A dissertation is an extraordinarily lengthy and intensive piece of work. You may need to sustain your engagement with it for months, so finding the topic that fits your interests, goals, maybe even core values, or life experience is essential. Then, you are much more likely to remain committed.
There’re many things to consider when looking for the best possible dissertation topic for yourself. So keep in mind these points and factors if you want to succeed in choosing a research topic before writing your dissertation:
In this article
Personal Interest
As obvious as this sounds, your research interests must be reflected in the subject you choose to write about. Unless you’re passionate about the topic, it will be challenging to maintain your motivation throughout the dissertation process.
This is particularly important if you want to pursue a career in academia since a poorly-chosen research topic can jeopardize your chances of getting a job.
It’s also a good idea to discuss the options for your dissertation with your supervisor, who can help you evaluate their relevance and feasibility, or refer to the best dissertation writing services for advice and support in narrowing down your options. A professional will help you choose the most relevant and exciting dissertation topic there. Finally, having decided on the topic, you can let them write your academic paper and get free time for other essential tasks.
Once you’ve narrowed down your ideas, it’s a good idea to eliminate any that don’t seem to offer ample avenues for new research. This will save you time and energy that you might otherwise waste on a topic that isn’t right for your thesis.
Remember, settling on and sticking with a research topic throughout the dissertation is essential. If you’re passionate about your topic, you’ll be more motivated to make it the best work of its kind, ultimately improving your chances for a good grade.
Academic Relevance
Academic relevance is how much a research topic contributes to progressing knowledge and answering questions in your discipline. This can be done by filling a gap in existing research, contributing to scholarly debates, or addressing critical social issues.
It is also helpful to select a research question that can be addressed with available resources. This will help you save time on a research project unlikely to yield the desired results.
It can be hard to determine whether an information source is relevant to your dissertation research question early on. So, you might make inferences about relevance based on the publication date or a source’s currency. However, you can make this decision more accurately later by reading and skimming particular parts of sources (e.g., the preface and introduction) and jotting down little tables to keep track of your findings.
Finally, ensure your research topic is relevant to current issues or debates in society and/or your academic discipline. Check that your chosen topic is relevant by reading existing academic literature on the subject.
Time and Resource Constraints
Before committing to a research topic, ensure it’s feasible within your time and resources. For example, suppose you want to use a probability sampling technique for your study, but you are refused to get a list of all students at your university. In that case, this research method might not be possible for you.
Research Potential
Choosing a research topic for your dissertation is one of your most important choices. It will determine your ability to complete this project, so you must select a topic with good research potential. Research potential involves collecting and analyzing adequate data to support your arguments and conclusions.
This includes whether your research will fill gaps or contribute to scholarly debates. It also involves whether your study will address a real-world issue or problem or provide a way to improve existing practice.
Don’t settle for a research topic that interests you only in the short term, as your dissertation will take much time to complete.
Your research topic must be one-of-a-kind. To do this, you must look for relationships other researchers have overlooked or failed to explore. For example, the relationship between employee productivity and management styles can be interesting. However, the topic of the impact of the mother’s death on daughters is less likely to provide you with a unique research angle.
Summary
Ultimately, the topic of your dissertation should be relevant to the field you are researching. It should also have the potential to contribute to existing knowledge.
Narrowing down your options may take time and effort. However, it will prevent you from wasting valuable resources on a project that does not fit the requirements of your course or your research skills.
And don’t be afraid to abandon a research idea if it doesn’t seem feasible within the confines of your assignment’s deadline and the resources you have. We hope this article will help you and you’ll be able to choose the best dissertation topic for yourself.