Researching “Research”

On the occasion of National Grammar Day in the U.S., this posting focuses on a puzzling grammar point.

Recently, I managed to provoke an online discussion in our English Communication Skills Program at AUB about a controversial grammar issue. The subject of the discussion was “Students Pluralizing ‘Research’: Right or Wrong?”. What triggered my initial posting was my disappointment with students pluralizing the noun “research” even after I had explained that it is better not to pluralize it because it is generally uncountable – plus the fact that, to my dismay, some of the best known dictionaries have started accepting the usage.

After seeing the Macmillan Dictionary’s entry on “research” , which makes perfect grammatical sense, providing examples of usage “errors” in a "Get it right" section, along with corrections, it was surprizing to find that a number of other dictionaries, including the Wikipedia Wiktionary and the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries, accept the countable form of research –  “researches”. This plunged me into a deep depression, but I guessed that, since the better dictionaries depend on statistics – aiming to be descriptive rather than descriptive – it is hard to argue with them. (Here is more information on how words enter dictionaries from a previous blog post of mine, “How DictionariesCope With Language Change” ; the post also happens to include a link to “How a New Word Enters the Oxford Dictionary”).

In any case, based upon the solicited input of fellow English Communication Skills teachers on how they handle the matter with their students, it was clear that the instructors were divided in their opinions. Out of the six colleagues who contributed to the discussion, two seemed to be in favour of accepting the plural, or at least not penalizing students for it. One appeared to be between the two extremes, though her answer was somewhat vague, and the remaining three were vehemently opposed to the usage. Here are extracts from what they said:

·     “I usually (if not always) cross out the 'es' when students pluralize' research' - I like the examples/samples listed in Macmillan dictionary and their complete rejection of the plural form.” (Rima Shadid)

·     “I automatically cross out the  ‘es’ and replace it with ‘studies’ as I mark my students' papers...’research studies’...I do so not necessarily because ‘researches’ sounds a little odd to me, but rather simply because ‘research studies’ is usually more accurate.” (Missan Laycy Stouhi)

·       “With regard to dictionaries:  Just because a dictionary does not set a particular standard, this does not mean that the standard does not exist (dictionaries are not the be-all and end-all of language use)…. If American society still equates nonstandard with substandard after all of this effort, how can we expect an individual here or there who uses nonstandard English to have much impact…?” (Kathryn Lincoln)

Apparently, we are not the only people in the world (or on the web) debating this grammar point. Take a look at this forum, for example, where someone asks, “I am not sure about the plural of research. Can you help me?”: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1828694

·         One person replies “researches”.

·         Another person says, “No, I would argue ‘research’ is uncountable because it doesn't sound right to say ‘Yesterday I did three researches.’ It would either be ‘Yesterday I did research’ or ‘Yesterday I did three research assignments/cases/files’ etc. The only time you would have ‘research’ in plural is to refer to the person who does research or their job title. i.e. ‘We have three researchers.’ (Note the spelling- not ‘researches’)."

·         Yet another comments, “Sorry, Jack. It can be a countable noun in some cases or, at least, it's starting to be used that way…. (Definition of research noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary).”

·         The final comment on the thread is, “This is an excellent example of the difference between what one finds in the dictionary and how one speaks. With respect to modern spoken English (at least in AmE), Jack is absolutely right: we do not use the plural ‘researches’. The fact that it's in the dictionary is secondary to modern usage.”

Teachers – and students – out there, what do you think? My advice is that, if something is going to sound jarring to your readers or listeners, use a safer alternative – never forget the audience. Besides, in this case, if you still see research as a process rather than a product or an object, why pluralize it?