How to Generate Research Ideas

Where do you find research ideas? (1) You - What interests you? - Personal experiences (2) The World Around You - Asking “why”? - Media – radio, tv, movies, newspapers, magazines, etc. - Observing and engaging in the world around you - Common sense - Real-life problems

Where do you find research ideas? (3) Existing Research - Replicate previous studies - Improve previous studies - Reconcile studies with conflicting results - “Future Research” section - Change methodological approach (4) Theories - Generate a new theory - Refine existing theory - Update an older theory - Connect two or more theories

Where do you find research ideas? (5) Connections between fields, disciplines, sub- disciplines, perspectives, etc. - Pick a topic and look at how different fields would approach it? - How would different disciplines research the same topic? - How would each perspective explain the topic? (6) Talking to others - Ask laypersons what they want to know – family, friends, etc. - Talk to professionals who are experts on the issues - Have conversations/discussions with colleagues - Attend conferences - Brainstorming sessions with others

Where to ideas come from? Philosophers like John Locke and Henri Poincare say that new ideas are an association or combination between two or more simpler ideas. So we generate new ideas by combining simpler parts into the formation of a new complex whole.

How to choose which idea(s) to pursue? Important? There are many different criteria for determining importance Different people use different criteria Most researchers have developed the ability to explain how their research important Different people will come to different conclusions about the importance of any given idea/article

How to choose which idea to pursue? Internal motivations What is interesting to you? What is your goal? External motivations Important to others Practical Concerns Grant funding Available resources to conduct research

Concrete Steps Topic-based Topic-based AP-LS Newsletter (see Lab Group website) See “Research Briefs” Scan abstracts Which topics interest you? Article-based Article-based Same as above, but now, which articles interest you? Journal-based Journal-based List of journals on Lab Group website Scan abstracts Which ideas/articles interest you? Person-based Person-based Find person you want to work with during graduate school Find their research Develop idea based on their research

Advanced sources of information McGuire, W. J. (1997). Creative hypothesis generating in psychology: Some useful heuristics. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 1-30 Special Issue of "Personality and Social Psychology Review" on Theory Construction, 2004, Vol8, No.2