Welcome to grad. school; a school of advanced study for students who have obtained a bachelor’s degree. It usually takes months or years for one to make up their minds to undertake this additional and important journey of their academic life. But after a few hurdles, such as, financial hurdles, etc, are crossed and you’re finally in it, succeeding becomes your next focus. By all indications, research work forms an essential component of a master’s degree, hence its importance to the student. But choosing a great research topic for your master’s thesis can prove a challenge and can be overwhelming. This is because you are going to be spending months or even years on this research project and completion of your PhD or Master’s degree is dependent upon your success. And also, your future employment may depend on choosing a topic that appeals to a recruiting committee. Fear not, challenges can be overcome as below are a few criteria to bear in mind when choosing a dissertation/thesis topic.
- Choose a topic you love: This is very important as you’re going to be spending much time with the project, hence it becomes wise to spend it enjoyably. Also, the quality of your research, writing and arguments will be much better if you feel a genuine passion for what you are doing. Find a topic that both fascinates you and is socially significant. Avoid being pressurized to write a topic you don’t have a passion for.
- Pick something your supervisor finds interesting and is knowledgeable about: But if this isn’t the case, you may want to change a supervisor (respectfully) instead of changing the topic. Discuss this with your present supervisor(s) and coordinator(s) and see how it goes from there.
- Choose a topic that will be helpful to you in your career path: If your goal is an academic career, pick a topic you can easily modify into journal articles or a book, and that will lend itself well to future research. If you are going into industry, choose a topic that will make you more marketable.
- Find a topic that establishes your niche in your field: Do extensive research and find a topic that fits into existing bodies of literature, but that also builds upon theory and expands it.
- Choose a research that is unique: Do significant research to make sure this topic has not been done before. Be creative and choose an idea that stands out from the pack as original and innovative.
- Think carefully before choosing a controversial topic: Academics are a sensitive people, and in every field there are certain topics and positions that will send highly educated people into intellectual temper tantrums. This isn’t saying you should avoid ‘stimulating’ topics, if you should choose a controversial topic, think carefully about whether it might restrict your employment, or publishing opportunities.
- Choose a topic you already have some expertise about: As this isn’t the time to explore brand new ideas, pick on a familiar subject matter. This should help preserve your sanity and see you finishing grad. school fast.
- Consider your finances: Choose a topic in which the data collection and experiment is not capital-intensive.
- Lastly, pick a manageable topic: This is a huge project, but it isn’t your life’s project, so you may want to pick a topic you can manage. Your supervisor may help you narrow down your topic so you don’t remain in grad. school for many years!
Please read next part of this series: ‘Choosing a good PhD Research Topic.’
Margaret E.
