How To Choose A Research Topic For A Dissertation Or Thesis (7 Step Method + Examples)

Grad Coach

5 Dec 201938:40

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThis video script offers a detailed seven-step guide for selecting the best research topic for a thesis or dissertation. It emphasizes understanding the research process, university requirements, identifying broad interests, narrowing down to niche areas, reviewing literature, pinpointing specific topics, and evaluating them systematically. The guide also suggests creating an elevator pitch for the top topics and seeking feedback to make an informed decision, ensuring a solid foundation for academic research.

Takeaways

📚 Start with a basic understanding of the research process, including terminology and components like research problems, literature review, and methodologies.
🏫 Know your university's specific requirements for dissertation topics, including originality, restrictions, data needs, methodologies, and ethical standards.
🤔 Identify broad research areas of interest that are intellectually appealing and align with faculty support and potential career paths.
🔍 Review past dissertations to understand how topics are narrowed down and to find inspiration for your own niche research areas.
🔑 Use literature to identify gaps in current research, focusing on areas where existing theories may not be fully explored or applicable.
💡 Generate potential research topics using techniques like FRIN (further research is needed), assessing relevance in specific contexts, and brainstorming.
❓ Develop specific research questions from your topics to refine your focus and clarify what you aim to investigate.
📊 Evaluate your potential topics systematically, considering originality, importance, literature availability, data and resource access, and personal attraction.
📈 Create an elevator pitch for your top three topics to succinctly convey the study's purpose, originality, importance, and research design.
💌 Seek feedback on your elevator pitches from a variety of sources, including peers and experts, to gain diverse perspectives.
📝 Make an informed decision on your research topic after considering feedback and ensure it aligns with your interests and capabilities.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?
-The main purpose of the video is to guide viewers on how to choose the best possible research topic for their thesis or dissertation in the shortest amount of time and to provide a method to get free feedback and critique on their research topic idea from the Grad Coach team.
What is the first step in choosing a research topic according to the video?
-The first step is to familiarize yourself with the basic research process, including understanding research problems, questions, literature reviews, field work, and methodologies.
Why is it important to understand the university's requirements before choosing a research topic?
-Understanding the university's requirements is important to ensure that the chosen research topic meets the institution's criteria for originality, importance, restrictions, and ethical standards, thus avoiding wasted time on unviable ideas.
What does the acronym 'FRIN' stand for and what is its significance in finding a research topic?
-FRIN stands for 'further research is needed'. It is significant because recent journal articles often conclude with a section on areas where further research is needed, providing a source of original research topic ideas.
How does the video suggest narrowing down broad research areas to more specific topics?
-The video suggests reviewing past dissertations at the viewer's university, particularly within the same program, to understand how others have narrowed down broad areas into more niche topics and to identify potential gaps in the research.
What role does faculty support play in choosing a research topic?
-Faculty support is important because full-time faculty with research interests in the same area as the student's topic can potentially be the supervisor, providing guidance, feedback, and a better assessment of the student's work.
How can reviewing dissertations from a dissertation library or database help in the topic selection process?
-Reviewing dissertations helps in understanding the scope of research topics chosen by others, their originality, and how they were justified. This can provide insights into the university's expectations and help in narrowing down one's own research areas.
What is the importance of considering personal attraction to a research topic?
-Personal attraction to a research topic is important because it helps maintain motivation throughout the long research process and can add value to the student's life and career, especially if the topic aligns with their career aspirations.
How does the video recommend evaluating potential research topics?
-The video recommends evaluating potential research topics systematically against criteria such as originality, importance, availability of literature, data and resource access, data collection and analysis capabilities, and personal attraction.
What is an 'elevator pitch' and why is it useful in the research topic selection process?
-An elevator pitch is a concise summary of the research topic, including its purpose, originality, importance, and research design. It is useful for quickly conveying the key aspects of the research to others, such as potential supervisors, and for gathering feedback.
What is the final step in the process of choosing a research topic as described in the video?
-The final step is to make a decision on the research topic that appeals to the student the most after gathering feedback on their top three topics, and then proceed to write the research proposal.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Choosing a Research Topic

This paragraph introduces the video's purpose, which is to guide viewers on selecting the best research topic for their thesis or dissertation efficiently. The speaker, Derek, promises to share a seven-step process that has been successful for many students. He also mentions the availability of a free dissertation eBook and other related resources, inviting viewers to explore the Grad Coach's YouTube channel for additional support.

05:00

🔍 Understanding the Basic Research Process

The speaker emphasizes the importance of familiarizing oneself with the fundamental research process before choosing a topic. This includes understanding research problems, questions, literature reviews, data collection methods, and various methodologies. Derek warns against pursuing ideas without this foundational knowledge, as it could lead to wasted time on unviable or over-researched topics.

10:04

🏛 Knowing Your University's Research Requirements

Derek advises students to understand their university's specific requirements for a research project, including originality, topic restrictions, data needs, methodology preferences, and ethical standards. He suggests that not adhering to these requirements could lead to dead ends, highlighting the importance of aligning the research topic with institutional expectations.

15:04

🌟 Identifying Broad Research Interests

The speaker encourages students to start with broad research areas that interest them, drawing from their studies and intellectual curiosity. He advises against choosing emotionally charged topics to maintain objectivity. Derek also suggests considering faculty support and career aspirations when narrowing down potential research areas.

20:04

📘 Reviewing Past Dissertations for Topic Inspiration

Derek recommends reviewing past dissertations from the university's database to understand how topics have been narrowed down and justified. He suggests skimming through titles, abstracts, and introductions to identify research topics, questions, and the level of originality, ultimately helping to refine one's own research areas of interest.

