LECTURE 2: ISSUES IN CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC SOCI2020 Research Skills Dr. Michelle Cowley, [email protected]
Jan 07, 2017
LECTURE 2: ISSUES IN CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC
SOCI2020 Research Skills
Dr. Michelle Cowley, [email protected]
Overview
Choosing a research topicWhat to do if you cannot think of an ideaNarrowing the focus of your research topicReviewing the literatureOther issues to consider Framing your research question/aimStarting a research notebook
Choosing a research topic
Relevance to your Applied Social Science pathway
Plan ahead: How will this research topic be relevant to your career?
How much choice do you have?Your motivation and interestWhat loose ends have you discovered in the
reading you have done over the past two years?
See Blaxter et al. (2001)
Plan ahead
Think about where your career may be taking you
What is the time-line of your research?Does your topic and working title allow you
the time you need EVEN WHEN there are unanticipated setbacks?
How much choice do you have?
Research in the ‘real world’You are very lucky to have a school that is
supportive of YOUR researchThe only time in your life when it is all up to
you (given feasibility constraints) without pressure of publication
So be selfish and choose the most interesting topic you can!
Motivation
Your research should hold your interest even when it is not going as smoothly as you had planned
You should find yourself drawn to news reports related to your project (not so absorbed however, that you lose track of time and lose your way when finding a lecture room!)
Deeper levels of processing and insight when you are motivated (Craik & Lockart, 1972).
Loose ends in the literature
Key debates relevant to your pathwayKey thinkers and their criticsA comparison of two alternative theoriesRoom for methodological improvement or
innovation
What to do if you cannot think of an idea? Is there a particular methodology that you would
like to develop some skill in? What are your strong points:
o working with numbers, o talking to people, o detailed note takingo analytical skills?
Look at previous dissertations. Flick to indicated future research questions
Relate a topic to your own interest: sports, volunteer work (this would help to access to a special population!)
Narrowing your focus
Poets
Media
Science fiction
IrishChildren’s Imaginative Play
Artists
Personality
CulturalDiffs?
Seanachaí
Everyday People?
Reviewing the literature
Journal articles, research reports, edited chapters, or theses
Check their bibliography and build from there
Copious notes on key theorists and methodologies
Indicated future directions
A feasible project: Everyday Imagination (Ward, 1994)
Experiment: 37 participants were given a blank piece of paper on whichThey were to draw imaginary animals. They were first asked to imagine going to another planet somewhere else in the galaxy that was very different from earth, to imagine finding an animal there, and to draw a frontand side view of the animal…another same species… different species…
Bilateral symmetry, appendages, sense organs…
Ward, T. (1994). Structured Imagination: The Role of Category Structure in Exemplar Generation. Cognitive Psychology, 27, 1-40
Framing your research question/aim
From Hypotheses to Hippopotamuses!Brainstorm and write down as many
questions/aims as you canRepeat this every few days over this week
and nextReview your questions and see if any
appear to look like research questions/aimsMake your question/aim succinct and
concise
Starting a research notebook
Take it everywhere. You never know when a good idea may ‘pop’ into your head (Ohlson, 1992)
Time managementRecalling the methodological difficulties you
encounteredRecalling ideas you decided against for future
research in discussion chapter
Issues to always keep in mind
Ethics and Feasibility Resources Own knowledge (e.g. advanced
statistics) Any questions?