager (7)). As the goal of this analysis is to investigate the relationships between variables as described in SDT research, this analysis focuses on the full sample, rather than distinguishing between the two conditions. An ‘Enter’ method (Field, 2013 ) is used in order to enter the independent variables simultaneously (in line with Sheldon et al., 2008 ).

The fourth research question (“ How do students experience need satisfaction and need frustration in a deliberately designed (4C/ID-based) learning environment?” ) is analyzed by means of the knowledge management tool Citavi. Based on the theoretical framework, students’ experiences are labeled by the codes ‘autonomy satisfaction, autonomy frustration, competence satisfaction, competence frustration, relatedness satisfaction, and relatedness frustration’. For example, students’ quotes referring to the value/usefulness of the learning environment, are labeled as ‘autonomy satisfaction’ or ‘autonomy frustration’. Students’ references towards their feelings of mastery of the learning content are labeled as ‘competence satisfaction’ or ‘competence frustration’. Students’ quotes regarding their relationships with peers and teachers are labeled as ‘relatedness satisfaction’ or ‘relatedness frustration’ (Fig.  2 ).

Overview variables

Does the deliberately designed (4C/ID based) learning environments improve students’ research skills, as measured by a research skills test and a research skills task?

Paired samples t -test. A paired samples t -test reveals that, in general, students ( n  = 210) improved on the LRST-posttest ( M  = 0.57, SD  = 0.16) compared to the pretest ( M  = 0.51, SD  = 0.15) (range 0–1). The difference between the posttest and the pretest is significant t (209) =  − 8.215, p  < 0.001, d 8  =  − 0.567. The correlation between the LRST pretest and posttest is 0.70 ( p  < 0.010).

MANCOVA. A MANCOVA model ( n  = 196) was defined checking for possible interaction effects between the experimental factor and the covariate in order to control for the assumption of ‘independence of the covariate and treatment effect’ (Field, 2013 ). The covariate LRST pretest did not show significant interaction effects for the two outcome variables LRST post ( p  = 0.259) and the two-pager task ( p  = 0.702). The correlation between the outcome variables (LRST post and two-pager), is 0.28 ( p  < 0.050).

Of all 233 students, 36 students were excluded from the main analysis because of missing data (for example, because they were absent during a pretest or posttest moment). These students were excluded by means of a listwise deletion method because we found it important to use a complete dataset, since, in a lot of cases, students who did not complete the pretest or posttest, did also not complete the entire learning environment. Including partial data for these students could bias the results. The baseline condition counted 86 students, and the need satisfaction condition counted 111 students. Using Pillai’s Trace [ V  = 0.070, F (2,193) = 7.285, p  ≤ 0.001], there was a significant effect of the condition on the cognitive outcome variables, taking into account students’ LRST pretest scores. Separate univariate ANOVAs on the outcome variables revealed no significant effect of the condition on the LRST posttest measure, F (1,194) = 2.45, p  = 0.120. However, a significant effect of condition was found on the two-pager scores, F (1,194) = 13.69, p  < 0.001 (in the baseline group, the mean score was 6,6/20; in the need condition group, the mean score was 7,6/20). It should be mentioned that both scores are rather low.

What is the effect of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support in a deliberately designed (4C/ID based) learning environment fostering students’ research skills, on students’ motivational outcomes (students’ amotivation, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, students’ perceived value/usefulness, and students’ perceived needs of competence, relatedness and autonomy)?

Paired samples t -tests. The correlations between students’ pretest and posttestscores for the motivational measures are 0.67 ( p  < 0.010) for autonomous motivation; 0.44 ( p  < 0.010) for controlled motivation, and 0.38 for amotivation ( p  < 0.010). Regarding the differences in students’ motivation, three unexpected findings were observed. Overall, students’ ( n  = 215) amotivation was higher on the posttest ( M  = 2.26, SD  = 0.89) compared to the pretest ( M  = 1.77, SD  = 0.79) (based on a score between 1 and 5). The difference between the posttest and the pretest is significant t (214) =  − 7.69, p  < 0.001, d  =  − 0.524. Further analyses learn that the amotivation means in the baseline group increased with 0.65, and the amotivation in the need support group increased with 0.37. In addition, students’ ( n  = 215) autonomous motivation was higher on the pretest ( M  = 2.81, SD  = 0.81) compared to the posttest ( M  = 2.64, SD  = 0.82). The difference between the posttest and the pretest is significant t (214) = 3.72, p  < 0.001, d  = 0.254. Students’ mean scores on autonomous motivation in the baseline condition decreased with 0.19, and students’ autonomous motivation in the need support condition decreased with 0.15. Students’ ( n  = 215) controlled motivation was higher on the posttest ( M  = 2.33, SD  = 0.75) compared to the pretest ( M  = 1.93, SD  = 0.67). The difference between the posttest and the pretest is significant t (214) =  − 07.72, p  < 0.001, d  =  − 0.527. Students’ controlled motivation in the baseline group increased with 0.36, and students’ controlled motivation in the need support group increased with 0.43. However, overall, all mean scores are and stay below neutral score (below 3), indicating robust low autonomous, controlled and amotivation scores (see Table ​ Table3). 3 ). An independent samples T -test on the mean differences between these measures shows that the increases/decreases on autonomous motivation [ t (213) =  − 0.506, p  = 0.613, d  =  − 0.069] and controlled motivation [ t (213) =  − 0.656, p  = 0.513, d  =  − 0.090] did not differ between the two groups. However, the increases in amotivation [ t (213) = 2.196, p  = 0.029, d  = 0.301] does differ significantly between the two conditions. More specifically, the increase was lower in the need supportive condition compared to the baseline condition.

Mean scores and standard deviations motivational variables

a Overall, students’ ( n  = 215) autonomous motivation was significantly higher on the pretest compared to the posttest ( t (214) 3.72, p  ≤ 0.001, d  = 0.254

b Students’ (n = 215) controlled motivation was significantly higher on the posttest compared to the pretest ( t (214) =  − 7.72, p  ≤ 0.001, d  =  − 0.527

c Students’ ( n  = 215) amotivation was significantly higher on the posttest compared to the pretest ( t (214) =  − 07,69, p  ≤ 0.001, d  =  − 0.534)

MANCOVA. Of all 233 students, 18 students were excluded from the analysis because of missing data (for example, because they were absent during a pretest or posttest moment). Compared to the cognitive analyses, the amount of missing data is lower concerning motivational outcomes since, concerning the cognitive outcomes, some students did not complete the two-pager task. However, we found it important to use all relevant data and chose to report this is in a clear way. In total, the baseline condition counted 97 students, and the experimental condition counted 118 students. Similar to the analysis for the cognitive outcomes, a MANCOVA model was defined to check for possible interaction effects between the experimental factor and the covariate in order to control for the assumption of ‘independence of the covariate and treatment effect’ (Field, 2013 ). The covariates did not show significant interaction effects for the outcome variables. 9

Using Pillai’s Trace [ V  = 0.113, F (10,201) = 2.558, p  = 0.006], there was a significant effect of condition on the motivational variables, taking into account students’ autonomous and controlled pretest scores, and students’ a priori amotivation. Separate univariate ANOVAs on the outcome variables revealed a significant effect of the condition on the outcome variables amotivation, F (1,210) = 3.98, p  = 0.047; and relatedness satisfaction F (1,210) = 6.41, p  = 0.012. As was hypothesized, students in the need satisfaction group reported less amotivation ( M  = 2.38), compared to students in the baseline group ( M  = 2.18). In contrast to what was hypothesized, students in the need satisfaction group reported less relatedness satisfaction ( M  = 2.43) compared to students in the baseline group ( M  = 2.73), and no significant effects of condition were found on the outcome variables autonomous motivation post, controlled motivation post, value/usefulness, autonomy satisfaction, autonomy frustration, competence satisfaction, competence frustration, and relatedness frustration. Table ​ Table4 4 shows the correlations between the motivational outcome variables.

Correlations motivational outcome variables

AM autonomous motivation, CM controlled motivation, AMOT amotivation, VU value/usefulness, AS autonomy satisfaction, AF autonomy frustration, CS competence satisfaction, CF competence frustration, RS relatedness satisfaction, RF relatedness frustration

**Correlation is significant at the 0.010 level (2-tailed)

*Correlation is significant at the 0.050 level (2-tailed)

What are the relationships between students’ need satisfaction, students’ need frustration, students’ autonomous and controlled motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes (research skills test and research skills task)?

The third research question (investigating the relationships between students’ need satisfaction, students’ motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes), is answered by means of five multiple regression analyses. The first three regressions include the need satisfaction and frustration scales, and students value/usefulness as independent variables, and students’ (1) autonomous motivation, (2) controlled motivation, and (3) amotivation as dependent variables ( n  = 219). The fourth and fifth regressions include students’ autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation as independent variables, and students’ (4) LRST scores ( n  = 215), and (5) scores on the two-pager task as dependent variables ( n  = 206). Table ​ Table4 4 depicts the correlations for the first three analyses. Table ​ Table5 5 depicts the correlations for the last two analyses.

Correlations motivational and cognitive outcome variables

AM  autonomous motivation, CM  controlled motivation, AMOT  amotivation, LRST  score on LRST, Twopager  score on Twopager

In Table ​ Table3, 3 , we can see that students in both conditions experience average competence and autonomy satisfaction. However, students’ relatedness satisfaction seems low in both conditions. This finding will be further discussed in the discussion section. For autonomous motivation, a significant regression equation was found F (7,211) = 37.453, p  < 0.001. The regression analysis (see Table ​ Table5) 5 ) further reveals that all three satisfaction scores (competence satisfaction, relatedness satisfaction and autonomy satisfaction) contribute positively to students’ autonomous motivation, as does students’ experienced value/usefulness. Also for students’ controlled motivation a significant regression equation was found F (7,211) = 8.236, p  < 0.001, with students’ autonomy frustration and students’ relatedness satisfaction contributing to students’ controlled motivation. The aforementioned relationships are in line with the expectations. However, we noticed that relatedness satisfaction contributed to students’ controlled motivation in the opposite direction of what was expected (the higher students’ relatedness satisfaction, the lower students’ controlled motivation). This finding will be reflected upon in the discussion section. Also for students’ amotivation, a significant regression equation was found F (7,211) = 7.913, p  < 0.001. Students’ autonomy frustration, competence frustration and students’ value/usefulness contributed to students’ amotivation in an expected way. Also for cognitive outcomes related to the research skills test, a significant regression equation was found F (3,211) = 8.351, p  < 0.001. In line with the expectations, the regression analysis revealed that the higher students’ amotivation, the lower students’ scores on the research skills test. No significant regression equation was found for the outcome variable related to the research skills task F (3,202) = 0.954, p  < 0.416. For all regression equations, the R 2 and the exact regression weights are presented in Table ​ Table6 6 .

Linear model of predictors of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation, LRST scores, and two-pager scores with beta values, standard errors, standardized beta values and significance values

*Significant at .050 level

As a follow-up analysis and in order to better understand the outcomes, we decided to also look into the direct relationships between students’ perceived needs and students’ experienced value/usefulness, with students’ cognitive outcomes (LRST and two-pager) by means of two additional regression analyses. The motivation behind this decision relates to possible issues regarding the motivational measures used, which might complicate the investigation of indirect relationships (see discussion). The results are provided in Table ​ Table7, 7 , and show that both for the LRST and the two-pager, respectively, a significant [ F (7,207) = 4.252, p  < 0.001] and marginally significant regression weight [ F (7,199) = 2.029, p  = 0.053] was found. More specifically, students’ relatedness satisfaction and students’ perceived value/usefulness contribute to students’ scores on the two-pager and on the research skills test. As one would expect, we see that the higher students’ value/usefulness, the higher students’ scores on both cognitive outcomes. In contrast to one would expect, we found that the higher students’ relatedness satisfaction, the lower students’ scores on the cognitive outcomes. These findings are reflected upon in the discussion section.

