Module 1, Topic Selection

1.1 Introduction

Compared to other forms of academic writing, dissertations are a different type of writing that will offer you the chance to foster your intellectual autonomy when exploring the stipulated topic of interest. Dissertations allow you to delve into areas of study that trigger your interest and thinking capacity. Choosing a dissertation topic is vital to the experience and knowledge that you will interact with and acquire. Writing a dissertation is an undertaking that takes time, in-depth research, and exposure to different and varying schools of thought. While writing your dissertation, you are exposed to diverse theories, some of which support each other’s ideologies while others are in contradiction. Choosing a dissertation topic is the initial stage of dissertation writing. It involves deciding on a research question in a field aligned with your study and drafting a precise topic that informs what you will be researching. The research questions help develop the objectives that the dissertation seeks to fulfill. The dissertation is interpreted as the answer to the research question, obtained through in-depth analysis and evidence collected. While developing a topic for your dissertation, you can seek assistance from your supervisors. Since dissertations take weeks and months to complete, selecting an exciting field of study is essential. Dissertation topics are vital since they inform the trajectory of the research and the activities to be carried out during the study.

1.1.2 Understand the Research Process

While it may sound obvious, you can easily make the common mistake of skipping the basics and delving directly into idea generation. It is essential to start by carefully examining all the documents, manuscripts, and instructions given regarding your dissertation. These guidelines provide precise information regarding what the university or organization expects from your work. This understanding helps generate the correct thought pattern that eventually results in the generation of ideas that are relevant to the instructions given. What are the things that you need to consider? First, you the need to have a fundamental understanding of the research process, the different types of methodologies that may be used, and data analytical methods. The university or organization may have specific requirements that should be adhered to in the research. If you need to understand the requirements, it may result in time wastage and the generation of irrelevant research topics. From the instructions given, the specificities of topic originality, the length of the dissertation, data analysis requirements, adherence to moral and ethical standards, and the methodology to be used are critical aspects of any dissertation.

1.3 Review Past Dissertations          

When choosing a dissertation topic, your easiest way out is to utilize the work of other scholars who have already been through the dissertation process. In many cases, the field of study that you are interested in has other researchers that had conducted studies before and documented excellent findings as a guide. These dissertations will help orient and expand your mind on the different topics you can consider. Past dissertations will outline the process and model that you should consider for varying levels of the paper. They help give an example of how you can support your argument in dissertation writing. While exploring other dissertations, you should seek to understand the following:

• What kind of topic did the paper address?
• How did the author use the topic to generate the research questions?
• What was the scope of the topic? Was it more general than specific?
• Was the topic of study original, or a twist of already recognized ideologies?
• Were the topics addressed justified? Did they seem fundamental to the target reader, or were they just nice things to know?
• How much material did they use as a foundation for their theory? Was the material more scholarly or practical in tone?
• What analytical techniques did they employ, and what sources of information did they utilize?
• How were the statistics analyzed, and how were they included in the debate of the scholarly papers?
• Which of the papers do you find easy to read, and why? What format did they come in?
• Why were the studies effective, in your opinion? Can you link what they researched to the institution’s guidelines or brief?

1.4 Generating Ideas: Research Questions

While choosing a dissertation topic, it can be challenging to find a starting point. You should take time to develop the right topic for the dissertation. Where do you begin? The initial step you need to make is first to identify a field of study aligned with their learning. For example, if you are studying criminology, you can narrow your thinking to topics in that field like forensic investigation, terrorism, or serial killer investigation. After specifying the area of interest, you can begin to think of questions arising from that field that may need more profound research and exploration. The questions that arise are phrased as the research questions informing the trajectory of the study to be conducted. While generating the research questions, you should consider the following essential points:

• What course content has been covered in class, and which topics triggered your interest?
• Are there other researchers that have delved into the same field of study from previous sources?
• Is the topic in question aligned with the study, experiments, or theoretical ideologies studied in class?
• What results and findings have been documented by researchers conducting studies in the same field?
• Are there questions you can think of that have yet to be addressed in the field of study?
• What are your career aspirations after completing your studies?
• Are new theories, concepts, and ideologies developing in the field of study?
• What do you disagree with regarding the field of study that other researchers may have documented?

1.5 Generating Ideas: Mind Maps

What is mind mapping? Mind mapping is a method used in generating ideas that involves using a pattern to write down the ideas generated. While choosing a dissertation topic, you should settle in one that can incorporate mind maps and designs as aids to create an overview of their topic. Mind maps and patterns make a virtual print of how a topic selected would look. It helps survey the possible areas of research based on the chosen topic. Mind maps can be applied to identify the relationship between theoretical concepts and facts revealed in any dissertation. When developing mind maps, you can make your work easier by using color codes to place points and merge complimentary themes related to the main idea. Mind mapping helps you focus on ideas documented in your own words and search for connections to create a web of knowledge. This allows you to have a clear understanding of their topic and retain much of the information.

1.6 Generating Ideas: Ideas Grid

The process of creating and developing new concepts and ideas is often tedious. It attracts a lot of critics from other opposing views. While choosing a dissertation topic, you can incorporate the ideas grid to help break down possible study topics. The ideas grid helps identify the essential factors in each subject and determine if any relationship exists between them. The ideas grid helps store essential concepts and questions that may arise when choosing a dissertation topic. When new ideas emerge, you can fill the concept in its respective position, creating a well-organized grid with different ideas. Using an ideas grid boosts your creativity levels and leads you to discoveries.

To understand the process of grid filling, the grid below can be used. Creating an ideas grid will help gauge your creativity limits and knowledge level in the topic of your choice. It will also inform the possible prospects surrounding your topic of choice and the existing relationship between different topics.

