Where might you find research ideas? Give two advantages for doing so from your own experience and two disadvantages. Explain.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: Research ideas can literally be found anywhere. A major source of ideas is from our own lives; another source of ideas is from the literature—and other people’s lives. Two advantages of coming up with a research idea from my own idea is “study what you know” and the idea that I might know more about some topics than people older than me or people who have not had my experiences. The first is an advantage because I will be more comfortable studying something I already know about and I will not be as affected or restricted by what is already in the literature—the theory will not dictate my observations so much. The second is an advantage because I may bring something new to the literature that my professors and published authors do not already know. They might not have written any articles on the topic, or at least on my viewpoint about the topic, and I can advance the literature. This is true for new ideas like how Snapchat affects relationships since older teachers might have already been married before Snapchat came into existence, and they have not had experience with the constant stimulation that comes with needing to message someone back all the time that you just met.