strategies for coming up with research ideas

[canadian phd]

I will soon be starting my PhD in marketing (consumer behaviour) and want to start generating a long list of research ideas so that I never have idle (unproductive) time.

 

I found the following strategies on the Internet. What else do you use? These were suggested for consumer behaviour/psychology topics

1. Apply the theory to solve a practical problem.

   
   

2. Use the theory to understand a real-life situation.

   
   

3. Apply it to a different sub-field than it was intended for.

   
   

4. Apply it in a related field (I suggest considering theories from related fields; e.g., cognitive psychology theories as they relate to marketing)

   
   

5. Look for moderator variables: slight changes that you could apply that would change the findings that others got in their work.

   
   

6. Apply the theory to a different subject population (e.g., theory about the effect of slavery in America applied to theories about slavery in Ancient Egypt)

   
   

7. Take it "to the limit": exagerrate the theory and see what it predicts

   
   

8. Improve the accuracy of the theory

   
   

9. Go for the jugular (not sure; maybe they mean try to tear it apart)

   
   

10. Pit two theories against each other

    
    

[TraderJoe]

These strategies are useful from a theoretical perspective. The assumption is that you are fully familiar with the research literature in the area and the research methods used. Ultimately you can just pick out some recent articles from JCR or Marketing conferences in the specific area in which you are interested. In the last section of the article, you will come across a section titled "Conclusions and Directions for Future Research". That is the best indication of fruitful research ideas because the authors are fully aware of what research has been done in the area and what research needs to be done. You can also get ideas by talking to Marketing faculty who are active in research. You also need to be fully competent with the research methods and research tools like experiment design, statistics, etc. Edited August 20, 2010 by TraderJoe

[canadian phd]

Ideas in the "future research" section will be read by a high number researchers. Don't you think that such an approach will likely result in duplicated research? In other words, several people might end up conducting a study on the same "future research" topic.

[TraderJoe]

Actually you will be much more comfortable with the research area after the first two years of the PhD program when you have read dozens of research articles and are familiar with the literature. Until then, the profs are the best source of research ideas. Most research in consumer research is extremely narrowly defined. You tweak one or two variables. Properly specify moderator variables and mediating variables. Entire articles have been published in JCR on developing an instrument to measure one variable accurately. The key is research rigor in experiment design and statistical analysis. That is where you go through three painful rounds of "revise and resubmit" for each journal article. You still have to experience how the reviewers are able to identify every minor flaw in experiment design (mostly failing to control for extraneous factors) and statistical analysis.

[phdhope]

I don't know if I am siding with trader joe but I feel like most research ideas will come from professors, professionals, articles, and other things. I don't think you are going to have to actively spend time thinking up research ideas. What I mean by that, and what I think Trader Joe is articulating, is that most of your time will be on trying to make your research question answered in the best way possible. Most professors struggle with answering all the questions they have about the world. However, I do think it is good to think about research ideas that would be useful in your discipline, I just don't think you need to spend too much time on the issue.

[sombaner]

I too am in my 1st year of PhD, so cannot say much about the process from idea generation to publication from my personal experience, but what I have got to know from existing students and professors is that it is more important to build methodological skills and review the literature in once's interest area in the 1st year. While writing down research ideas and forming models or research design is a good method to build a pipeline for research to be undertaken post 1st year, the focus is supposed to be on honing once skills.

 

For ways of getting good and feasible research ideas refer to the links below, (Though most of these are for modelers, some of the points can also be applied to research in general)

 

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/how.pdf ( How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time by. Hal R. Varian)

 

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/119169-economic-research-what-common-approach.html

 

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/90139-students-guide-writing-papers-economics.html

 

Personally I like to first identify a particular area of research on basis of my interest and my capabilities (methodology, data sources, previous exp, etc.) in undertaking research in that area, and then review existing research literature along with a review of the actual practices/problems in an applied scenario ( from business news papers, websites etc.), before coming up with a valid research idea.

[taxPhD]

I find that my research ideas come to be at the strangest times.

 

I will be playing golf, or grocery shopping, etc... and a research idea will randomly cross my mind. It is usually something building off of a paper I recently read or something like that.

