The Psychologist's Companion A Guide to Professional Success for Students, Teachers, and Researchers
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Macro-Challenges in Writing Papers: Planning and Formulating Papers
- 1 Eight Common Misconceptions about Psychology Papers
- 2 How to Generate, Evaluate, and Sell Your Ideas for Research and Papers
- 3 Literature Research
- 4 Writing a Literature Review
- 5 Planning and Writing the Experimental Research Paper
- 6 Ethics in Research and Writing
- Part II Micro-Challenges in Writing Papers: Presenting Your Ideas in Writing
- Part III Writing and Preparing Articles for Journal Submission
- Part IV Presenting Yourself to Others
- Epilogue
- References
- Index
2 - How to Generate, Evaluate, and Sell Your Ideas for Research and Papers
from Part I - Macro-Challenges in Writing Papers: Planning and Formulating Papers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 November 2016
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Macro-Challenges in Writing Papers: Planning and Formulating Papers
- 1 Eight Common Misconceptions about Psychology Papers
- 2 How to Generate, Evaluate, and Sell Your Ideas for Research and Papers
- 3 Literature Research
- 4 Writing a Literature Review
- 5 Planning and Writing the Experimental Research Paper
- 6 Ethics in Research and Writing
- Part II Micro-Challenges in Writing Papers: Presenting Your Ideas in Writing
- Part III Writing and Preparing Articles for Journal Submission
- Part IV Presenting Yourself to Others
- Epilogue
- References
- Index
Summary
There is no one foolproof way of getting ideas for papers. You have to find the ways that work for you. In the first part of this chapter, we present you with different ways in which you can develop ideas for your research projects. Of course, it is not enough to have ideas. To be a successful researcher, you also need the ability to evaluate your ideas and find out whether they are good ones. You do not want to waste your time on bad ideas. The second part of this chapter deals with the evaluation of your ideas. And once you have come to the conclusion that yours is a wonderful idea, it will be important for you to sell your idea. How do you convince others that your planned study is one that is worthwhile to conduct, and how do you convince an editor of a journal and reviewers that your paper is worth publishing? Especially creative ideas are often hard to sell. Therefore, the third part of this chapter shows you some ways to sell your ideas.
GENERATING IDEAS
Generating Ideas by Consulting with Others
In many colleges and universities, the faculty is among the most underutilized of resources. In Bob's first semester of teaching at Yale, he set aside three hours each week for office hours. He encouraged – sometimes he practically begged – students to come see him during those hours for advice on papers, projects, and the like. He left his door wide open to encourage students to enter. For the most part, though, he sat staring at the walls or at the people scurrying by (but not in) the door. He also encouraged students to make individual appointments if they were unable to see him during his prearranged hours, but for the most part, students also failed to take him up on this offer. Later, business picked up, although much more so among graduate than among undergraduate students.
Once, the psychology department faculty at Yale spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out why students are so timid in approaching faculty. Sometimes students try once, are unsuccessful in reaching the faculty member, and give up.
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- The Psychologist's CompanionA Guide to Professional Success for Students, Teachers, and Researchers, pp. 26 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2016
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