Pick a Research Specialization and Stick With It
As an early career researcher, it can be difficult to decide on a research area specialization. To begin with, there are so many options to choose from, which may feel overwhelming. Secondly, there may be a sense that there is little to contribute to the current literature. One may think to themselves, ‘if all the smartest people haven’t already done it, then it’s likely not a worthwhile area to pursue’. Thirdly, some may feel a sense of imposter syndrome, whereby they hold a self-belief that they are too inexperienced or not good enough to contribute to the existing literature. All of these sentiments are normal, I have experienced them myself at various stages in my career. However, I am here to tell you that with a strategic approach you can identify an impactful research area that will genuinely excite you. The key is to pick an area and stick with it. In this article, I will outline some of the limitations of not doing so as well as some methods that I utilized to pick my research area specialization.
Why Jumping from Topic to Topic is Inhibiting Your Growth
Early in my career, I wrote papers on research topics that varied drastically. During this formative time, I felt lost as to what problems I was most interested in and how I could contribute to solving such problems. Looking back, I realize that I was writing papers because I could, not because they needed to be written. Although I gained experience in developing writing practices and learning more about how to publish (both are necessary as researchers), my professional growth was stymied in a number of ways. Let me tell you how.
Jumping from topic to topic mitigated my ability to truly develop expertise. Instead of learning the deep complexities of a research area, I gained superficial knowledge, which led to a false sense of security concerning my understanding. Deep knowledge of a topic requires us to spend considerable amounts of time reading and engaging with the literature. However, as I went from one topic to another, I had to learn a whole new literature base. In doing so, I was unable to build on the previous knowledge that I obtained because the topic areas were often unrelated, which curbed both my understanding and ability to publish at a high rate. Furthermore, I was unable to build a reputation as a go-to expert on a given topic, limiting my opportunities to obtain a job in academia, where one’s potential to contribute to a given field is an important criterion in the hiring process. All-in-all, I felt that my career was going nowhere, until I decided to pick a research topic and stick with it.
“Superficial knowledge is potentially more dangerous than ignorance. It gives a false sense of security…” — Eraldo Banovac
How to Choose a Research Area Specialization
Picking an area to specialize in is no small feat. With increasing complexities in our world, there are increasing problems to solve. So, which problem should you solve? Well, I found it helpful to address two questions in making my decision.
What is my Why?
As a researcher, we have made a conscientious decision to engage in a demanding occupation that involves long hours of often isolated work and inevitably high rates of failure. However, we each have our own why or a vision of our purpose as a researcher. In my case, I became a researcher to make human assessments more fair for diverse populations in our society. I was inspired from seeing how assessment results had been used historically for unjust purposes, such as using IQ scores for forced sterilization in California until the 1970s, and I wanted to mitigate such misuses of test scores. Whatever your purpose is, you cannot forget your why, because it serves as a guiding force for which you should align your time and efforts. Picking a broad topic that is aligned with your purpose will ensure that you are conducting research that is of personal interest to you, which will help you to put in the long hours and perseverance needed to develop your expertise.
“Never forget your beginner’s spirit” — Ancient Japanese Proverb
What Would the World Look Like if I Helped to Solve this Problem?
A second component is evaluating the impact of addressing your research area. Impact can be judged in multiple ways. In my time as an academic, most colleagues in my department evaluated impact based on publications (both rates and venues) and grant awards. However, I would argue that our roles as researchers is to have a positive impact on society, and to do so, requires that we are solving practical problems for actual people. In this sense, impact is proportional to the value that we provide to those needing our help. You can identify pain points that individuals are experiencing by talking with practitioners and people outside of your field. In addition, I would advise talking with trusted advisors and colleagues to get their opinions.
With that noted, how can we judge our impact? One question to ask yourself is, “What would the world look like if I helped to solve this problem?” Play out the situation in your head using computational thinking. What does the end state look like? What steps would need to be solved to get to this ideal end state? What would you need to learn to help solve this problem? How many years could you work on this issue? At this stage, I would encourage you to think big and not limit your potential contributions. If at the end of this exercise, you believe that this problem is a worthwhile endeavor to spend countless hours working on and facing the many difficulties required, then you may have yourself a research area to specialize in.
“Think big; think disruptive. Execute with full passion.” — Masayoshi Son
As researchers, we are inundated with access to blogs, webinars, conferences, books, and new manuscripts on a daily basis. This presentation of information can feel a bit overwhelming for those individuals trying to decide on where and how they will contribute to their respective field. One reason for this is that everything seems so interesting and useful. So, how should we proceed?
In this article, I argued that the best thing to do is to pick a research area of specialization and stick with it. By doing so, we can concentrate on developing true expertise to solve big problems that are personally meaningful to us. In doing so, it is beneficial to know our purpose as a researcher and the impact that we would like to have on the world. I hope this article helps you in deciding how you will best contribute.
Let’s stay connected. You can get more of my updates on professional development for researchers as well as contact me via Linkedin. Learn more about my current work at https://www.josephriosphd.com/