[shootermcgavin7]

I mix reading in and out of my field. I also mix up the reading times. For example, for a few days, I may read some finance journals for 2 hours per day and then read random nonsense on evolutionary biology, or Hemingway, or football, or a graphic novel, or history, in the same day. Sometimes, I will go on an econ/finance reading binge for 2-3 weeks and then do a similar binge in a non-related field. Sometimes I read whatever, whenever, I want; sometimes I read nothing at all.

 

What I am trying to get at: Routine can destroy creativity, depending on your area and mindset. When I constantly mix up my reading lists, I come up with weird and/or creative research. For what it is worth.

 

 

P.S.: This is very bad advice for students with Comps or Field exams in the next month. Read what you are told.

[mengchen]

This's cool, taxPhD.:)

 

I find that my research ideas come to be at the strangest times.

 

I will be playing golf, or grocery shopping, etc... and a research idea will randomly cross my mind. It is usually something building off of a paper I recently read or something like that.

[mengchen]

Crazy

 

 

I mix reading in and out of my field. I also mix up the reading times. For example, for a few days, I may read some finance journals for 2 hours per day and then read random nonsense on evolutionary biology, or Hemingway, or football, or a graphic novel, or history, in the same day. Sometimes, I will go on an econ/finance reading binge for 2-3 weeks and then do a similar binge in a non-related field. Sometimes I read whatever, whenever, I want; sometimes I read nothing at all.

 

What I am trying to get at: Routine can destroy creativity, depending on your area and mindset. When I constantly mix up my reading lists, I come up with weird and/or creative research. For what it is worth.

 

 

P.S.: This is very bad advice for students with Comps or Field exams in the next month. Read what you are told.

[mengchen]

Thank you for your advice TraderJoe! Though I'm not a current PhD student but planning to apply in 16 months. Just want to say your advice helps.

 

I got my BA and MS in marketing and currently am working at a market research firm but thinking about applying for PhD marketing programs. No serious research experience before. So trying to get myself familiar with the research literature by reading articles from JM, JMR. But found the methodology/ statistics tools involved are not at all easy to understand. What should I focus on when reading articles from these journals?

 

Look forward to your reply!

 

 

Actually you will be much more comfortable with the research area after the first two years of the PhD program when you have read dozens of research articles and are familiar with the literature. Until then, the profs are the best source of research ideas. Most research in consumer research is extremely narrowly defined. You tweak one or two variables. Properly specify moderator variables and mediating variables. Entire articles have been published in JCR on developing an instrument to measure one variable accurately. The key is research rigor in experiment design and statistical analysis. That is where you go through three painful rounds of "revise and resubmit" for each journal article. You still have to experience how the reviewers are able to identify every minor flaw in experiment design (mostly failing to control for extraneous factors) and statistical analysis.

[possible_phd]

Read Marketing Science and jMR, if you're interested in quant marketing, and swap out MS for JCR, if you're interested in behavioral. And don't get frustrated by not understanding. At this stage, just reading the abstracts, conclusions/general discussions will suffice. You'll pick up on it over time. Good luck.

[stagename]

Be up to date in your current field, both from an academic and a managerial perspective. I'm working on 3 papers and they all came from shortcomings in the current literature from what I could see in the "real world". Being in CB, talking and looking at consumers are also a great starting point for me. And I'm all with TaxPHD. Ideas come when you least expect it, as long as you're knowledgeable in your field, you'll make connections between concepts without even thinking about it ...

 

Regarding the "future research and directions": I think some authors/some journals "fill up" that section with general ideas that are worth (or not) studying. It's usually pretty basic stuff... Might not be the best source IMHO.

 

Anecdote: For "similar research ideas leading to duplicate publications"; one of my professor was telling me that he was reading an airplane magazine (e.g. the american way) coming back from a conference and got an article idea from one of the article, started writing an article, turns out 2 other researchers had also read that magazine, probably coming back from the same conference... ;P

[shootermcgavin7]

Crazy

 

I agree.

