Those who would take information research, investigative research, or media research jobs need to be more finely attuned with the true nature of pursuing intensive research than most other people are. They need to possess the type of analytical ability and keen powers of observation possessed by the scientist, yet at the same time be more socially adept than the typical scientist is. They will need to be naturalists of the human species.
Those who would land these jobs today should have at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field which could include statistical analysis, economics, marketing, journalism, communications arts, or IT. Having this degree or a higher one will make them more competitive. However, the important thing to have is demonstrable research prowess and proven experience, even if it's been making quality research use of things like Facebook, Slashdot, or Digg online. Keeping an information or media research blog also can serve as a powerful "resume" for the person who desires one of these jobs.
Now, what sets apart the qualified person who can become highly successful with a media research, investigative research, or information research job?
Let's start by realizing that the typical person just unwittingly and without much reflection absorbs huge amounts of information even in just one day, especially with the advent of the Internet. The professional researcher's information needs, by contrast, are smaller and repetitive. They formulate a question, and then consult a rather small collection or group of preferred and trusted sources of information to help them assess what is real and what is basically untrustworthy. They cannot be like children, who openly trust just about every source of "information" that is set before them including their parents, their schools and teachers, religious authorities, television, and maybe online sources that play upon whatever their personal interests already are.
It's sad to say that a person qualified for a media research job will quickly come to see that the major news outlets and mainstream media have become absurdly biased; this would not be such a bad thing if they were simply honest about this fact, but they pretend to be objective and highly informed about such important matters as economics, politics, science, and society when the professional media or information researcher will find them usually hopelessly ignorant about these things. So, too, one of the adult world's major "information" resources cannot be taken for granted or openly trusted by the researcher.
Those who want investigative, media, or online research jobs have to cultivate a higher level of information literacy. It is, keep in mind, a profession for them. They will learn and accept the use of tools that few people know anything about and techniques of research that few have ever heard of, including most university graduates. Researchers in these named fields will refuse to just accept jargon, propaganda, or institutionalized preconceived notions. "Conventional wisdom" will always be suspect to them. Authentic information research jobs involve thought processes far deeper than these half-baked mass hypnosis efforts.
But, paradoxically, this kind of research is also simplicity itself. As mentioned above, with experience the professional research discovers that handful of reliable, objective sources of ideas and information to use to filter and organize the field observations, data, and statistics. By learning what kinds of information these reliable sources make use of and how they put it together, people with information, investigative, or media research jobs will find themselves skilled at weeding out the fiction and taking accurate information from any source where they find it, even if it's just one or two lines of copy from a 10-paragraph news story or editorial.
People who engage in this kind of research know how to ask the questions that nobody else is willing to ask. This means they have to know something that it seems few people today are familiar with:
So, perhaps more important than any other skill mastered by those who have these forenamed research jobs is the ability to prepare a meaningful, insightful, and relevant question. It is not a matter of "I am interested in the President Elect", but a question with much sharper edges likes, "What, if anything, is truly revolutionary about the President Elect's economic and foreign policies?"
The professional researcher faces the fact that the realm of gathered and growing information is huge and at first very confusing. Every single piece has more or less of the qualities of accuracy, authenticity, bias, objectivity, reliability, and subjectivity. Information is also available in an array of different media, from words to visuals to Internet YouTube movies.
For facing this extremely important and daunting task, the researchers in question can expect the following average annual pay (in the U.S.):
Information research jobs: $58,000
Investigative research jobs: $61,000
Media research jobs: $32,000
All of these pay scales are below the national average for all jobs. However, there is job security and the aspect of deep personal satisfaction that can transcend the money.
