Choosing a Topic
Choosing the right topic is crucial. The topic you choose will be with you for a while, maybe even for life!
Look Inside Not Outside
Well, your topic is not going to come to you in the wilderness or in the library. It's too easy to get lost in those places. Think of creating, rather than finding, a topic. You may want to begin with research interests you've already begun--in your job, in your graduate course work, your master's thesis, or with other research projects in which you've been involved.
Is It the Right One?
Use the following criteria to evaluate your topic area:
- Is it YOU? Has it grown out of your interests and passions ?
- Is it interesting to advisors or prospective employers?
- Are you well grounded in the scholarly literature so that you can position yourself in the field?
- Is it manageable, given your time frame, resources, and availability of data sources?
- Is it within your range of competence?
- Is it significant in practical or theoretical terms?
- Is it original? (Has it been done before?)
- Does it take you where you want to go?
