New Research Ideas: 3 Ways To Get Inspired
By Shane Schweitzer (Northwestern University)
The summer can be a great time to get new, exciting projects off of the ground. To be sure, we all have that list of dormant ideas we’re waiting to bring to life. But while generating new research ideas is one of the most rewarding elements of graduate school, it can also be one of the most challenging. Below are a few tips to help you push forward in the process of discovery.
1. Start A Conversation. Seriously.
We all walk around with research questions and hypotheses, but for many of us, these ideas do not routinely leave our heads. It’s amazing how much this can stifle idea generation, and at the same time how easily it can be remedied by simple conversation. Last fall, I started a group for the graduate students in my department to meet and discuss our ideas – it’s informal, involves snacks and cocktails, and meets once a month. During each meeting 1-2 people present on their research ideas—no matter how small or imperfect—and the rest of the group helps them develop the best elements while pruning the pieces that can be left behind. The key is that it is a supportive space for early stage projects, and an opportunity to present ideas without feeling pressured to perform. Sharing ideas is one of the best ways to grow ideas. It’s time to get the conversation out of your own head, off the pages of your notebook, and into the actual world.
2. Read Outside Your Research Area
One of the quickest ways to fall into a rut is by selecting to read only articles in your immediate area of interest. Researchers that study what you study tend to use similar methods across the board and, more unfortunately, tend to approach research questions from very similar theoretical orientations. Variety is the spice of life, so push the boundaries by reading other subfields of psychology and beyond. Researchers of different disciplines have different and interesting perspectives, but you won’t be able to draw upon their wealth of knowledge until you diversify your reading list.
3. Live Your Life
While you are reading outside your particular subfield, you might as well also read, watch, and take in the world around you. While this article does not necessarily advocate for binge-watching every season of The Bachelor this summer*, it does presume that you study people because you are interested in people; it will be easier to get a sense of what people are like if you leave the ivory tower and venture out into the real world. Great research questions and ideas have been inspired by Dostoyevsky1, religious cults2, IKEA3, and The Simpsons4, among many other things. Reading novels, playing with your four-year-old niece, and watching reality television with an eye toward understanding what you observe may lead to an intellectual spark, and eventually, a top tier publication.
*Editor’s Note: The chair of the GSC does, indeed, advocate for binge watching every season of the Bachelor this summer, and believes that reality TV is perhaps the greatest untapped reservoir of behavioral science data.
(1) Wegner, D. M., Schneider, D. J., Carter, S. R., & White, T. L. (1987). Paradoxical effects of thought
suppression. Journal of personality and social psychology, 53(1), 5.
(2) Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (2008). When prophecy fails. Pinter & Martin Publishers
(3) Norton, Michael I., Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely. 2012. “The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love.”
Journal of Consumer Psychology 22 (3) (July): 453–460.
(4) Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. Vintage. pp. 383