Generating and Refining Research Ideas Lesson 2 Generating and Refining Research Ideas

In good science, questions come first In good science, questions come first. Science is just a tool for answering those questions. —John Bargh The scientist is not the one who gives the right answers, but the one who asks the right questions. —Claude Lévi-Strauss

Generating research ideas From common sense From previous research

Generating ideas from common sense Question everything, including old sayings: True? When is it not true? Why is it true? Attack practical problems Questions to ask about a phenomenon: Who/When/Why/How What are its effects (short-term, long-term, good, bad)? The first is to document that a problem really exists; the second is to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to solving the problem.

The first is to document that a problem really exists; The second is to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to solving the problem. Just by being skeptical, people have been able to generate important research ideas.

How to get research ideas from previous research A more preferred way to generate research ideas is to base an idea on previous research. Most advances in science come from scientists building on each other’s work. For a beginning researcher, basing an idea on previous research has at least three major advantages. A hypothesis based on previous research is more than a guess—it is an educated guess. Because your prediction is consistent with a previous study’s results and the logic used to predict or explain those results, your hypothesis is likely to be supported. Regardless of whether your hypothesis is supported, your study will be relevant to what other scientists have done. Consequently, your research will not produce an isolated, trivial fact. Doing research based on other people’s work is easier than starting from scratch, especially when you are a beginning researcher. A beginning researcher might feel comfortable building on someone else’s study.

Research ideas from previous research If you can develop an idea from previous research, you may be able to justify your hypothesis by saying that it is consistent with findings from previous research, you may be able to test your hypothesis using the methods from previous research, and you should be able to show that your results are relevant to previous research.

How to get research ideas from previous research Should I redo a study, but include types of investigation problem that were not adequately represented in the original? Should I redo a lab study by taking it outside of the lab and into the real world? Should I repeat the study using stimulus materials? Should I see whether the effect is long lasting? Can I think of any other situations in which the relationship between the variables observed in the original study may not hold? Repeat studies Do a study suggested by a journal article’s author(s) Improve the study’s external validity

How to get research ideas from previous research Repeat studies Do a study suggested by a journal article’s author(s) Improve the study’s external validity Improve the study’s internal validity Improve the study’s construct validity (double-blind technique) Look for practical implications of the research Try to reconcile studies that produce conflicting results

Generating research ideas from previous research: conclusions Easy way to get started in research Likely to produce research that is relevant rather than trivial Consider improving study by improving its internal, external, or construct validity Consider extending study by looking at practical implications, moderator variables, and mediating variables

Converting an idea into a research hypothesis a testable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables A research hypothesis is not a research topic, not a vague question you have, but a short, specific statement of how two or more variables will be related. Although converting an idea into a workable research hypothesis can be difficult, it is essential because the goal of all research is to test hypotheses. All researchers should have hypotheses before they conduct their research. If they started their research without having a hypothesis to help them know what to look for, it is unlikely that they would find anything.

Research hypothesis Make it testable Make it supportable (Avoid the null hypothesis) Be sure to have a rationale: How theory can help Demonstrate its relevance: Theory versus trivia

Refine it: 10 time-tested tips Don’t be afraid to be wrong Don’t be afraid to deal with constructs Don’t avoid theory Manipulate variables Look for other effects Reverse cause-effect Look for moderator variables Look for mediating variables Be more specific (functional relationships) Look at components

Don’t be afraid to be wrong if we already know your hypothesis is true before you test it, testing your hypothesis won’t tell us anything new. Remember, research is supposed to produce new knowledge. To get new knowledge, you, as a researcher–explorer, need to leave the safety of the shore (established facts) and venture into uncharted waters (as Einstein said, “If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”). If your predictions about what will happen in these uncharted waters is wrong, that’s okay: Scientists are allowed to make mistakes „Research is the process of going up alleys to see if they are blind”

Don’t be afraid to deal with constructs Some beginning researchers are so concerned about making sure they can measure their hypothesis’s key variables that they design their hypothesis around what they can easily observe To avoid proposing hypotheses that lack both constructs and excitement, realize that there are valid ways to manipulate and measure constructs

Don’t avoid theory Good theory explains existing findings and leads to testable new insights. Theory can help you make the leap from just having a general topic to having a specific prediction, especially if your topic is an applied problem. “There is nothing so practical as a good theory.”