Linear model of predictors of LRST scores, and two-pager scores with beta values, standard errors, standardized beta values and significance values

How do students experience need satisfaction and need frustration in a deliberately designed (4C/ID based) learning environment?

As was mentioned in the method section, the fourth research question was analysed by labelling students’ qualitative feedback by the codes ‘autonomy satisfaction, autonomy frustration, competence satisfaction, competence frustration, relatedness satisfaction, and relatedness frustration’. By means of this approach, we could analyse students’ need experiences in a fine grained manner. When students’ quotes were applicable to more than one code, they were labelled with different codes. In what follows, students’ quotes are indicated with the codes “BC” (baseline condition) or “NSC” (need satisfaction condition) in order to indicate which learning environment the student completed. Of all 233 students, 124 students provided qualitative feedback (44 in BC and 80 in NSC). In total, 266 quotes were labeled. Autonomy satisfaction was coded 40 times BC and 41 times in NSC; autonomy frustration was coded 13 times in BC and four times in NSC; competence satisfaction was coded 28 times in BC and 34 times in NSC; competence frustration was coded 31 times in BC and 27 times in NSC; relatedness satisfaction was coded 10 times in BC and 16 times in NSC; and relatedness frustration was coded five times in BC and 17 times in NSC. Several observations could be drawn from the qualitative data.

Related to autonomy satisfaction , in both conditions, several students explicitly mentioned the personal value and usefulness of what they had learned in the learning environment. While in the baseline condition, these references were often vague (“Now I know what people expect from me next year ”; “I think I might use this information in the future ”); some references appeared to be more specific in the need support condition (“I want to study psychology and I think I can use this information!”; “This is a good preparation for higher education and university ”; “I can use this information to write an essay ”; “I think the theory was interesting, because you are sure you will need it once. I don’t always have that feeling during a normal lesson in school”). In addition, students in both conditions mentioned that they found the material interesting, and that they appreciated the online format: “It’s different then just listening to a teacher, I kept interested because of the large variety in exercises and overall, I found it fun” (NSC).

Several comments were coded as ‘ autonomy frustration’ in both conditions. Some students indicated that they found the material “useless” (BC), or that “they did not remember that much” (BC). Others found the material “uninteresting” (BC), “heavy and boring” (NSC) or “not fun” (BC). In addition, some students “did not like to complete the assignments” (NSC), or “prefer a book to learn theory” (NSC).

Related to competence satisfaction , students in both conditions found the material “clear” (BC, NSC). In addition, students’ appreciated the example answers, the difficulty rate (“Some exercises were hard, but that is good. That’s a sign you’re learning something new” (NSC)), and the fact that the theory was segmented in several parts. In addition, students recognized that the material required complex skills: “I learned a lot, you had to think deeper or gain insights in order to solve the exercises” (NSC), “you really had to think to complete the exercises” (NSC). In the need satisfaction group, several quotes were labelled related to the specific need support provided. For example, students indicated that they appreciated the forum option: “If something was not clear, you could check your peer’s answers” (NSC). Students also valued the fact that they could work at their own pace: “I found it very good that we could solve everything at our own pace” (NSC); “good that you could choose your own pace, and if something was not clear to you, you could reread it at your own pace” (NSC). In addition, students appreciated the immediate feedback provided by the researcher “I found it very good that we received personal feedback from xxx (name researcher). That way, I knew whether I understood the theory correctly” (NSC); and the fact that they could indicate their progress “It was good that you could see how far you proceeded in the learning environment” (NSC).

In both the baseline and the need supportive condition, there were also several comments related to competence frustration . For example, students found exercises vague, unclear or too difficult. While students, overall, understood the theory provided, applying the theory to an integrative assignment appears to be very difficult: “I did understand the several parts of the learning environment, but I did not succeed in writing a research proposal myself” (NSC). “I just found it hard to respond to questions. When I had to write my two-pager research proposal, I really struggled. I really felt like I was doing it entirely wrong” (NSC)). In addition, a lot comments related to the fact that the theory was a lot to process in a short time frame, and therefore, students indicated that it was hard to remember all the theory provided. In addition, this led pressure in some students: “Sometimes, I experiences pressure. When you see that your peers are finished, you automatically start working faster.” (BC).

Concerning relatedness satisfaction , in the baseline condition, students appreciated the chat function “you could help each other and it was interesting to hear each other’s opinions about the topics we were working on” (BC). However, most students indicated that they did not make use of the chat or forum options. In the need satisfaction condition, students appreciated the forum and the chat function: “You knew you could always ask questions. This helped to process the learning material” (NSC), “My peers’ answers inspired me” (NSC), “Thanks to the chat function, I felt more connected to my peers” (NSC). In addition, students in the need satisfaction condition appreciated the fact that they could contact the researcher any time.

Several students made comments related to relatedness frustration . In both groups, students missed the ‘live teaching’: “I tried my best, but sometimes I did not like it, because you do not receive the information in ‘real time’, but through videos” (BC). In addition, students missed their peers: “We had to complete the environment individually” (BC). While some students appreciated the opportunity of a forum, other students found this possibility stressful: “I think the forum is very scary. I posted everything I had to, but I found it very scary that everyone can see what you post” (NSC). Others did not like the fact that they needed to work individually: “Sometimes I lost my attention because no one was watching my screen with me” (NSC); “I found it hard because this was new information and we could not discuss it with each other” (NSC); “I felt lonely” (NSC); “It is hard to complete exercises without the help of a teacher. In the future this will happen more often, so I guess I will have to get used to it” (NSC); “When I see the teacher physically, I feel less reluctant to ask questions” (NSC).

The current intervention study aimed at exploring the motivational and cognitive effects of providing need support in an online learning environment fostering upper secondary school students’ research skills. More specifically, we investigated the impact of autonomy, competence and relatedness support in an online learning environment on students’ scores on a research skills test, a research skills task, students’ autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation, need satisfaction, need frustration, and experienced value/usefulness. Adopting a pretest-intervention-posttest design approach, 233 upper secondary school behavioral sciences students’ motivational outcomes were compared among two conditions: (1) a 4C/ID inspired online learning environment condition (baseline condition), and (2) a condition with an identical online learning environment additively providing support for students’ autonomy, relatedness and competence need satisfaction (need supportive condition). This study aims to contribute to the literature by exploring the integration of need support for all three needs (the need for competence, relatedness and autonomy) in an ecologically valid setting. In what follows, the findings are discussed taking into account the COVID-19 affected circumstances in which the study took place.

As was hypothesized based on existing research (Costa et al., 2021 ), results showed significant learning gains on the LRST cognitive measure in both conditions, pointing out that the learning environments in general succeeded in improving students’ research skills. The current study did not find any significant differences in these learning gains between both conditions. Controlling for a priori differences between the conditions on the LRST pretest measure, students in the need support condition did exceed students in the baseline condition on the two-pager task. However, overall, the scores on the research skills task were quite low, pointing to the fact that students still seem to struggle in writing a research proposal. This task can be considered more complex (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ) than the research skills test, as students are required to combine their conceptual and procedural knowledge in one assignment. Indeed, in the qualitative feedback, students indicate that they understand the theory and are able to apply the theory in basic exercises, but that they struggle in integrating their knowledge in a research proposal. Future research could set up more extensive interventions explicitly targeting students’ progress while writing a research proposal, for example using development portfolios (van Merriënboer et al., 2006 ).

The effect of the intervention on the motivational outcome measures was investigated. Since we experimentally manipulated need support, this study hypothesized that students in the need supportive condition would show higher scores for autonomous motivation, value/usefulness and need satisfaction; and lower scores for controlled motivation, amotivation and need frustration compared to students in the baseline condition (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). However, the analyses showed that students in the conditions did not differ on the value/usefulness, autonomy satisfaction, autonomy frustration, competence satisfaction, competence frustration and relatedness frustration measures. In contrast to what was hypothesized, students’ in the baseline condition reported higher relatedness satisfaction compared to students in the need supportive condition. No differences were found in students’ autonomous motivation and controlled motivation. However, as was expected, students in the need supportive conditions did report lower levels of amotivation compared to students in the baseline condition. Still, for the current study, one could question the role of the need support in this respect, as the current intervention did not succeed in manipulating students’ need experiences. In what follows, possible explanations for these findings are outlined in light of the existing literature.

Need experiences

A first observation based on the findings as described above is that the intervention did not succeed in manipulating students’ need satisfaction, need frustration and value/usefulness in an expected way. One effect was found of condition on relatedness satisfaction, but in the opposite direction of what was expected. We did not find a conclusive explanation for this unanticipated finding, but we do argue that the COVID-19 related measures at play during the intervention could have impacted this result. This will be reflected upon later in this discussion (limitations). In both conditions, students seem to be averagely satisfied regarding autonomy and competence in the 4C/ID based learning environments. This might be explained by the fact that 4C/ID based learning environments inherently foster students’ perceived competence because of the attention for structure and guidance, and the fact that the use of authentic tasks can be considered autonomy supportive (Bastiaens & Martens, 2007). However, we see that students experience low relatedness satisfaction in both conditions. The fact that the learning environment was organized entirely online might have influenced this result. While one might also partly address this low relatedness satisfaction to the COVID-19 circumstances at play during the study, this hypothetical explanation does not hold entirely since also in a previous non COVID-affected study in this research trajectory (Maddens et al., under review ), students’ relatedness satisfaction was found to be low. This finding, combined with findings from students’ qualitative feedback clearly indicating relatedness frustration, we argue that future research could focus on the question as how to provide need for relatedness support in 4C/ID based learning environments. On a more general level, this raises the question how opportunities for discussions and collaboration can be included in 4C/ID based learning environments. For example, organizing ‘real classroom interactions’ or performing assignments in groups (see also the suggestion of van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ), might be important in fostering students’ relatedness satisfaction (Salomon, 2002 ) . As argued by Wang et al. ( 2019 ), relatedness support is clearly understudied, for a long time often even ignored, in the SDT literature. Recently, relatedness is beginning to receive more attention, and has been found a strong predictor of autonomous motivation in the classroom (Wang et al., 2019 ).

Possibly, the need support provided in the learning environment was insufficient or inadequate to foster students’ need experiences. However, as the implementations were based on the existing literature (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ), this finding can be considered surprising. In addition, we derive from the qualitative feedback that students seem to value the need support provided in the learning environment. These contradictory observations are in line with previous research (Bastiaens et al., 2017 ), and call for further investigation.

Autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation

A second observation is that, in both conditions, students seem to hold low autonomous motivation and low controlled motivation towards learning research. On average, also students’ amotivation is low. The fact that students are not amotivated to learn about research can be considered reassuring. However, the fact that students experience low autonomous motivation causes concerns, as we know this might negatively impact their learning behavior and intentions to learn (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Wang et al., 2019 ). However, this result is based on mean scores. Future research might look at these results at student level, in order to identify individual motivational profiles (Vansteenkiste et al., 2009 ) and their prevalence in upper secondary behavioral sciences education.

A third observation is that students’ autonomous and controlled motivation were not affected by the intervention. Since the intervention did not succeed in manipulating students’ need experiences, this finding is not surprising. In addition, this is in line with Bastiaens et al.’ ( 2017 ) study, not finding motivational effects of providing need support in 4C/ID based learning environments. However, the current study did confirm that—although still higher than at pretest level, see below—students in the need supportive condition reported lower amotivation compared to students in the baseline condition. As no amotivational differences were observed at pretest level, this might indicate that students’ self-reported motivation (autonomous and controlled motivation) and/or needs do not align with students’ experienced motivation and needs. As was mentioned, this calls for further research.

