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QtrLifeCrisis · 2009 October 14th, 04:21 AM

What are everone's research interests? How did you narrow them down? When writing the statement of purpose do you think one should go broad with their interests and risk looking flaky or go narrow and risk not fitting into a particular schools needs? My brain tonight is focused on research interests.... ugh.

phdhope · 2009 October 14th, 04:41 AM

Auditing and accounting information systems. As you might have guessed, I have always been an accounting major. Taking multiple classes in the same subject helped me decide I had interest in it. I also read a lot of research articles in the AIS/audit journals to see if I liked their research. It is because of this, I am not going to apply to schools that don't share my interests.

There is a danger far greater than getting rejected by admissions if you apply to a school that researches what you do not have an interest in.

dusklife · 2009 October 14th, 04:44 AM

Good question my friend...

(Don't take this as advice here, just my recent thoughts on this dilemna as well)

I feel like having well defined research interests would put you at an edge in interviews/admissions, but then again I feel like it's hard to get too specific at such an early stage. ex. I can say I'm interested in the impact of x voluntary disclosure on stock price right now, but then once I go through a program and am forced to read more on the subject/go into more depth in other areas/understand the math behind the research/etc that can easily change

...but then again just going general and saying something like "i'm interested in voluntary disclosures, earnings management, and conservatism" in a statement of purpose/interview and explaining yourself in broad terms could sound weak and like you haven't put enough thought into it?

In regards to my broad areas of interest, they are:
Behavioral and ethical aspects of managerial and financial accounting
(think: performance, fraud, incentive schemes, motivators, judgements, etc etc)

I say financial and managerial because, like phdhope, I enjoyed classes pertinent to these areas the most. I've always been interested in human psychology as well, especially as it applies to judgement and decisions. I used to sit and be fascinated by business/self-help seminars, as corny as they were, by guys who would love to go into the psychology of everything.

BTW - does anyone know if schools have been known to scout out these boards? I'm not sure if it would be a good thing to be identified here based on these posts

possible_phd · 2009 October 14th, 07:58 AM

Professors have stopped by, yes. In addition, current students (e.g., myself and others here) still lurk, even if we don't always reply. This has been the case for the last few years, and previous posters eventually become current professors.

We should be open and honest, but the general rule for online behavior is that we should never post something that could come back to haunt us... especially since our posts are not editable indefinitely.

phdhope · 2009 October 14th, 11:24 PM

Quote:

We should be open and honest, but the general rule for online behavior is that we should never post something that could come back to haunt us

I agree.

Quote:

BTW - does anyone know if schools have been known to scout out these boards? I'm not sure if it would be a good thing to be identified here based on these posts

I am slightly confused by this comment. Do you think this thread or just some of the forum posts in general reflect negatively on the applicant? (I guess I am trying to find out if I said something controversial)

dusklife · 2009 October 15th, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phdhope

I agree.

I am slightly confused by this comment. Do you think this thread or just some of the forum posts in general reflect negatively on the applicant? (I guess I am trying to find out if I said something controversial)

I don't think any of us said anything controversial here -- I just made that comment because that post combined with a few others (profile) could possibly identify me.

...as far as some posts reflecting negatively on applicants, I don't know. I'd hope not, but if faculty are sneaky enough to search out boards like this for current applicants who knows.

itsthatguy · 2009 October 15th, 05:11 PM

I am particularly interested in poverty reduction through marketing, whether social marketing, bottom of pyramid, or other similar issues. I also have interest in the intersection of consumer behavior and the built environment, marketing to the urban poor, and similar topics.

It makes it very difficult to choose programs - I'm trying to look at places with people doing current scholarship in the area, and having a rough time - since it's so specific, and frankly, isn't a "glamorous" or money producing topic. However, there are a number of people doing current research.

My chops perhaps aren't as great as others, particularly my quant skills, but I am very tightly focused on my research area, have worked professionally in tangentially related efforts, and hope that those buoy my overall application.

dusklife · 2009 October 19th, 04:43 AM

Question related to research interests:

I've been noticing a few schools recently where my interests are very close to one of their assistant professor(s) and not so close to the associate and/or full professors. Would the fact that the professor is still at the ranking of assistant (no tenure) be detrimental in terms of being able to work with that faculty/being admitted on the grounds of research fit with the university?

phdhope · 2009 October 19th, 05:18 AM

dusklife: The short answer I think is no. There are however two possible problems. Assistant professors might leave for another university to get tenure at which point you have lost your advisor which can be hard. The other problem is that if there is only one professor in your interest area at the university, they might already have enough students to mentor.

possible_phd · 2009 October 19th, 06:11 AM

Actually, I think it can sometimes be beneficial to work with junior faculty. They're hungry to publish and want to crank out research to get tenure! If you can hop on the project train, it might serve you quite well. Of course, this is just speculation, since I don't really have first-hand experience with this aspect just yet.

