[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":442},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide:find-a-research-idea":3},{"title":4,"description":5,"slug":6,"category":7,"stage":8,"readingMinutes":9,"updated":10,"featured":11,"order":12,"related":13,"resources":17,"tags":26,"body":31,"toc":428},"Find an idea worth pursuing","Use literature, interests, everyday friction, potential impact, and accessible resources to generate and test research ideas.","find-a-research-idea","Start","Starting out",9,"2026-09-22",true,2,[14,15,16],"read-a-research-paper","shape-a-research-question","plan-your-first-study",[18,22],{"title":19,"url":20,"note":21},"Harvard Library — The literature review","https:\u002F\u002Fguides.library.harvard.edu\u002Fdougbond\u002Forienting","Use prior work to locate patterns, disputes, and unanswered questions.",{"title":23,"url":24,"note":25},"Google Scholar — Search help","https:\u002F\u002Fscholar.google.com\u002Fintl\u002Fen\u002Fscholar\u002Fhelp.html#citedby","Follow references backward and Cited by links forward; citation count is not a quality score.",[27,28,29,30],"ideas","literature review","feasibility","novelty",{"type":32,"children":33},"root",[34,42,49,56,61,96,101,107,112,130,135,141,146,152,157,163,168,172,178,183,315,320,331,337,346,376,384,407,412,418,423],{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":37,"children":38},"element","p",{},[39],{"type":40,"value":41},"text","“Find your passion” is not a research method. 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Use “cited by” to find what happened afterward. Read several papers before deciding that a gap exists; one abstract cannot establish novelty.",{"type":35,"tag":50,"props":102,"children":104},{"id":103},"_2-start-from-your-interests",[105],{"type":40,"value":106},"2. Start from your interests",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":108,"children":109},{},[110],{"type":40,"value":111},"List what you voluntarily read, build, repair, watch, or argue about. Then move below the topic label:",{"type":35,"tag":62,"props":113,"children":114},{},[115,120,125],{"type":35,"tag":66,"props":116,"children":117},{},[118],{"type":40,"value":119},"What mechanism makes it work?",{"type":35,"tag":66,"props":121,"children":122},{},[123],{"type":40,"value":124},"What part is inefficient, unreliable, or poorly understood?",{"type":35,"tag":66,"props":126,"children":127},{},[128],{"type":40,"value":129},"What could be measured rather than merely discussed?",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":131,"children":132},{},[133],{"type":40,"value":134},"“I like robotics” is a direction. “Why does this navigation method fail near moving people?” is the beginning of a project.",{"type":35,"tag":50,"props":136,"children":138},{"id":137},"_3-start-from-everyday-friction",[139],{"type":40,"value":140},"3. Start from everyday friction",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":142,"children":143},{},[144],{"type":40,"value":145},"Notice repeated workarounds. What wastes time, fails silently, costs too much, excludes someone, creates risk, or produces inconsistent results? Turn the frustration into either a scientific question or an engineering requirement.",{"type":35,"tag":50,"props":147,"children":149},{"id":148},"_4-start-from-potential-impact",[150],{"type":40,"value":151},"4. Start from potential impact",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":153,"children":154},{},[155],{"type":40,"value":156},"Identify who experiences the problem and how often. Ask what changes if the project succeeds, how that change could be measured, and whether your proposed solution is actually preferable to the existing one.",{"type":35,"tag":50,"props":158,"children":160},{"id":159},"_5-start-from-accessible-resources",[161],{"type":40,"value":162},"5. Start from accessible resources",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":164,"children":165},{},[166],{"type":40,"value":167},"A strong project does not require a university laboratory. 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A careful replication under new conditions, a meaningful comparison, an open dataset for an overlooked population, or a simpler implementation can be a real contribution when the field values it.",{"type":35,"tag":321,"props":322,"children":325},"guide-callout",{"title":323,"tone":324},"A practical cutoff","action",[326],{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":327,"children":328},{},[329],{"type":40,"value":330},"Keep three candidates. Spend one hour on literature and one hour on a tiny feasibility test for each. 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Each is specific enough to investigate those questions next.",{"type":35,"tag":43,"props":413,"children":415},{"id":414},"end-with-a-one-week-pilot",[416],{"type":40,"value":417},"End with a one-week pilot",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":419,"children":420},{},[421],{"type":40,"value":422},"Write the smallest experiment, dataset check, simulation, or prototype that could reveal a fatal problem. The pilot should test access, measurement quality, runtime, and interpretability—not prove the final claim.",{"type":35,"tag":36,"props":424,"children":425},{},[426],{"type":40,"value":427},"Afterward, decide: continue, narrow, change method, or stop. Ending a weak idea early is good research judgment.",{"title":429,"searchDepth":430,"depth":430,"links":431},"",3,[432,439,440,441],{"id":45,"depth":12,"text":48,"children":433},[434,435,436,437,438],{"id":52,"depth":430,"text":55},{"id":103,"depth":430,"text":106},{"id":137,"depth":430,"text":140},{"id":148,"depth":430,"text":151},{"id":159,"depth":430,"text":162},{"id":174,"depth":12,"text":177},{"id":333,"depth":12,"text":336},{"id":414,"depth":12,"text":417},1790164659675]