This paper uses the author's PhD project "Chinese Governmental and Academic Views on the Post-Cold War Japan-U.S. Alliance" to illustrate four important issues in designing interdisciplinary research. First, researchers should locate the research focus at the beginning and lay out the premise for the methodological framework. The major discipline of an interdisciplinary research project should be decided according to the nature of the research and the compatibility of methodology. Second, researchers should try to avoid ambiguous terms that are widely used in various disciplines with different meanings when choosing key words, and clarify important concepts to stress the major research question. Third, theories underlying the analytical framework should be justified by citing their advantages, limitations, and adaptability according to the needs of the research question. Fourth, when it comes to data collection and analysis, methods should be adopted according to the nature of the research as well as feasibility.