2009 October 14th, 04:21 AM	#1 (permalink)
QtrLifeCrisis I JUST got here. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 10	Research Interests What are everone's research interests? How did you narrow them down? When writing the statement of purpose do you think one should go broad with their interests and risk looking flaky or go narrow and risk not fitting into a particular schools needs? My brain tonight is focused on research interests.... ugh.

2009 October 14th, 04:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
dusklife Eager! Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 50	Good question my friend... (Don't take this as advice here, just my recent thoughts on this dilemna as well) I feel like having well defined research interests would put you at an edge in interviews/admissions, but then again I feel like it's hard to get too specific at such an early stage. ex. I can say I'm interested in the impact of x voluntary disclosure on stock price right now, but then once I go through a program and am forced to read more on the subject/go into more depth in other areas/understand the math behind the research/etc that can easily change ...but then again just going general and saying something like "i'm interested in voluntary disclosures, earnings management, and conservatism" in a statement of purpose/interview and explaining yourself in broad terms could sound weak and like you haven't put enough thought into it? In regards to my broad areas of interest, they are: Behavioral and ethical aspects of managerial and financial accounting (think: performance, fraud, incentive schemes, motivators, judgements, etc etc) I say financial and managerial because, like phdhope, I enjoyed classes pertinent to these areas the most. I've always been interested in human psychology as well, especially as it applies to judgement and decisions. I used to sit and be fascinated by business/self-help seminars, as corny as they were, by guys who would love to go into the psychology of everything. BTW - does anyone know if schools have been known to scout out these boards? I'm not sure if it would be a good thing to be identified here based on these posts Last edited by dusklife : 2009 October 14th at 05:15 AM.

2009 October 14th, 07:58 AM	#4 (permalink)
possible_phd Can't believe it Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 741	Professors have stopped by, yes. In addition, current students (e.g., myself and others here) still lurk, even if we don't always reply. This has been the case for the last few years, and previous posters eventually become current professors. We should be open and honest, but the general rule for online behavior is that we should never post something that could come back to haunt us... especially since our posts are not editable indefinitely. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _

2009 October 19th, 06:11 AM	#10 (permalink)
possible_phd Can't believe it Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 741	Actually, I think it can sometimes be beneficial to work with junior faculty. They're hungry to publish and want to crank out research to get tenure! If you can hop on the project train, it might serve you quite well. Of course, this is just speculation, since I don't really have first-hand experience with this aspect just yet. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _

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2009 October 14th, 04:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
phdhope Eager! Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 99	Auditing and accounting information systems. As you might have guessed, I have always been an accounting major. Taking multiple classes in the same subject helped me decide I had interest in it. I also read a lot of research articles in the AIS/audit journals to see if I liked their research. It is because of this, I am not going to apply to schools that don't share my interests. There is a danger far greater than getting rejected by admissions if you apply to a school that researches what you do not have an interest in.

2009 October 15th, 05:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
itsthatguy I JUST got here. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1	I am particularly interested in poverty reduction through marketing, whether social marketing, bottom of pyramid, or other similar issues. I also have interest in the intersection of consumer behavior and the built environment, marketing to the urban poor, and similar topics. It makes it very difficult to choose programs - I'm trying to look at places with people doing current scholarship in the area, and having a rough time - since it's so specific, and frankly, isn't a "glamorous" or money producing topic. However, there are a number of people doing current research. My chops perhaps aren't as great as others, particularly my quant skills, but I am very tightly focused on my research area, have worked professionally in tangentially related efforts, and hope that those buoy my overall application.

2009 October 19th, 04:43 AM	#8 (permalink)
dusklife Eager! Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 50	Question related to research interests: I've been noticing a few schools recently where my interests are very close to one of their assistant professor(s) and not so close to the associate and/or full professors. Would the fact that the professor is still at the ranking of assistant (no tenure) be detrimental in terms of being able to work with that faculty/being admitted on the grounds of research fit with the university?

2009 October 19th, 05:18 AM	#9 (permalink)
phdhope Eager! Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 99	dusklife: The short answer I think is no. There are however two possible problems. Assistant professors might leave for another university to get tenure at which point you have lost your advisor which can be hard. The other problem is that if there is only one professor in your interest area at the university, they might already have enough students to mentor.

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