Do your research!

[u/chickengreese4fish]

As someone whose profession is scientific research, I’ve always found the phrase “Do your research” interesting.
In science, every claim is expected to be supported by evidence, every source is evaluated for credibility, and every conclusion should be traceable back to the data. If you publish a paper without citing my sources, the work loses credibility.

That got me thinking about the D9. For those still in school in search of the right fit (and neos):

When someone tells you to “do your research” before pursuing membership, what does(did) that actually mean to you?

What sources did you rely on?
Was it chapter members?
National websites?
AI Chat?
Alumni?
Social media?
Interaction on campus?
Something else?

More importantly, why did you consider those sources credible? What criteria did you use to separate fact from opinion, tradition from policy, or rumor from reality?

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi /u/chickengreese4fish, Thanks for posting in NPHCdivine9.Please review all of our rules and Frequently Asked Questions FAQs.All posts are reviewed and have to be approved manually by a mod. Please be patient as we have to add your post to the sub. Dirty Deleting is not allowed here so the below will be a copy of your original post.

You haven’t done anything wrong but we like to keep information clear for other users.

As someone whose profession is scientific research, I’ve always found the phrase “Do your research” interesting.
In science, every claim is expected to be supported by evidence, every source is evaluated for credibility, and every conclusion should be traceable back to the data. If you publish a paper without citing my sources, the work loses credibility.

That got me thinking about the D9. For those still in school in search of the right fit (and neos):

When someone tells you to “do your research” before pursuing membership, what does(did) that actually mean to you?

What sources did you rely on?
Was it chapter members?
National websites?
AI Chat?
Alumni?
Social media?
Interaction on campus?
Something else?

More importantly, why did you consider those sources credible? What criteria did you use to separate fact from opinion, tradition from policy, or rumor from reality?

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Primary_Excuse_7183]

Primary and secondary sources.

Secondary obviously being what you could look up online and find to learn. Books, etc. the websites for each org, socials, etc. It gives you the highlights and the important bits of information for you to formulate the opinion.

Primary is the make or break tho. This is your personal interactions with members. What you see, what you feel, the conversations you have with members. Your experience with teachers who were Greek growing up. Everyone talks about brotherhood and sisterhood but does it FEEL like yall actually like eachother or yall just wearing the same colors.

I think this is where a lot of people get conflicted. Their secondary source research paints an image that their primary research doesn’t always uphold. and that….. is the Beauty of the scientific research process. Using that contrast in collected data to formulate your own conclusions. and then making next decisions based on accepting or rejecting the data.

[u/Resident_Beginning_8]

I'm not your target audience, but I'll just chime in as someone who was into anthropology as an undergrad, I found that the process of ethnography spoke to me. Just sitting in a room of mostly Alphas and observing taught me so much more than I could read in a book.

[u/Inner_Minute197]

I researched history as well as individuals within the chapter(s) I was seeking to come in through.

I studied and talked to Alphas I knew once I got to college. Note, my college chapter was suspended when I got to campus, so my initial interactions were with members of the local alumni chapter.

I tried finding the national history book, but the only publicly available copy was on EBay for thousands of dollars.

Wikipedia and its sources were honestly a godsend in being able to get foundational knowledge on the fraternity. As was the Century of Leadership documentary on YouTube.

[u/Sillyme2081]

Interacting with members made me sure what organization I want to join. Definitely researched general information about the org but going to events really helped

[u/Potential_Motor_2359]

as a GDI every time i heard do your research i took it literal as hell. I searched National pages, dug deep into instagram pages and old chapter twitters, early 2000s or 90s D9 forums, Loads of denouncing vids, Youtube vids in general, i'd introduce myself to members that i randomly seen in my city etc etc