VA Patrick

The decision to further your education to a Ph.D. or Master's level is indeed a great one. The process of acquiring that doctorate or master's degree you so desire is all fun until the time comes to present a dissertation at the end of your course.

The first step in getting your dissertation done is coming up with a good topic. The topic you generate will in fact govern the rest of your project and even determine the outcome. Which is why it is important that you choose only a good topic.

In order to make the work less difficult for you, we have prepared this article to guide you on how to generate the best topic for your dissertation. By carefully following this guide, you should be able to come up with a great topic in no time and be off to a good start on your thesis.

1. Read Books and Top Journals

We understand how difficult generating the right dissertation topic can be as we've been there. One proven way to get a topic idea for your dissertation is by reading books and top journals in your subject area of interest. You can start by using Google Scholar subject-specific database or even your University’s library.

While reading a journal or book, you might discover an area of interest you'd like to generate a dissertation topic on. Don't fail to check the reference list or bibliography to find the original source of information. By doing so you’ll have access to more information on the topic you intend working on.

2. Consider Your Area of Interest

A good dissertation topic is such that allows you to produce a professional polished piece of work within a short space of time.

When choosing a dissertation topic, it is imperative that it’s from an area of great interest to you in your field of study. Your dissertation has to be on something you are passionate about or it's just going to be a really tedious task.

Preparing a thesis is far from a walk in the park. To stay motivated throughout the process, it's important that you choose a topic based on what you're most enthusiastic about.

Sometime back, a doctoral student of the department of Philosophy who had an interest in the works of Plato did a dissertation on such topic - Breaking free from the cave: Plato’s relevance to contemporary views of body image. Now this topic allowed the doctoral student write on something she was heavily passionate about. The process was exciting and refreshing, the outcome was also amazing.

3. Research on the Topic

After making up your mind on the subject area you'll like to focus your dissertation on, consider if there is enough resource out there to allow you expand on the topic idea. You don't want to start your dissertation on a topic only to be stuck halfway as a result of little or no resources to work with.

During a topic research, you might discover that some other academic has written a dissertation on a topic similar to the one you've generated, but that shouldn't bother you. In such a situation, what you should do is read to see what they accomplished in their work, and do well to approach the topic from a completely different perspective.

4. Determine Its Relevance

As much as a topic or subject area is of interest to you, consider if the topic is academically, socially or practically relevant.

The best dissertation topics are such that contribute to a scholarly debate in your field or fill a gap in knowledge; inform societal changes; and can be applied to improve real-life processes or solve real-life problems.

When generating a dissertation topic, make sure it is one that’s clearly connected to contemporary issues in your academic field or society at large. It has to be relevant in these areas or it has no real value.

Here's an example of a relevant dissertation topic that pertains to the academic field of Real Estate: Digging down - Changing approaches to property development within Lagos. Now this topic idea isn't just relevant academically, but societally as well.

5. Check To See If the Dissertation Topic is Manageable

Except you're not the one who's going to handle the writing of your thesis, you should make sure to choose a dissertation topic that makes you feel both comfortable and confident.

The mistake most people make is generating a difficult thesis topic with the belief that it will earn them extra marks. They start the project and get stuck halfway or totally lose interest in the research. You shouldn't make such errors

When generating a dissertation topic, ensure it is such that reflects a level of difficulty that matches your experience and skill set.

6. Other Factors To Consider When Generating a Good Topic

Before you make the final decision to work with a dissertation topic, it is important that you consider the timeframe in which you have to complete it, the length of the dissertation, and most importantly, the practicalities of carrying out the research.

In the area of timeframe, you'll have to check to see if enough time is provided you to read all the most important academic literature on the topic. If yours is a topic with too much information to tackle, you might need to consider narrowing your focus even more.

Also consider if the topic you intend working on is such that will require you to go to specific location to gather data on the topic. If that's the case, make sure you have enough funding to get the job done. If funding or practical access to a location is going to be a problem, you just might need to generate another topic.

7. Discuss Your Ideas For A Topic With Your Supervisor

After coming up with an idea for a dissertation topic and you’ve carried out some preliminary research yourself, the next important thing is to discuss with your supervisor about it.

As your supervisor, he of she will have had enough experience guiding students before you on their choice of dissertation topics, so you can be certain of the fact that their advice and guidance will put you on the right path in terms of generating the very best dissertation topic.

Source: https://vapatrick.com/2019/08/05/how-to-generate-the-best-topic-for-your-dissertation-or-thesis/

Add yours.

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Beautiful write up, well done. A lot of students face serious problems due to improper topic selection and sometimes supervisors offer no guidance until they're stuck and end up running around without aim.