How to come up with a research topic

1.  Come up with a research topic and provide your reasoning for choosing such topic. (e.g., Clinical psychology)

2.  Choose a population and a sample for your study.

a.  (e.g., CSUSB students) (e.g., 100 students from psychology department)

3.  Choose two ideas that you want to test (variables that you want to study).

a.  e.g., Mindfulness

b.  e.g., Depression

4.  Provide a clear operationalized definition of the variables.

a.  e.g., Mindfulness: deliberately paying attention to thoughts and feelings with curiosity.

b.  e.g., Depression: persistent sadness about life due to lack of energy and interest

5.  How do you plan to quantify or measure those variables? Develop at least 5 questions for each variable (total 10 questions) and choose a Likert scale for each question.

a.  e.g., I am aware about my surroundings. (Mindfulness)

Likert scale: 1 = Not true at all – 7 = Always true.

b.  e.g., I like to interact with people. (Depression

e.g., Likert scale: 1 = Not true at all – 7 = Always true.

6.  How do you warrant that your measurement has strong reliability and validity? Provide a brief description of reliability and validity.

7.  Which one is the independent variable and the dependent variable? How do you identify these two types of variables?

8.  Formulate a clear, testable hypothesis.

a.  “People with higher level of mindfulness are less likely to experience depressive symptoms.”

9.  What else can affect the outcome of your prediction? Discuss briefly what are some confounding variables and possible biases.

10.  Is your study correlational or causational? What makes a study correlational or causational? Provide a brief explanation for each type.

a.  If your study design is correlational study, how do you determine if it positive or negative correlation?

b.  If your study design is causational, what are some qualities that is required to make a causational (true experiment) study?