Theoretical relationships

In line with previous research (Wang et al., 2019 ), multiple regression analyses revealed that students’ need satisfaction (on all three measures) contributed positively to students’ autonomous motivation. In addition, also students’ perceived value/usefulness contributed positively to students’ autonomous motivation. Students’ competence frustration and autonomy frustration contributed positively to students’ amotivation, and students’ value/usefulness contributed negatively to students’ amotivation. Students’ autonomy frustration contributed positively to students’ controlled motivation. While all the aforementioned relationships are in line with the expectations (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Wang et al., 2019 ), an unexpected finding is that students’ relatedness satisfaction contributed positively to students’ controlled motivation. This contradicts previous research (Wang et al., 2019 ), reporting that relatedness contributes to controlled motivation negatively. However, previous research (Wang et al., 2019 ) did find controlled motivation to be positively related to pressure . Although we did not find a conclusive explanation for this unanticipated finding, one possible reason thus is that students who contacted their peers in the online learning environment (and thus felt more related to their peers), might have experienced pressure because they felt like their peers worked faster or in a different way. Indeed, in the qualitative feedback, we noticed that some students indicated they ‘rushed’ through the online learning environment because they noticed a peer working faster. This finding calls for further research.

Overall, the results indicate that the observed need variables contributed most to students’ autonomous motivation, compared to (reversed relationships in) students’ amotivation and students’ controlled motivation. As such, when targeting students’ motivation, fostering students’ autonomous motivation based on students’ need experiences seems most promising. This is in line with previous research (Wang et al., 2019 ) reporting high correlations between students’ needs and students’ autonomous motivation, compared to students’ controlled motivation. We also investigated the relationships between students’ motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes. In line with a previously conducted study in this research trajectory (Maddens et al., under review ), but in contrast to what was hypothesized based on the existing literature (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Grolnick et al., 1991 ; Reeve, 2006 ) we found that nor students’ autonomous motivation, nor students’ controlled motivation contributed to students’ scores on the research skills test. However, we did find that students’ amotivation contributed negatively to students’ LRST scores. As such, when targeting students’ cognitive outcomes in educational programs, one might pay explicit attention to preventing amotivation. This is in line with previous research conducted in other domains, reporting that amotivation plays an important role in predicting mathematics achievement (Leroy & Bressoux, 2016 ), while this relationship was not found in other motivation types. Related to research skills, the current research suggests that preventing competence frustration and autonomy frustration, and fostering students’ experiences of value/usefulness might be especially promising to reach this goal.

Initially, we did not plan any analyses investigating the direct relationships between students’ needs and students’ cognitive outcomes, partly because previous research (Vallerand & Losier, 1999 ) suggests that the relationships between need satisfaction and (cognitive) outcomes are mediated by the types of motivation. To this end, we investigated the relationships between students’ needs and students’ motivation, separately from the relationships between students’ motivation and students’ cognitive outcomes. However, because of potential issues with the motivational measures (see earlier), which possibly hampers the interpretation of the relationships between students’ needs, students’ motivation, and students’ cognitive outcomes, we decided to also directly assess the regression weights of students’ needs and students’ perceived value/usefulness, on students’ cognitive outcomes. Results revealed that, in line with the expectations, students’ perceived value/usefulness contributed positively to students’ LRST scores and two-pager scores, which potentially stresses the importance of value/usefulness, not only for motivational purposes, but also for cognitive purposes. This is in line with previous research (Assor et al., 2002 ), establishing relationships between fostering relevance and students’ behavioral and cognitive engagement (which potentially leads to better cognitive outcomes). In contrast to the expectations, students’ relatedness satisfaction was found to be negatively related to students’ scores on the LRST and the two-pager. However, again, this surprising finding is best interpreted in light of the COVID-10 pandemic (see earlier).

Limitations

This study faced some reliability issues given the time frame in which the study took place. Due to the COVID-19-restrictions at play at the time of study, the study plan needed to be revised several times in collaboration with teachers in order to be able to complete the interventions. In addition, it is very likely that students’ motivation (and relatedness satisfaction) was influenced by the COVID 19-restrictions. For example, due to the restrictions, in the last phase of the intervention, students could only be present at school halftime, and therefore, some students worked from home while others worked in the classroom. In the qualitative feedback, students reported several COVID-19 related frustrations (it was too cold in class because teachers were obligated to open the windows; students needed to frequently disinfect their computers…). Also the teachers mentioned that students suffered from low well-being during the COVID-19 time frame (see further), and as such, this affected their motivation. Although all efforts were undertaken in order for the study to take place as controlled as possible, results should be interpreted in light of this time frame. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ self-reported motivation has been established in recent research (Daniels et al., 2021 ). Overall, one could question to what extent we can expect an intervention at microlevel (manipulating need support in learning environments) to work, when the study takes place in a time frame where students’ need experiences are seriously threatened by the circumstances.

Decreasing motivation

Students’ motivation evolved in a non-desirable way in both conditions. This unexpected finding (decreasing motivation) might be explained by four possible reasons: a first explanation is that asking students to fill out the same questionnaire at posttest and pretest level might lead to frustration and lower reported motivation (Kosovich et al., 2017 ). Indeed, students spent a lot of time working in the online learning environment, so filling out another motivational questionnaire on top of the intervention might have added to the frustration (Kosovich et al., 2017 ). A second explanation is that students’ motivation naturally declines over time (which is a common finding in the motivational literature, Kosovich et al., 2017 ). A third explanation is that students, indeed, felt less motivated towards research skills after having completed the online learning environment. For example, the qualitative data indicated that a lot of students acknowledged the fact that the learning environment was useful, but that personally, they were not interested in learning the material. In addition, students indicated that the learning material was a lot to process in a short time frame, and was new to them, which might have negatively impacted their motivation. The latter (students indicating that the learning material was extensive) might indicate that students experienced high cognitive load (Paas & van Merriënboer, 1994; Sweller et al., 1994 ) while completing the learning environment. A fourth explanation is that, due to the COVID19-restrictions, students lost motivation during the learning process. A post-intervention survey in which we asked teachers about the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on students’ motivation indicated that some students experienced low well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus, this might have hampered their motivation to learn. In addition, a teacher mentioned that COVID-19 in general was very demotivating for the students, and that students had troubles concentrating due to the fact they felt isolated. As was mentioned, the impact of COVID-19 on students’ motivation has been well described in the literature (Daniels et al., 2021 ). Although, in the current study, we cannot prove the impact of these measures on students’ motivation specifically towards learning research skills, it is important to take this context into account when interpreting the results.

Students’ learning behavior

Based on students’ qualitative feedback, we have reasons to believe that students did not always work in the learning environment as we would want them to do. Thus, students did not interact with the need support in the intended way (‘instructional disobedient behavior’: Elen, 2020 ). For example, several students reported that they did not always read all the material, did not make use of the forum, or did not notice certain messages from the researcher. However, the current research did not specifically look into students’ learning behavior in the learning environment. In learning environments organized online, future researchers might want to investigate students’ online behavior in order to gain insights in students’ interactions with the learning environment.

This study aims to contribute to theory and practice. Firstly, this study defines the 4C/ID model (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ) as a good theoretical framework in order to design learning environments aiming to foster students’ research skills. However, this study also points to students’ struggling in writing a research proposal, which might lead to more specific intervention studies especially focussing on monitoring students’ progress while performing such tasks. Secondly, this study clearly elaborates on the operationalizations of need support used, and as such, might inform instructional designers in order to implement need support in an integrated manner (including competence, relatedness and autonomy support). Future interventions might want to track and monitor students’ learning behavior in order for students to interact with the learning environment as expected (Elen, 2020 ). Thirdly, this study established theoretical relationships between students’ needs, motivation and cognitive outcomes, which might be useful information for researchers aiming to investigate students’ motivation towards learning research skills in the future. Based on the findings, future researchers might especially involve in research fostering students’ autonomous motivation by means of providing need support; and avoiding students’ amotivation in order to enhance students’ cognitive outcomes. Suggestions are made based on the need support and frustration measures relating to these motivational and cognitive outcomes. For example, fostering students’ value/usefulness seems promising for both cognitive and motivational outcomes. Fourthly, although we did not succeed in manipulating students’ need experiences, we did gain insights in students’ experiences with the need support by means of the qualitative data. For example, the irreplaceable role of teachers in motivating students has been exposed. This study can be considered innovative because of its aim to inspect both students’ cognitive and motivational outcomes after completing a 4C/ID based educational program (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018 ). In addition, this study implements integrated need support rather than focusing on a single need (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Sheldon & Filak, 2008 ).

Acknowledgements

This study was carried out within imec’s Smart Education research programme, with support from the Flemish government.

Appendix: Overview test instruments

• Instructions 2-pager (Maddens, Depaepe, Raes, & Elen, under review)

Write a research proposal for a fictional study.

In a Word-document of maximum two pages…

• You describe a research question and the importance of this research question
• You explain how you would answer this research question (manner of data collection and target group)
• You explain what your expectations are, and how you will report your results.

To do so, you receive 2 hours.

Post your research proposal here.

Good luck and thank you for your activity in the RISSC-environment!

Declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

All ethical and GDPR-related guidelines were followed as required for conducting human research and were approved by SMEC (Social and Societal Ethics Committee).

1 Fischer et al. ( 2014 ) refer to these research skills as scientific reasoning skills.

2 In Flanders, during the time of study, four different types of education are offered from the second stage of secondary education onwards (EACEA, 2018) (general secondary education, technical secondary education, secondary education in the arts and vocational secondary education). Behavioral sciences is a track in general secondary education.

3 For a complete overview on the design and the evaluation of this learning environment, see Maddens et al ( 2020b ).

4 During the time of study, the COVID-19 restrictions became more strict: students in upper secondary education could only come to school half of the time. Therefore, some students completed the last modules of the learning environment at home.

5 The BPNSNF-training scale is initially constructed to evaluate motivation related to workshops. The phrasing was adjusted slightly in order for the suitability for the current study. For example, we changed the wording ‘during the past workshop…’ to ‘while completing the online learning environment…’.

6 In the current study, we would label the items categorized as ‘intrinsic motivation’ in ASRS (finding something interesting, fun, fascinating or a pleasant activity) as ‘integration’. In SDT (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ; Deci et al., 2017 ), integration is described as being “fully volitional”, or “wholeheartedly engaged”, and it is argued that fully internalized extrinsic motivation does not typically become intrinsic motivation, but rather remains extrinsic even though fully volitional (because it is still instrumental). In the context of the current study, in which students learn about research skills because this is instructed (thus, out of instrumental motivations), we think that the term integration is more applicable than pure intrinsic motivation in self-initiated contexts (which can be observed for example in children’s play or in sports).

7 Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances was significant for the outcome “two-pager”. However, we continued with the analyses since the treatment group sizes are roughly equal, and thus, the assumption of homogeneity of variances does not need to be considered (Field, 2013 ). Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances was non-significant for all the other outcome measures.

8 Cohen’s D is calculated in SPSS by means of the formula: D = M 1 - M 2 Sp

Condition x autonomous motivation pretest Value/usefulness: p  = 0.251; autonomous motivation: p  = 0.269; controlled motivation: p  = 0.457; amotivation: p  = 0.219; autonomy satisfaction: p  = 0.794; autonomy frustration: p  = 0.096; competence satisfaction: p  = 0.682; competence frustration: p  = 0.699; relatedness satisfaction: p  = 0.943; relatedness frustration: p  = 0.870.

Condition x controlled motivation pretest Value/usefulness: p  = 0.882; autonomous motivation: p  = 0.270; controlled motivation: p  = 0.782; amotivation: p  = 0.940; autonomy satisfaction: p  = 0.815; autonomy frustration: p  = 0.737; competence satisfaction: p  = 0.649; competence frustration: p  = 0.505; relatedness satisfaction: p  = 0.625; relatedness frustration: p  = 0.741.

