Where to start with your dissertation?

Your dissertation reflects what you have learned during your course years. It also reflects on your originality and creativity, and helps the reader understand your grasp on the topic you chose. So it is very important to choose your topic very carefully. It is different than all the exam papers and reviews you have write throughout your course, and so you need to address it differently. A few tricks and tips will be helpful in choosing the topic.

Advice on choosing dissertation topic

• Choose something you know very well

It is important that you choose a topic that you can tackle with ease. Choose something that you have in-depth knowledge of. Although some might suggest you to select a topic where you learn new things, it is never a good idea. Dissertations are subject to deadlines, and there are very stern consequences if you cannot learn a new topic and write comprehensively on it. Make sure you know the topic thoroughly before you start writing.

• Be innovative, be original

Write on something new. Never do a paraphrase of some old topic. You can go through other people’s dissertations to get an idea on the format, the style etc. Never get influenced about the topic from other people’s work. It is necessary to think outside the box and show your ingenuity through your topic selection. A new topic strikes interest into the reader right from the beginning. Doing a completely new topic is far better than doing a rendition of an old topic.

• Base your topic and research on facts

Facts are far more powerful than philosophy. If you have a theory for your dissertation, make sure you have enough facts to support it. Choosing an area of research which has been worked on earlier, not copying the exact topic of research, ascertains that there is already enough facts available. On the other hand, to choose an entirely novel idea means you need to put in extra effort to find the facts, but a successful completion guarantees much more appreciation.

• Check for relevancy and context

Chose a topic that is relevant, to your course of study and also to the present scenario of research in that field. If you write your dissertation on a topic that is obsolete, or is based on a very distant future then it will not be properly accredited.