[myndfood]

I'll echo what a few of you have said: most publishable research finds a way to fill a gap (even a very minute gap) in the existing research. So, I think the best thing you can do (aside from golfing periodically ;-) is to read the existing literature in your field. Try to get your hand on journal annals for recent years (this will give you a broad perspective on the areas that are currently "vogue", then you can dig deeper in the areas that you find intriguing). As you develop an understanding of the literature, you'll begin to develop your own research questions as you identify gaps in the research.

[mengchen]

Thank you possible_phd! :)

 

What about Journal of Marketing? Is it kind of between Marketing Science and JCR?

 

 

Read Marketing Science and jMR, if you're interested in quant marketing, and swap out MS for JCR, if you're interested in behavioral. And don't get frustrated by not understanding. At this stage, just reading the abstracts, conclusions/general discussions will suffice. You'll pick up on it over time. Good luck.

[stagename]

Thank you possible_phd! :)

 

What about Journal of Marketing? Is it kind of between Marketing Science and JCR?

 

Here are my thoughts on marketing journals, please correct me if i'm wrong:

 

Journal Marketing (JM): "general" marketing as it covers everything that concerns marketing, from strategy, to pricing, retailing, CB, electronic commerce, scale development, etc etc ... , usually quant but some qual

Journal Marketing Research (JMR): methodological papers, scales, mostly quant

Journal Consumer Research (JCR): consumer behaviour quant & qual

Journal Retailing (JR): on retailing, suprisingly ;P

Marketing Science: I see it as a mix between JM and JMR but I don't read it too often so I might be mistaken.

 

JM, JCR, JMR and MS are usually refered to as "A" journals. JR has been gaining ground in the last few years and should be consider as an A IMHO.

 

If you have extra time: Journal of Consumer Psychology (CB), Journal of Interactive Marketing (tech/internet/...) and extra extra time: Journal of Business Research, Journal of Products and Innovation Management, Journal of Internationl Marketing, Long Range Planning, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Advertising

 

Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, INSEAD knowledge, etc. are good to check out what's going on "right now". The thing is it takes a long time to get a paper published so what's being published right now began as an idea a few years before. A professor of mine used to say that what's in textbooks is 20 yrs old, what's in articles is 5 years old, what's in managerial journals is 1 yr old and what's in the newspaper/magazines/internet is from last week.

 

Once again I might have written too much...

[mengchen]

Thank you stagename! I appreciate it. That helps a lot! I'll definitely check them out.

 

 

Here are my thoughts on marketing journals, please correct me if i'm wrong:

 

Journal Marketing (JM): "general" marketing as it covers everything that concerns marketing, from strategy, to pricing, retailing, CB, electronic commerce, scale development, etc etc ... , usually quant but some qual

Journal Marketing Research (JMR): methodological papers, scales, mostly quant

Journal Consumer Research (JCR): consumer behaviour quant & qual

Journal Retailing (JR): on retailing, suprisingly ;P

Marketing Science: I see it as a mix between JM and JMR but I don't read it too often so I might be mistaken.

 

JM, JCR, JMR and MS are usually refered to as "A" journals. JR has been gaining ground in the last few years and should be consider as an A IMHO.

 

If you have extra time: Journal of Consumer Psychology (CB), Journal of Interactive Marketing (tech/internet/...) and extra extra time: Journal of Business Research, Journal of Products and Innovation Management, Journal of Internationl Marketing, Long Range Planning, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Advertising

 

Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, INSEAD knowledge, etc. are good to check out what's going on "right now". The thing is it takes a long time to get a paper published so what's being published right now began as an idea a few years before. A professor of mine used to say that what's in textbooks is 20 yrs old, what's in articles is 5 years old, what's in managerial journals is 1 yr old and what's in the newspaper/magazines/internet is from last week.

 

Once again I might have written too much...

[canadian phd]

Now that I'm actually in the program, I thought it would be an appropriate time to bump this thread. What strategies do you use to come up with new research ideas? Many of my ideas in marketing have come from my observations, but I don't want to rely solely on my observations.

