What does the role of researcher involve?

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.


The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge. This process takes three main forms:

• Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems
• Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem
• Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

• Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist)
• Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research)

In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

• Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior).
• Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships).
• Exploratory research, which structures and identifies new problems.
• Constructive research, which develops solutions to a problem.
• Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence.

Research can also fall into two distinct types:

• Primary research (collection of data that does not yet exist).
• Secondary research (summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research).

In social sciences and later in other disciplines, the following two research methods can be applied, depending on the properties of the subject matter and on the objective of the research:

Qualitative research (understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior).

Quantitative research (systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships).

Reference: Wikipedia (Research)