Start Your Research Off the Right Way

The hardest part of research isn’t answering a question.

It’s knowing what to do before you know what your question is.

This self-paced, bite-sized curriculum covers fundamental research skills and concepts, while leaving ample time to complete your regular class readings and assignments.

These short modules address two challenges that researchers face no matter what field you’re in:

  • How do I find a compelling problem to research—one that truly matters to me, deeply and personally?
  • How do I then design my research project so that the results will matter to other people?

Let’s Dive In

Module 1: How to Foster a Researcher’s Mindset

🕒 8m28s

How to adopt a researcher’s mindset that will prepare you to create a future driven by the things that matter to you and the world.

Module contents:

  • How to tap into your personal, deep-seated research interests
  • How research differs from other types of learning
  • Distinguishing between research topics and research problems
  • Key researcher habits: Making uncertainty productive, Wondering aloud, Giving self permission, Writing every step of the way
  • Making research a way of life

ACTIVITY: Where does research begin for you? Read the Introduction and complete the “Try This Now” exercise “Write Here, Right Now” (Where Research Begins, pp. 1-15).

Module 2: What Does Success Look Like (Early) in the Research Process?

🕒 8m17s

What should your goal be when you’re in the early stages of your project?

Module contents:

  • Why is it so beneficial to start figuring out the problem that underlies your research and articulating it in words
  • The value of an introspective mindset (and why introspection is not the same as egocentric “me-search”)
  • The difference between Problem-driven and Topic-driven statements about your research interests
  • Benefits of articulating your Problem rather than just your Topic: Better advice and recommendations, Finding your “Problem Collective,” Influencing your audience, Rigor and resilience

ACTIVITY: “Put the pot on the stove” and start trying to identify your research Problem. Read about research topics in Chapter 1, and see what happens when you use one of your topics of interest for the exercise “Search Yourself.” (Where Research Begins, pp. 17-42)

Module 3: Brilliant Research Projects Begin with Asking “Meaningless Questions” 

🕒 8m08s

Fundamentals of asking productive research questions, at all stages of a project.

Module contents:

  • How to move from a research topic to research questions
  • Essential qualities of great research questions
  • How (and why) to escape from “TopicLand” and start generating questions that lead to practical next steps for your project
  • Common misconceptions about research questions, including the “One Perfect Question” myth
  • A simple, powerful question-generating exercise for individuals and teams: “Meaningless Questions”(MQs)

ACTIVITY: Have a pen and paper (or laptop) ready to go for this video, and try the two-minute MQ challenge! (The exercise directions and material are in the video itself.) Afterwards, review the “Go Small or Go Home” exercise in Chapter 1 and try it out for your project using this worksheet. (Where Research Begins, pp. 36-40)

Module 4: Expanding Your “Intellectual Range of Motion” 

🕒 7m03s

A simple method for achieving radical research originality. How to expand the number and variety of questions you ask about your research topic, sources, and data.

Module contents:

  • Mastering two complementary methods of questioning: inductive and deductive
  • Breaking out of stale thinking by exploring new “Dimensions of Inquiry”
  • Improving your nimbleness as a researcher, and turning off your internal filters and inhibitions
  • How to “translate” Meaningless Questions from one source or topic to another

ACTIVITY: Experiment with and watch the video tutorials for virtual MQ cards. To discover more Dimensions of Inquiry, read about the “Cereal Box Challenge” exercise in Chapter 3, and then try it out for your own project using this worksheet. (Where Research Begins, pp. 67-116, esp. 67-76)

Module 5: How to “Educate Your Questions”: Moving from Meaningless Questions to a Research Project

🕒 15m59s

I’ve got research questions—now what? Five things you can do to move your project forward.

Module contents:

  • Diagnose your questions, and distinguish genuine interests from “performative intelligence”
  • Categorize your questions by theme, to identify the patterns in your curiosities and concerns
  • Cluster your questions by the research method you would need to use to answer them
  • “Read your EKG” and identify which questions excite you the most
  • Try to answer a question that stands out above the rest – several good things can happen

ACTIVITY: Take your list of questions and try out two to five of the techniques described in the video, being sure to write down the results. Learn more tips on working with questions in Chapter 2. (Where Research Begins, pp. 43-66)

Module 6: What’s Your Problem?: How to Identify the Driving Force Behind Your Research

🕒 10m27s

Learn “Change One Variable,” a powerful method for determining the Problem that underlies your research Topic, and identifying other members of your “Problem Collective.”

