Mastering Independent Research: Tips for Answering Your Own Questions

[dduardo]

When you have a question, do you immediately ask a person for help or do you attempt to find the answer yourself? Google is probably the most powerful tool I've encountered for finding the answers, yet the majority of people don't seem to use it. What are your feelings concerning this. Are you too lazy to do a search, is there information overload, or do you just don't know what keywords to enter into the search box to get the results you want? If it isn't about laziness, then I want to help you guys become independent researchers, because frankly, I've become frustrated with the amount of questions that can be answered by doing a simple google search.

 

[Chrono]

I definitely try to find the answer myself, and if I can't, then I'll probably ask someone. I agree that Google is a powerful tool and it's quite easy to use. Perhaps people would rather ask so they can get more reliable answers, since they choose who they ask?

 

[Monique]

er.. asking questions brings up discussions, personal interaction with funny anecdotes is much more pleasant then scouring 'boring' internet webpages :) isn't it fun aswering easy questions David?

 

[Chrono]

er.. asking questions brings up discussions, personal interaction with funny anecdotes is much more pleasant then scouring 'boring' internet webpages :) isn't it fun aswering easy questions David?

That probably depends on what kind of question you ask. If you're asking a question that concerns the person you're asking, then you should ask. Stuff so you can get to know them. But, if it's questions that can take less time to find yourself than to ask, then why not just find it yourself?

 

[zoobyshoe]

My impression is that a lot of the time the person asking doesn't have the faintest idea where to search on google. Sometimes, if you you enough to know where to look you'd already know the answer.

Google is also strangely spotty. Sometimes I'll look up very easy things that I could find easily at almost any library only to find that no one has covered it on google. You can burn up hours trying to find the right combinations of words, too, to get the specific thing you're looking for. Sometimes it is a lot easier just to start a thread.

 

[dduardo]

Monique, maybe I'm just a boring person, but what if you had a flood of people ask you what the density of certain materials are. It should be common sense to look this type of stuff up in a table because most people are going to have to look it up anyway.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

sometimes both asking in forum and searching don't provide you with an answer and you need to go offline to the books to find it.

 

[Monique]

Monique, maybe I'm just a boring person, but what if you had a flood of people ask you what the density of certain materials are. It should be common sense to look this type of stuff up in a table because most people are going to have to look it up anyway.

You're right, some are just lazy questions, but others open up discussions to better understanding. It depends on the nature of the person who's asking..