Don't officially start until August, but already overwhelmed...

[ak90]

I was accepted into a social psych PhD program for the fall straight from undergrad, which I'm really excited for, but one of the students in another lab with similar interests asked me to help out on a research project. I'd have no trouble helping if I knew what to do, but we just kind of agreed to both study the general topic of the study and eventually design a study. I just keep feeling like I don't know enough to contribute to the study design. She's basically come up with everything and I just keep going "that sounds like a great idea!"

 

I mean, I'm reading up on the subject, but I'm just having a lot of trouble coming up with something original, and I feel like I keep doing that just for the sake of being original and it's not necessarily helpful. I'm not sure if I should email her and just say, "hey, I have no clue what I'm doing, can you just tell me what you want me to do to help you with this project?" But at the same time my fiancee keeps telling me I need to step up... whatever that means. I just really want this girl to know I care about the subject and I really want to learn more, but I just feel lost and like I don't know as much as I should given that I got into a PhD program...

 

Any advice?

[PsychGirl1]

Things that I do to come up with a proposal:

 

- Find an interesting "fact" within the topic that interests you.

- Read about said fact

- Focus on what the writers say future research should address, or where gaps in knowledge are, or what is exploratory

- Keep reading

 

At some point, you should be able to come up with a few interesting questions and then design a study to answer one of those questions (or at least a piece of it).

[+Whiskey]

Sometimes focusing on coming up with something original has the opposite effect. Maybe you're just freaking yourself out. Keep reading, become knowledgeable on the subject (if you still want to, that is), but try to relax a bit. Get adequate rest. Realize that this is a small part of a big career. Celebrate. YMMV, but I come up with good ideas when I'm curious and able to really comprehend what I'm reading, and being stressed and/or sleep deprived is a detriment to both. At the end of the summer, or especially sooner, emailing to say you'd like to help but you feel behind or not ready to contribute something revelatory isn't a huge failure on your part, and I can't imagine he/she would think so as long as you're up front about it. Good luck and congratulations!