how write a research topic

key names, events?

: Topic is too general and broad to address through a short piece of writing

   •  The Metis Nation in Saskatchewan

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     •  Add subtopic and time period: The politics of the Metis in 19th-century Saskatchewan

     •  Add person(s), event, and place: Louis Riel and the Metis rebellion in Saskatchewan

: Topic is too specific and narrow

     •  The representation of animals in sculpture by two-spirited Metis artists from Saskatchewan in the late 19th century

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     •  Remove subtopic, person(s), and time period:  Visual art of the Metis in Saskatchewan

     •  Remove place and expand topic and time period:  The representation of politics in visual art of two-spirited Metis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

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Creating a Successful Research Topic Statement (PSY)

In this tutorial, we will identify what makes for a successful research topic.

Most research topics start out as a general and often vague idea that a researcher has an interest in investigating.

Inexperienced researchers, including most doctoral learners, frequently think of topics that are quite interesting, but not narrowly enough focused for a dissertation.

This tutorial will guide you through a set of steps designed to help you come up with a topic, first of all, and secondly to focus it more tightly so that you can begin a meaningful and successful search of the existing literature to discover whether your topic is actually researchable.

This tutorial's primary objective is to prepare you to create a successful research topic that may become the topic of your dissertation. To do that, we'll work through the following issues:

• First, what are the characteristics of a well-formed research topic?
• Second, how are research topics evaluated?
• Third, how can the key concepts and the population be narrowed and focused so that they are researchable?
• Fourth, how can the relationship among concepts be named so that the appropriate methodological literature can be accessed in the literature review?

Obviously, in Track 1 you are at the beginning of your studies toward the doctorate, and perhaps your dissertation is far from your thoughts. We are starting the process now, however, because our experience has been that when learners wait to start searching for their topics, it often creates a serious problem for them when they actually start the dissertation. That problem can take many forms, but the most common one is that they have not had sufficient time (and training) in exhaustively searching the relevant literature to discover whether the topic they are interested in is even viable—and without a good topic statement, a good literature search is impossible. So let's begin.

What Is a Research Topic?

A research topic is an area of interest to a researcher that is first of all, researchable. It is focused narrowly enough that its key concepts are quite plain and well integrated. It is a topic or subject that can be found in the existing literature of the researcher's field, which shows that it is of some interest or importance to that field, and has some important characteristics.

Characteristics of a Well-formed Research Topic

The first mark of a well-formed topic is that it clearly states the key concepts to be investigated. Sometimes, only one concept is named—those studies often turn out to be qualitative, but not always. More often, two or more key concepts are named. Next, it identifies the relationship or relationships among those concepts that the researcher intends to explore. Obviously, if only one concept was named, there won't be a relationship, but in that case a word like "describes" or "experiences" will give a clue to the kind of information desired. Third, a research topic specifies the population of interest to be investigated. Finally, a research topic is just a phrase. That is, it is not a full sentence with a verb. However, the well-formed topic statement will embed the actual topic in a complete sentence. Let's look at some examples.

Some Examples of Topic Statements

Here are a few topic statements that eventually lead to successful dissertations:

• Elementary age students' needs for family-based counseling services.
• Indigenous people's responses to encounters with law enforcement.
• Impact of mother's death on daughters in poor, middle class, and wealthy families.
• The relationship between assignment strategies to prevent burnout used by managers of first responders and the occurrence of burnout.
• Employees' productivity as a function of their managers' management styles.
• Strategies used by mainstream classroom teachers to manage children with behavior problems who do not receive special education.

You can see immediately that all six examples, taken from the four schools in Capella University, are phrases, not complete sentences. So far, so good. The first mark of a successful topic statement is that it identifies the key concepts to be investigated, right? Let's see how the examples do that.

Evaluating the Form of the Examples: Key Concepts

In the first example, we seem to have two key concepts: "needs" and "family-based counseling services." Are they stated clearly? Probably not clearly enough: what is meant by "needs" and "family-based counseling services" is not immediately transparent. This topic will need some work, but most topics start out this way.

Let's try another: Indigenous people’s responses to encounters with law enforcement. Here, there seem to be two key concepts: "responses" and "encounters with law enforcement." These concepts are quite broad and will have to be narrowed considerably to support a researchable topic, but they provide a good start.

