# Research Methods --- ## Research is formalized curiosity As anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston wrote in her autobiography: > Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.[^1] Most of the research I undertake is rooted in my personal interests. But for research to be useful requires rigor. That’s why I’m thorough and combine several complementary approaches to explore, interpret, apply, and iterate. ## Process These steps aren’t strictly linear or mutually exclusive — they’re recurring and overlapping. I move back and forth between them, especially in and near the areas where they intersect. ### Exploring - **Foraging.** I seek out and critically absorb well-grounded sources such as research papers, survey data, thoughtful commentary, and relevant books and articles. - **Interviewing.** I speak with people whose expertise I respect to learn from their insights — both providers and users of the technologies I’m researching. - **Experimenting.** I use new technologies not only in common ways but also in ways that push boundaries, go off-trail, and explore corner cases, especially with AI systems. ### Interpreting - **Analyzing.** I dissect ideas, practices, technologies, and their implications, as well as the assumptions that underlie them. - **Clarifying.** I unpack and refine key concepts and terminology — because effective language sharpens thinking, whereas poor language distorts it. - **Synthesizing.** I identify relevant linkages between the essentials I’ve distilled from many inputs, across disciplines, and connect the dots. ### Applying - **Contextualizing.** I situate and concretize my observations in practical commercial, organizational, and societal contexts. - **Validating.** I seek constructive critical feedback about my argumentation and its relevance from my interviewees and other people I trust. ### Iterating - **Questioning.** I periodically revisit my past research to uncover assumptions and conclusions that no longer hold. - **Refreshing.** I update evidence and ideas that have become dated and gone stale, and replace terminology that has evolved. ## Impartiality When I mention an organization or its products in my research, I apply the same standards and critical lens regardless of whether the organization is a client. ## How I use AI in my work AI is not a research method but it can be a relevant tool. My approach, in short: - I do **not** use AI to write on my behalf. - I do use AI for various other tasks — taking care to **mitigate the risks**. For specifics, see **[[Tools|Research tools]]**. [^1]: Zora Neale Hurston, *[Dust Tracks on a Road](https://search.worldcat.org/title/34946730)* (New York: HarperPerennial, 1996), as quoted in Lynda Hoffman-Jeep, “[Creating Ethnography: Zora Neale Hurston and Lydia Cabrera](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:140366116),” *[African American Review](https://afamreview.org/)* (2005).