Dissertation Topic Ideas
Many people struggle when it comes to their dissertation topic ideas. The choice of a topic for such a monumental work does not come easily to everyone, and sometimes it takes a few tries to figure out what it is that you are going to say.
Firstly, when choosing a topic, make sure that it relates to your field. Although this is mostly a given, it includes the necessity of attention towards the specific nuances of your dissertation topic idea. If you are working in a history field, make sure that your topic is not better suited to a philosophy thesis or social sciences field. You cannot compete against people from those fields. Instead, you must narrow your topic to something that pertains directly to your field of study.
But what about topics within your area?
A paper of any kind springs from a central question. Without a central question, which you will answer in a unique and insightful way, your dissertation becomes a glorified book report. In choosing your dissertation topic idea, you will have to make a selection that allows for the greatest examination of your chosen field.
The following is an example of the process one might go through on deciding the central crux of their essay.
You cannot write a dissertation “on Sacajawea.” “Sacajawea” is not a topic. Sacajawea is a person, and a report on her life is not a dissertation.
Instead, consider the questions that Sacajawea raises throughout her historical legacy. We see her as a committed woman commissioned to bring two strangers across the untamed frontier of the American west, but rarely do we examine the nuances of this historical figure.
So what does this mean, in the scheme of things?
We must ask a question about Sacajawea. Not “who is she?” or “what did she accomplish?” because both of these questions can be answered with a quick trip to wikipedia. Instead, the question must provoke thought in both the reader and the composer of the dissertation. This principle makes up the core of successful dissertation topic ideas.
In our Sacajawea example, the kind of question you might be aiming for is more along the lines of “what socio-political changes resulted due to Sacajawea’s prominence as an American hero between the early 1800s and the middle of the twentieth century?” A question like this provides a must more concrete framework within which to examine your topic.
Of course, you can’t write 200 pages based solely on this one question. The true key to a well-rounded dissertation is layering. Follow the questions that arise from your initial question.
We may know that Sacajawea achieved greatness within the context of our American mythos, but perhaps you are curious as to the discrepancies between the truth and the legend. While exploring this train of thought for a while, another question may occur to you: does it even matter?
And from that place, that question mark, your dissertation topic is born.
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