Table 3.1. Techniques for generating research ideas

imagination. Titles that look interesting or which grab your attention should be noted down, as should any thoughts you 
have about the title in relation to your own research idea.
Discussion. Colleagues, friends and university professors are all good sources of possible project ideas. In addi-
tion, ideas can be obtained by talking to practitioners and professional groups.
Searching the literature. Types of literature that are of particular use for generating research ideas include: 
• articles in academic and professional journals; 
• reports; 
• books. 
Of particular use are academic review articles. They contain both a considered review of the state of knowledge in 
that topic area and pointers towards areas where further research needs to be undertaken. In addition you can browse 
recent publications, in particular journals, for possible research ideas. Reports may also be of use. The most recently 
published are usually up to date and, again, often contain recommendations that may form basis of your research idea. 
Books by contrast are less up to date than other written sources. They do, however, often contain a good overview of 
research that has been undertaken, which may suggest ideas to you. 
4. Keeping a notebook of ideas. One of the more creative techniques that we all use is to keep a notebook of ideas. 
All this involves is simply noting down any interesting research ideas as you think of them and, of equal importance, 
what sparked off your thought.
Exploring personal preferences using past projects. Another way of generating possible project ideas is to explore 
your personal preferences using past project reports from your university. To do this you should: 
1) select six projects that you like; 
2) for each of these six projects note down your first thoughts in response to three questions: 
a. What appeals to you about the project? 
b. What is good about the project? 
c. Why is the project good? 
3) select three projects that you do not like; 
4) for each of these three projects note down your first thoughts in response to three questions: 
a. What do you dislike about the project? 
b. What is bad about the project? 
c. Why is the project bad? 
You now have a list of what you consider to be excellent and what you consider to be poor in projects. By examin-
ing this list you will begin to understand those project characteristics that are important to you and with which you feel 
comfortable. These can be used as the parameters against which to evaluate possible research ideas. 
Relevance trees. Relevance trees may also prove useful in generating research topics. You should start with a 
broad concept from which you generate further (usually more specific) topics. Each of these topics forms a separate 
branch from which you can generate further more detailed sub-branches. As you proceed down the sub-branches more 
ideas are generated and recorded. 
Brainstorming. The technique of brainstorming can be used to generate and refine research ideas. To brainstorm 
you should: 
a. define your problem – that is, the sorts of ideas you are interested in – as precisely as possible;
b. ask for suggestions relating to the problem; 
c. record all suggestions; 
d. review all the suggestions and explore what is meant by each; 
e. analyze the list of suggestions and decide which appeal to you most as research ideas and why. 
5. One of the key criteria of your research success will be whether you have a set of clear conclusions drawn from 
the data you have collected. The extent to which you can do that will be determined largely by the clarity with which 
you have posed your initial research questions.
Defining research questions, rather like generating research ideas, is not a straightforward matter. Beware of re-
search questions which are too easy or too difficult. A question that prompts a descriptive answer, for example “What is 
the proportion of graduates entering the civil service who attended the old-established UK universities?” is far easier to 
answer than: “Why are graduates from old-established UK universities more likely to enter the civil service than gradu-
ates from other university?”
It is often a useful starting point in the writing of research questions to begin with one general focus research ques-
tion that flows from your research idea. This may lead to several more detailed questions or the definition of research 
objectives. Table 3.2. has some examples of general focus research questions. 

 

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