Theory theory can be useful. A theory can help to understand the problem: How can you get to know a theory? to read textbook summaries of theories. to select a theory that can help you. to read (to search) journal articles

Refine it: 10 time-tested tips Don’t be afraid to be wrong Don’t be afraid to deal with constructs Don’t avoid theory Manipulate variables (independent variables) Look for other effects (dependent variables) Reverse cause-effect (switch independent and dependent variables) Look for mediating variables Look for moderator variables Be more specific (functional relationships) Look at components

Look for mediating variables If you have a hypothesis about the relationship between two variables that is too obvious and too well documented, how can you make that hypothesis more interesting? WHY???

Refine it: 10 time-tested tips Don’t be afraid to be wrong Don’t be afraid to deal with constructs Don’t avoid theory Manipulate variables (independent variables) Look for other effects (dependent variables) Reverse cause-effect (switch independent and dependent variables) Look for mediating variables Look for moderator variables (when, where, who) Be more specific (functional relationships) Look at components

Refine it: 10 time-tested tips Don’t be afraid to be wrong Don’t be afraid to deal with constructs Don’t avoid theory Manipulate variables (independent variables) Look for other effects (dependent variables) Reverse cause-effect (switch independent and dependent variables) Look for mediating variables Look for moderator variables (when, where, who) Be more specific (functional relationships) Look at components

Multidimensional construct In addition to changing a hypothesis by being more specific about which amounts of one variable had what effect, you can change a hypothesis by being more specific about which aspect of a variable had what effect. Thus, if your hypothesis involves a general construct, you may be able to improve your hypothesis by breaking that multidimensional construct down into its individual dimensions and then making hypotheses involving those individual components.

Make sure that testing the hypothesis is both practical and ethical Can and should the hyphothesis be tested? Consult with professors/supervisors Review ethical guidelines

Changing unethical and impractical ideas into research hypotheses Make variables more general Use smaller scale models of the situation Carefully screen potential effect Use “moderate” manipulations Do not manipulate variables

Hypothesis Checklist Can it be proven wrong? Specific prediction? Operational definitions? Can it be supported? It can’t be a null hypothesis Do you have a rationale for your prediction? Are there implications of your hypothesis for theory, previous research, or a real-world concerns? Is it practical and ethical to test your hypothesis?

Summary 1. The purpose of scientific research is to test ideas. One way to get research ideas is to test commonsense ideas. 2. Hypothetical constructs are abstract variables that can’t be directly observed. Researchers can deal with abstract constructs by devising “recipes” for these variables called operational definitions: concrete ways of manipulating or measuring abstract constructs. 3. Building on other people’s research is an easy way to get good research ideas. 4. Strategies for developing research ideas from previous research include improving the original study’s external, internal, or construct validity; repeating the study; seeing if the finding has any practical implications; doing a follow-up study suggested by the study’s authors; and trying to determine why two studies produced conflicting findings.

Summary-2 5. You can sometimes improve a study’s construct validity by using the double-blind technique. 6. Never do a study without first obtaining your professor’s permission. 7. A null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between two variables. Although the null hypothesis can be disproven, it can’t be proven. 8. When possible, use theory and past research to provide a rationale for your prediction and to show that the results of your study may have implications for evaluating theory and previous research findings.

Summary-3 9. If your hypothesis involves a prediction that one variable influences a second variable, you can refine that hypothesis by (a) studying the functional relationship between those two variables, (b) trying to find mediating that relationship, or (c) finding a variable that moderates that relationship. 10. A research hypothesis must be testable and must be testable in an ethical manner. 11. Even the most impractical and unethical of ideas may be converted into a practical and ethical use a small-scale model of the phenomenon you wish to study, make key variables more general or abstract, tone the intensity of your manipulation, or don’t use manipulations

Concluding Remarks You can generate many interesting ideas You will probably have to refine your ideas to turn them into testable, workable hypotheses Part of the refining process may involve developing or obtaining valid operational definitions