Study & Research 
Study & Research
1. To study something in order to try to find out more about it

study verb [intransitive and transitive] to examine a subject carefully in order to find out
more about it and discover new facts:
 Scientists are studying what causes the disease. 
 Pavlov studied how dogs could be trained to associate certain sounds with food.
 She has been studying the relationship between writers' lives and their work.

do / carry out / conduct research to study something, especially as a part of a 
scientific or academic project:
 Universities are finding it difficult to get the funding they need to do basic research.
 The research was carried out by a team of scientists at Newcastle University.
 The  department is	conducting research into  how to  make  diesel engines burn fuel 
more efficiently.
 Since 1992, the team has been	carrying out  research into  the effects of human
activity on wildlife.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Conduct research is more formal than do research or carry out research.

research	verb  [intransitive and transitive] to  study a particular subject, especially a 
particular detailed part of a subject:
 She spent  her life  researching  the causes of major  childhood illnesses  and birth
defects.
 The book is well researched. (=the writer has studied this subject very carefully and
thoroughly) 

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Do/carry out/conduct research (into) is more common than research (verb).

investigate	verb  [intransitive  and transitive]  to try to find out  all the facts about 
something in order to  find out  the truth about  it.	Investigate  is often used about 
accidents and crimes. It is also used about scientific studies into a specialized subject:

 The authorities in California are still investigating what caused the crash.
 Psychiatrists first began to investigate the effects of the drug in the late 1960s.
 Greenpeace has been  investigating  the environmental impact of  dumping nuclear
waste in the ocean.

examine verb [transitive] to consider or look at something carefully in order to find out 
more about it:
 The professor and his team  have been	examining  different  methods  of predicting
earthquakes. 
 The  aim of  the  research is to	examine how  people's experiences in  the classroom 
affect their choice of career in later life.

evaluate verb  [transitive]  to examine something in order to decide how good, useful, 
important etc it is:
 The  best way to	evaluate  any treatment is to carry out  trials on large groups of
patients.
 The  Commission  will	evaluate  the  relative costs and benefits of  the three  possible
airport sites.

analyse verb [transitive] British English, analyze American English to study something
in detail, especially figures and results from research: 
 US scientists have been	analyzing  the latest	data  (=information obtained from
research) about global warming. 
 In a recent study, researchers analysed the results of seven criminal trials.



2. The work of studying something

study	noun  [countable] a piece of  work in  which  someone examines a particular
subject in order to find out more about it, and writes about what they have found:
 The study showed that 25 percent of adults do not eat breakfast at all, compared with
14 percent in 1961.
 Recent studies suggest that our sense of smell is closely linked with the part of the
brain that deals with memory.
 Of  the  176 patients who	took part in the study, 97  said  they noticed  a significant
improvement in their condition. 
 In one study of almost 80,000 women, researchers found that those who used artificial
sweeteners gained more weight over a year than those who ate sugar.

research	noun  [uncountable] careful detailed work that is done in order to  find out
more about a subject, especially as a part of a scientific or academic project:


 Billions of  dollars have been spent on	research into  the causes and treatment of
cancer.
 The University has for a long time been a leading centre for research in this field.
 Some people think  that  cigar smoking is safer than  cigarette smoking.  Recent
research suggests that this is untrue. 
 In his research, he showed that the islanders once had a highly developed culture. 

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Study is a countable noun, and can be used in the plural, for example: There have been
many	studies  on this  subject.	Research  is  only used as an uncountable noun, for 
example: A lot of research has been done on this subject.

work noun [uncountable] the studies that have been done on a particular subject:

 Faraday is famous for his work on electricity.
 A lot of work has been done on hydrogen-powered cars.
 Their work had an enormous influence on the study of genetics.

experiment noun [countable] a scientific test in order to find out what happens when
you do something:
 They carried out a series of experiments (=they did a series of experiments) in order
to try to prove their theory.
 Experiments have shown that there is an increased risk of some forms of cancer.
 In his experiment, Pavlov only fed the dogs while ringing a bell.
 Many people think that there should be a ban on experiments on live animals.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Conduct an experiment  is  more formal than	do an experiment  or	carry out  an
experiment.

test noun [countable] a process that is intended to find out something, for example how 
good or safe something is, or whether someone has an illness: 
 A simple blood test will show whether you have the virus or not. 
 The doctors did some tests to find out if the couple were able to have children.
 All new furniture must undergo tests (=have tests) to make sure that it does not catch
fire easily.
 Tests have shown that pigs and sheep are actually highly intelligent animals.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar 
Conduct a test is more formal than do a test or carry out a test.

trial noun [countable] a test to find out whether a new drug, product, system etc is safe, 
effective etc:


 The  drug is currently	undergoing clinical  trials  in the US.  (=it is being  tested by 
medical researchers there)
 Farmers were asked to carry out trials (=do trials) of genetically modified crops. 



3. A piece of writing by someone who is studying a subject

essay noun [countable] a piece of writing about a subject. Essay is usually used about 
a piece of writing by a student at school or university. It is also used about a short piece 
of writing about a subject by a writer, especially one who is well-known:
 Every student on this course will have to write at least one essay on Shakespeare.
 In this essay, I will attempt to explain some of the reasons why young men become
involved in violent crime. 
 As was mentioned earlier in this essay, much work still remains to be done on this
subject.
 In his essay, he compares the theories of several well-known Greek philosophers.
 The  American writer, Susan Sontag,	published  a famous	collection of essays  on 
photography.

paper noun [countable] a piece of writing about a subject, written by a student as part 
of  their  studies, or by someone  who  has studied a subject  as part of  their research. 
Sometimes	papers  are given as  talks  at large  academic meetings, or published in 
collections of academic writing about a subject:
 Paul has to write a paper on American fiction from 1900 to 1930 for a seminar next 
week.
 The  professor has	published  over forty	scientific papers on  diseases of  tropical
crops
 She	gave a  paper  on  (=gave a talk on) "Women  and Science" at  a conference  in 
Minneapolis.

dissertation noun  [countable] a  piece of writing about  a subject, which is written as 
part of a university degree:
 In the third year of their course, students have to write a 10,000 word dissertation on
a topic that has been approved by their tutor.
 This dissertation will focus on the development of the National Health Service. 

thesis	noun  [countable]  a long  piece  of  writing about a subject, that is part of  an
advanced university degree such as a master's degree or a doctorate: 
 He wrote his doctoral thesis on the literature of the English romantic movement.
 She travelled to Uganda to research her master's thesis on Ugandan music.
 Ellen, a graduate student in urban planning, is writing her thesis on parking lots.


4. The results of someone's research

results noun [plural] the figures and other information that are produced in a scientific 
study or experiment:
 The results of this experiment are shown in the diagram below.
 The results of the study showed that taking aspirin regularly reduced the risk of heart
disease. 
 It is expected that the	results  of  the	research  will have important implications for
teaching children who have learning difficulties. 

findings	noun  [plural] the  information that someone discovered as a result  of
examining  a subject carefully, especially when  the information appears in an  official 
report:
 Her	findings  show that  regular exercise can prevent some  of  the diseases that are
common in old age.
 France's Ministry of Transport published the findings of a report into the development 
of road and rail links with Italy.
 Among its findings, the report mentioned that there were high levels of phosphates in 
rivers and lakes in southern England.

conclusion noun [countable] something that someone has decided after examining a
subject carefully, especially when this is written at the end of an official report:
 The report's	main conclusion  was that more investment  was  needed in the police 
force.
 Other studies have reached similar conclusions.
 Critics complained that this conclusion was based on a survey of only a small number
of women.
 Several eminent biologists challenged the conclusions of the report.