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The Most Important Research Skills (With Examples)

• What Are Hard Skills?
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• What Are What Are Life Skills?
• What Are Social Media Skills Resume?
• What Are Administrative Skills?
• What Are Analytical Skills?
• What Are Research Skills?
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Research skills are the ability to find out accurate information on a topic. They include being able to determine the data you need, find and interpret those findings, and then explain that to others. Being able to do effective research is a beneficial skill in any profession, as data and research inform how businesses operate.

Whether you’re unsure of your research skills or are looking for ways to further improve them, then this article will cover important research skills and how to become even better at research.

Key Takeaways

Having strong research skills can help you understand your competitors, develop new processes, and build your professional skills in addition to aiding you in finding new customers and saving your company money.

Some of the most valuable research skills you can have include goal setting, data collection, and analyzing information from multiple sources.

You can and should put your research skills on your resume and highlight them in your job interviews.

What are research skills?

Why are research skills important, 12 of the most important research skills, how to improve your research skills, highlighting your research skills in a job interview, how to include research skills on your resume, resume examples showcasing research skills, research skills faqs.

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Research skills are the necessary tools to be able to find, compile, and interpret information in order to answer a question. Of course, there are several aspects to this. Researchers typically have to decide how to go about researching a problem — which for most people is internet research.

In addition, you need to be able to interpret the reliability of a source, put the information you find together in an organized and logical way, and be able to present your findings to others. That means that they’re comprised of both hard skills — knowing your subject and what’s true and what isn’t — and soft skills. You need to be able to interpret sources and communicate clearly.

Research skills are useful in any industry, and have applications in innovation, product development, competitor research, and many other areas. In addition, the skills used in researching aren’t only useful for research. Being able to interpret information is a necessary skill, as is being able to clearly explain your reasoning.

Research skills are used to:

Do competitor research. Knowing what your biggest competitors are up to is an essential part of any business. Researching what works for your competitors, what they’re doing better than you, and where you can improve your standing with the lowest resource expenditure are all essential if a company wants to remain functional.

Develop new processes and products. You don’t have to be involved in research and development to make improvements in how your team gets things done. Researching new processes that make your job (and those of your team) more efficient will be valued by any sensible employer.

Foster self-improvement. Folks who have a knack and passion for research are never content with doing things the same way they’ve always been done. Organizations need independent thinkers who will seek out their own answers and improve their skills as a matter of course. These employees will also pick up new technologies more easily.

Manage customer relationships. Being able to conduct research on your customer base is positively vital in virtually every industry. It’s hard to move products or sell services if you don’t know what people are interested in. Researching your customer base’s interests, needs, and pain points is a valuable responsibility.

Save money. Whether your company is launching a new product or just looking for ways to scale back its current spending, research is crucial for finding wasted resources and redirecting them to more deserving ends. Anyone who proactively researches ways that the company can save money will be highly appreciated by their employer.

Solve problems. Problem solving is a major part of a lot of careers, and research skills are instrumental in making sure your solution is effective. Finding out the cause of the problem and determining an effective solution both require accurate information, and research is the best way to obtain that — be it via the internet or by observation.

Determine reliable information. Being able to tell whether or not the information you receive seems accurate is a very valuable skill. While research skills won’t always guarantee that you’ll be able to tell the reliability of the information at first glance, it’ll prevent you from being too trusting. And it’ll give the tools to double-check .

Experienced researchers know that worthwhile investigation involves a variety of skills. Consider which research skills come naturally to you, and which you could work on more.

Data collection . When thinking about the research process, data collection is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is the nuts and bolts of research. How data is collected can be flexible.

For some purposes, simply gathering facts and information on the internet can fulfill your need. Others may require more direct and crowd-sourced research. Having experience in various methods of data collection can make your resume more impressive to recruiters.

Data collection methods include: Observation Interviews Questionnaires Experimentation Conducting focus groups

Analysis of information from different sources. Putting all your eggs in one source basket usually results in error and disappointment. One of the skills that good researchers always incorporate into their process is an abundance of sources. It’s also best practice to consider the reliability of these sources.

Are you reading about U.S. history on a conspiracy theorist’s blog post? Taking facts for a presentation from an anonymous Twitter account?

If you can’t determine the validity of the sources you’re using, it can compromise all of your research. That doesn’t mean just disregard anything on the internet but double-check your findings. In fact, quadruple-check. You can make your research even stronger by turning to references outside of the internet.

Examples of reliable information sources include: Published books Encyclopedias Magazines Databases Scholarly journals Newspapers Library catalogs

Finding information on the internet. While it can be beneficial to consulate alternative sources, strong internet research skills drive modern-day research.

One of the great things about the internet is how much information it contains, however, this comes with digging through a lot of garbage to get to the facts you need. The ability to efficiently use the vast database of knowledge that is on the internet without getting lost in the junk is very valuable to employers.

Internet research skills include: Source checking Searching relevant questions Exploring deeper than the first options Avoiding distraction Giving credit Organizing findings

Interviewing. Some research endeavors may require a more hands-on approach than just consulting internet sources. Being prepared with strong interviewing skills can be very helpful in the research process.

Interviews can be a useful research tactic to gain first-hand information and being able to manage a successful interview can greatly improve your research skills.

Interviewing skills involves: A plan of action Specific, pointed questions Respectfulness Considering the interview setting Actively Listening Taking notes Gratitude for participation

Report writing. Possessing skills in report writing can assist you in job and scholarly research. The overall purpose of a report in any context is to convey particular information to its audience.

Effective report writing is largely dependent on communication. Your boss, professor , or general reader should walk away completely understanding your findings and conclusions.

Report writing skills involve: Proper format Including a summary Focusing on your initial goal Creating an outline Proofreading Directness

Critical thinking. Critical thinking skills can aid you greatly throughout the research process, and as an employee in general. Critical thinking refers to your data analysis skills. When you’re in the throes of research, you need to be able to analyze your results and make logical decisions about your findings.

Critical thinking skills involve: Observation Analysis Assessing issues Problem-solving Creativity Communication

Planning and scheduling. Research is a work project like any other, and that means it requires a little forethought before starting. Creating a detailed outline map for the points you want to touch on in your research produces more organized results.

It also makes it much easier to manage your time. Planning and scheduling skills are important to employers because they indicate a prepared employee.

Planning and scheduling skills include: Setting objectives Identifying tasks Prioritizing Delegating if needed Vision Communication Clarity Time-management

Note-taking. Research involves sifting through and taking in lots of information. Taking exhaustive notes ensures that you will not neglect any findings later and allows you to communicate these results to your co-workers. Being able to take good notes helps summarize research.

Examples of note-taking skills include: Focus Organization Using short-hand Keeping your objective in mind Neatness Highlighting important points Reviewing notes afterward

Communication skills. Effective research requires being able to understand and process the information you receive, either written or spoken. That means that you need strong reading comprehension and writing skills — two major aspects of communication — as well as excellent listening skills.

Most research also involves showcasing your findings. This can be via a presentation. , report, chart, or Q&A. Whatever the case, you need to be able to communicate your findings in a way that educates your audience.

Communication skills include: Reading comprehension Writing Listening skills Presenting to an audience Creating graphs or charts Explaining in layman’s terms

Time management. We’re, unfortunately, only given 24 measly hours in a day. The ability to effectively manage this time is extremely powerful in a professional context. Hiring managers seek candidates who can accomplish goals in a given timeframe.

Strong time management skills mean that you can organize a plan for how to break down larger tasks in a project and complete them by a deadline. Developing your time management skills can greatly improve the productivity of your research.

Time management skills include: Scheduling Creating task outlines Strategic thinking Stress-management Delegation Communication Utilizing resources Setting realistic expectations Meeting deadlines

Using your network. While this doesn’t seem immediately relevant to research skills, remember that there are a lot of experts out there. Knowing what people’s areas of expertise and asking for help can be tremendously beneficial — especially if it’s a subject you’re unfamiliar with.

Your coworkers are going to have different areas of expertise than you do, and your network of people will as well. You may even know someone who knows someone who’s knowledgeable in the area you’re researching. Most people are happy to share their expertise, as it’s usually also an area of interest to them.

Networking involves: Remembering people’s areas of expertise Being willing to ask for help Communication Returning favors Making use of advice Asking for specific assistance

Attention to detail. Research is inherently precise. That means that you need to be attentive to the details, both in terms of the information you’re gathering, but also in where you got it from. Making errors in statistics can have a major impact on the interpretation of the data, not to mention that it’ll reflect poorly on you.

There are proper procedures for citing sources that you should follow. That means that your sources will be properly credited, preventing accusations of plagiarism. In addition, it means that others can make use of your research by returning to the original sources.

Attention to detail includes: Double checking statistics Taking notes Keeping track of your sources Staying organized Making sure graphs are accurate and representative Properly citing sources

As with many professional skills, research skills serve us in our day to day life. Any time you search for information on the internet, you’re doing research. That means that you’re practicing it outside of work as well. If you want to continue improving your research skills, both for professional and personal use, here are some tips to try.

Differentiate between source quality. A researcher is only as good as their worst source. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you use, and be suspicious of everything your read until you check out the attributions and works cited.

Be critical and ask yourself about the author’s bias, where the author’s research aligns with the larger body of verified research in the field, and what publication sponsored or published the research.

Use multiple resources. When you can verify information from a multitude of sources, it becomes more and more credible. To bolster your faith in one source, see if you can find another source that agrees with it.

Don’t fall victim to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when a researcher expects a certain outcome and then goes to find data that supports this hypothesis. It can even go so far as disregarding anything that challenges the researcher’s initial hunch. Be prepared for surprising answers and keep an open mind.

Be open to the idea that you might not find a definitive answer. It’s best to be honest and say that you found no definitive answer instead of just confirming what you think your boss or coworkers expect or want to hear. Experts and good researchers are willing to say that they don’t know.

Stay organized. Being able to cite sources accurately and present all your findings is just as important as conducting the research itself. Start practicing good organizational skills , both on your devices and for any physical products you’re using.

Get specific as you go. There’s nothing wrong with starting your research in a general way. After all, it’s important to become familiar with the terminology and basic gist of the researcher’s findings before you dig down into all the minutia.

A job interview is itself a test of your research skills. You can expect questions on what you know about the company, the role, and your field or industry more generally. In order to give expert answers on all these topics, research is crucial.

Start by researching the company . Look into how they communicate with the public through social media, what their mission statement is, and how they describe their culture.

Pay close attention to the tone of their website. Is it hyper professional or more casual and fun-loving? All of these elements will help decide how best to sell yourself at the interview.

Next, research the role. Go beyond the job description and reach out to current employees working at your desired company and in your potential department. If you can find out what specific problems your future team is or will be facing, you’re sure to impress hiring managers and recruiters with your ability to research all the facts.

Finally, take time to research the job responsibilities you’re not as comfortable with. If you’re applying for a job that represents increased difficulty or entirely new tasks, it helps to come into the interview with at least a basic knowledge of what you’ll need to learn.

Research projects require dedication. Being committed is a valuable skill for hiring managers. Whether you’ve had research experience throughout education or a former job, including it properly can boost the success of your resume .

Consider how extensive your research background is. If you’ve worked on multiple, in-depth research projects, it might be best to include it as its own section. If you have less research experience, include it in the skills section .

Focus on your specific role in the research, as opposed to just the research itself. Try to quantify accomplishments to the best of your abilities. If you were put in charge of competitor research, for example, list that as one of the tasks you had in your career.

If it was a particular project, such as tracking the sale of women’s clothing at a tee-shirt company, you can say that you “directed analysis into women’s clothing sales statistics for a market research project.”

