There Is No Hope of Doing a Perfect Research

There is no hope of doing a perfect research

Based on the three months ended on 31st Mar, 2010, according to Google Finance, Microsoft Corporation spent approx 19% of its total revenue on production cost of its products, but it spent 15.3% of its income on research and development. However Apple Inc, Microsoft Corporation's competitor, spent 58% of its total revenue on the cost of making its products, but only spent 3.2% on research. Results showed that Microsoft Corporation earned 36% of their total revenue as operating profits; whereas, Apple Inc made 29% of its' total revenue in profit. It looks small difference in percentages, but it is approx a difference of $1.2 billion in a short span of three months. Research really makes a difference, but it doesn't imply perfection. It is more like a hit and trial method. To get one successful research you have to bear the cost of all the failed attempts. Microsoft Corporation, for example, according to Google finance, spent approx $9 billion on research in the last year, but it doesn't say the amount of money wasted during the failed attempts. A perfect research is not humanly possible because you cannot be absolutely sure about the credibility of your source; you cannot predict your statistical estimations with one hundred percent accuracy; you cannot rely on the authenticity of the information extracted from the internet; and, you cannot be certain about the facts and figures which were extrapolated for some other use.

The credibility of sources is very crucial to the success of any research especially the qualitative one. There are many substantial amounts of risks involved during the credibility evaluation of sources. Books are usually written to sell their author's values and beliefs. To bring them with close match to the research objectives, researchers often attempt to eliminate some information to support their work. Academic articles have usually more than one writer which adds to their credibility. There is a risk of biased information because professors sometimes change the idea during their rewritings to promote a certain moral for students. Magazines have a very certain objectives, for example, glamour, politics, promoting certain businesses, etc. Authors of magazine articles are paid to hook their readers' attention. They tend to exaggerate and spice up any ordinary information with gossips and rumors. However, some may argue that word of God does not require any credibility test. In this case, is Quran as credible for non-Muslims as it is for Muslims? How about Bible? How about other holy books? Some people buy into something while others do not because credibility without any suspicion does not exist.

Research often comes into play when there is a need to avoid uncertainties to their fullest possible extent. Researchers, in that case, usually resort to statistical estimations. The most common error is to