The science of words and the science of numbers : research methods as foundations for evidence-based practice in health

According to Grinnell and colleagues (2011a, p. 7), knowledge is ‘an accepted body of facts or ideas which is acquired through the use of the senses or reason’. In the old days, we used to believe that the earth was flat and our belief came about through those who were in ‘authority’, who told us so, or because people in our society had always believed that the world was flat. Now we know that the earth is spherical because scientists have travelled into space to observe it from this perspective. However, Grinnell and colleagues argue that the most efficient way of ‘knowing something’ (knowledge acquisition) is through research findings, which have been gathered through the use of research methods.