What are some good tips to pass on to budding social scientists?

Answer: Get them to read eminent Social Psychologist Richard Nisbett’s engaging  series of letters: The Anticreativity Letters: Advice from a Senior Tempter to a Junior Tempter

Click on the above link to read the pdf.

Reference: Nisbett, R. E. (1990). The anti-creativity letters: Advice from a senior tempter to a junior tempter. American Psychologist, 45, 1078-1082.