The Most Important Research Skills (With Examples)

Research skills are the necessary tools to be able to find, compile, and interpret information in order to answer a question. Of course, there are several aspects to this. Researchers typically have to decide how to go about researching a problem — which for most people is internet research.

In addition, you need to be able to interpret the reliability of a source, put the information you find together in an organized and logical way, and be able to present your findings to others. That means that they’re comprised of both hard skills — knowing your subject and what’s true and what isn’t — and soft skills. You need to be able to interpret sources and communicate clearly.

Why are research skills important?

Research skills are useful in any industry, and have applications in innovation, product development, competitor research, and many other areas. In addition, the skills used in researching aren’t only useful for research. Being able to interpret information is a necessary skill, as is being able to clearly explain your reasoning.

Research skills are used to:

• Do competitor research. Knowing what your biggest competitors are up to is an essential part of any business. Researching what works for your competitors, what they’re doing better than you, and where you can improve your standing with the lowest resource expenditure are all essential if a company wants to remain functional.
• Develop new processes and products. You don’t have to be involved in research and development to make improvements in how your team gets things done. Researching new processes that make your job (and those of your team) more efficient will be valued by any sensible employer.
• Foster self-improvement. Folks who have a knack and passion for research are never content with doing things the same way they’ve always been done. Organizations need independent thinkers who will seek out their own answers and improve their skills as a matter of course. These employees will also pick up new technologies more easily.
• Manage customer relationships. Being able to conduct research on your customer base is positively vital in virtually every industry. It’s hard to move products or sell services if you don’t know what people are interested in. Researching your customer base’s interests, needs, and pain points is a valuable responsibility.
• Save money. Whether your company is launching a new product or just looking for ways to scale back its current spending, research is crucial for finding wasted resources and redirecting them to more deserving ends. Anyone who proactively researches ways that the company can save money will be highly appreciated by their employer.
• Solve problems. Problem solving is a major part of a lot of careers, and research skills are instrumental in making sure your solution is effective. Finding out the cause of the problem and determining an effective solution both require accurate information, and research is the best way to obtain that — be it via the internet or by observation.
• Determine reliable information. Being able to tell whether or not the information you receive seems accurate is a very valuable skill. While research skills won’t always guarantee that you’ll be able to tell the reliability of the information at first glance, it’ll prevent you from being too trusting. And it’ll give the tools to double-check.

12 of the most important research skills

Experienced researchers know that worthwhile investigation involves a variety of skills. Consider which research skills come naturally to you, and which you could work on more.

Data collection. When thinking about the research process, data collection is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is the nuts and bolts of research. How data is collected can be flexible. For some purposes, simply gathering facts and information on the internet can fulfill your need. Others may require more direct and crowd-sourced research. Having experience in various methods of data collection can make your resume more impressive to recruiters.

• Observation
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Experimentation
• Conducting focus groups

• Published books
• Encyclopedias
• Magazines
• Databases
• Scholarly journals
• Newspapers
• Library catalogs

• Source checking
• Searching relevant questions
• Exploring deeper than the first options
• Avoiding distraction
• Giving credit
• Organizing findings

• A plan of action
• Specific, pointed questions
• Respectfulness
• Considering the interview setting
• Actively Listening
• Taking notes
• Gratitude for participation

• Proper format
• Including a summary
• Focusing on your initial goal
• Creating an outline
• Proofreading
• Directness

• Observation
• Analysis
• Assessing issues
• Problem-solving
• Creativity
• Communication

• Setting objectives
• Identifying tasks
• Prioritizing
• Delegating if needed
• Vision
• Communication
• Clarity
• Time-management

• Focus
• Organization
• Using short-hand
• Keeping your objective in mind
• Neatness
• Highlighting important points
• Reviewing notes afterward

• Reading comprehension
• Writing
• Listening skills
• Presenting to an audience
• Creating graphs or charts
• Explaining in layman’s terms

• Scheduling
• Creating task outlines
• Strategic thinking
• Stress-management
• Delegation
• Communication
• Utilizing resources
• Setting realistic expectations
• Meeting deadlines

• Remembering people’s areas of expertise
• Being willing to ask for help
• Communication
• Returning favors
• Making use of advice
• Asking for specific assistance

• Double checking statistics
• Taking notes
• Keeping track of your sources
• Staying organized
• Making sure graphs are accurate and representative
• Properly citing sources

How to improve your research skills

As with many professional skills, research skills serve us in our day to day life. Any time you search for information on the internet, you’re doing research. That means that you’re practicing it outside of work as well. If you want to continue improving your research skills, both for professional and personal use, here are some tips to try.

• Differentiate between source quality. A researcher is only as good as their worst source. Start paying attention to the quality of the sources you use, and be suspicious of everything your read until you check out the attributions and works cited. Be critical and ask yourself about the author’s bias, where the author’s research aligns with the larger body of verified research in the field, and what publication sponsored or published the research.
• Use multiple resources. When you can verify information from a multitude of sources, it becomes more and more credible. To bolster your faith in one source, see if you can find another source that agrees with it. When you start running into contradictions and disagreements, you know that you need to continue your research until you arrive at a more definitive conclusion.
• Don’t fall victim to confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when a researcher expects a certain outcome and then goes to find data that supports this hypothesis. It can even go so far as disregarding anything that challenges the researcher’s initial hunch. Be prepared for surprising answers and keep an open mind. Be open to the idea that you might not find a definitive answer. It’s best to be honest and say that you found no definitive answer instead of just confirming what you think your boss or coworkers expect or want to hear. Experts and good researchers are willing to say that they don’t know.
• Stay organized. Being able to cite sources accurately and present all your findings is just as important as conducting the research itself. Start practicing good organizational skills, both on your devices and for any physical products you’re using. Sticky notes, dedicated folders, desk organizers, and a well-organized bookmark bar on your browser can all do wonders for keeping your research tidy.
• Get specific as you go. There’s nothing wrong with starting your research in a general way. After all, it’s important to become familiar with the terminology and basic gist of the researcher’s findings before you dig down into all the minutia. Orienting yourself in a new topic is a valuable step that will keep you from becoming frustrated and working backward the whole time.

