Finding a research topic
The best research will have one (or ideally, more than one) of these
qualities:
- Has
a surprising, unexpected result
- Solves
a problem that nobody has solved before
- Can
be proven to work substantially better than any other solution
anyone has tried
- Raises
some questions that nobody has thought about before
Try to find an empty research space because:
- Credit
snowballs for people who are first, even if their work requires substantial
modification later
- New
research areas lead to new questions and insights
- New
research areas fall into multiple existing research fields
If possible, concentrate on solving a clear, real-world problem:
- If
you solve a real-world problem, more people will care about your solution
- Solving
a real-world problem will increase the likelihood you will interact with
potential users as you design and solve problems, which will increase the
likelihood that you will be exposed to a variety of points of view
- Solving a real-world problem may help you avoid succumbing to this old saying:
"If
all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"
How to find a topic?
- Read
constantly
- Expose
yourself to talks on a regular basis (yes you are busy, but go anyway)
- Force
yourself to draw non-obvious connections between seemingly unrelated areas
of work
- Learn
about new tools that enable you to design/create/test new ideas
Use your classes to help you do more innovative research (that’s their purpose!)
- In
grad school there are two primary reasons to take a class
- Fill
in missing background needed for to understand the intellectual
methods/tools that you need to do research or that people in your
research area use
- Get
a survey of an area related to your research interests
(which might break you out of an intellectual rut by sparking new ideas)
The best projects for you are
those that have:
- Incremental
results
- Qualities
that appeal to people in more than one field
- Big
payoff for time invested in infrastructure development
- Relatively
small amounts of infrastructure development (at least development without
results along the way)
The best work (especially a Ph.D.) will have these qualities:
- Everyone has to cite your work
- There is a "surprise factor"
- You can convince people your work is important
- Depth - you are the expert
- You are first to define a new problem
- You are the first to propose a solution to some recognized problem
- Your work has major impact on the field
- Everyone agrees your solution to a problem is much better than other solutions
- You are providing some new tool that enables others to pursue new
solutions
Stephen Intille's Thesis Development and Writing Tips
Last updated: 04/22/06