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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/7092
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **Yes, research is worthwhile - to a point.**

This is difficult to answer because you're asking people to make a value judgment about how worthwhile research is. My opinion is that if your story is based on a concept, it behooves you to know about that concept.

If you want to base a story on a particular concept, then you need to decide how well you want to know that concept. If you decide that this will take more work than is warranted for a short story, then you have a few choices: abandon the story, write the story on sketchy information, or decide that the story could end up being the seed for a longer project. for that last option, you might be able to justify doing more work than usual for a short story.

Finally, it's worth keeping the following in mind: Malcolm Gladwell has been criticized for choosing examples that back up his theories, and for presenting a somewhat oversimplified treatment of the topic. (Having read _The Tipping Point_ and _Blink_, this rings true for me. Even the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Gladwell#Reception) on him touches on some of this.) However, he is undeniably a talented writer who presents thoughtful ideas to the reader. And his books are very well-researched and filled with fascinating details and settings. If I wanted an in-depth knowledge of what a "tipping point" is, I'd read well beyond Gladwell's book. On the other hand, it's an easy-to-read and fun book that you could probably read in an afternoon. Why not read it anyway and see if you want to know more?

Original score: 6