Creating a study idea

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Putting together two or more familiar things in an unfamiliar way › Tell yourself to come up with an idea  Then completely relax › Play: enjoying the ideas and images  “carnival” idea of Bakhtin › Suspending all judgment  “creator” and “editor” hats › Trick: turn off or cover monitor


We all naturally have creativity › that is often destroyed by social pressure

“Playing is for children”  “You must be correct the first time”  “Only idiots make mistakes”  “You have to do it my way”  Etc… 


We use what we already know › Comfortable and saves time  but blocks creative thinking › Logic, conventionality, etc. box in ideas

Creativity accepts and feeds on the odd, random, etc.  We also need “Tolerance for ambiguity” 

› Exploring means loosening control


Do things small in totally different ways › The order you put on clothes, having

breakfast in a different room, going into a place you walk by but never investigate, use a different staircase, greet someone differently 

This will tell your brain to accept change and variety


Write down every idea  Embrace the random 

› Especially new connections › Follow anything unusual to where it leads 

Recognize the best › maybe connect a few of the best

Focus on what excites or intrigues you


Linking Lists › Create two columns  E.g., one of people, one of theory elements › Randomly link one in a) to on in b)

Note the ideas of each in a third column › Mark the most interesting

Read related but different research


Put central 1 – 3 ideas on a sheet  Free-associate secondary points 

› Then characteristics, etc. 

Connect different sets


Decide on a topic of interest  List “what we knows” about it 

› List the opposite of each › vividly imagine it being true 

Write the implications of each


Find a few studies on a topic › Ideally, with very different approaches

Write a few words about each: the › Topic › Method › Conclusions, etc.

Shuffle your phrases › Maybe rearrange small sheets of paper


Pick a study you like  Transform any aspect of each major step 

› Method: quantitative to qualitative › Different theory › Different focus: audience to producers


Put in a key term › Randomly find a totally unrelated word › E.g., from a dictionary

Search for the two/three together  What is the result or image of these? 


Take one or parts of several studies  Change the levels of each 

› Large to small sample › Group to individual › Cause to effect


Go “blind” through a dictionary › Write down any word you point to › 5 – 20 words

Print them large and stick on your walls › Daydream › Associate each with any idea, object or

action related to the media › Write down any associations that interest you


Take only the strongest ideas › Imagine the theory, method, etc. for each

Decide your goals › Basic/applied, exploratory/confirmatory, etc.

Find a similar model study and follow it  Select the best elements 

› try to have a logical thread run through it 

See “thread of positivistic inquiry”


“Think, Pair and Share”  Get into groups of about 3  Think about any interesting media topic  What the group wants to learn about it 

› Variables, research question,

What kind of method might work best  Tell the class in a few sentences 


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