Animal Research

Animal research refers to any investigation that includes animals as the research subject or population in an investigation; therefore, there is no specific theory that [Page 41]supports all animal research. The term animal research refers only to the sample, not the mechanism or the method. Animal research may be basic and/or applied, it might be direct—to better understand the animal species of interest—or it could be comparative, wherein the animal is used as a model for another species. In addition, animal research occurs in differing contexts, which might include the animal’s natural habitat, like field settings, in an artificial natural habitat, like zoological gardens and aquariums, or in purely captive environs, like laboratory or agricultural settings. The empirical question and the context in which the ...