So, what's the question?

Last night, I did a presentation on Arthrokinematics and Motor Learning for Cyclists. The audience was mostly 1st year physical therapy students and a few of the local PT's from the community. What's almost as much fun as riding a bike?.....Talking about bikes and bike riding!!!!

Here's my take from the evening. Until you can formulate the question that needs an answer, how can you expect to be motivated to do research or even seek out research? A question must exist or at least a void of necessary knowledge.

I had the opportunity to speak with one of the students prior to the talk. Granted, she is head deep in the physical therapy curriculum. Classes most days from 8-5. I remember those days. It was intense and exhausting. It was talking to her about the amount of time that I spend a week either reading research on cycling or seeking research. She almost fell over.

Here's her context. She is spending about the same amount of time reading research but unfortunately, she doesn't have a good grasp of the question. She hasn't been in the field long enough to have specific questions or have the ability to identify the voids in the knowledge base. She has to read research so that she can establish a base of understanding and then move forward to asking questions. I'm not bashing her, she is just at a different place in the process.

What do you do when you get to the point where the existing research doesn't answer the questions your asking? I could sit and wait for someone to think of the same question or start the process of doing my own research. Easily said, not easily accomplished. That's where I am in the process. Early in my career, I was never interested in research and I never understood those who were. Now I know. They had a question and no one had the answer. Someone has to provide the answers.