A Q-method study that explores ecologists' thought processes as they evaluate the merits of potential research topics.

What research should be done and why? Four competing visions among ecologists

Mark W Neff

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment  Volume 9, Issue 8 (October 2011)

Research on various aspects of our planet depends, in part, on the questions scientists ask regarding the natural world. The authors of this paper say asking other questions might lead to different innovations and alternative understandings of policy problems and their potential solutions.

We have infinite number of potential study subjects. Then why do we zero in on a specific subject in spite of limited resources with which to study them?

In this paper the researcher present a Q-method study that explores ecologists' thought processes as they evaluate the merits of potential research topics. The study underscores four competing visions that ecologists have for their discipline.

On the basis of his findings, the researcher contend that ecology might be more effective in informing policy if priority setting were a more deliberative process and open to insights from individuals and institutions outside of ecology.