Module contents:

  • Identifying the variables that are defining the current or envisioned scope of your case study
  • How to assess what each of the key variables is “doing” in your project—including which variable are non-negotiable (meaning that if they go, your problem disappears)
  • Techniques for identifying other cases of your problem, strengthening your research connections while keeping your scope feasible
  • How not to “lie to your eye doctor”: ways to make research conversations non-confrontational, and encourage vulnerability and honesty

ACTIVITY: Read Chapter 4 and try the “Change One Variable” exercise on your project—or with a peer—completing this worksheet. Review Module 2 if necessary. (Where Research Begins, pp. 117-151, esp. 125-133)

Module 7: How to “Poison Your Audience”: Maximizing Impact When Sharing Your Research

🕒 9m21s

How to move beyond “elevator pitches” when sharing your research and have a real impact on your audience, especially when time is limited.

Module contents:

  • Considerations of when and how to share your research, especially before it’s finished
  • What makes the difference when sharing research ideas in program applications, scholarships and grants, conferences, job interviews, and media consultations?
  • Elevator POISON, and the research antidote
  • What usually happens when a researcher lead with their Topic or their case study alone
  • Two types of “impact”: immediate, and long-term

ACTIVITY: Write down two things: 1) a list of upcoming opportunities you might have for sharing your work-in-progress with a trusted audience; and 2) ideas for how you might use the problem driving your research to “poison your audience” with a concern that extends beyond your case.

Module 8: Office Hours 101: How to Dramatically Improve Time-Constrained Consultations

🕒 4m20s

How to make the most of one-on-one consultations with a research mentor or peer.

Module contents:

  • How to avoid turning office hours into a performance, and to instead empower your sounding board to help you
  • Come prepared! The essential things to bring when you go to office hours
  • Be as uncertain as you are: why honesty can help you get better advice
  • What to do during office hours, and what to do with the advice you receive
  • Crucial next steps: what to do immediately after you leave your mentor’s office, and what to do before your next meeting

ACTIVITY: Get ready to get helped! First, schedule a meeting with your advisor. Then, prepare the materials recommended in this module, and bring them with you to the meeting. Then, follow the recommended post-consultation next steps—remembering to say thank you! Be sure to read the “Sounding Board” sections that appear in every chapter of Where Research Begins.

“Meaningless Questions” Virtual Flashcards for Researchers

Meaningless Questions flashcards are a simple, fast, fun, and effective tool for exploring multiple dimensions of your research project. Try them out after watching Module 3 and Module 4 above.

Want even more ideas? On the back of each MQ card, you’ll find a link where you can explore even more tutorials!

OPTIONAL FURTHER READING

Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea. Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project That Matters to You (and the World). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022. [Learn more here.]

Textbook also available in Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Polish.

ABOUT TOM & CHRIS

Tom Mullaney is Professor of Chinese History at Stanford University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the recipient of Stanford’s highest award for excellence in teaching, the Gores Award. He is the co-author of Where Research Begins (University of Chicago Press, 2022, with Christopher Rea), The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age (MIT Press, 2024), The Chinese Typewriter: A History (MIT Press 2017), and Coming to Terms with the Nation: Ethnic Classification in Modern China (UC Press, 2010), among other works. His writings have appeared in Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, Quartz, the South China Morning Post, TechCrunch, the Journal of Asian Studies, Technology & Culture, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. His work has been featured in RadioLab, The Atlantic, the BBC, and in invited lectures at Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and more. He earned his BA and MA from the Johns Hopkins University, and his PhD from Columbia University.

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Christopher Rea is Professor of Asian Studies and former Director of the Centre for Chinese Research at the University of British Columbia. A native of Berkeley, California, he earned a BA from Dartmouth College and a PhD from Columbia University, and has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University and at universities in Taiwan and Australia. His books include Where Research Begins (University of Chicago Press, 2022, with Tom Mullaney), Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 (2021), The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection (2017, with Bruce Rusk), and The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China (2015). He was awarded UBC’s Killam Research Prize in 2023, and Dean of Arts Mentorship Award in 2024.

Contact

For more information, contact trainings@whereresearchbegins.com

Note

These independent course modules are not affiliated with Stanford University or the University of British Columbia.