Ascertain how directly research skills relate to the job you’re applying for. How strongly you highlight your research skills should depend on the nature of the job the resume is for. If research looks to be a strong component of it, then showcase all of your experience.

If research looks to be tangential, then be sure to mention it — it’s a valuable skill — but don’t put it front and center.

Example #1: Academic Research

Simon Marks 767 Brighton Blvd. | Brooklyn, NY, 27368 | (683)-262-8883 | [email protected] Diligent and hardworking recent graduate seeking a position to develop professional experience and utilize research skills. B.A. in Biological Sciences from New York University. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Lixus Publishing , Brooklyn, NY Office Assistant- September 2018-present Scheduling and updating meetings Managing emails and phone calls Reading entries Worked on a science fiction campaign by researching target demographic Organizing calendars Promoted to office assistant after one year internship Mitch’s Burgers and Fries , Brooklyn, NY Restaurant Manager , June 2014-June 2018 Managed a team of five employees Responsible for coordinating the weekly schedule Hired and trained two employees Kept track of inventory Dealt with vendors Provided customer service Promoted to restaurant manager after two years as a waiter Awarded a $2.00/hr wage increase SKILLS Writing Scientific Research Data analysis Critical thinking Planning Communication RESEARCH Worked on an ecosystem biology project with responsibilities for algae collection and research (2019) Lead a group of freshmen in a research project looking into cell biology (2018) EDUCATION New York University Bachelors in Biological Sciences, September 2016-May 2020

Example #2: Professional Research

Angela Nichols 1111 Keller Dr. | San Francisco, CA | (663)-124-8827 |[email protected] Experienced and enthusiastic marketer with 7 years of professional experience. Seeking a position to apply my marketing and research knowledge. Skills in working on a team and flexibility. EXPERIENCE Apples amp; Oranges Marketing, San Francisco, CA Associate Marketer – April 2017-May 2020 Discuss marketing goals with clients Provide customer service Lead campaigns associated with women’s health Coordinating with a marketing team Quickly solving issues in service and managing conflict Awarded with two raises totaling $10,000 over three years Prestigious Marketing Company, San Francisco, CA Marketer – May 2014-April 2017 Working directly with clients Conducting market research into television streaming preferences Developing marketing campaigns related to television streaming services Report writing Analyzing campaign success statistics Promoted to Marketer from Junior Marketer after the first year Timberlake Public Relations, San Francisco, CA Public Relations Intern – September 2013–May 2014 Working cohesively with a large group of co-workers and supervisors Note-taking during meetings Running errands Managing email accounts Assisting in brainstorming Meeting work deadlines EDUCATION Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA Bachelor of Arts in Marketing with a minor in Communications – September 2009 – May 2013 SKILLS Marketing Market research Record-keeping Teamwork Presentation. Flexibility

What research skills are important?

Goal-setting and data collection are important research skills. Additional important research skills include:

Using different sources to analyze information.

Finding information on the internet.

Interviewing sources.

Writing reports.

Critical thinking.

Planning and scheduling.

Note-taking.

Managing time.

How do you develop good research skills?

You develop good research skills by learning how to find information from multiple high-quality sources, by being wary of confirmation bias, and by starting broad and getting more specific as you go.

When you learn how to tell a reliable source from an unreliable one and get in the habit of finding multiple sources that back up a claim, you’ll have better quality research.

In addition, when you learn how to keep an open mind about what you’ll find, you’ll avoid falling into the trap of confirmation bias, and by staying organized and narrowing your focus as you go (rather than before you start), you’ll be able to gather quality information more efficiently.

What is the importance of research?

The importance of research is that it informs most decisions and strategies in a business. Whether it’s deciding which products to offer or creating a marketing strategy, research should be used in every part of a company.

Because of this, employers want employees who have strong research skills. They know that you’ll be able to put them to work bettering yourself and the organization as a whole.

Should you put research skills on your resume?

Yes, you should include research skills on your resume as they are an important professional skill. Where you include your research skills on your resume will depend on whether you have a lot of experience in research from a previous job or as part of getting your degree, or if you’ve just cultivated them on your own.

If your research skills are based on experience, you could put them down under the tasks you were expected to perform at the job in question. If not, then you should likely list it in your skills section.

University of the People – The Best Research Skills for Success

Association of Internet Research Specialists — What are Research Skills and Why Are They Important?

MasterClass — How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips

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Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Final thoughts, research skills.

Updated May 20, 2024

Research skills are highly valued by employers in all industries, because employees with strong research skills can be invaluable to a company’s performance and growth.

While you may already possess research skills, you must be able to identify what these skills actually are, so that you can highlight them in your applications and interviews .

This article will explore what research skills are and why they are important, identify some core research skills and explain how you can develop them, and answer some frequently asked questions.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills enable you to effectively find and gather appropriate information , then analyze and apply it to find solutions to solve problems .

Research skills are crucial for every industry and can be extremely useful in any role. They consist of a range of other soft skills that come together to be more than the sum of their parts.

Possessing research skills makes you very useful to an employer, as you can successfully research competitors, get information to form marketing or sales plans and spot potential problems in the business that require attention.

Some of these soft skills include attention to detail, communication and problem-solving, among others.

In Which Industries Are Research Skills Required?

No matter what your job is, or what industry you’re in, research skills will be extremely beneficial to you and the business .

For example, even if you work in a restaurant, it will be useful to research local competitors or exciting new ingredients to try on your menu.

Another example, within the retail sector, is that you may need to research to find out your customer satisfaction rate and therefore identify any issues with your team’s performance.

Further, research skills are essential to corporate or commercial roles, as these roles may require you to identify issues causing a drop in your team's performance and work out the tasks that must be completed to reach your goal.

Additionally, you may also be required to analyze large amounts of data and identify key issues and work out how to solve them.

What Are Considered Research Skills?

Collating and analyzing information from different sources.

The best research is conducted by analyzing data from online resources, books, surveys or other sources.

It’s important that you only use credible resources when you are collecting your data. Make sure that you’re not relying on largely opinion-based information or information from someone who lacks the right qualifications to be considered an authority.

You may also come across a lot of irrelevant data when you are conducting research. One important research skill is knowing how to discern the most relevant data and discard the rest.

Data Collection

Another important skill for research is data collection.

This is different from collating information from other sources, as data collection requires you to conduct your own research .

For example, you would run your own surveys on your customers or derive data from their social media, instead of relying on others to do so.

Many employers value this skill within their employees.

The ability to collect hard-to-find data is not one that everyone possesses and is often considered a more advanced skill.

It takes a great deal of know-how to be able to run efficient, effective and ethical research and to only collect relevant information to answer your questions.

Note-Taking

Note-taking is more than it sounds – it is an essential skill for research.

It would be almost impossible to conduct a large amount of research and be able to recite the information from memory, or even be able to recall where to look for certain information.

Therefore, knowing how to take effective notes is a necessary skill. If you take your notes digitally , you can more easily search them later and share findings with others.

Why Are Research Skills Important?

Research skills are a factor that recruiters will look at because they are important; here are some reasons why.

Learn About Your Consumers and Better Meet Their Needs

Whatever your industry, you are likely selling something to consumers or providing a service, at least sometimes.

Further, no matter what your business model is, you have to keep on top of your customer satisfaction. Their word-of-mouth affects your future bottom line .

Using research skills to identify problems with your consumer satisfaction rate is, therefore, essential.

Such research will let you know where improvements need to be made and will provide you with the starting blocks of a plan to solve the issue.

Get Better Information About Your Competitors

By collecting information about your competitors, such as on their plan for the next quarter, you can alter your company or team's actions to counteract them and come out on top.

You can look into their sales tactics for a glimpse into their future plans, or look at online reviews their customers have left to find weak spots.

This information about your competitors can be implemented to identify key issues that your team or business needs to work on .

They Make You More Employable

Recruiters often look for strong research skills in candidates. Having them makes you more of a desirable employee.

These skills show them that you can take initiative and learn about new things .

This is considered a good quality in a candidate, because it means you can be left to your own devices more often without constant supervision and trusted to not only complete your work but also find ways to do it better .

They Enable You to Work More Efficiently and Productively

Having advanced research skills also enables you to improve your personal productivity and the general productivity of the company .

Research skills can be applied to improving a company’s processes to make them more efficient.

Additionally, you can research skills to find ways the company can improve its employees' satisfaction .

Core Research Skills

Here are some of the core skills required for conducting high-quality research.

Recording Information During Key Events or From Important Sources

Recording information, such as in the form of notes or, is an essential skill required for research.

Whenever you come across an important piece of information that is relevant to your research question, you must record it in some way. This will make it much easier when you come to analyze and report on what you have found.

Simply reading information will not be enough for it to sink into your brain sufficiently to actually be a useful and analyzable resource.

Note-taking is one way of doing this, particularly for pre-existing information that you are collating, such as when you are performing a business literature review for a white paper.

Making recordings of meetings is another way, as you can refer back to them in the future and may be able to distill new information from them.

Stick to Relevant Information

Another key skill here is knowing what information is important .

Make sure that you fully understand why you’re collecting your data and what question you are trying to answer.

This will ensure you only collect the necessary information in your research and don’t infringe on your participants’ right to privacy.

Additionally, when you are collating information from other sources, knowing what’s important means you don’t waste time following dead ends.

Collecting Data From External Sources

Another key skill is knowing how to find reputable, external sources and collect data.

A common mistake people make when researching is taking too much from one source : if you don’t stretch your feelers far enough, your data collection may be too narrow, biased and potentially inaccurate.

Using a wide range of resources is the real secret to strong research. Some sources you can use to extend your research are:

• Published books
• Reputable websites
• Academic journals
• Library catalogues

You must learn to judge whether each source is reliable to keep your research accurate. Note the authors and publishers of the books, websites and newspapers you use, and see what else they’ve published to find what biases they have.

Analyzing Data for Patterns and Trends

Data analysis is another advanced skill highly valued by recruiters.

The ability to spot patterns and trends in large amounts of data is an extremely useful skill to spot areas of weakness and strength within a team or a company.

It is a key component to work out areas that require development and where resources should be spent.

Online Research

Online research is a skill that many people believe they are already acquainted with.

But that is like equating someone who types ' What are REITs? ' into a search engine and reads a couple of articles with someone who digs deep into that initial information and derives key terms and search queries to find specific information about both the foundational and cutting-edge ideas of their topic.

Additionally, a skilled online researcher optimizes their time and energy to not be sucked into unreputable websites or to not waste a lot of time tracking down one specific piece of information.

Make sure that you familiarize yourself with which sources are credible and those which are not, so you don’t waste your time researching inaccurate information.

Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking means solving problems using solutions that are usually creative, new and unexpected . Rarely are these immediately obvious and may not be thought of through traditional logic.

You may be required to be creative and use lateral thinking to discover how to find the answer to the problem you are facing.

This is because it is very rare that the answers are clear and right in front of us .

More often than not, you’ll have to be innovative and take on a new approach for your research, even to find what question you should be asking before you can begin.

How to Develop Research Skills

Establish context.

Before diving into something new, you should make an effort to understand the broader subject area surrounding your query.

You will become easily confused if you begin conducting your research without having a full understanding of the question you are trying to answer.

Be Selective About Your Sources

You must learn how to identify credible sources from untrustworthy ones .

Especially when you are conducting internet research, it’s easy to come across information from people who are not qualified to give it or from sources that have a hidden agenda.

Further, all sources have biases, and these must be accounted for when interpreting information from them.

Conducting your research on unqualified sources will likely lead to you analyzing incorrect data and coming to the wrong conclusion.

Be Open to Changing Your Mind

You may begin your research with an opinion already formed in your mind.

Be open to the fact that this might change as you do your research.

Sticking with one opinion often leads you to use sources biased only in one direction and therefore come to a biased conclusion.

