Do you research much for your stories, both on Althanas and off?

So this question is aimed actually towards looking at getting an idea for my dissertation for information science, which I am attempting to find a topic for myself, by linking in creative writing.

The subject I am looking at with this question is to see how much research writers do for their general creative writing.

The other subject I am looking at to write my dissertation on is information literacy - does being a creative writer aid you in becoming more information literate? This is where you are able to learn information for yoruself, managing to search, compare, analyse and effectively use the wealth of information available to us currently (considering, internet usage etc).

If you have any comments (or, indeed, questions) about these topics please let me know.