Semester Research Project Ideas

Selecting Your Research Topic, Research Question and Type of Research Methods Design

Your first goal is to select a research topic that interests you that will help you learn and apply research methods. We encourage you to have an interest in the topic since you will be doing  a bit of reading and writing on your topic during this course. Take some time to consider a topic carefully. You must then conceive of research question(s) that you would be interested in studying. To help you get started, consider your interests (e.g., sports, consumer behavior, driving, relationships, etc.). You might choose a question related to your interests by asking yourself:

  • “Who am I as a [your discipline] researcher and what kinds of questions do I want to answer?”
  • “What do I want to describe in the world?”
  • “What would I like to learn about that [area, phenomenon]?”

From the broad, general purpose statement, you narrow the focus to specific questions to be answered. Use ‘what’ ’how’ or ‘do’ questions. (‘Why’ suggests cause and effect, -> quantitative).

Expect research questions to evolve and change during your work.

Question should be SPECIFIC, a few examples help illustrate this:

  1. How can City Tech redesign the plaza in front of Tillary Street to create a vibrant public space where students and community members gather and interact with each other?
  2. What are effective techniques in lighting that can be used to generate an emotional response?
  3. What structures should be implemented in a nursing home to improve their well-being?
  4. How can nurses teach parents to develop greater attachment with their children?
  5. What motivates young adolescents into vaping?
  6. Do men and women tend to describe themselves differently on Tinder?
  7. What are elements in a game design that help promote social connection?
  8. How should NYC revise its waste and management plan to reduce littering in the borough?
  9. Does virtual reality elicit the same physiological response as in the real world?
  10. What colors do make people hungry? aroused?

20 thoughts on “Semester Research Project Ideas

  1. Kaibin Wu

    I might want to do a research on different programming languages to see their history and their functionality to see why there are different kinds of programming languages out there today.

    Reply
    1. Pa Her

      Kaibin,

      Try to be more specific here….move from a broad statement to something more concrete about programming languages.

      Is there some characteristics of programming language that tends to stand out and make it more popular?

      Reply
  2. Scarlett Mei

    I would like to do the research on factors that affect leadership effectiveness in hospitality industry. My research question will be “What are the factors affecting effective management in the hospitality industry in line with the changing trends in leadership?”

    Reply
    1. Pa Her

      Scarlett,

      Good! But, first how would you define effective management? Is there research to show how this is defined and measured? Perhaps there are several dimensions of effective management. What is the most effective management style ? and for what context?

      Reply
    1. Pa Her

      Carlina,
      I like your idea–perhaps you want to start thinking about your research questions:
      -What does cooking signify to people?
      -How do food practices contribute to personal identity?
      – What are examples of how food and food habits contribute to the development and
      the socialization of culture?

      Reply
  3. O'Nysha Thomas

    I would like to do my research project on The relationship between Art Marketing and and Social Media. I want to see the relationship between artist who market their work via social media vs more private artist. I plan on doing two case studies to focus on the different experiences in relation to profit.

    Reply
    1. Pa Her

      O’Nysha,
      Start formulating your ideas into questions. What relations do you expect when an artist markets their work via social media? Tell us more about what you mean by profit.

      -What influence does social media have when Artist market their idea on the Internet?
      and so forth….

      Reply
  4. Jendayi

    I would like to do my research project on how schools integrate STEM classes into their curriculum pass what is mandatory and what effects these classes have on students.

    Reply
  5. John Bhatia

    The topic i want to do my project on The Internet of Things. Specifically what and how to participate in the internet of things. Also i want to touch base with where the internet of things is going. *APIs being developed, devices, locations.

    Reply
  6. Martin Figueroa

    I would like to do my research project on how films are inspired from history and how the story-telling shows the significance of the true stories behind them.

    Reply
  7. Jasmine Coley

    I would like to do my research project on the issue of there being a scarce amount of African American female animators. I want to look further into to see what factors are playing into the discouragement of pursuing an animation career. Lastly, what can or is being done to motivate more African American women and girls to want to pursue animation.

    Reply
  8. karla

    I am still thinking about it, but in general I would like to do my research project about how architects manage their first ideas before to create an specific design of a building. How architects developed a design project from a first image of the desire building.

    Reply
  9. Michael Jason Chin

    What are common issues that people have in their lives? (To lead to an animation I can do that tells an inspiring story of someone overcoming an issue).

    What kind of movies and videos are people watching? How can I incorporate what they want and expect in my work?

    Reply
  10. Jonathan Bedon

    have smart phones made us closer or brought us more apart?
    I want to do my research project on how these devices have had a huge impact in how we socially interact nowadays and to state a few facts to determine if in fact benefits us or it destroys human interaction. how people seem to to be closer but is this closeness a progress or is it heading in a different direction. I could see what ages these phones affect the most if guys or girls are more affected, how do people who use it less in comparison to people who use it more to see who is closer to the ones they are in contact the most.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Pa Her Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *