a question for academics?

[Milena]

Right, so I hope this is a good place for this question.

I decided recently that I'm a research scientist by nature. I have no career yet, but this is the career I want to have. Yes, I'm nearly positive. My primary issue is that to succeed as a researcher you typically go through graduate school, where you focus on a very specific topic and spend years studying it.

But what if my attention span is too short? I get research ideas every other day. I can't imagine studying a very specific thing for 5+ years of grad school. And more importantly, are there any career opportunities in research that don't require a PhD? I guess it's worth mentioning that I'm interested in anthropology research.

Ok ok, I feel like my question was muddled. Let me try again: I have some research questions that I want to pursue. Is it practical for me to pursue them on my own? Should I get help from experienced faculty? How does one make money by doing personal research? Or do you only make money when someone finds your research important (an institution, gov't, university)?

[spirit4711]

Originally Posted by Milena

...
Is it practical for me to pursue them on my own?

As practical as you can make it. I guess you mean something else?

Should I get help from experienced faculty?

Depends. If you want to use the same methods as they, need their input, etc, yes.

How does one make money by doing personal research? Or do you only make money when someone finds your research important (an institution, gov't, university)?

By selling the results, which means someone finds it valuable. Or go and work for a research institute, which means someone finds what you do, valuable.

[Milena]

Thanks Spirit. Yes, I can see that my question was muddled.

By "practical" I meant... has someone else made a career by doing this? I know that I could be the first, but that takes a lot of inspiration. And a big part of my question is whether or not I can engage in many "small experiments" instead of a few major ones like most anthropologists.

The idea of "research institutes" is appealing, but I think that most anthro research is done at universities.

[GHI]

Originally Posted by Milena

Thanks Spirit. Yes, I can see that my question was muddled.

By "practical" I meant... has someone else made a career by doing this?

Yes, there's that fellow, perhaps you've heard about him... I think his name was Albert something... Yeah, that's it: Albert Einstein. Rings a bell?

Did you know that Einstein developed his revolutionary theory of relativity while working as a patent clerk? You can be successful at doing research, no matter where you're doing it.

HOWEVER, do remember that successful research requires focus. If you aren't willing to spend 5+ years researching a big quetion, you are simply unlikely to find good answers. You can do it at home, at the university, or in a Tibetian monsatry if you wish, but you will need to be focused and patient if you want to see results.

[Milena]

Originally Posted by GHI

Yes, there's that fellow, perhaps you've heard about him... I think his name was Albert something... Yeah, that's it: Albert Einstein. Rings a bell?

Did you know that Einstein developed his revolutionary theory of relativity while working as a patent clerk? You can be successful at doing research, no matter where you're doing it.

HOWEVER, do remember that successful research requires focus. If you aren't willing to spend 5+ years researching a big quetion, you are simply unlikely to find good answers. You can do it at home, at the university, or in a Tibetian monsatry if you wish, but you will need to be focused and patient if you want to see results.

Thank you for this response

[Doku]

You might also want to check into DKEA. It's a company that is run by the inventor of the Segway. He loves hiring idea people. His company development model is essentially this:
Come up with an idea.
Brainstorm on it.
If it still sounds good, go for it.
If it fails, examine why, and decide to try a second method, or scrap it all together.
If it succeeds, turn it over to another group to decide how marketable/etc. it is, but the origional people generally move on to the next great idea.

There is also another company out there that is essentially an "inventor's co-op", but I can't remember what the name is off the top of my head, and 10 minutes of searching didn't turn it up. It is in the New England states, and is not tied to MIT or any other university.

[Brutha]

How does one make money by doing personal research? Or do you only make money when someone finds your research important (an institution, gov't, university)?

To make money you always have to create something that someone else values.

That might mean getting some form of grand or it might mean to sell books or hold speeches.

Also check out Seth’s blog

[liamona]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Also check out Seth’s blog

Thanks for the link! I'm a big admirer of his, and used to post on his Shangri-La Diet forum a lot when I was experimenting with the diet (it works).