Let's do one more: Employees' productivity as a function of their managers' management styles.

Here, there are two key concepts, right? Productivity and management styles.

Evaluating the Form of Topics: Relationship(s) among the Key Concepts

The second mark of a successful topic is that it identifies any relationship to be investigated between or among the key concepts. Let's look at the third example to see about this.

This topic meets our criterion of being a phrase. It seems to state at least two concepts (but with multiple levels): "death" and "socio-economic status of daughters." What about the relationship? Well, it is captured in that word "impact."

An "impact" in research jargon means the effect that one concept—death—has on another concept, in this case, the daughters. One can, in fact, replace the word impact with the word effect without changing the meaning at all. So the topic is proposing a cause-and-effect kind of relationship.

Let's look at another example: The relationship between assignment strategies to prevent burnout used by managers of first responders and the occurrence of burnout

This seems complicated, but it really isn't. First, let's check the key concepts: "Assignment strategies to prevent burnout" would seem to be one key concept, and "occurrence of burnout" would be the other. These are reasonably clear, or probably would be to someone in the human resources or management worlds. No doubt they will be further clarified as the researcher works on the topic's wording. But what about the relationship? It is in the word "relationship," obviously. And in research jargon, a "relationship" between A and B is a particular kind of relationship, called a correlation.

Now, play with the other topics to see if you can identify the relationship—if any.

Evaluating the Form of Topics: Target Population

The third sign of a successful topic is that it names the target population, the group of people or organizations or groups that the researcher is interested in. Let's evaluate some of our examples on this point.

• Elementary age students' needs for family-based counseling services : The population here is stated: Students of elementary school age.
• Indigenous people's responses to encounters with law enforcement: Here as well, the population is indigenous people.
• Impact of mother's death on daughters in poor, middle class, and wealthy families: The population is daughters in three socio-economic groups.
• The relationship between assignment strategies to prevent burnout used by managers of first responders and the occurrence of burnout: You determine who the population is in this one.

Is It Managers or Is It First Responders?

The population is managers of first responders. Or is it? The awkward wording of the topic makes this a bit hard to digest. The burnout occurs in the first responders, so maybe they are the population. But the first responders' managers are the ones using the management strategies, so are they the population?

Well, the two key concepts are management strategies (used by managers) and rate of burnout (in first responders), so the researcher will have to get information from both groups of people, so both are the target population: first responders and their managers.

Take a minute and try to figure out the rest of our examples.

Summing Up the Characteristics of a Successful Topic

We've seen in action the three chief marks of a successful research topic.

• The topic states the key concepts to be investigated.
• It states what relationship between or among the concepts will be explored. Remember, if there is only one concept (which often is the case in qualitative studies), there won't be a relationship. But if there are two or more key concepts, look for the relationship between or among them.
• The successful topic names the population of interest for the study.

A well-formed research topic will have these characteristics, but simply having them is not sufficient. The elements also need to be well-focused and narrowed down to a point where the research becomes feasible. Let's take a look at a simple method for doing this.

Narrowing the Focus

Take a look at this grid. You'll see that one of our topics has been broken out into the first column. The population is first—indigenous people—followed by two concepts: responses and law enforcement. Now look at the central column, labeled "Narrower term." Notice how the very broad population has been narrowed. Similarly, "law enforcement" has been narrowed to police (there are many other types of law enforcement, such as FBI, Homeland Security, TSA, Customs and Immigration, sheriff's departments, and so on). Similarly, there are many kinds of behaviors and experiences that could be considered "responses," but the researcher is most interested in emotional responses. Now move to the third column. Can you see how each term is being narrowed yet again?

If we restated the topic now, after having narrowed it down a bit, it would look like this: Cherokee Indians' tolerance for stress when meeting traffic officers.

Let's work through another example, this time using the topic "Employees' productivity as a function of their managers' management styles."

You can see the key terms lined up in the first column. The other two columns are blank.

What would you ask yourself, if this were your topic, in order to narrow this down?

Questions to Ask for Narrowing a Topic

There are many questions you can ask yourself when you are narrowing your topic. A good opener is "So what do I really want to know about the concept?"

Another quite good question is to ask about your real interest or passion is about the concept or the population.

