Lesson 2: Importance of Research to our Daily Lives

Research is very significant on our lives, it has  gradually changed human life through history. 

Here are the five (5) importance of research to our daily lives. 

1. Research aims for truth (Rolfe 2002).  

2. Research improves quality of human life (Bornmann 2013). 

3. Research saves life(Cancer Research UK 2019). 

4. Research gathers necessary information (Igwenagu 2016). 

5. Research explores humanity (Lee, Tran, and Lee 2007). 

The research aims for truth.

We crave truth for no one has the desire to live in lies (Rasmussen 2013). Research is about establishing truth based on evidence or data. We conduct a study to seek for truth. Just imagine, for many centuries people believe that the world is flat and it is over the giant turtle. Beyond the horizon of the sea is an abyss. But there came Ferdinand Magellan who proved this otherwise. His courage and research have made us live with the fact that the world is round. 

Have you ever heard about the belief that earth is the center of the universe? Actually, for many years men believed that everything revolved around us. But thanks to Copernicus, because of his tedious research, now we know that it is not Earth as the center of the universe but the  sun. I beat you can cite more examples related to this concern. Nonetheless, the main idea here is that research provides us an explanation or solution to particular problem based on truth (Kasi 2009).  

Research improves the quality of human life.

I believe that you often hear from your parents about their experiences when they were young. Though it sounds so boring, they live without television, without the internet, without a cellphone, without an  air condition, without an electric fan, without computer, or online games. Can you imagine that kind of life?

But look at our situation now. Everything that they don’t have before, we have it now. You can cook now without a fire stove. Now, it is a matter of pushing a button with the use of a rice cooker or electric stove. You can call and see your friends abroad without hustles through the use of social media platforms. You can travel anywhere by just a matter of hours or a few days using your motorcycles and bikes. You can enjoy staying at home not going outside with the use of your smartphones. This is the life we have now. Do you think it just went down from heaven like rain during the rainy season? All of the technological advancements are brought by different researches (Gupta 2018). Without the people who dedicated their lives for the sake of humanity, we will not have this kind of life. Through research, it improves our standard of living.  

Research saves a life.

Through the course of human history, research has proven its worth and roles in our lives. In the past, when penicillin was not yet discovered, people just die without proper medication. It was by the research of Fleming that the first generation of antibiotics were discovered (Pandey et al. 2014). In the same manner, how can we forget the research of Dr. Abelardo Aguilar, a Filipino doctor, one of the contributors to the discovery of Erythromycin during the late 1940s? Now, we have effective medicine in bacteria that causes infections in the respiratory tract (Peretti et al. 2011).  

Moreover, Dr. Fe Del Mundo improved the incubator and jaundice relieving device. Now pre-matured babies and those suffering from jaundice can survive and enjoy life in the future. With our situation now with the threat of COVID 19, the only hope is research. Research on understanding the disease, development of vaccines, and medication will save us. Nonetheless, researchers are doing their best working day and night to have a medical remedy for this pandemic. Later, research will succeed and will continue to provide us a safer life.  

Research gathers the necessary information.

Conducting research implies gathering necessary data to explain your problem and to answer your particular questions for example, you want to understand students’ perceptions about modular learning, then, you conduct survey to the projected respondents or direct interviews with the projected participants. Thus, the content of the survey questionnaire and the guided interview must aligned to the your problem and to the questions that you like to answer. On this manner, you are gathering important data needed for your research.

Another, when COVID 19 was just starting to spread, medical experts are puzzled about the emerging disease (Vetter, Eckerle, and Kaiser 2020). Many of them wanted to know what was the cause. Some of them investigated how it is being transmitted. Some experts dealt with medical mapping. Others determined the incubation period and how it can be prevented. Each of them intensively conducted a particular study to answer their inquiries. They did many laboratory experiments, observations, and literature review. Data related only to their questions were considered. Now, we have at least a good perspective on the manner the virus is transmitted, possible medication, ways to prevent it, incubation period, and location affected by the pandemic. Thus, the necessary information to understand the situation was gathered.  

Research explores humanity. 

Do you know that Bataeños have developed distinct Tagalog intonation and words? Do you know that the song “Ati Ku Pung Singsing” is about the culture of the Kapampangan? Do you know that in Zambales, the Aetas have customary maternal and infant care beliefs based on their tradition and faith passed through generations? Do you know that the Dumagat of Aurora considered prayers as part of their economic life? Do you know that the province of Tarlac came from the "Malatarlak"? I am quite sure that you are familiar with some of these questions. These are just examples of how research explores the culture of people. 

Research likewise deals with the investigation of culture to understand and to appreciate others' practices, and beliefs (Zion and Kozleski 2005). The way we understand others is the result of a long study of different individuals to provide us explanations about group or individual culture. Because of this, we can now related, understand, and respect others.  

Probably you have your own, experience aware with your own experience how research works, you can still cite importance of research. These five (5) importance are just the representation of many benefits we can get out of research. Research is important because it aims for truth, improves quality of human life, saves life, gathers necessary information, and explores humanity. Who knows in the future, you’re research might be beneficial to humanity. Hand on your pencil! Let us start researching!