skip to main content

DOE PAGESDOE PAGES

  • DOE PAGES
  • Accepted Manuscript: The art of research: Opportunities for a science-based approach

Title: The art of research: Opportunities for a science-based approach

Research, the manufacture of knowledge, is currently practiced largely as an “art,” not a “science.” Just as science (understanding) and technology (tools) have revolutionized the manufacture of other goods and services, it is natural, perhaps inevitable, that they will ultimately also be applied to the manufacture of knowledge. In this article, we present an emerging perspective on opportunities for such application, at three different levels of the research enterprise. At the cognitive science level of the individual researcher, opportunities include: overcoming idea fixation and sloppy thinking, and balancing divergent and convergent thinking. At the social network level of the research team, opportunities include: overcoming strong links and groupthink, and optimally distributing divergent and convergent thinking between individuals and teams. At the research ecosystem level of the research institution and the larger national and international community of researchers, opportunities include: overcoming GPA and performance fixation, overcoming narrow measures of research impact, and overcoming (or harnessing) existential/social stress.
Authors:
 [1] ;  [1] ;  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Report Number(s):
SAND-2016-1630J
Journal ID: ISSN 0302-9743; 619873
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9744; Related Information: Chapter in Foundations of Augmented Cognition: Neurogenomics and Operational Neuroscience; 2016 Human Computer Interaction International: Augmented Cognition; Journal ID: ISSN 0302-9743
Publisher:
Springer
Research Org:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS; research; divergent thinking; convergent thinking; science of science; creativity; analogical distance; research narrative; scientometrics; data analytics; research teams; research ecosystem
OSTI Identifier:
1259671