Sometimes people laugh at me when I am in the process of buying something that I’ll have for quite awhile, like a computer, car, or photo equipment. I do an exhaustive amount of research. I may be overdoing it in some respects, but I do think it pays off.
Example: When I got my ears pierced (at the ancient age of 31!), I was really worried about becoming metal-sensitive, and I ended up with titanium piercing studs. All of the research I found showed that people with any slight tendency for allergies ended up with a nickel sensitivity, and stainless steel or even 14K gold could cause this. I don’t know if I would have developed the nickel allergy if I had used something other than titanium, but I am happy to report that I did not get any sort of metal sensitivity, and can wear any sort of earrings for as long as I want.
However, there is a fine line between the amount of research to be done and knowing it’s just time to take the plunge. If the search becomes paralyzing, then obviously the search is too broad or I need to do more research to figure out how to narrow things down.
Knowing how to do research is an important tool to find anything on the web: figuring out the keywords, sorting through the viable sites, skimming through data to find the relevant items… It’s a vital tool for life these days, and it requires logical thinking. While I admit I’m an engineer and have the tendency to want more and more data, it’s also important to gain the skill of taking the data currently in hand and making the decision, even if the data may be incomplete. It’s an important skill not just for a job, but for life.