This process can go on for years as you keep gathering pieces of a puzzle that gradually add up to a big picture of which you catch only fleeting glimpses along the way. And then one day, when the light flashes on in your brain, you see the big picture, the grand scheme, and it all comes together; all the data you’ve been accumulating for years starts to make sense. Or maybe you never get to that point and, instead, continue to create new techniques, brainstorm more questions, create more data, massaging it all into shape for publication.