Research Definitions...

[Gypsy]

Okay so I am admittedly very stressed today and frankly short of patience...

Here''s what''s bugging me. People''s definitions of research bug the crap out of me. Whether they are getting a diamond, a car, or a cat... 99% of the people who have told me they have done their research know SQUAT about what they are supposedly researching.

Okay... so as a lawyer I naturally cautious... and frankly prone to researching things to death... but that''s my comfort zone.

But at a minimum... with the internet there is information right at your finger tips... I just don''t get a) why people don''t take advantage of that and b) if they do get on the net, why they think skimming one or two brief summaries of information is sufficient.

I know that many of you are research savvy... but does this drive you crazy too? And what do you think a sufficient amount of research is for major purchases like cars, pets... etc.

 

[MINE!!]

What was your old avatar Gypsy?

 

[Regular Guy]

It''s possible that the pattern is to research in inverse proportion to the need to do so. We just bought a house, paying more than I''d like to admit, an saw it twice for a few minutes before doing so. Kind of wacky.

 

[smitcompton]

Yes Gypsy you are right. However, I have thought of so may things that we are supposed to keep up, read your auto booklet, know how your heating system works, make sure the roofer lays the tile correctly, find a good doc5or, dentist, lawyer. endless the list of what we are supposed to know. We can''t really do it. We pick and choose. I just had my home up for sale. People spent 5 minutes in the house. Only one couple came back twice. the second time for 10 minutes. Someone in the five minutes made a full price offer. Insane I say. Lawyers do have to do research. I just finished involvment in a law case (I was the Plaintiff) and I looked up evrything my lawyer told me about to check things for myself. He was not happy.LOL
We have too much to do, are overwhelmed at times, and some of us are lazy. Nontheless you are right, and I hope today is a better day. Annette

 

[MINE!!]

Hope you have having a better day Gypsy.

I suppose this comes down to what ones definition of research vs looking something up.. really is.

Personally, if people make stupid mistakes cause they did not careful check up on it... that is their problem and they will eventually learn (or not) from their mistakes.

 

[Gypsy]

It was just compounding that day...lol. My old AV? The PS butterfly... I keep trying to change it to my cats but it won''t let me... *shrugs*

Yeah, I guess I know what you mean about there just being so many balls to keep up in the air and that dropping one is human.

We had three puppies brought in to the shelter that day. All just under a year-- over ''cute'' size and each time it was the same excuse... ''we didn''t know what we were getting into''... fortunately two of them were small breeds and easily placed but one was a rotty and well... they are hard to place and he is a real love. Plus we had 2 cats-- adults-- surrendered because the idiot owner declawed them as adults (5 years and 3 years-- same owner) and *surprise* they developed behavioural issues. The women even said that her vet and two others refused to do it to the cats (citing behavioual problems as the reason)... she went ahead and found a place that would do it... one of the cats developed a severe infection and had to have further care... stopped eating got depressed and refused to clean itself (my heart stoped when I saw her condition) the other got angry and started peeing on her bed (*snicker*). And she had the audacity to ask us about our kittens!!!

Plus... there were other things. Newbies on RT... and well.. I just saw red.

 

[ocbride2007]

Gypsy, this is similar to one of my pet peeves as well. I have probably spent more time researching which shoes I want with my dress than some people spend when buying a car. I''m in law school, so it must be a lawyer thing

But my real pet peeve is when people believe badly done research. They will see some bit on the news that says "eating so and so is correlated to less cancer" and run out and think it''s a miracle. They don''t realize that 1) correlation is not causation and 2)lots of this research is badly done. I am on a medication that prevents me from drinking alcohol, and then someone posted on a board that research now says it''s safe to drink alcohol with it. So I track down the article, read it for myself, and find that there wasn''t even a control group!! And people were going to start making medical decisions based on this article!! The problem is, the general public, and even the media, don''t know how to sort out the difference between preliminary results from one trial, and solid, repeated scientific research done with the correct method. Because if I started making life decisions every time they said so and so may cause cancer or help you lose weight, I wouldn''t know what to do with all the contradictions (I still don''t know whether eggs and butter are good for you or not!!)

 

[Fancy605]

Oh my goodness I research everything--at nausium. I think I could have easily been one of those people who does the "life long" college thing. When I look into something, I want to know everything I can possibly know about it (which is why I was so happy to discover and pour over pricescope!) I can't handle poorly exicuted research.

If I ever read about how "studies show such and such leads to weight loss" I want to know who conducted the study, How many participants there were, What were their demographics how long did the study run, etc, etc, etc... OH and I would question ANY research that shows findings about what causes cancer...only because it is unethical to conduct any real experimental studies on what causes cancer (because I mean it would be bad to intentionally give someone cancer by forcing them to eat margarine)--you can only do corolational studies... but you could just as easily find a corelation between eating margerine and being diagnosed with cancer as you could having brown eyes and being more likely to get parking tickets.
(Okay, so maybe I have had to take a few too many research methods courses)

Anyway, I am not one to make major decisions on a whim. I need all the information possible whether it's for vacation, pets, diamonds, cars, whatever.