Using sources that show different opinions will give you richer research and you’re more likely to end up with a well-rounded answer to your question.

Stay Organized; Record Your Sources of Information

Without keeping your information organized, you’ll wind up wasting a lot of time looking for information you’ve already come across.

A good way to keep track is to have a list of the sources you use and record the important information from that source.

This way you’ll easily be able to look up the information you’re looking for.

You can also note what else those sources may be useful for, as well as a section of the list for sources not necessary this time but may be in the future.

Keep Learning

Don’t just limit yourself to doing research for work or academic purposes.

Keep researching topics you find interesting or may come in useful later down the down.

You can try taking free online courses if you prefer a more guided approach.

This proactivity will not only develop your research skills but will also generally improve your knowledge base, making you more employable.

Learn to Summarize in a Report

A key skill of research is communicating your findings , often in the form of summarizing what you have found in a report.

You may have come across invaluable data, but that will be rendered useless if you are unable to effectively communicate what it means.

Reporting skills are a whole other skill on their own and are valued by employers.

Take time to develop good report writing skills and be open to feedback about the reports you have made at work and school.

Maintain Focus On Your Research Question

Conducting a lot of research can cause people to sway away from their research questions as new information comes to light or you uncover new areas that require deep research.

However, if this happens, keep notes of these areas so that you can return to them in the future and then move back to the question at hand.

Remember your main task and return your attention to your research question .

How Can I Demonstrate Research Skills?

When you’re applying for a role, always mention your research skills.

The key to doing this well is being specific . Give real examples of a time you used your research skills to provide some value to your team or the company.

For example:

“I used research skills to identify key problems within our customer satisfaction. I looked through our customer feedback and listened to customer calls to work out the areas we had to improve upon. My research identified weaknesses in our customer support team’s knowledge, so we implemented training and our customer satisfaction increased by 25% as a result”.

Where possible, include a metric showing objectively how much of a positive impact your research had.

How Can I Include Research Skills on My Resume?

Research skills should definitely be on your resume since they are valued by employers in every industry.

There are a few different ways that you can incorporate these into your resume.

If your skills are advanced and have been a primary duty in previous roles, you could dedicate a full section to research skills. Give detailed examples of the skills you possess and how they have served you within these roles.

If you possess some research skills but don’t have extensive examples of using them, then don’t spend as much space on them – include them in your skills section on your resume instead .

As long as they are listed on your resume somewhere, the recruiter will be aware of them.

What Should I Include in a Summary of My Research?

When summarizing your research, you should only include the most relevant information .

Remember to always refer to the original problem or question at hand and make the information easy to read and follow.

Your report should also include some next steps based on your findings.

Which Research Skill Is the Most Important?

The most important element to research is report writing .

Your research will be void if you are unable to compile the information clearly and communicate your findings.

Reporting is a skill that you will need to develop through practice .

Speak to your colleagues and ask for advice on how to improve your reporting techniques.

These skills can be invaluable and increase your employability.

How Can I Tell Good Sources From Bad Ones?

The ability to tell good sources from bad is one not everyone possesses.

However, it’s crucial to conduct high-quality research.

In general, you want to know who is telling you this information and why – what is their goal in telling you?

Further, you should aim to ascertain if they have any expertise in the area, either from certification , years of learning and practicing or lived experience.

You’re most at risk of accessing untrustworthy sources on the internet.

Anyone can post whatever information they like on the internet, and it can be very easy to come across.

Look out for the writer’s credentials at the bottom of the article to confirm its validity.

Also take a look at the publication's ‘About’ section to find out more about them and work out if you should use the information as authoritative.

Research skills are useful and transferable .

They make it possible to work smarter in the long term.

Adding them to your toolkit has a wealth of advantages, but they do require diligence and perseverance.

It’s crucial that you are aware of what good research skills are, so that you can put time and effort into improving them.

Additionally, take note of instances when you have used research skills to reach certain goals, whether it’s in school, at work or in your personal life.

As well as giving you examples to put on an application, this will also show you research skills are always beneficial .

You might also be interested in these other Wikijob articles:

Or explore the Interview Advice / Competencies sections.

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What are Research Skills and why are they important?

Most jobs actually require some level of problem-solving. You may come across an impediment and come up with a question that you must answer in order to proceed. To answer this question, you will almost certainly need to conduct some research. People with research skills can identify a problem, gather informational resources that can help address the problem, assess the quality and relevance of these resources, and come up with an effective solution to the problem.

By the way, to diversify your research paper process you can find unique research paper topics .

What is Research?

Internet Research is the practice of conducting research using Internet information, particularly free information on Internet-based educational resources (such as Internet discussion forums).

Simply put, research is the process of discovering new knowledge. This knowledge can be either the development of new concepts or the advancement of existing knowledge and theories, leading to a new understanding that was not previously known.

In fact, almost every profession or job necessitates some level of research and research skills. As long as you encounter a question, which is a natural occurrence in almost everything, you should encounter an opportunity to conduct research. When there is a need for research, strong research skills come in handy.

What are Research Skills?

Research skills enable you to focus on a specific goal, gather relevant information, and communicate your findings to others. We are taught from a young age to develop research skills, and for good reason.

Teachers in academia required answers to a series of topic-related questions in an essay. Similarly, your boss may eventually request that you investigate a work-related topic or figure out how to solve a problem.

Why are Research Skills Important?

Research skills are important in the workplace for a variety of reasons, including the ability for individuals and businesses to:

• Develop new processes and outcomes. You don't have to be involved in research and development to improve the way your team works. Any sensible employer will value your efforts in researching new processes that will make your job (and those of your team) more efficient.
• Personal Growth. People who have a knack and a passion for research are never satisfied with doing things the same way they've always done them. Organizations require independent thinkers who will seek their own answers and continually improve their skills. These employees will also learn new technologies more quickly.
• Customer relationship management. In almost every industry, being able to conduct research on your customer base is critical. It's difficult to move products or sell services if you don't know what people want. It is a valuable responsibility to research your customer base's interests, needs, and pain points.
• Cost Effective. Whether your organization is launching a new product or simply trying to cut costs, research is critical for identifying wasted resources and redirecting them to more worthy causes. Anyone who goes out of their way to find ways for the company to save money will be praised by their boss.
• Competitor Analysis. Knowing what your top competitors are up to is crucial for any company. If a company wants to stay functioning, it must research what works for its competitors, what they do better than you, and where it may improve its standing with the least amount of resources.

Types of Research Skills

Experienced researchers understand that conducting a worthwhile investigation necessitates a wide range of abilities. Consider which research abilities you have naturally and which you could improve.

Goal Setting

You must first know what you're looking for before you can conduct any form of productive research. Setting goals is a skill just like any other. It will be lot easier to construct a path there if you can imagine the conclusion you're aiming to attain by investing effort into research. Goal-setting skills include:

• Specificity
• Time-Management
• Planning ahead
• Organization
• Accountable

Data Collection

The collection of data is often the first thing to remember when thinking about the research process. It is a systematic process to collect and measure information on variables of interest that allows one to respond to research questions, to test hypothesis and to assess results.

Simply collecting facts and information on the internet can meet your needs for some purposes. More direct and popular research may be needed by others. You will be more impressive with your experience in different methods of data collection. Methods of data collection are:

• Questionnaires and surveys
• Observations
• Documents and records
• Focus groups
• Oral histories

Evaluate and Analyze Information and Sources

In research, it is important to find reliable information suitable for your task. Some tasks may require the use of certain types of sources, such as primary or secondary sources or certain types of journals, like scientific journals. You may need to restrict the numbers sources you use for other assignments.

In all cases, the information contained in your assignments should always be assessed. Knowing how to assess information helps you with research tasks and with your life's bigger decisions. Knowing where to go for information that is relevant, credible, and accurate can assist you in making informed decisions about graduate school, a new car purchase, financial aid opportunities, daycare options, and other topics.

• Published books
• Encyclopedias
• Scholarly journals
• Library catalogs

Using the internet to gather information

Search engines are used to find the majority of information on the Internet. A search engine is an online service that employs web robots to query millions of web pages and compile an index of the results. Internet users can then utilize these services to search the web for information. While it is beneficial to consult different sources, today's research is driven by good online research skills.

One of the greatest things about the internet is how much information it holds; unfortunately, getting to the data you need requires sifting through a lot of rubbish. Employers value the ability to efficiently utilise the large reservoir of knowledge available on the internet without getting lost in the clutter. The following are some examples of internet research skills:

• Source checking
• Searching relevant questions
• Exploring deeper than the first options
• Avoiding distraction
• Giving credit
• Organizing findings

Due to the sheer size of the World Wide Web, and with the rapid growth of indexed web pages, finding relevant and reliable information demands specialized training and Internet research skills . We provide a centralized virtual platform for knowledge professionals that use the Internet as a primary source of information. This AofIRS is more than just a virtual collaboration and networking platform for researchers and knowledge professionals. The website is filled with free, up-to-date content and reference material that is ideal for research.

Interviewing

Some research projects may demand a more hands-on approach than relying just on online resources. In the research process, being prepared with great interviewing skills can be really beneficial. Interviews can be a good way to get first-hand knowledge for your research, and knowing how to conduct an effective interview can help you improve your research skills. Interviewing abilities include:

• A plan of action
• Specific, pointed questions
• Respectfulness
• Considering the interview setting
• Actively Listening
• Taking notes

Report Writing

Report writing skills can help you in both your employment and your academic studies. In any case, the overall goal of a report is to transmit specific facts to its audience.

Communication is crucial for effective report writing. Your supervisor, professor, or general reader should comprehend your findings and conclusions clearly. Skills in report writing include:

• Formatting is important.
• Including a synopsis
• Keeping your focus on your main goal
• Developing a plan
• Proofreading\sDirectness

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking skills can help you a lot in the research process and in general as an employee. Your data analysis skills are referred to as critical thinking. When you're conducting research, you'll need to be able to interpret your findings and make rational judgments based on them. The following are examples of critical thinking skills:

• Observation
• Assessing issues
• Problem-solving
• Communication

Planning and Scheduling 

The development of baseline productivity and success standards is one of the most significant components of planning and scheduling. You won't know if you're meeting goals until you have a particular strategy in place with a specific desired outcome defined by a completion date.

It also makes time management considerably easy. Employers value planning and scheduling abilities because they suggest a well-prepared employee. Skills in planning and scheduling include:

• Setting objectives
• Identifying tasks
• Prioritizing
• Delegating if needed
• Time-management

Note-taking

Research involves sifting through and taking in lots of information. Taking thorough notes ensures that you do not overlook any findings and allows you to communicate these findings to your coworkers. Being able to take good notes aids in the summarization of research. Here are some examples of note-taking abilities:

• Using short-hand
• Keeping your goal in mind
• Emphasizing important points
• Reviewing notes afterward

Time Management

Unfortunately, we only have 24 measly hours in a day. In a professional setting, the ability to effectively manage this time is extremely valuable. Hiring managers look for candidates who can complete tasks within a specific time frame.

Strong time management skills imply that you can organize a strategy for breaking down larger tasks in a project and completing them by a deadline. Improving your time management skills can significantly boost the productivity of your research. Time management abilities include the following:

• Creating task outlines
• Thinking strategically
• Stress-management
• Utilizing resources
• Setting reasonable expectations
• Meeting deadlines

Other Helpful Research Skills

The definition of research skills is broad, and there are many traits that could help you in the research process. Consider some of the additional research skills below.

