Designing your own research study

[hopefulphdstudent]

Hi All,

I find the comments I receive here very informative, hence wanted to post my concern here.

To cut to the chase, I have worked as a RAin a hospital research lab for over a year. I was given the opportunity to design my own project and come up with a proposal. I am excited with this opportunity, but I don't know where to start- a topic of interest. My research interests in the field of Clinical Psychology is vast because I have been working in diverse labs throughout undergrad (ex: coping with cancer, stereotype biases, depression and anxiety etc.) At this point I am still trying to discover a specific research interest (this is one the reasons I could not match with a faculty when applying to PhD programs because my interests were too broad).

I have designed independent studies during undergrad, but this will be on a different scale, since it is a big hospital. I will be provided resources such as RAs to help recruit patients to collect data.

If you can suggest some interesting topics, I will do some literature searches to read more about the topic and decide from there whether the topic is of interest to me.

Thank you in advance for the suggestions!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted343839]

Wow, that sounds like a rare opportunity! Even though it sounds like nothing you have worked on so far has really ignited a passion, my suggestion is to choose a topic that is well within your PI's expertise so that he or she can be an effective mentor to you. One of the things a mentor can offer you is perspective. What sounds like a good idea to someone outside a field may not seem that way to an insider. At this stage of your professional development, the more you can use your PI's work as a springboard, the greater the likelihood of a project that will interest other people too (maybe enough to accept for presentation or publication).

 

[CheetahGirl]

I agree with MamaPhD. What does your lab research right now? And what (generally) does your PI's research entail? Only then, can we ask questions that will better inform you of your own interests.

 

[hopefulphdstudent]

Thanks for the responses! I am interested in exploring the roles of emotional reactivity and understanding how individual differences in emotion and mood regulation can increase the risk for the onset of mood disorders. The issue is, I am limited to designing my experiment. Since the research is carried out in the Emergency Room, the PI prefers that I conduct self-report questionnaires rather than utilizing psychophysiological measures. I will need to give this some more thought....

 

[PsyDr]

Obtain consent. Complete personality measure and self report of history about psychiatric illness. Wait until pts are connected to an ecg. Startle them. Preferably while wearing a clown costume ala "It". Report duration of increase in r to r interval. Correlate with the self report measures. Publish. Wait until the popular press hears about it.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Obtain consent. Complete personality measure and self report of history about psychiatric illness. Wait until pts are connected to an ecg. Startle them. Preferably while wearing a clown costume ala "It". Report duration of increase in r to r interval. Correlate with the self report measures. Publish. Wait until the popular press hears about it.

Great suggestion for a much needed research study. but it really needed a visual aid:

 

[PsyDr]

There's no way this study is not referenced and put in the media.

Imagine the CV.

"Designed one study which at this time has been cited 1800 times..."

Separate article for the number of times OP gets punched.

 

[nonamesleft]

Hi All,

I find the comments I receive here very informative, hence wanted to post my concern here.

To cut to the chase, I have worked as a RAin a hospital research lab for over a year. I was given the opportunity to design my own project and come up with a proposal. I am excited with this opportunity, but I don't know where to start- a topic of interest. My research interests in the field of Clinical Psychology is vast because I have been working in diverse labs throughout undergrad (ex: coping with cancer, stereotype biases, depression and anxiety etc.) At this point I am still trying to discover a specific research interest (this is one the reasons I could not match with a faculty when applying to PhD programs because my interests were too broad).

I have designed independent studies during undergrad, but this will be on a different scale, since it is a big hospital. I will be provided resources such as RAs to help recruit patients to collect data.

If you can suggest some interesting topics, I will do some literature searches to read more about the topic and decide from there whether the topic is of interest to me.

Thank you in advance for the suggestions!

If you can design a study that uses the strengths of your home lab and the available resources, you will also have better support for data analysis afterwards. It may also be easier to publish, since it'll be in a field that you/your lab has already "established expertise".