Finding Good Research Topics (A stir to your creative self)

• Immerse yourself in a topic. A good way to do this is to study review articles such as those found in the Journal of Economic Literature.
• Study theories connected with the topic. What are the assumptions? Explore when these theories would hold and when they do not hold.
• Try the revisionist approach by attempting to prove the opposite of accepted theories. For example Japan did not cause the Second World War--the United States did.
• Try the Falsificationist approach. Under what conditions would this theory fail? What kind of evidence would prove the theory wrong? Look for that evidence in the real world.
• Replication is useful for learning research tools and the strength of theories.
  • Try testing the theory for new geographic regions. Perhaps there is no study of the Consumption Function in Thailand.
  • Try testing the theory for new periods of time.
  • Try measuring the theoretical variables in different ways. There are many ways of measuring income.
• Alter an existing theory by suggesting new relationships that would make the theory more complete. Suggest new variables to replace those that are relatively ineffective.
• Sometimes two theories are alternative explanations of the world. Under what conditions does one theory hold and under what conditions does the other theory hold?
• Take an existing theory and try to predict the past with it. If the theory predicts the future, should it also predict the past?
• Explore a theory using sensitivity analysis. Which variables are key to the theory and which are unimportant?