• Attention to detail
• Reading and writing skills
• Considering keywords
• Competitor comparison
• Multitasking
• Summarization
• Presentation

How to Improve Your Research Skills

The great thing about research skills is that many of us use them on a daily basis. When you use a search engine to find information on a topic, you are conducting research. However, there are more proactive ways to begin improving your research skills today:

• Make a distinction between source quality. A researcher's worst source determines how good they are. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you're using, and be wary of anything you read until you've double-checked the attributions and works cited. Examine the author's bias, the author's research's alignment with the greater body of confirmed research in the subject, and the journal that sponsored or published the research.
• Verify information from several sources. It gets increasingly trustworthy when you can verify information from a variety of sources. If you want to strengthen your belief in one source, check if you can locate another that agrees with it. When you run into contradictions and conflicts in your study, you know you need to keep going until you reach a more definitive conclusion.
• Don't be influenced by confirmation bias. Confirmation bias occurs when a researcher expects a specific result and then searches for data to support that hypothesis, ignoring any sources that contradict or invalidate the researcher's initial idea. Be ready for unexpected responses and keep an open mind. Also, keep in mind that you might not be able to discover a definitive answer. It's preferable to provide the important points of your research to someone (such as your employer) and explain that it didn't lead to a concrete plan of action than to alter your data and give the answer you or your boss want to hear.
• Stay organized. You'll encounter a lot of material during the data gathering process, from webpages to PDFs to videos. To avoid losing something or not being able to properly mention something, it's critical that you maintain all of this information organized in some way. There are numerous methods for keeping your research project structured, but here are a few of the most common: Bookmarks in your browser, index cards, and an annotated bibliography that you update as you go are all useful tools.
• Develop your research skills. Professional certification will help you improve your research skills. CIRS™ (Certified Internet Research Specialist), is by far the only professional credential that meets this challenge. Professional researchers owe it to themselves to seek structured certification programs and stay in touch with new materials and tools that are available to transform research problems from very difficult or impossible to quick and simple tasks. We have developed a CIRS Certification (Certified Internet Research Specialist) to educate and train Online Researchers that now form a significantly large group of people involved in digital information research work.
• Get specific as you go. There's nothing wrong with commencing your investigation in a broad sense. After all, it's critical to become acquainted with the vocabulary and substance of the researcher's results before delving into the details. Orienting yourself to a new topic is an important step that will prevent you from being discouraged and working backwards.
• Learn how to spot a reliable source. Because not all sources are trustworthy, it's critical to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad. To find a trustworthy source, utilize your critical thinking and analytical skills to ask yourself the following questions: Is this source consistent with other sources I've discovered? Is the author a subject matter expert? Is there a conflict of interest in the author's point of view on this subject?

If you're ready to conduct research to enhance your search efforts, the following resources will be useful:

• Educational Search Engines for Students
• Top 100  Academic Search Engines
• 3 ways to help students do efficient online research

Live Classes Schedule

• JUN 14 CIRS Certification Internet Research Training Program Live Classes Online
• JUN 14 Web Search Methods & Techniques Live Training Live Classes Online

World's leading professional association of Internet Research Specialists - We deliver Knowledge, Education, Training, and Certification in the field of Professional Online Research. The AOFIRS is considered a major contributor in improving Web Search Skills and recognizes Online Research work as a full-time occupation for those that use the Internet as their primary source of information.

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Research skills allow you to find information and use it effectively. It includes creating a strategy to gather facts and reach conclusions so that you can answer a question.

Starting your research

think about your topic – don’t be too vague or too specific (try mind mapping or keyword searching).

read broadly around your subject (don’t just use Google and Wikipedia). Think about a research question that is clearly structured and builds on literature already produced.

find information using the subject databases. View the Database Orientation Program to learn about databases and using search strategies to refine your search and limit results. View our library tutorial on planning your literature search and look at our library subject guides for resources on your specific topic.

Another good starting point for finding information is our library catalogue Library Search  which allows you to search across the library's electronic resources as well as major subject databases and indexes.

carry out a literature review . You may want to include journals, books, websites, grey literature or data and statistics for example. See the list of sources below for more information. Keep a record and organise your references and sources. If you are intending to carry out a systematic review then take a look at the systematic review page on our Research Support library guide.

evaluate your resources – use the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose - watch the video, top right). 

reach considered conclusions and make recommendations where necessary.

Your research journey.

Why do I need research skills?

they enable you to locate appropriate information and evaluate it for quality and relevance

they allow you to make good use of information to resolve a problem

they give you the ability to synthesize and communicate your ideas in written and spoken formats

they foster critical thinking

they are highly transferable and can be adapted to many settings including the workplace

You can access more in depth information on areas such as primary research, literature reviews, research methods, and managing data, from the drop down headings under Research Skills on the Academic Skills home page. The related resources in the right-hand column of this page also contain useful supporting information.

• Conference proceedings
• Data & statistics
• Grey literature
• Official publications

Books are good for exploring new subject areas. They help define a topic and provide an in-depth account of a subject.

Scholarly books contain authoritative information including comprehensive accounts of research or scholarship and experts' views on themes and topics. Their bibliographies can lead readers to related books, articles and other sources. 

Details on the electronic books held by the University of Southampton can be found using the library catalogue .

Journals are quicker to publish than books and are often a good source of current information. They are useful when you require information to support an argument or original research written by subject experts.  The bibliographies at the end of journal articles should point you to other relevant research.

Academic journals go through a "peer-review" process. A peer-reviewed journal is one whose articles are checked by experts, so you can be more confident that the information they contain is reliable.

The Library's discovery service Library Search  is a good place to start when searching for journal articles and enables access to anything that is available electronically.

Newspapers enable you to follow current and historical events from multiple perspectives. They are an excellent record of political, social, cultural, and economic events and history.

Newspapers are popular rather than scholarly publications and their content needs to be treated with caution. For example, an account of a particular topic can be biased in favour of that newspaper’s political affiliation or point of view. Always double-check the data/statistics or any other piece of information that a newspaper has used to support an argument before you quote it in your own work.

The library subscribes to various resources which provide full-text access to both current and historical newspapers. Find out more about these on the Library's Newspaper Resources page.

Websites provide information about every topic imaginable, and many will be relevant to your studies.

Use websites with caution as anyone can publish on the Internet and therefore the quality of the information provided is variable. When you’re researching and come across a website you think might be useful, consider whether or not it provides information that is reliable and authoritative enough to use in your work.

Proceedings are collections of papers presented by researchers at academic conferences or symposia. They may be printed volumes or in electronic format.

You can use the information in conference proceedings with a high degree of confidence as the quality is ensured by having external experts read & review the papers before they are accepted in the proceedings.

Find the data and statistics you need, from economics to health, environment to oceanography - and everywhere between - http://library.soton.ac.uk/data .

Grey literature is the term given to non-traditional publications (material not published by mainstream publishers). For example - leaflets, reports, conference proceedings, government documents, preprints, theses, clinical trials, blogs, tweets, etc.. 

The majority of Grey literature is generally not peer-reviewed so it is very important to critically appraise any grey literature before using it.

Most aspects of life are touched by national governments, or by inter-governmental bodies such as the European Union or the United Nations.  Official publications are the documentary evidence of that interest. 

Our main printed collections and online services are for British and EU official publications, but we can give advice on accessing official publications from other places and organisations. Find out more from our web pages  http://library.soton.ac.uk/officialpublications .

Patents protect inventions - the owner can stop other people making, using or selling the item without their permission. This applies for a limited period and a separate application is needed for each country.

Patents can be useful since they contain full technical details on how an invention works. If you use an active patent outside of research - permission or a license is probably needed.

Related resources:

Checking for CRAAP - UMW New Media Archive

How to Develop a STRONG Research Question - Scribbr

Guide to dissertation and project writing - by University of Southampton (Enabling Services)

Guide to writing your dissertation - by the Royal Literary Fund  

Guidance on the Conduct of Narrative Synthesis in Systematic Reviews  - by ESRC Methods Programme

Guidelines for preparing a Research Proposal - by University of Southampton

Choosing good keywords - by the Open University

Developing a Research or Guided Question  - a self-guided tutorial produced by Arizona State University

Evaluating information - a 7 minute tutorial from the University of Southampton which covers thinking critically, and understanding how to find quality and reliable information.

Hints on conducting a literature review  - by the University of Toronto

Planning your literature search  - a short tutorial by the University of Southampton

Using Overleaf for scientific writing and publishing  -  a popular  LaTeX/Rich Text based online collaborative tool for students and researchers alike. It is designed to make the process of writing, editing, and producing scientific papers quicker and easier for authors. 

Systematic reviews  - by the University of Southampton. 

Create your own research proposal - by the University of Southampton

• Last Updated: Mar 13, 2024 3:14 PM
• URL: https://library.soton.ac.uk/sash/introduction-to-research-skills

Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

The Best Research Skills For Success

Updated: December 8, 2023

Published: January 5, 2020

Every student is required to conduct research in their academic careers at one point or another. A good research paper not only requires a great deal of time, but it also requires complex skills. Research skills include the ability to organize, evaluate, locate, and extract relevant information.

Let’s learn how to develop great research skills for academic success.

What is Research?

We’ve all surely heard the term “research” endlessly. But do you really know what it means?

Research is a type of study that focuses on a specific problem and aims to solve it using scientific methods. Research is a highly systematic process that involves both describing, explaining, and predicting something.

Photo by  Startup Stock Photos  from  Pexels

What are research skills.

Research skills are what helps us answer our most burning questions, and they are what assist us in our solving process from A to Z, including searching, finding, collecting, breaking down, and evaluating the relevant information to the phenomenon at hand.

Research is the basis of everything we know — and without it, we’re not sure where we would be today! For starters, without the internet and without cars, that’s for sure.

Why are Research Skills Important?

Research skills come in handy in pretty much everything we do, and especially so when it comes to the workforce. Employers will want to hire you and compensate you better if you demonstrate a knowledge of research skills that can benefit their company.

From knowing how to write reports, how to notice competition, develop new products, identify customer needs, constantly learn new technologies, and improve the company’s productivity, there’s no doubt that research skills are of utter importance. Research also can save a company a great deal of money by first assessing whether making an investment is really worthwhile for them.

How to Get Research Skills

Now that you’re fully convinced about the importance of research skills, you’re surely going to want to know how to get them. And you’ll be delighted to hear that it’s really not so complicated! There are plenty of simple methods out there to gain research skills such as the internet as the most obvious tool.

Gaining new research skills however is not limited to just the internet. There are tons of books, such as Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, journals, articles, studies, interviews and much, much more out there that can teach you how to best conduct your research.

Utilizing Research Skills

Now that you’ve got all the tools you need to get started, let’s utilize these research skills to the fullest. These skills can be used in more ways than you know. Your research skills can be shown off either in interviews that you’re conducting or even in front of the company you’re hoping to get hired at .

It’s also useful to add your list of research skills to your resume, especially if it’s a research-based job that requires skills such as collecting data or writing research-based reports. Many jobs require critical thinking as well as planning ahead.

Career Paths that Require Research Skills

If you’re wondering which jobs actually require these research skills, they are actually needed in a variety of industries. Some examples of the types of work that require a great deal of research skills include any position related to marketing, science , history, report writing, and even the food industry.

Photo by  Abby Chung  from  Pexels

How students can improve research skills.

Perhaps you know what you have to do, but sometimes, knowing how to do it can be more of a challenge. So how can you as a student improve your research skills ?

1. Define your research according to the assignment

By defining your research and understanding how it relates to the specific field of study, it can give more context to the situation.

2. Break down the assignment

The most difficult part of the research process is actually just getting started. By breaking down your research into realistic and achievable parts, it can help you achieve your goals and stay systematic.

3. Evaluate your sources

While there are endless sources out there, it’s important to always evaluate your sources and make sure that they are reliable, based on a variety of factors such as their accuracy and if they are biased, especially if used for research purposes.

4. Avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism is a major issue when it comes to research, and is often misunderstood by students. IAs a student, it’s important that you understand what plagiarism really means, and if you are unclear, be sure to ask your teachers.

