1. What to do your research project on?

2. How to generate research ideas Testing intuitive beliefs –E.g., Freakonomics –E.g., Is a hard worker a better performer than a smart worker? Rynes et al, 2002 Testing cliches –E.g., Do birds of a feather flock together in organizations?

3. How to generate research ideas Reading –Newspaper/newsmagazine articles New York times, New Yorker, Economist –Simple descriptions of empirical studies Academy of Mgt Executive; Economist.com (What’s new in journals) Observing people’s behavior –First hand, gossip

4. How to generate research ideas Based on need –Broad E.g., Class research topic exercise for IRE2002Y –Specific E.g., Writing project for UTM Psychology E.g., CIRHR project with Deb Campbell

5. Invention Activity Handout in class –Also available on course schedule website under 9/14 posting

6. After narrowing down to 3 topics… Write a short para for each –Describe the topic, –Why you are interested in it –How may you/others benefit from researching it (Adapted from Poe, 1999)

7. Criteria to consider after choosing a research topic Do you have the resources to conduct it? –People (at least 50 units) –Time (by Feb 2007) –Materials Will the study work? In what way can it not work? Can you think of explanations for the counter hypothesis? Adapted from Sternberg, 1999

8. Next Steps Use Journal Indexes –Next class, Psych info workshop