Tonight, my daughter explained fake news & confirmation bias to me - she called it obvious - it’s why people believe gossip.
“People believe the gossip that confirms what they want to believe.”
This kid has it going on.
While she didn’t label it confirmation bias, she summed up the concept succinctly, I could not help but smile & think about the academic research that simply confirms what every teen knows…
Many studies, including mine, expend tremendous effort to identify & define obvious problems & solutions.
Given that professors often live in academic bubbles with tightly knit academic families, known gatekeepers, & defined ranges of acceptable analysis strategies, it is not surprising that we study the obvious - & what we know about the world advances slowly - & often fails to attract downloads & citations.
So how to get out of the bubble? & chase more exciting questions? That people want answered?
My best work, the work that makes me go, aha! It is grounded in my non-academic life. My best ideas surface from the world around me by observing an event, listening to a story, or simply thinking about the news.
But, it's not as simple as observing an event. Much work is necessary to be ready to identify opportunities for exciting research.
So what should a young academic do? To be ready? For opportunity?
First, read. Familiarize yourself with the classics in your field's literature. Most academic disciplines grew out of someone observing an event. Take the time to learn about what & how early scholars viewed problems. Learning about the past will help you detect a change in the context that impacts your work in the present.
Second, method. Every field has a toolkit. Learn yours. Learn its limits. Learn how methods outside your field address those limits. Stay open-minded. Understanding methods will help you understand how to exploit opportunities for exciting work.
Third, take risks. Just before tenure, a passerby at a conference advised that you are studying the obvious if all your papers are accepted. She was right. After tenure, I recalibrated & asked more challenging questions. My skills grew. Now, I’m prepared to chase unexpected opportunities.
Fourth, live. Go out into the world - even if it is only as far as Starbucks - & see if the theories map to what you feel, see, & hear. You will find intriguing discrepancies that serve as kernels for interesting future studies.
Finally, talk. Ask executives, passersby, & teens what is on their minds. My most important work emerged from a conversation about a cousin's Facebook post. If you only talk to academics, you miss a lot.
Ask my teen. She will tell you as much. It’s obvious.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-thatcher-0329764_academiclife-mentors-research-activity-6900276246354153472-an3Y?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web
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