Designing a Line of Research

doi:10.1017/9781009010054.030

29 - Designing a Line of Research

from Part V - Tips for a Successful Research Career

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2023

Sheldon Solomon ,

Jeff Greenberg and

Tom Pyszczynski

Edited by

Austin Lee Nichols and

John Edlund

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Austin Lee Nichols: Affiliation:
Central European University, Vienna
John Edlund: Affiliation:
Rochester Institute of Technology, New York

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Summary

Finding one’s niche in any scientific domain is often challenging, but there are certain tips and steps that can foster a productive research program. In this chapter, we use terror management theory (TMT) as an exemplar of what designing a successful line of research entails. To this end, we present an overview of the development and execution of our research program, including testing of original hypotheses, direct and conceptual replications, identification of moderating and mediating variables, and how efforts to understand failures to replicate mortality salience effects led to important conceptual refinements of the theory. Our hope is that recounting the history of terror management theory and research will be useful for younger scholars in their own research pursuits in the social and behavioral sciences.

Keywords

Programmatic Research Theory Development Hypothesis Testing Replication Theoretical Refinement

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Handbook of Research Methods and Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Volume 1: Building a Program of Research
, pp. 629 - 650

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009010054.030 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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References

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