Preparing the Ground for Research: Importance of Data

Abstract

The problems of research in India, and, presumably, in the other developing countries, are very different from those obtaining in the West. The sort of conditions prevailing in India are so different that results obtained in other countries may be impossible to apply or irrelevant. This is particularly the case in the field of communicable diseases where there are differences in mode of spread, susceptibility of the population, attack rates and even, at times, in carriers. For this reason, anyone interested in research of relevance to our immediate environment must spend considerable time and effort in devising experimental methods or tools, which are practical and applicable to our circumstances. This may appear a routine and pedestrian activity. Yet without such initial spadework in designing our experimental methods, establishing their usefulness and feasibility, and testing the validity of the results obtained, it is frequently impossible to progress.