You can also find helpful terms by performing controlled vocabulary searches in library databases. You can find a nice tutorial on that method of searching in the Capella library at but whatever you ask yourself, keep your focus on what you truly most want to know and care about regarding the concept.

Now, let's get back to our example.

When the researcher asked herself what sort of employees and managers she was actually interested in, she realized it was service employees and managers. The more she pondered, and was helped by a quick check of the literature in her specialization, she realized that she was most interested in call center personnel. Then she tackled productivity . From her courses in management measurement, she knew that one way to think about productivity was days at work. But that seemed too dependent on factors outside the manager-employee relationship. She wanted a more fine-grained way to look at productivity, so she narrowed it to a specific measure, calls completed times minutes per call.

Then she took on management styl e. Knowing that there are many types, her first attempt at focusing this term was authoritarian style. That didn't satisfy her, and when she looked again at her topic, she realized that that word "function" was important. It implied to her that she was really interested in knowing how different management styles related to different degrees of productivity. At first, she put together a list of known management styles, but that felt intimidating. She decided to narrow it down to just two: authoritarian vs. flexible management style.

After all this, her topic now looked like this: Productivity as measured by calls completed times minutes per call in call center employees supervised by authoritarian managers compared to productivity in call center employees supervised by flexible managers.

She knew the wording was clunky and would need to be crafted better, but she had a much more focused topic. So far, we've been looking at two things about good research topics: what they should contain (concepts, relationships, and population), and how to narrow each element. In these narrowing exercises, we've focused on the concepts and the population. Now, let's turn our attention to the relationship . This is a very important element, because it offers an important clue about the nature of the study that might ensue.

Evaluating the Relationship Named in the Topic

Research asks all kinds of questions, and the relationship named in the research topic clues us into what kind of question the ensuing study will likely ask. Here are some questions you might ask in order to choose the right word to describe the relationship you're looking for.

What do you envision really doing?

• Looking at comparisons between variables or groups of people?
• Looking at relationships between two or more concepts?
• Looking at effects of one or more concept on another concept or group?
• Looking at outcomes of some process or treatment or condition?
• Looking at experiences?
• Developing a theory to explain some phenomenon?

For each of these (and there are other sorts of questions you can ask yourself), specific words can specify the relationship. Let's look at them.

If your topic compares two or more things compared with or some similar phrase indicates the relationship you want to know about. For instance, student retention rates in large urban school districts compared with small rural districts.

If your interest is about relationships between two or more concepts, try using words like relationship, in relation to, or other similar constructions. Here's an example: the frequency of church attendance in relation to socioeconomic status.

Suppose your interest is to see if one thing has an effect on something else. In that case, you can use that word, effect, or other words such as influence, impact, cause, predict, and the like. For example, the influence of tax policy on employment patterns in Midwestern communities.

An outcome is another version of a cause-and-effect relationship, specifically when you are interested in the final condition after some kind of process. For instance, the outcome of a training program. That word is excellent to use for the relationship, as in the outcome of training program A as measured by employee comprehension of corporate policies.

Are you interested in describing a certain experience, such as falling in love or being laid off work or having a baby or starting a new company? Having experiences is a very subjective thing, and the actual experience is a single thing—not one of a few variables. So there is no relationship to specify in such a topic, but the only way to learn about people's experiences is to ask them to describe them. So, words like descriptions of, accounts of, reports of, and the like can be very helpful. For instance, men's descriptions of their spiritual transformations when recovering from alcoholism.

Okay, we've covered the basics of how to craft a well-formed research topic. We've seen the marks of a good topic. They are:

• The key concepts are clearly stated and well-focused so that they can be profitably found in the literature.
• Second, the relationship, if any, between or among them is clearly stated. Even if there is no relationship, what you're really looking for (descriptions? accounts? reports?) can be seen in the wording.
• Third, the people you want to study, your population, is clearly stated and narrowed down to a workable point. You have all these points covered in a single phrase, and if after narrowing it down that phrase is awkward, you will work on crafting it into a more graceful form.

In a minute, you'll get to work crafting your own research topic, but first I want to show you why we emphasize the importance of narrowing and focusing the key concepts, relationships, and populations.

What Do You Do With the Research Topic?