1.7 Conducting Preliminary Research

Why do you need to conduct preliminary research? Preliminary research is essential in determining the kind of research conducted earlier. It will give you the basic knowledge and findings on research that already exist. Primary research should be conducted before deciding on the topic of study to be investigated. This will help you judge whether other researchers have conducted enough research and if their research questions have been answered through prior documented studies. Also, conducting preliminary research helps determine if the scope of the topic chosen is realistic. While conducting preliminary research, you should develop the necessary guidance on performing an effective search on the topic at hand, developing proper review strategies, and adjusting search strategies for the future. You can also work with your supervisor to help narrow down the essential topics related to your choice.

“After selecting my topic of study, I was assigned a supervisor. My supervisor helped me focus on specific topics to study, which helped me understand the scope of research carried out by other people. This background reading helped me understand what had already been written in my subject area and identify possible areas for me to research.”

It is also crucial for you to investigate if the documented sources would assist in your research. To make a judgment on this, you can incorporate help from search tools like Google Scholar and Library Search. These tools help search for electronic and physical materials like peer-reviewed journals, books, e-books, and scripts written in line with the topic of interest. Library Search provides a safe environment to start your research.

1.8 The Supervisor

 The input given by the supervisor is a crucial aspect in helping you choose a dissertation topic. Supervisors help in providing continuous advice you and offer the necessary guidance throughout your dissertation. What are the mail roles of a supervisor?

• Assisting you in framing your research question(s)
• Advising you on how to build your research on theories presented in your course work and use the proper methodology to develop the topic.
• Counsel you on the quality of your work and suggest ways you can incorporate it to make the necessary improvements.
• Helping you in structuring and arranging your dissertations in an appropriate manner
• Helping you to successfully tackle problems you may encounter throughout the dissertation.

To effectively utilize the supervisor as an asset toward a successful dissertation, you should ensure that you meet regularly, take notes, and effect the changes advised. You should hold discussion on the publications you can consider and the methodology to incorporate. Also, the supervisor should help you consult the present research and its relevance to your topic of choice. While the supervisor may provide critical insight that you may use to raise the quality of their dissertation, they are not expected to edit the work for you.

1.9 Choosing Something Different

When choosing a dissertation topic, it would be interesting to go for areas other researchers still need to conduct thorough research. This helps prevent monotonous results and findings that do not differ or add to the findings documented by other researchers. Topics that have yet to be widely explored will allow you to conduct unbiased research and develop conclusions based on the study. While finding a completely unique study area is often challenging, you could use a different approach when interacting with a field that has already been thoroughly researched.

A dissertation or research project should be an academic, well-written piece of writing. The general composition should adhere to a defined framework, and each paragraph should support the creation of the topic or argument. Picking a topic that is too wide makes it challenging to thoroughly investigate the subject in the allocated word count, and it is difficult to come to clear findings. The supervisor should advise you on how to keep it brief. In many cases, you may find it challenging to develop your thoughts and come to well-rounded judgments if they concentrate on an issue or subject that is too limited or restricted.

One of the most imaginative approaches that you can use is to ensure that you select the best topic based on your interest and material availability. Suppose you allocate enough time before the deadline for submitting your proposal to explore the different issues you may be interested in? In that case, you should quickly determine if sufficient materials are available. This will help you decide if you can elaborate on concepts and support your viewpoint. Early in the research, it is also simple to be attracted to a topic or issue, which might make you oblivious to its limitations. As a result, it is crucial, to be honest about the potentials and boundaries of the topic chosen.

2.0 The Research Questions

 Once you have narrowed down the possible topics for your dissertation, the next vital task is to develop your research questions. Research questions stem from the subject of interest. They expand on the areas you should concentrate on during your study. Each research question is specific and directly addresses an issue regarding your field of study. Research questions inform the trajectory of your dissertation, defining the areas that you should focus on and drawing findings. Research questions should help communicate the problem and gap your dissertation seeks to review and solve. The research questions shape and align all other aspects of the dissertation, such as the literature review and methodology. What are some of the factors you should consider while coming up with research questions?

• Will the research question keep you interested?
• Can I answer the question within the time allocated and with the resources given?
• Can a supervisor offer the necessary support I may need throughout the dissertation?
• Where do I start to answer the research question?
• What methodology should I incorporate while answering the research question?

“It is crucial that your chosen research question is clearly focused and well written; answering it must be achievable in the time available to you.”

     Various methods can be used to narrow down the research question to become more specific. Some of the questions that can help with this include the following:

• What choice of the topic did you make for your dissertation?
• What are the things that intrigue you to be interested in that topic?
• What is the broad question at the core of your study?
• Is your study restricted to a specific era?
• Is the research based on a particular geographical region?
• What specific aspects of the topic would you consider investigating further?
• From the broad question at hand, can you generate more specific questions?

Also, you should keep in mind that the research question(s) can be refined even further as clarity is unveiled throughout your study. In special cases, you may experience major changes in your research topics and questions during your studies. Reviewing the literature that exists in a certain field can trigger desires to pursue a different topic in the same field of study. While this is not restricted, you can seek council from the supervisor on whether to change your topic and research questions. However, any major changes should be done before delving too deep into the research to help meet the timelines set for the dissertation.  Some interesting examples of dissertation topics in Business Management include the following:

• Topic 1: “Impact of digital business on the economic growth of the country: A case study of The United States”
• Topic 2: “Brand Marketing through social media”
• Topic 3: “Impacts of social media on customer behavior.”
• Topic 4: “What factors influence the consumer’s buying decisions?”