Choosing Your Research Topic

June 22, 2012


There are many books and articles written on selecting a research topic and there are courses in the NOVA curriculum that also address this issue.  One resource is The Applied Dissertation Procedures Manual that provides required information about the applied dissertations 


http://www.fischlerschool.nova.edu/Resources/uploads/app/35/files/ARC_Doc/ADS_Manual.pdf

In these comments, I want to give you several of the suggestions I use with my students for choosing an area of study:

(1)   Pick an area of study that interests you
(2)   Pick an area of study that interests your supervisor or administration, if you are employed, or that interests others in your field
(3)   Pick an area of study that can benefit your organization or your educational field.
(4)   Pick research questions for which you can actually collect current data.

I have found these to be basic considerations in helping students focus and stay on a path that will lead to a successful dissertation.

Sometimes it can be bewildering to students on how to select an area for study.  I usually ask them to look at the problems or issues that they are facing in their work and then pick one or two small pieces of a problem to investigate.  I also ask them to talk with their supervisors and/or the staff that approves research projects about the kinds of data that can and cannot be collected.

Finally, I ask them to read literature in broad areas of interest to them to explore the current state-of-the-field.

Once a student has some sense of a problem area and possible data sources, then we can work on narrowing the student’s thinking on specific research questions.

Usually this is an iterative process where the student and I work back and forth to formulate the problem and the research questions.

Before doing any significant writing on a concept paper I want my students to first identify the problem and research questions.