Stop “Understanding” and Start Doing THIS Instead

Fuel Your Curiosity Newsletters
Written By michele ronsen

In research goals, the verb "understand" is commonly used to indicate a desire for a deep and comprehensive comprehension of a specific topic or issue. However, it is often too broad and insufficiently specific to form a clear and actionable research goal by itself. To create a more focused research goal, I encourage you to consider alternative, more descriptive verbs.

Choosing the appropriate verb is crucial in writing effective research goals since it ensures that the research is well-defined, focused, and measurable, leading to more impactful outcomes. The right verb should precisely communicate the purpose of the study, outlining specific actions to achieve the desired study outcome. Selecting the appropriate verb provides important information about the nature and scope of the research.

 
 

Here are some examples of how specific verbs apply to research goals:

  • “Identify” implies a goal of determining the presence or absence of a specific phenomenon or characteristic.

  • “Explore” suggests that the research goal focuses on discovering new information or generating new ideas.

  • “Test” implies a goal of evaluating or verifying existing theories, assumptions, or hypotheses.

  • “Compare” suggests a goal of identifying similarities and differences between two or more variables.

​Choosing the appropriate verb ensures that the research goal is measurable and attainable. By selecting a verb that conveys a specific action, researchers can clearly define what data will be collected and how it will be analyzed, guaranteeing that the research is more focused and feasible, and that the results will provide more meaningful learnings.

I shared this list of alternative verbs for 'understand' and 'identify' with our current Ask Like A Pro cohort last week. (Identify is the second most commonly used verb I see in research goals.) I always try to be as descriptive as possible, and I encourage you to do the same.

  • Ascertain

  • Assess

  • Associate

  • Audit

  • Breakdown

  • Catalog

  • Characterize

  • Check

  • Clarify

  • Classify

  • Collate

  • Confirm

  • Consider

  • Correlate

  • Deduce

  • Define

  • Delineate

  • Designate

  • Detect

  • Determine

  • Digest

  • Dig

  • Discern

  • Discover

  • Distinguish

  • Equate

  • Estimate

  • Evaluate

  • Examine

  • Explore

  • Figure out

  • Find

  • Gather

  • Grasp

  • Group

  • Infer

  • Investigate

  • Learn

  • Link

  • List

  • Pinpoint

  • Probe

  • Rank

  • Rate

  • Recognize

  • Relate

  • Review

  • Separate

  • Sense

  • Specify

  • Sort

  • Study

  • Test

  • Uncover

  • Weigh

Therefore, when creating research goals, it is crucial to ensure that the verbs used accurately reflect the action to take or the outcome to achieve.

Do the verbs you are using accurately reflect the action to take or the outcome you want to achieve?

Happy verb-alizing to you! :)

Speak up, get involved, and share the love!

And that’s a wrap!

We try to alternate between a theme and UX/UXR jobs, events, classes, articles, and other happenings every few weeks. Thank you for all of the feedback. Feedback is a gift, and we continue to receive very actionable input on how to make Fuel Your Curiosity more meaningful to you.

What do you think? We're constantly iterating and would love to hear your input.​

Stay curious,

- Michele and the Curiosity Tank team

PS: There’s still time to enroll as an Observer in our current Ask Like A Pro cohort. PLEASE JOIN US! We *may* also offer a summer 2023 cohort. If you are interested in the summer cohort please let us know!


michele ronsen
Previous

Verbs matter!
Next

Learn the lingo: Primary research