Some of the best research is hard to publish, but very profound. This article talks about gathering “cool data”.
Brian Wansink on Research Design
I’m a big believer in cool data. The design goal is: How far can we possibly push it so that it makes it a vivid point? Most academics push it just far enough to get it published. I try to push it beyond that to make it much more vivid. That’s what [Stanley] Milgram did with his experiments. First, he showed obedience to authority in the lab. Then he stripped away a whole lot of things to show how extreme it was. He took away lab coats, the college campus. That’s what made it so powerful.