Highlighting your research skills in a job interview

A job interview is itself a test of your research skills. You can expect questions on what you know about the company, the role, and your field or industry more generally. In order to give expert answers on all these topics, research is crucial.

• Start by researching the company. Look into how they communicate with the public through social media, what their mission statement is, and how they describe their culture. Pay close attention to the tone of their website. Is it hyper professional or more casual and fun-loving? All of these elements will help decide how best to sell yourself at the interview.
• Next, research the role. Go beyond the job description and reach out to current employees working at your desired company and in your potential department. If you can find out what specific problems your future team is or will be facing, you’re sure to impress hiring managers and recruiters with your ability to research all the facts.
• Finally, take time to research the job responsibilities you’re not as comfortable with. If you’re applying for a job that represents increased difficulty or entirely new tasks, it helps to come into the interview with at least a basic knowledge of what you’ll need to learn.

How to include research skills on your resume

Research projects require dedication. Being committed is a valuable skill for hiring managers. Whether you’ve had research experience throughout education or a former job, including it properly can boost the success of your resume.

• Consider how extensive your research background is. If you’ve worked on multiple, in-depth research projects, it might be best to include it as its own section. If you have less research experience, include it in the skills section.
• Focus on your specific role in the research, as opposed to just the research itself. Try to quantify accomplishments to the best of your abilities. If you were put in charge of competitor research, for example, list that as one of the tasks you had in your career. If it was a particular project, such as tracking the sale of women’s clothing at a tee-shirt company, you can say that you “directed analysis into women’s clothing sales statistics for a market research project.”
• Ascertain how directly research skills relate to the job you’re applying for. How strongly you highlight your research skills should depend on the nature of the job the resume is for. If research looks to be a strong component of it, then showcase all of your experience. If research looks to be tangential, then be sure to mention it — it’s a valuable skill — but don’t put it front and center.

Resume examples showcasing research skills

1. Example #1: Academic Research

Simon Marks

• Scheduling and updating meetings
• Managing emails and phone calls
• Reading entries
• Worked on a science fiction campaign by researching target demographic
• Organizing calendars
• Promoted to office assistant after one year internship

• Managed a team of five employees
• Responsible for coordinating the weekly schedule
• Hired and trained two employees
• Kept track of inventory
• Dealt with vendors
• Provided customer service
• Promoted to restaurant manager after two years as a waiter
• Awarded a $2.00/hr wage increase

• Writing
• Scientific Research
• Data analysis
• Critical thinking
• Planning
• Communication

Angela Nichols

• Discuss marketing goals with clients
• Provide customer service
• Lead campaigns associated with women’s health
• Coordinating with a marketing team
• Quickly solving issues in service and managing conflict
• Awarded with two raises totaling $10,000 over three years

• Working directly with clients
• Conducting market research into television streaming preferences
• Developing marketing campaigns related to television streaming services
• Report writing
• Analyzing campaign success statistics
• Promoted to Marketer from Junior Marketer after the first year

• Working cohesively with a large group of co-workers and supervisors
• Note-taking during meetings
• Running errands
• Managing email accounts
• Assisting in brainstorming
• Meeting work deadlines

• Marketing
• Market research
• Record-keeping
• Teamwork
• Presentation.
• Flexibility

Research skills FAQs

1. What research skills are important? Goal-setting and data collection are important research skills. Additional important research skills include:
   • Using different sources to analyze information.
   • Finding information on the internet.
   • Interviewing sources.
   • Writing reports.
   • Critical thinking.
   • Planning and scheduling.
   • Note-taking.
   • Managing time.
2. How do you develop good research skills? You develop good research skills by learning how to find information from multiple high-quality sources, by being wary of confirmation bias, and by starting broad and getting more specific as you go. When you learn how to tell a reliable source from an unreliable one and get in the habit of finding multiple sources that back up a claim, you’ll have better quality research. In addition, when you learn how to keep an open mind about what you’ll find, you’ll avoid falling into the trap of confirmation bias, and by staying organized and narrowing your focus as you go (rather than before you start), you’ll be able to gather quality information more efficiently.
3. What is the importance of research? The importance of research is that it informs most decisions and strategies in a business. Whether it’s deciding which products to offer or creating a marketing strategy, research should be used in every part of a company. Because of this, employers want employees who have strong research skills. They know that you’ll be able to put them to work bettering yourself and the organization as a whole.
4. Should you put research skills on your resume?Yes, you should include research skills on your resume as they are an important professional skill. Where you include your research skills on your resume will depend on whether you have a lot of experience in research from a previous job or as part of getting your degree, or if you’ve just cultivated them on your own. If your research skills are based on experience, you could put them down under the tasks you were expected to perform at the job in question. If not, then you should likely list it in your skills section.

References

1. University of the People – The Best Research Skills for Success
2. Association of Internet Research Specialists — What are Research Skills and Why Are They Important?
3. MasterClass — How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips

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