I have a phrase:
Investigation of catalytic phase structure using SEM and TEM methods
I always thought that "investigation of" is a correct way of saying it. But I am told that it is actually "investigation into".
Browsing the net, I could not find the answer about the difference of these two.
So my question is: does "investigation into" even exist, and if so, what's the difference between it and "investigation of", and where can each be used?
Best Answer
Both are completely legitimate.
Google's NGrams shows that "investigation of" is much more common than "investigation into". While NGrams usually needs to be taken with a grain of salt, this does show us that there is nothing inherently wrong with "investigation of".
Furthermore, comparing "investigation into" against other random prepositions shows that it is much more common than, say, "from".