Search terms
By any stretch of the imagination 2020 hasn’t been great. In the Rowlands’ household were in need of some cheer in the next few weeks. So this weekend I was searching for Christmas lights.
Like many of you we have plenty already but need more. And I do mean "need" this time. Last year we bought a couple of hanging star lights. Battery operated so no need to worry about plugs and cables. Look great in the window. Great, right?
Wrong! It’s almost impossible to turn off without damaging the entire decoration. And that’s on the nights we remember to switch them off.
With the intention of retrofitting some lights with a timer function inside, I asked Google to search for me. But has it found me any? Not so far.
Seek and ye shall find?
Searching for these lights has been pretty frustrating element. Put any combination of “battery lights with timer” into your favourite search engine and a multitude of options are thrown up.
Few “hits” say the item have a timer. And when they do, the page you link to shows anything but battery lights with timers.
So I’m sat here frustrated and disappointed unable to resolve what seemed a simple problem.
But isn't Google always right?
Yes and no. You see, there are two parts to this story.
Google will find what you ask it to find. But ask Google the same question but in slightly different ways - change your “search terms” as they say - and the results will begin to differ. The variance provides greater possibilities and do more answers to use.
To address this hidden flaw you need to ask Google slightly differently and ask more than once to get a fuller, more satisfactory range of answers.
But how much can I trust the answers I get? In practice we are reliant on one major search engine. They use a particular method to find you the results you want. And some people know how to use those rules to get their pages found first.
Knowing the rules means some websites incorporate lots of erroneous keywords to trick the searcher (i.e google). It might put that website high up the results list but the person searching is provided with a result that doesn't answer their search. For the customer this can provide misleading and disappointing results. I can’t be alone in then dismissing the reliability of the seller themselves.
What has this got to do with research?
This is not an isolated example of the frustration caused by leaving the “search” for an answer to somebody else.
We do it on the internet everyday. If you found this article it was probably thanks to an algorithm, unfathomable to most of us in its detail but which we take for granted to deliver the “content” we want and need.
Equally we often put faith in others to find us answers in work which though promising ultimately don’t deliver what we need. How often do we seek expert advice - from the news, from consultants - only to find part of the story which out of context may or may not be factual or helpful?
What can you do?
First, get your search terms right. Knowing what you are looking for is critical. The questions you need to ask in order to find it often require tweaking and asking differently. It might need asking in a number of different ways too.
Second, to borrow a phrase, take back control. Before employing an "algorithm" to do the searching for you, make sure you have an understanding of how it/they will do the it.
And finally, don't take the results at face value and be prepared to dig beneath the surface to check that they will work to help you make a difference.
What at first can seem the easy route or shortcut can soon involve a lengthy detour or deadend. Whilst I can't promise you'll find those Christmas lights, a few simple skills can help you take greater control of that process and make the answers found more effective for your needs.
You can read more about the skills that will help you get the most from expert help in this article. If you want to develop those skills further I will be running a week long, bite-size workshop in January. Keep an eye out here or follow me on Twitter or Facebook for announcements.