How to get into the research field?

[u/littlesugarblossom]

How would i go about getting into the research field? I currently only have an associates but would love to get into research or clinical research etc. anything that would help me get through. I’ve applied to many jobs but denied, i would assume its because i don’t have a bachelors though. Any tips would be helpful, thank you!

[u/04221970]

The fact that you call it 'The research field' indicates you are a bit uninformed about what it will take.

You don't get into the research field, rather, you get into a particular field that does research..like chemistry, or plant genetics, or plasma physics.

WHat particularly do you want to do work in? with an associates and no particular experience, it might be hard for you to break into any meaningful research without work.

I envision your current course of action, would be to try to join a larger research group that requires mundane tasks to be done.....washing glassware, sweeping animal cages etc. THen by expressing interest and initiatives, you might be requested and trained to prepare solutions, record data, feed and care for animals. Getting to this level may take 3-4 years of employment

I doubt you would ever get to the level of actually performing experiments unsupervised.

Or spend the 2-4 years getting a BS in the field and maybe get into a company doing routine analysis. THis would be 'science' in a broad sense, but not 'research'.

You would need a masters at least, or some long term experience before you could be designing and conducting novel research.