Tangent Ideas and Getting Off Track

I have been slipping on a slippery slope lately -- what is research?  I have been reflecting upon the essences of research and what it does if it were alive. Couldn't research be described as a living entity?  It vibrates with questions, is dynamic as moving knowledge as data is gathered and changes the researcher's point of view, and reacts to external forces as other researchers produce their own data.

So, I came up with this....a vibrating, dynamic, jiggling gourd on springs. The hardware arms are the research lessons (each arm to be extended with the number of lessons and expectations) that react to breezes, table movements, and handling. Fragile and yet self-sustaining, this is a gourd that goes with the flow much like research!  It moves, shifts, takes on new meaning as additional information is learned. The lessons and strategies help it stay dynamic.