PURE RESEARCH is done for the sake of itself - an examination solely out of curiosity, wonder, and the quest to expand knowledge and understanding. The objective is to contribute to humanity's overall knowledge of its environment by clarifying the cause-and-effect relationships in natural phenomena. It is the process of discovering properties.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH or Primary Research is looking for information that is yet unfound or unknown - it is the quest to discover something new. To do original research it requires knowledge of what has already been discovered, having a comprehensive background on the subject, and formulating methods to obtain the new information.

SECONDARY RESEARCH is accumulating background knowledge on a subject - learning all there is to know about it, finding out what others have already discovered through pure or original research, comparing and cross-referencing data to find new interrelations between subjects, and composing expanded conclusions based on available information and personal intelligence and insight.

APPLIED RESEARCH is the application and integration of knowledge and properties to an infinite range of functional uses in the realities we collectively create and encounter in our everyday lives.