25:05

🔎 Delving into Literature to Find Research Gaps

The speaker instructs viewers to engage with existing literature to identify knowledge gaps that could serve as potential research topics. He advises using coursework materials, Google Scholar, and literature review articles to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current research landscape and to pinpoint areas that require further investigation.

30:07

💡 Techniques for Generating Research Topic Ideas

Derek outlines three techniques for finding research topics: utilizing the 'further research is needed' sections in journal articles, assessing the relevance of existing research in specific contexts, and brainstorming and mind mapping to generate ideas. He emphasizes the importance of validating these ideas against the literature to ensure originality and relevance.

35:09

❓ Transforming Topics into Research Questions

The speaker explains the process of refining potential research topics into specific, answerable research questions. He provides an example of how to narrow down a broad topic like consumer trust in Robo advisors to more specific questions that can be empirically investigated.

🏆 Evaluating and Selecting the Best Research Topic

Derek describes a systematic approach to evaluating research topics against criteria such as originality, importance, literature availability, data access, resource access, data collection and analysis capabilities, and personal attraction. He suggests using an Excel spreadsheet to score topics and narrow down to the top three, which are then further refined into elevator pitches for feedback.

📈 Final Steps and Additional Resources

The speaker summarizes the seven-step process for choosing a research topic and encourages viewers to seek feedback on their top topic choices. He offers the Grad Coach team's assistance for free feedback on elevator pitches posted in the video comments and invites viewers to book a free consultation with a PhD-qualified research specialist. Derek also reminds viewers of additional resources available on the Grad Coach website and blog.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Research Topic

A 'Research Topic' is the central subject or problem that a thesis or dissertation aims to investigate. In the video, it is the core around which the entire process of academic research revolves, with the speaker guiding viewers on how to select the best possible research topic in a methodical manner.

💡Dissertation

A 'Dissertation' is a lengthy, formal treatise on a specific subject, typically required to obtain a degree such as a master's or a PhD. The script emphasizes the importance of choosing a research topic that is not only viable but also aligns with the academic and practical requirements of a dissertation.

💡Thesis

A 'Thesis' is a document submitted in support of an academic degree, presenting original research and often the student's own analysis, argument, or interpretation. The video script discusses the process of selecting a research topic for a thesis, which is crucial for the success of the research project.

💡Research Process

The 'Research Process' refers to the various stages involved in conducting academic research, from identifying a problem to disseminating the findings. The video script underscores the necessity of understanding this process as a foundational step in choosing a research topic.

💡Originality

'Originality' in research implies that the topic or the approach taken is novel and hasn't been extensively explored before. The script highlights the importance of originality as a criterion for evaluating potential research topics, aligning with university requirements.

💡Literature Review

A 'Literature Review' is a comprehensive analysis or critique of published material on a specific topic. In the context of the video, it is a critical step in understanding the existing body of knowledge and identifying gaps that the research topic could fill.

💡Research Methodology

'Research Methodology' pertains to the analysis of the body of methods and principles associated with a branch of knowledge to ensure that research is conducted in a rigorous and valid manner. The script discusses the importance of understanding the methodology requirements of the university when choosing a research topic.

💡Ethical Requirements

Ethical requirements in research refer to the moral principles and professional guidelines that researchers must adhere to, ensuring the rights and welfare of research participants are protected. The video script mentions these as an important consideration when selecting a research topic.

💡Academic Research

'Academic Research' is a systematic investigation and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. The video script provides a guide for students to navigate the complex landscape of academic research, starting with choosing the right research topic.

💡Elevator Pitch

An 'Elevator Pitch' is a brief, persuasive speech that effectively outlines the essence of an idea, often used to quickly garner interest from others. In the script, it is used as a tool to succinctly present a research topic to potential supervisors or reviewers, encapsulating the 'what,' 'why,' and 'how' of the research.

💡Grad Coach

In the script, 'Grad Coach' refers to the entity providing guidance and resources for students undertaking graduate-level research. The term is used to refer to the team offering support, feedback, and critique on research topic ideas, as well as the source of the video content itself.

Highlights

The video presents a seven-step process for selecting a research topic for a thesis or dissertation.

The importance of understanding the basic research process before choosing a topic is emphasized.

Students are advised to familiarize themselves with research problems, questions, literature reviews, and methodologies.

The necessity of aligning research topics with university requirements, including originality and restrictions, is discussed.

Identifying broad research areas of interest from one's studies is suggested as a starting point.

The video recommends considering faculty support and career goals when choosing a research area.

Narrowing down broad areas to more specific niche areas using past dissertations is proposed.

Reviewing literature to understand the current state of research in a niche area is highlighted.

Three techniques for finding suitable research topics are introduced: FRIN, contextual relevance, and brainstorming.

The FRIN technique is explained as a way to find original research topics based on the need for further research in articles.

Assessing the relevance of existing research within a specific context is suggested for identifying research gaps.

The value of brainstorming and mind mapping for generating research topic ideas is discussed.

Turning research topics into specific questions is key to refining the focus of the research.

A systematic evaluation of research topics against criteria such as originality, importance, and data access is recommended.

Developing an elevator pitch for each top research topic to convey the study's essence concisely is introduced.

The video offers free feedback on research topic ideas by submitting an elevator pitch in the comments.

A final decision on the research topic should be based on the feedback and personal interest in the topic.

The video concludes with a recap of the seven-step process and an invitation for further engagement with Grad Coach.

Transcripts

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Related Tags

Dissertation Guide Research Topics Academic Writing Thesis Tips Graduate Coaching Topic Selection Originality Check Literature Review Methodology Feedback Request