It's about that time in students life when they are expected to take up a seminar presentation while also preparing their research project topics for a final year project. Although sometimes Seminars are presented at a lower level other than final year, either in the third year, fourth year or Second year, students are required to do presentation on a topic of most interest to them which ofcourse requires research to posit a fact.

Same way, final year projects require same procedure but this time with a more elaborate topic, research and detailed analysis. However, I suggest it’s a waste of research if your have to choose two different topics for a Seminar presentation and a research project When you can easily convert your seminar into a project with a large scope of research. That’s basically what this article is set to accomplish – to guide you on how to convert a seminar topic into a project topic.

The differences between undergraduate Seminar and research project

Some remarkable differences exist between an academic seminar and research projects and they include the following;
• Seminars are semi-research projects and not so elaborate like a full blown project research

• Seminars are most likely to be limited to a case study which is Used to establish a fact while a project depends on the sample of the research population. It all depends on the research method applied though.

• Projects as against Seminars take a larger research population and ofcourse a larger but manageable sample size.

• The nature variables in project topics makes them more specific than a seminar topic that posits a thesis and heads to prove the facts.

There could be many more differences that exist but lets quickly look at what you stand to gain or loose when you use the same seminar topic expanding it to be used as a project topic.

The pros and cons

Pros:-
• It allows for continuity in research
• Eliminates the option and stress of choosing a fresh research topic
• It allows for development of interest in a research area with proper understanding of the underlying issues.
• It’s one of the best and easiest ways to choose a project topic

Cons:-
• It limits your opportunity to explore other research areas
• Limits your research interest if you had many options.

Turning a seminar topic to a project topic

The transition from a seminar topic to a project topic is a deliberate attempt to consolidate the extend the topic idea of the former to a more specific though elaborate scope of study which the latter represents.

Start with the topic reformation; I guess that’s the first and only thing to do. Research projects are guided by procedures which draw inspiration from the topic. Unlike seminar topics, they consist of variables which serve as much purpose as a compass on a high sea.

Lets take one example;
Seminar topic:Mass media role in resolving Education issues in Nigeria (University of Ile-Ife as case study)

Project topic: Coverage of educational issues in the university of Ile-Ife by select national Television

Cite the difference? Seminar topics tend to be more general but uses case study to extract facts and make generalizations but a project topic takes up
specific variables and research them in detail and establish a generalization based on the research findings.

So logically, to transit from a seminar topic to a project topic is precision in topic variables.