Why I believe you should complete that research request….

Before I start, I should clarify what sort of research I am referring to… I am not talking about complex clinical trials that involve you taking new medications or subjecting yourself to painful procedures.

I am talking about those requests that we all receive from time to time from our friends, students, colleagues, and the posts that we all spot as we peruse LinkedIn or Facebook. I am talking about requests to complete surveys or asking you to participate in a short interview so someone can ask you some questions.

I am also not talking about those posts that appear to be trying to gather opinions and “votes” but are just clever marketing exercises that are tricking you into responding to the post to please the LinkedIn algorithms. 

So, why do I think you should take ten minutes our of your super busy schedule to complete the survey or answer some questions?

1. Good research leads to improvements

Academics and practitioners are generally involved in research to better understand something – and then that better understanding may contribute to better products, services, experiences and outcomes for people and communities.

Granted, most research can’t be directly linked to a tangible improvement, but it may contribute to collective efforts reaching a tipping point that could result in a meaningful change. The ten minutes you “donate” really could make a difference.

2. Research needs to be representative and numbers matter

Ensuring that research findings are relevant to diverse societies is always a challenge… if participants are always from a narrow demographic then the conclusions drawn from this sample may not be relevant to many others. 

The more people that contribute, the better – the bigger the numbers, the more robust the analysis and with big numbers of participants interesting statistical analyses can be completed. Researchers can establish whether differences are “statistically significant” and therefore whether they are likely to be due to chance or are a relevant finding or correlation. 

3. At worst – you are simply helping someone out

Whether it is a school project, dissertation, PhD or heavy weight University project with millions of pounds of funding, there is almost always a person (or group of people) living and breathing the project somewhere….

I know that I hate asking people to participate in any projects that I am involved with and do a little “happy dance” (privately) whenever someone takes the time to contribute. I genuinely appreciated that they have taken time out of their day to do something to help someone else.

Worst case scenario – you could get involved and make someone’s day!