[Soheyl]

 

1. Apply the theory to solve a practical problem.

   
   

2. Use the theory to understand a real-life situation.

   
   

3. Apply it to a different sub-field than it was intended for.

   
   

4. Apply it in a related field (I suggest considering theories from related fields; e.g., cognitive psychology theories as they relate to marketing)

   
   

5. Look for moderator variables: slight changes that you could apply that would change the findings that others got in their work.

   
   

6. Apply the theory to a different subject population (e.g., theory about the effect of slavery in America applied to theories about slavery in Ancient Egypt)

   
   

7. Take it "to the limit": exagerrate the theory and see what it predicts

   
   

8. Improve the accuracy of the theory

   
   

9. Go for the jugular (not sure; maybe they mean try to tear it apart)

   
   

10. Pit two theories against each other

    
    

 

 

11. Use a real life situation to build a theory.

 

I know it's way harder than the other ones. But even if it leads to no tangible outcome, it's worth the challenge :)

[stagename]

11. Use a real life situation to build a theory.

 

I know it's way harder than the other ones. But even if it leads to no tangible outcome, it's worth the challenge :)

 

There's a whole method based on using real life problem to come up with theory called participatory action research. Basically, it's a case-study/consultation-like based method where you will take a real life situation and improve it, document the process, involve the stakeholders and ultimately write something about it afterward. The whole process takes a lot of time, but it's publishable.

 

If you're a qual researcher, there's a lot of research based on real life situations, where those situations are used as contexts to generate theories and concepts. E.G. Schouten and McAlexander (1995), Kozinets (2002).

 

Another easy way to come up with ideas is to check "call for research" papers and literary reviews. Those papers usually cover a whole pan of a certain domain and identify multiple gaps in the literature.

 

Also, I started mapping the articles I read using mindmanager and it's been a great tool to visualize the "content" of certain research domains. You can link concepts together as you would do in a conceptual model, and you end up with a pretty nice "big picture", at least in the domains I tried.

 

As I said before, I still think the best way is to be up-to-date with what's going on in your field. Beside journal articles, I also follow blogs, magazines, trend spotters journals and other sources of more "up-to-date" information to see what's going on in consumer behaviour.

 

Finally, there's a whole debate between inductive and deductive process of coming up with research ideas. You'll find a whole literature dedicated about this particular dichotomy. While most will argue that all research is a bit deductive, some "find" their reserach ideas through their data. I believe grounded theory would be an exemplar for this type of research.

 

On another note, since we talked a bit about theory-building, you might be interested in a relatively new Jacoby and Jaccard (2010) book on theory-building called "Theory construction and model-building". There's a whole chapter on the generation of ideas. You can find a review here.

 

I again wrote way too much ...

[Soheyl]

Also, I started mapping the articles I read using mindmanager and it's been a great tool to visualize the "content" of certain research domains. You can link concepts together as you would do in a conceptual model, and you end up with a pretty nice "big picture", at least in the domains I tried.

 

I used Mind Manager to design my SOP. It was fantastic.

 

On another note, since we talked a bit about theory-building, you might be interested in a relatively new Jacoby and Jaccard (2010) book on theory-building called "Theory construction and model-building". There's a whole chapter on the generation of ideas. You can find a review here.

 

I went through the review. Seems a nice book. You might want to check this out as well

 

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/how.pdf

 

I again wrote way too much ...

 

Long but informative!

[stagename]

I went through the review. Seems a nice book. You might want to check this out as well

 

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/how.pdf

 

Haha I love the title: How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time. Seems like a great read!

 

Some good thoughts on generating ideas!:

1: "My suggestion is rather dierent: I think that you should look for your ideas outside the academic journals|in newspapers, in magazines, in conversations, and in TV and radio programs." (I'd agree with that!)

 

2: Conversations, especially with people in business, are often very fruitful.

 

3: In many cases your ideas can come from your own life and experiences.

 

Long but informative!

 

I'm glad you liked it!

[Soheyl]

I also liked some other advices in that note. But it's gonna be a long discussion and I have a final exam tomorrow morning (it's 3 in the morning here!). I will post after I'm finished with the exam. Hope we can keep sharing ideas on this.

[canadian phd]

For the people who have been through a year+ in their programs, do you now find it easier to generate quality ideas compared to when you were just entering the program?