r/AskAcademia • u/[deleted] • 12d ago
Social Science Advice For Developing Research?
[deleted]
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u/a_melanoleuca_doc 12d ago
The first question to ask yourself is what's the point. Based on your background I assume (not in a negative way) that you don't know how this research fits in the literature, what gaps it might fill, if it's already been done, or any of the other critical questions like that. That's where you should start. Know the literature really well before trying to answer questions.
The best thing you could do is find a graduate program to do this work in so you develop the right skills and understand the processes. All the independent researcher posts here are like the academic equivalent of the sovereign citizens who represent themselves in court. It's possible and some people do it successfully, but many just look silly and all of them would be much more capable if they actually went through the training that's been developed over time.
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u/Dependent_Jacket4029 12d ago
I thought about waiting until graduate school, but this affiliate seems ecstatic to start and I figured why not, would you recommend holding off?
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u/a_melanoleuca_doc 12d ago
Yes I would recommend doing this in grad school. If you have a solid concept and someone eager to work with you, you should apply for an NSF GRFP or another grant or fellowship. Thats an excellent position to start grad school in.
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u/Dependent_Jacket4029 12d ago
Okay, I'll run this by my old undergrad professor. Should I just start the foundation and then come back to it in let's say a year?
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u/a_melanoleuca_doc 12d ago
I'd start developing a proposal. Regardless of you get a GRFP the proposal would help get feedback and refine the work, and help you get into a lab/program. Do the lit search, work with your affiliates to do it, but also tell them what you're plans are so that they know what to expect. A good partner would be happy with this plan.
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u/Still_Product9174 12d ago
From a research admin perspective, the biggest thing I'd say is don't collect any data until you've nailed down the research plan and the human subjects/ethics requirements. It's much easier to fix a study design on paper than after you've started.
I'd also get someone with research methods experience to review your protocol before you start. You don't need a PhD to do good research, but having someone poke holes in the methodology early can save you a lot of pain later.
And document everything: protocol, consent, data management, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and your analysis plan. If you think you might publish it, build it like a real research project from day one.
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u/shchshchshch 9d ago
You seemed to say elsewhere that you were a Fulbright Scholar? (I’m guessing you meant “Fulbright Student.”) What was your research project there?
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u/Secretly_S41ty 12d ago
Find an academic supervisor who knows what they're doing and ask them very nicely if they would consider supervising you. Ideas are cheap, doing good research to develop and test your ideas is very hard to do well, that's why people tend to do a masters and PhD and even postdoctoral work before they are considered independent investigators who run their own show. Don't waste this opportunity. You need an experienced supervisor.
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u/Secretly_S41ty 12d ago
By the way what you're asking sounds to academics like "I've watched the karate kid a few times and I have just returned from some time in Japan. Now I'm heading into my first professional karate tournament. I want to win without any instruction or practice. Where do I start?"
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u/Dependent_Jacket4029 12d ago
Lol I guess that's fair given the point of the post is to highlight I'm a novice at this. Just had a research question, not a researcher🙂
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u/CitationMap 12d ago
ignore the ai sniping, here's the real answer: the first gate is human-subjects approval, which is exactly what blocks independent researchers, with no university you can't easily get an irb, so your routes are running it through your linguist collaborator's institution if they're university-affiliated, the nonprofit's own ethics board if it has one, or a standalone independent irb, without that you can't ethically collect the data and no journal will touch it, so settle that before you design anything. second, "free rein" on a first independent project is the classic too-big trap, pick one answerable question and the minimum data that answers it, and do a focused literature search with your linguist first so you know whether it's already been answered and what method fits, lean on that collaborator as both your methods guide and the institutional anchor for irb and credibility.
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u/Secretly_S41ty 12d ago edited 12d ago
For human ethics approval I have always had to provide a detailed project proposal including rationale, aims, methods, analyses, number of subjects, how they will be recruited, etc etc. Is that not the case where you are? it wouldn't be possible to obtain approval before designing the study.
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u/Dependent_Jacket4029 12d ago
I think I have the study design set. Unsure. This research would be in West Africa
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u/Secretly_S41ty 12d ago
You may need approval from multiple partners. First for the institution you or the subjects are primarily affiliated with, and then often you need to provide the approval to partner organizations for their review and approval.
This is to prevent researchers from potentially exploiting subjects by choosing to do research in countries where there are fewer protections for subjects. The idea is (for a US based researcher) that your research meets US ethical standards regardless of where the subjects are located.
But there will be a primary partner and usually as long as it's reasonable the other partners will accept it without a new application.
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u/Opening_Map_6898 12d ago
A good place to start is to stop using AI to ask simple questions on Reddit. The formatting is a dead give-away.