The research topic is step 1 in the sequential process of research design. Once you have your topic in hand, step 2 is to take it to the library and begin searching for existing research and theory on the topic. Here's where your key concepts need to be well-defined and narrowly focused. You will be looking for all the existing research on those key concepts when you start.

At first, you'll investigate each of your key concepts individually, to find out what the existing literature has to say about them in and of themselves. Later, after you have developed a good working knowledge of the background concepts, you'll dig deeper into research linking the key concepts together.

At the third level, you'll follow the "breadcrumbs" all the way back to the earliest studies on your topic so that you will, ultimately, master that literature fully.

So your topic statement is the foundation. It organizes your various literature reviews. Searching on the key concepts (translated into various key words) will help you organize the content of your study.

Searching on the existing methodological literature about the relationship named in your topic will prepare you for your methodological decisions in later steps of research design.

There is an old Chinese proverb found in the I Ching and many other places: “Patience in the beginning brings success.” If you are careful and attentive, and work patiently to write your research topic, then rewrite it, then rewrite it again and again, you will have a solid foundation on which to start building your literature review. The topic is your beginning.

Remain patient and steady, and you will succeed.

Doc. reference: phd_t1_u04s1_mpsuccess.html

How to Write a Research Paper: Choosing Your Topic

Choosing Your Topic

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• Critical Thinking
• Evaluating Information
• Parts of the Paper
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• Choose a topic you are interested in, and can find information about.
• Your opinion of the topic might change as you conduct your research and find out more about the subject.
• Choose a topic that is not too broad or too narrow. The first will be hard to keep focused and the second might be hard to find information about.

Rethinking Your Topic

You may discover that you’re looking for information by search terms that are not the most effective. Databases use search terminology called Subject Terms . Find these descriptive words to help with your search. For example: "death penalty" is often classified as "capital punishment."

Write all of those search terms down to keep track of them. These terms might give you new ways of thinking about your topic.. Maybe come up with a question or two for things you’re curious about. Those questions will help you focus your paper.

Narrowing Your Topic

After you have found some information, try to narrow your topic. If your topic is too broad, it will be hard to keep a focus in your paper and the information range will be too large. Adjust your topic to a topic field that is specific enough to research without having large amounts of articles, but still general enough to have some relevant information sources.

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How to Write a Research Proposal: (with Examples & Templates)

Table of Contents

Before conducting a study, a research proposal should be created that outlines researchers’ plans and methodology and is submitted to the concerned evaluating organization or person. Creating a research proposal is an important step to ensure that researchers are on track and are moving forward as intended. A research proposal can be defined as a detailed plan or blueprint for the proposed research that you intend to undertake. It provides readers with a snapshot of your project by describing what you will investigate, why it is needed, and how you will conduct the research.  

Your research proposal should aim to explain to the readers why your research is relevant and original, that you understand the context and current scenario in the field, have the appropriate resources to conduct the research, and that the research is feasible given the usual constraints.  

This article will describe in detail the purpose and typical structure of a research proposal , along with examples and templates to help you ace this step in your research journey.  

What is a Research Proposal ?  

A research proposal¹ ,²  can be defined as a formal report that describes your proposed research, its objectives, methodology, implications, and other important details. Research proposals are the framework of your research and are used to obtain approvals or grants to conduct the study from various committees or organizations. Consequently, research proposals should convince readers of your study’s credibility, accuracy, achievability, practicality, and reproducibility.   

With research proposals , researchers usually aim to persuade the readers, funding agencies, educational institutions, and supervisors to approve the proposal. To achieve this, the report should be well structured with the objectives written in clear, understandable language devoid of jargon. A well-organized research proposal conveys to the readers or evaluators that the writer has thought out the research plan meticulously and has the resources to ensure timely completion.  

Purpose of Research Proposals  

A research proposal is a sales pitch and therefore should be detailed enough to convince your readers, who could be supervisors, ethics committees, universities, etc., that what you’re proposing has merit and is feasible . Research proposals can help students discuss their dissertation with their faculty or fulfill course requirements and also help researchers obtain funding. A well-structured proposal instills confidence among readers about your ability to conduct and complete the study as proposed.  

