Did you do your research?

Doing research sure has gotten to be a popular fad in recent times.  It seems to have also taken on a completely new definition.  I remember when I was early in my PhD program, how much time I spent in the library, finding, reading, and summarizing hundreds of published research articles, in preparation for my own research project.  The annotated bibliography I produced was research in its own right.  I remember all of the journal readings assigned, and how we were taught not only to understand the data, but also to critically analyze the results and conclusions.  I remember my research design course, and the graduate-level statistics course I took.  All this just to prepare myself to conduct my own scientific research!

When I began teaching biology at a Christian University, I had no idea how big of an issue evolution was for some Christians, so what did I do?  I spent multiple years reading and studying the claims and rationale of anti-evolutionists, as well as familiarizing myself with all sorts of science involved in evolutionary research, including geology, paleontology, and even astronomy (I already had molecular biology covered through my graduate education). I compiled a massive library of scholarly (and not so scholarly) resources, as part of my research into the topic.  This is described in greater detail in a blog series I am still working on.

A couple of years ago, as a result of an emergent issue with transgenderism in the church I participated in, I offered the pastor my assistance with helping church leadership better understand transgenderism.  As a scientist and a Christian, I was very interested in studying the growing incidence and phenomenon of transgenderism.  I spent months doing exactly what I was trained to do in graduate school - I scoured the professional literature, and compiled a huge library of resources.  I also compiled a significant library of related content from popular mainstream publications and resources.  In my mind, how could I possibly understand and develop an informed view of the topic, without being thoroughly aware of the wide range of perspectives and research related to human sexual development and brain development and function?  I’ve considered blogging on the topic, but it feels perhaps a bit too risky in our hyper-sensitive culture for an aging heterosexual white man to be jumping into this fray.  Then again, if Preston Sprinkle can do it, maybe I can as well!

What has research become?

The internet, smartphones and social media have done some interesting things to the concept of research.  It’s not all bad, but it’s definitely not good.  The bright side is that there is some great informative content out there, that is quite helpful to the educated consumer who wants to become better informed of issues, but lacks the technical expertise to really dive into professional research literature.  That’s good.  However, the same platforms are utilized to perpetuate terrible and ridiculous ideas in a way that spreads them like never before in human history!  That’s bad.  And now research - in the common language of the people - has been reduced to quickly finding easy to understand information which supports whatever a person believes to be true.  That’s what doing research now is - having a conviction about something, and looking on a smartphone for the Facebook post, or Youtube video, or Instagram post, or tweet which affirms one's preconceptions of the truth.  It’s even worse now with the social media crackdown on misinformation, as free-for-all sites like Rumble, Parler, Gab and others take an anything goes approach to (mis)information distribution, under the banner of freedom of speech.

I know some well-intentioned people do more “research” than this, who consider they have done research when they’ve spent a good amount of time consuming what appears to be good information. Unfortunately, I’ve found in the majority of cases, they are consuming secondary information, developed by agenda-driven individuals and organizations, who misrepresent information to fit their objectives.  What makes these secondary sources convincing is their sincerity, an appearance of professionalism, and most importantly, their conclusions align with the preconceived convictions of the consumer “researcher”.

You clearly haven’t done your research

I’ve enjoyed watching the social media comment battles over the past year on topics like COVID-19, the COVID-19 vaccinations, and claimed election fraud.  The level of confidence people have in their positions is amazing, and it’s clear that the confidence comes from perceptions of having done due diligence and discovering the truth through research, which usually amounts to widely circulated misrepresentations of data on social media, and assertions which cannot be verified through primary sources.  For the few documents I’ve encountered listing actual references, I’ve discovered, unsurprisingly, that the references do not actually provide the evidence of what is being claimed (and I doubt consumers are including reference checking as part of their smartphone “research”).

What I see commonly in online conversations is people taking the position that anyone who disagrees, or sees things differently, or raises a question clearly has not done their own research.  “Do your own research,” they retort to any challenge to their position.  Of course this makes sense - anyone who has done the research would obviously come to the same conclusion.  To think otherwise, would suggest that one’s conviction might actually be incorrect, and that is simply impossible.  People are so confident in their “research” skill, and the ability to comprehend technical and statistical data, it’s as if they’ve somehow gained a graduate research degree by virtue of having internet access, and interest in a topic.

Moving from naive to amateur

One cannot be a professional in most things - there just isn’t enough time, and it really isn’t necessary.  That doesn’t mean that a person can’t become a very good amateur researcher, with very good knowledge and understanding in a number of areas.  Many people have demonstrated this, and some have expert level knowledge and understanding, without the formal credentials to say so.  But you don’t become that by being a smartphone social media “researcher”.  It takes conscious intention of being a deliberate and methodical seeker of truth, and is best accomplished with a willingness to adjust one's opinions and convictions along the way as new information comes to light.  It takes an understanding of how to seek and locate reliable and valid information sources, and that’s not going to happen on Instagram or Twitter.  All I can say right now is that a large portion of our society is far too easily swayed by bad information, and the habit of quick, convenient and easy to consume information, and end up fooled into thinking they have the truth, because they’ve done their “research”, when all they’ve done is fall prey to charlatans and accomplish acts of confirmation bias.