Simple Strategies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2004 (© 2004)


SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING
SUCCESSFUL DISSERTATION TOPICS

Jeffrey W. Braunstein, Ph.D.
ResearchConsultation.com

Developing research topics for dissertations and theses can be a very tedious and agonizing experience. You may be faced with the dilemma of balancing your professional interests with what is feasible and possible to accomplish at this stage of your career. All to often, I have met students who have committed to a dissertation or thesis project that would take a lifetime to accomplish. Sometimes students are encouraged or pressured to accept a dissertation or theses of “convenience.” These students are encouraged to develop their dissertation or thesis by extending the current research of their professor. This situation can be especially difficult to negotiate. Your dissertation or thesis chairperson may encourage you to further research in their area of interest by enticing you with the benefits of using an existing database or other resources that have the potential to expedite or facilitate the dissertation process. This issue of Simple Strategies will address the aforementioned topics and provide suggestions for successfully negotiating this all too important part of the dissertation or thesis process.

How can I develop a dissertation topic that can incorporate my professional interests yet still allow me to graduate before I reach retirement?

After working with many students, I suspect that the 3 Biggest Obstacles for failing to complete a dissertation or thesis are:

1. Procrastinating or not starting because the task looks too daunting
2. Poor planning and problems with subject recruitment
3. A fear of research design and statistics

Balancing Personal Interest and Feasibility

It’s important to weigh and balance: (1) your interest in a specific area of study and (2) the feasibility of the project and the probability of completing your dissertation.  I fully encourage and support students to pick dissertation topics of interest, but I advise them to closely weigh the positives and negatives for choosing their topic. 

Remember you need to first review the relevant research in your particular area and then just add “a piece to the puzzle” in your chosen field of study.  When you’re deciding on a dissertation or thesis topic, ask yourself these very important questions:

Questions & Solutions to Assess and Improve the

Feasibility of Your Dissertation Topic

1. Question: How hard will it be to recruit subjects for my dissertation?

Solution: Try to choose a population of potential subjects for your dissertation that are easily accessible.  Can you recruit subjects from where you work?  Are you affiliated with an organization or institution that will let you interact with their staff or clients? If you don’t have convenient access to subjects, you have to figure out a way to outreach potential subjects. Developing a dissertation topic that offers a needed service or benefit to potential subjects can help facilitate data collection.  The use of advertising and other direct marketing techniques can also be used to outreach and recruit potential subjects for your dissertation.

2. Question: Why should people participate in my study?

Solution: Ask yourself this very important question: What are the reasons that people would want to participate in my dissertation or thesis? It’s extremely important to assess whether these reasons are strong enough to attract enough participants for your dissertation before committing to a specific topic.  Offering monetary rewards or entry into a raffle can entice people to participate in your dissertation.  Sometimes you can outreach a group of people who may be very willing to participate in research because they believe that their participation would provide a significant contribution to a cause that they strongly believe in or are greatly affected by.  For example, it may be easier to collect dissertation data when conducting disease research if you concentrate on collecting data from persons who are either directly afflicted by the specific disease or from the relatives of the afflicted.

3. Question: Have I chosen too many variables to study for one dissertation?

Solution: Choosing too many variables to study at one time may require you to collect a large amount of subjects.  You may also have to use very complicated statistical procedures to analyze your dissertation data.  Choosing too many variables also means that you have to conduct literature searches on each specific variable in your dissertation.  In addition, you have to examine and review the literature on the relationships between the variables that you have chosen to study in your dissertation.  Limiting the number of variables in your dissertation is always recommended.  Select only the most important variables that will answer your research question.  Remember, you have the rest of your career to continue the research you’ve started in your dissertation. 

Should I accept a dissertation or thesis of convenience? 

Sometimes students are faced with the dilemma of accepting a dissertation or theses of “convenience.” This situation can be especially difficult to negotiate.  Students in this situation are frequently encouraged to develop their dissertations by extending the current research of their professor.  In exchange for furthering your professor’s research, you may receive the benefits of using an existing database and other resources that can potentially expedite the dissertation process.  Below is a list of potential positives and negatives associated with accepting a dissertation or thesis of convenience. 

Keeping these simple strategies in mind when developing a dissertation or thesis can help you to successfully develop a feasible study and avoid many of the pitfalls experienced by graduate students.  Spending extra time during the planning stage of the dissertation can help you to develop a methodologically sound dissertation and improve the chances of completing your dissertation or thesis on time.  After so many years of hard work, studying, and financial expense, do you want to contend with the difficulties and anxiety experienced by many graduate students who are ABD (All But Dissertation)?

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