Like Smashingcarrots said , you go the opposite way , since psychological science is typically deductive rather than inductive . That means you start with a theory e . g . , social identity theory , then come up with a hypothesis to test that theory e . g . Ingroups will allocate more benefits to members of the ingroup vs . the outgroup , even when doing so does not benefit them personally in any way , then you test that hypothesis e . g . , use a minimal groups paradigm to manipulate ingroups and outgroups . When I assign this kind of project , I recommend my students get an introto psych textbook , go to the index or the table of contents , and pick a theory that interests them . Then you just follow the scientific method from there .