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No Hope for Perfect Research

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There is No Hope for doing Perfect Research (Griffins 1998, p 97) Do you agree? I entirely agree to Griffins allegation that there is no hope in perfect research. It is of great importance to understand the three major words that is hope, perfect and research before I delve deeper into the discussion. According to Sridhar, research is a logical effort to gain knowledge and a progress from the known to the unknown (Sridhar, 7). Research enables individuals to gain fresh insight, think intellectually, get answers to problems and therefore solve problems, (Sridhar, 7). Hope according to the McMillan dictionary is positivity about the future. It is the act of wishing that good things are going to happen in the future. Perfect, according to the American Heritage Dictionary of English language (fourth edition) is the aspect of having all the requisite characteristics and qualities. Just as the adage goes to err is human, the research process is not left out since it is undertaken by humans and is thus affected by human biases which in turn distort the results. Biases are methodical errors that lead to loss of validity since it limits the significance and applicability of a study, (Sica, 780). Other errors that affect research include errors associated with sampling which lead to variation since a sample population may not reflect fully the characteristics of the whole target population. Research is an incomplete process since it is a discovery journey and thus no research can be said to be perfect or complete. This is denoted by the practice of researchers proposing topics for further study in their research works. Research is also carried out within boundaries that limit a researcher and as thus the idea of perfect research can only be a fallacy.
Conflicting findings and conclusions in research on Autism a neurological disorder that affects the brain thus distorting normal brain development leading to impairment in social interaction, communication among other human development aspects affirms the idea that research cannot be perfect. Researchers in trying to determine factors that lead to autism have proposed and studied factors such as diet, environmental pollution and chemical pollution, vaccines amongst others. The area in which they conflict majorly on is “vaccines as a cause of autism.” While some support that the chemicals in MMR and DPT vaccines cause autism others are of the opposite opinion. In fact studies carried out in the US and Japan showed no correlation between vaccination and autism. This leaves parents wondering whether to vaccinate or not to vaccinate their children, (Landrigan, 222). Another good example is research on risk of osteoporosis a common bone disease caused by failure of the body to form enough new bone. According to the New York Times researchers in Columbia linked the disorder to the levels of serotonin a chemical that affects the brain. The study showed that high levels of serotonin caused weaker bones in an individual. However researchers from Harvard and Biotech companies questioned the findings proposing that serotonin especially of the gut have no effect on bone development and failed to connect gene LRP5 to serotonin production which according to Columbian researchers increased serotonin production in the gut. This makes one wonder which group is right and which is wrong.
I thus support Griffins in his proposition that there can be no hope for perfect research. The many biases and challenges that affect the research process prevent perfection from being achievable. Changing scenarios and imminent new knowledge ensures incompleteness in the process and thus researchers have to keep on building up on what information they have.
Works Cited.
“Hope” MacMillan Dictionary. 4th ed. 2004
Kolata G., “2 Cases in Conflict on Growth of Bone.” New York Times, 23rd May, 2011.D5
Landrigan P.J. What Causes Autism? Exploring the Environmental Condition, Current Opinions in Pediatrics, 22 (2010): 219-225. Print.
Sica G.T, Bias in Research Studies, Radiology 238 3(2006): Print.
Sridhar, M.S. Introduction to Research & Research Methodology. ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, India. , 29th, 2012. <http://www.slideshare.net/mssridhar/introduction-to-research-methodology-presentation> “Perfect”. American Heritage Dictionary. 2nd ed. 2003

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