How is what I do research? How does research create my art?

My methods of research in art can and sometimes moves in two different directions. When creating my art sometimes I feel it is necessary to dive right into the material. It is through the process of manipulation, construction, addition, subtraction and multiplication that helps me learn to understand the material I am working with. I refer to this as research through the material, but there is another road of research that I take. Sometimes the idea comes from a specific need that is still unsatisfied. It is through journals, blogging, and web-searching, socializing, observing, theorizing, and teaching that some of my ideas develop further. Whichever method of research I work with, I have discovered that there really is no end to that research, nor to that artistic idea, but it only provides the next step in my research and creation of art.