So, how do you pick a topic for your dissertation? In a sea of scholarly literature, finding your online dissertation topic might seem like picking up a needle from a haystack. It’s a big decision right at the beginning of your project, one that will set the direction for the rest of your work. Use this straightforward guide to help you make the proper selection.
Understand Your Interests
Begin with what you love. That sounds trite, but it’s an excellent place to start. If you’re going to endure the marathon hours of an academic project, you want to do it on a subject that fascinates you. Are there classes and books that excite you as a student? An answer to this could be your dissertation.
Consider the Scope
Refrain from overreaching. Another mistake many choose is to select a topic that is way too wide. There is no way to explore such a topic in detail in a dissertation. However, it is possible to narrow the topic down. There might not be any research or sources on such a narrow topic. Your goal should be to locate a topic that is narrow enough to be manageable but broad enough to be supported by a substantial amount of research and other secondary sources.
Relevance Matters
Make sure that it applies to your field. Your topic should be relevant because of your interest in it and its potential contribution to your academic field. Does it fill a gap in the current literature? Does it offer a new perspective on an old problem? Talking through potential topics with an adviser or another mentor can be especially helpful for determining what the academic community might find useful or exciting.
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Research Feasibility
What is out there? Do your exploration before selecting a topic to ensure enough research trail and data to get you wherever you intend. This process involves a preliminary research step to determine whether articles, data sets, or other primary source material is accessible. If information needs to be more esoteric, you should direct your efforts elsewhere.
Final Checks and Balances
Just because you can think about a topic or believe you have something new and profound to say, you don’t have the skills and resources needed for a project on that topic. It’s a good idea to do some soul-searching before you embark on the dissertation process to ensure that you are genuinely well-placed to pursue this topic and that it is your most worthy one. Self-assessment questions include the following.
- Personal Interest: This is usually intuitive. Consider whether the writing itself will keep you excited enough to stay interested and motivated in the topic over several months.
- Resource Availability: Are all the resources (data, scholarly articles, research tools, etc) that you need to study your topic easily accessible?
- Expert Support: Will an expert be available to offer suggestions or go-ahead signals as you perform my study?
- Uniqueness: Is the topic likely to add something new and distinctive to the scholarly literature and cross-cut the field’s discourse?
Considering these points will help you judge whether the topic matches your dissertation and, if so, a good omen for a productive and enjoyable research experience.
Bringing It All Together
You are signing off on your dissertation topic. Although you might have some inclination of your interests, choosing a dissertation topic that you care about but also is relevant to your field and feasible to write in the time you have takes some thinking about and exploration. Giving yourself the time and space to consider these dimensions of your topic puts you on the path to a fulfilling research project. A good topic makes for a good dissertation.