How to Pick a Thesis Topic

Picking a thesis topic while in graduate school is an important step toward finishing the vigorous academic curriculum. The right thesis topic is very important because it is something that a significant amount of time will be spent writing--especially on researching, organizing and presenting the thesis when it is finished. Taking a few weeks to create a list of possible topics and then narrowing them down, according to the following criteria, will help make sure that the correct thesis topic is chosen.

Things You'll Need

• list of available research list of interests possible sources relevant to field of study

Instructions

How to Pick a Thesis Topic

1. Pick a topic that you are interested in. This must be something that will hold your attention that you can research for a year or more. A great place to start is to think about what got you interested in your field of study in the first place. Choosing one of your main interests will ensure that the thesis content is strong and worth reading.

2. Factor in personal strengths and weaknesses. If you have already done a significant amount of research on a certain topic, then it may be most beneficial to pick a thesis topic within that scope of sources. Additionally, if conducting experiments or case studies is not a strong point, then it would be best to choose a thesis topic that already has established research.

3. Narrow the topic. It is important to narrow the topic to something that will be a contribution to the academic community. If your interest is in how domestic violence affects children, perhaps the thesis topic can be narrowed down to how domestic violence affects children's academic grades or performance in school.

4. Choose timely sources. Make sure that you choose a thesis topic that has recent sources in which to do your research. Using case studies or statistics that are more than 10 years old (or less, in some fields) will make the thesis claims outdated and irrelevant in the present academic community. In turn, this will lower the overall quality of your thesis.

5. Make it beneficial to your career. Choose a topic that will help further your future career, whether it be through the possibility of completing more research to write a book on the subject or becoming an expert in the field. Submitting a well-written, thought-provoking thesis into the academic community will be a crucial steppingstone toward a long and extensive career in your field of study.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Finding a Thesis Topic
• How to Choose a Thesis Topic While in Graduate School
• Dissertation and Thesis Topics