Bruce Mackh defines research as "a systematic process of investigation involving the gathering, analysis, and evaluation of data in order to form new knowledge or understanding.” This, like those I posted below, may be able to reach across fields within the arts or the sciences.

Martyn Shuttleworth notes that "research includes any gathering of data, information, and facts for the advancement of knowledge.”

The National Science Foundation states that research and development activities "comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture, and society, and use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.”

In Practical Research: Planning and Design, Paul Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormond state that, “Research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to increase our understanding of the phenomenon under study. It is the function of the researcher to contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon and to communicate that understanding to others.”