A research specialist is an individual who has expertise and a strong aptitude in the area of researching a particular subject. A general research specialist might have an overall aptitude for engaging in any type research, which means that he or she could conduct research in a number of subjects, such as market research, academic research or intelligence research, for example. There is a vast amount of information that can be retrieved on the Internet, so this is typically the medium from which a research specialist acquires research information. He or she collects information from reputable sources, such as governmental organizations, academic institutions and online journals.
Undertaking market research is a fundamental requirement for a business corporation. All companies that are in the business of providing products and services must acquire information related to the relevant market. A market research specialist is employed to gather qualitative and quantitative information in relation to the potential market opportunities for the product or service in question. The qualitative information might be in the form of conducting surveys and might include engaging in discussions with potential customers in order to gather consumer opinions. The quantitative information could be in the form of statistical analysis of the business sector.
An academic research specialist might be an academic who is undertaking research as part of a research professor role. This type of researcher typically conducts research based on peer-reviewed work that has been completed, including the utilization of information within peer-reviewed journal entries and completed theses, for example. The research undertaken by an academic research specialist typically includes qualitative and quantitative research information. If the research is scientific and/or mathematical in nature, the research will be dominated by quantitative research, which might be expressed in the form of mathematical equations, for example.
Another type of researcher is an intelligence research specialist. This type of researcher typically conducts research for governmental organizations or military agencies. The kind of research that is conducted is typically quantitative in nature, which might include statistical information and other relevant factual data that is of interest to the subject area. In many developing nations, governments and non-governmental organizations have a dedicated website from which statistical information can be acquired by a researcher. This is useful for researchers because it provides a centralized repository from which the statistical information can be derived, which could potentially speed up the overall process of conducting the intelligence research.