5. Consult and collaborate with a librarian

A librarian is always a good person to have around, especially when it comes to research. Most students don’t seek help from their school librarian, however, this person tends to be someone with a vast amount of knowledge when it comes to research skills and where to look for reliable sources.

6. Use library databases

There are tons of online library resources that don’t require approaching anyone. These databases are generally loaded with useful information that has something for every student’s specific needs.

7. Practice effective reading

It’s highly beneficial to practice effective reading, and there are no shortage of ways to do it. One effective way to improve your research skills it to ask yourself questions using a variety of perspectives, putting yourself in the mind of someone else and trying to see things from their point of view.

There are many critical reading strategies that can be useful, such as making summaries from annotations, and highlighting important passages.

Thesis definition

A thesis is a specific theory or statement that is to be either proved or maintained. Generally, the intentions of a thesis are stated, and then throughout, the conclusions are proven to the reader through research. A thesis is crucial for research because it is the basis of what we are trying to prove, and what guides us through our writing.

What Skills Do You Need To Be A Researcher?

One of the most important skills needed for research is independence, meaning that you are capable of managing your own work and time without someone looking over you.

Critical thinking, problem solving, taking initiative, and overall knowing how to work professionally in front of your peers are all crucial for effectively conducting research .

1. Fact check your sources

Knowing how to evaluate information in your sources and determine whether or not it’s accurate, valid or appropriate for the specific purpose is a first on the list of research skills.

2. Ask the right questions

Having the ability to ask the right questions will get you better search results and more specific answers to narrow down your research and make it more concise.

3. Dig deeper: Analyzing

Don’t just go for the first source you find that seems reliable. Always dig further to broaden your knowledge and make sure your research is as thorough as possible.

4. Give credit

Respect the rights of others and avoid plagiarizing by always properly citing your research sources.

5. Utilize tools

There are endless tools out there, such as useful websites, books, online videos, and even on-campus professionals such as librarians that can help. Use all the many social media networks out there to both gain and share more information for your research.

6. Summarizing

Summarizing plays a huge role in research, and once the data is collected, relevant information needs to be arranged accordingly. Otherwise it can be incredibly overwhelming.

7. Categorizing

Not only does information need to be summarized, but also arranged into categories that can help us organize our thoughts and break down our materials and sources of information.

Photo by  Noelle Otto  from  Pexels

What are different types of research, 1. qualitative.

This type of research is exploratory research and its aim is to obtain a better understanding of reasons for things. Qualitative research helps form an idea without any specific fixed pattern. Some examples include face-to-face interviews or group discussions.

2. Quantitative

Quantitative research is based on numbers and statistics. This type of research uses data to prove facts, and is generally taken from a large group of people.

3. Analytical

Analytical research has to always be done from a neutral point of view, and the researcher is intended to break down all perspectives. This type of research involves collecting information from a wide variety of sources.

4. Persuasive

Persuasive research describes an issue from two different perspectives, going through both the pros and cons of both, and then aims to prove their preference towards one side by exploring a variety of logical facts.

5. Cause & Effect

In this type of research, the cause and effects are first presented, and then a conclusion is made. Cause and effect research is for those who are new in the field of research and is mostly conducted by high school or college students.

6. Experimental Research

Experimental research involves very specific steps that must be followed, starting by conducting an experiment. It is then followed by sharing an experience and providing data about it. This research is concluded with data in a highly detailed manner.

7. Survey Research

Survey research includes conducting a survey by asking participants specific questions, and then analyzing those findings. From that, researchers can then draw a conclusion.

8. Problem-Solution Research

Both students and scholars alike carry out this type of research, and it involves solving problems by analyzing the situation and finding the perfect solution to it.

What it Takes to Become a Researcher

• Critical thinking

Research is most valuable when something new is put on the table. Critical thinking is needed to bring something unique to our knowledge and conduct research successfully.

• Analytical thinking

Analytical thinking is one of the most important research skills and requires a great deal of practice. Such a skill can assist researchers in taking apart and understanding a large amount of important information in a short amount of time.

• Explanation skills

When it comes to research skills, it’s not just about finding information, but also about how you explain it. It’s more than just writing it out, but rather, knowing how to clearly and concisely explain your new ideas.

• Patience is key

Just like with anything in life, patience will always take you far. It might be difficult to come by, but by not rushing things and investing the time needed to conduct research properly, your work is bound for success.

• Time management

Time is the most important asset that we have, and it can never be returned back to us. By learning time management skills , we can utilize our time in the best way possible and make sure to always be productive in our research.

What You Need to Sharpen Your Research Skills

Research is one of the most important tasks that students are given in college, and in many cases, it’s almost half of the academic grade that one is given.

As we’ve seen, there are plenty of things that you’ll need to sharpen your research skills — which mainly include knowing how to choose reliable and relevant sources, and knowing how to take them and make it your own. It’s important to always ask the right questions and dig deeper to make sure that you understood the full picture.

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11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Marketing91

What are Research Skills? And Why are they Important?

June 12, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Marketing

Research skills are essential to many employers since they help the organisation to develop new products and services, identify the wants and needs of the customer and improve in what they do to keep up with the competition in the industry and the market . Having research skills is an important trait which you can highlight to your employers and also help you in your career path .

Definition: it is the ability to find a solution and answer to a question. It includes the ability to collect relevant information regarding the topic, review on that information and interpret after analysing the information.

Research skills are essential which every candidate should possess while applying for jobs. Research skills are useful even in non-research areas, and such candidates are valued in almost every company or every sector. Having these skills will make your research process smoother, and you will be able to complete your research earlier than time.

Before you work on your research skills, you must have good knowledge about the research and the field in which you are doing the research. Technical expertise, along with research skills, will make it a success since one without another is incomplete.

Table of Contents

Importance of Research Skills

Research skills are loved by employers all around. This is because research is a vital part of the business and it helps the companies in many functions such as report writing , developing new products, keeping track of competitors, identifying the needs of the customer, keeping up with ever-changing technologies and improvements in the market, etc

Research skills also show companies that you will be able to suggest new ideas and assist the research and development team of the business in adapting to their changing world and dynamic market. Research helps to save money.

Launching a new product can be very expensive for a company and not to mention very risky also. The research will help the companies to predict if any customer will buy the product. It helps to predict the viability of the product in the market.

Research helps to minimise the risk, which companies take while launching the product. Also, research helps to analyse the competitor activities and determine the right course of action to get a competitive edge in the market and in turn, better business by increasing the number of customers.

Top research skills

Research skills often vary like research. For example, research which involves collecting primary information by the method of surveys then you have the expertise to form questionnaire , or if the research suggests data mining , then those are the skills that you should have.

However, following are few research skills which are common to every stream or industry or any research topic:

1. Searching information

Every researcher has to search for information from many sources. They may be primary sources or secondary sources. The researcher has to analyse the available information and the gathered information and then use it in his research.

This information is also analysed to solve the research. The researcher has to have the skill of searching for information and digging out the necessary part of that search for his research. Internet research skills are especially valued everywhere.

The Internet consists of a lot of data and information. Some information is accurate while some of it is false. The researcher needs to have the skills to distinguish correct details from the falsified information.

The reliable information will have links and sources from which the information is received, while the information which is not credible will be without bibliography or references.

2. Attention

The researcher should have the skill to pay close attention to details. It is a crucial skill not only for research but also for all the tasks at work. You may have chalked responsibilities like specifying procedures and policies and implementing them which are given by the company.

This means that you have to understand the details yourself first, and then you can ensure that others implement it.

Identifying the needs of the customer, knowing exactly what will be the limitations of your research, what are the alternative ways that you can find information which has not been tried, are few of the things which require extreme care and attention to specifics.

You will encounter a lot of information while conducting your research. For example, if you’re collecting primary data , then there may be a lot of information which is coming to you which you may not have asked for, but you think you might require it at some point in the research. You must have the skills and ability to make notes of all such information.

This information may or may not be used for your research, but you must collect it and store it safely.

The information should also be accessible to you, and the note should be clear and legible so that even if you look at it after many weeks, months or years, not only you but anyone who reads it should understand. Note-taking is a valuable skill to have in research as well as in non-research jobs.

4. Time Management

Time management is the skills in which you break down the entire project into small manageable parts. You have to approach the project with the deadline so that you complete the project before the stipulated time. Similarly, shorter deadlines should be applied to small sections which you have broken down and complete them accordingly. Time management also involves setting objectives, planning for it, organising and completing the task. The better you are at the time management, the better your research will be.

Apart from research skills time management is a valued skill for every employer

5. Problem-solving skills

The ability to manage stressful situations and overcome complex challenges in business is called problem-solving skills. Problem-solving skills are essential in research because the research itself is a big problem which you are going to provide a solution.

You have to analyse the available information critically, understand what are the resources with you and solve the problem. You may encounter numerous problems in your research process. For some problems, you can approach your peers, research guide and industry experts. But if you continuously approach someone for your problems, then it may not go well.

Not only with your research be devalued, but even though you will be able to complete the research, you may never have the complete knowledge of it. This is why problem-solving skills is an essential skill to have.

6. Communicating results

When you understand a result correctly then only you can communicate it properly. You have to present the information in a way that others can understand and comprehend your solution.

Communication involves verbal as well as non- verbal communication . Non-verbal communication is more important, but in the case of a research presentation, both verbal and non-verbal skills are necessary equally.

You have to develop active listening , excellent observation skills and fluent and natural speaking skills , which are a part of communication skills .

Excellent communication skills are something that employers are always looking out for, And it will help to boost your career since they are equally valued in non-research areas of the job as well.

Improving research skills

Following are the tips which you can use to improve your research skills.

1. Define the research properly

Defining the research properly as it relates to the area or assignment gives the research students the context which this act and the context that they require. More than 50% of students say that class discussions about conducting research are helpful for them.

You must define your research correctly and in sync with your division or speciality.

Well defined research is half work done if you are not aware of the research or its steps or you are partly knowledgeable about it so that you must ask your faculty or your research guide about the details of your research process.

2. Break down the research into smaller parts

Handling the entire research process at once, is a cumbersome thing. Especially for someone who is doing their first research. It is efficient to break down the research into manageable parts.

You can first work on the proposal of the topic then you can start on secondary research . Once you have a comparative framework of your research, then you can proceed with primary research , analysis of primary research and preparation of the report.

Instead of preparing the final report directly, work on making a draft which can be edited easily. Get the draft checked and evaluated from various research guides and use their inputs to improve your research.

3. Avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism is something that should be avoided. Best research reports have no plagiarism. This not only deteriorates the quality of the research but also reduces your value as a researcher. Plagiarised research is worse than having no research.

A small percentage of plagiarism is acceptable such as 2 – 5% but beyond that deteriorates the research. Find authentic first-hand information which will reduce your plagiarism and try to search on new perspective rather than copying second-hand information.

There are many software available these days which check for plagiarism in seconds and can direct you to the source from which the information is taken.

4. Research evaluation

Be accurate about how the research will be evaluated. If you have access to, then study the sample research and see how they were evaluated, what went wrong, what was right.

It is difficult for research students to define the expectations of their professors and evaluators. This is why they must work on the evaluation procedures before submitting the work and avoid the mistakes that can be avoided.

5. Consultant a librarian

Very few researchers think of consulting a librarian when doing their research. A lot of students said that they do not seek help with the librarian with the research related to the course. This is why many of the researchers end up getting frustrated or not finding the required resources for their study.

Finding through library database is a humongous task in itself. They need the help of a librarian who is expert in navigating through the library and in planning your research strategy .

They can locate any available book in the library within seconds or minutes, and on the contrary, a student who is not aware of navigating through the library will take hours on end to get the book. There are many online services available for the library in which the students can use to improve their research.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Market research

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About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

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