Research proposals can be written for several reasons:³  

• To describe the importance of research in the specific topic  
• Address any potential challenges you may encounter  
• Showcase knowledge in the field and your ability to conduct a study  
• Apply for a role at a research institute  
• Convince a research supervisor or university that your research can satisfy the requirements of a degree program  
• Highlight the importance of your research to organizations that may sponsor your project  
• Identify implications of your project and how it can benefit the audience  

What Goes in a Research Proposal?    

Research proposals should aim to answer the three basic questions—what, why, and how.  

The What question should be answered by describing the specific subject being researched. It should typically include the objectives, the cohort details, and the location or setting.  

The Why question should be answered by describing the existing scenario of the subject, listing unanswered questions, identifying gaps in the existing research, and describing how your study can address these gaps, along with the implications and significance.  

The How question should be answered by describing the proposed research methodology, data analysis tools expected to be used, and other details to describe your proposed methodology.   

Research Proposal Example  

Here is a research proposal sample template (with examples) from the University of Rochester Medical Center. 4 The sections in all research proposals are essentially the same although different terminology and other specific sections may be used depending on the subject.  

Structure of a Research Proposal  

If you want to know how to make a research proposal impactful, include the following components:¹  

1. Introduction  

This section provides a background of the study, including the research topic, what is already known about it and the gaps, and the significance of the proposed research.  

2. Literature review  

This section contains descriptions of all the previous relevant studies pertaining to the research topic. Every study cited should be described in a few sentences, starting with the general studies to the more specific ones. This section builds on the understanding gained by readers in the Introduction section and supports it by citing relevant prior literature, indicating to readers that you have thoroughly researched your subject.  

3. Objectives  

Once the background and gaps in the research topic have been established, authors must now state the aims of the research clearly. Hypotheses should be mentioned here. This section further helps readers understand what your study’s specific goals are.  

4. Research design and methodology  

Here, authors should clearly describe the methods they intend to use to achieve their proposed objectives. Important components of this section include the population and sample size, data collection and analysis methods and duration, statistical analysis software, measures to avoid bias (randomization, blinding), etc.  

5. Ethical considerations  

This refers to the protection of participants’ rights, such as the right to privacy, right to confidentiality, etc. Researchers need to obtain informed consent and institutional review approval by the required authorities and mention this clearly for transparency.  

6. Budget/funding  

Researchers should prepare their budget and include all expected expenditures. An additional allowance for contingencies such as delays should also be factored in.  

7. Appendices  

This section typically includes information that supports the research proposal and may include informed consent forms, questionnaires, participant information, measurement tools, etc.  

8. Citations  

Important Tips for Writing a Research Proposal  

Writing a research proposal begins much before the actual task of writing. Planning the research proposal structure and content is an important stage, which if done efficiently, can help you seamlessly transition into the writing stage. 3,5  

The Planning Stage  

• Manage your time efficiently. Plan to have the draft version ready at least two weeks before your deadline and the final version at least two to three days before the deadline.
• What is the primary objective of your research?  
• Will your research address any existing gap?  
• What is the impact of your proposed research?  
• Do people outside your field find your research applicable in other areas?  
• If your research is unsuccessful, would there still be other useful research outcomes?  

  The Writing Stage  

• Create an outline with main section headings that are typically used.  
• Focus only on writing and getting your points across without worrying about the format of the research proposal , grammar, punctuation, etc. These can be fixed during the subsequent passes. Add details to each section heading you created in the beginning.   
• Ensure your sentences are concise and use plain language. A research proposal usually contains about 2,000 to 4,000 words or four to seven pages.  
• Don’t use too many technical terms and abbreviations assuming that the readers would know them. Define the abbreviations and technical terms.  
• Ensure that the entire content is readable. Avoid using long paragraphs because they affect the continuity in reading. Break them into shorter paragraphs and introduce some white space for readability.  
• Focus on only the major research issues and cite sources accordingly. Don’t include generic information or their sources in the literature review.  
• Proofread your final document to ensure there are no grammatical errors so readers can enjoy a seamless, uninterrupted read.  
• Use academic, scholarly language because it brings formality into a document.  
• Ensure that your title is created using the keywords in the document and is neither too long and specific nor too short and general.  
• Cite all sources appropriately to avoid plagiarism.  
• Make sure that you follow guidelines, if provided. This includes rules as simple as using a specific font or a hyphen or en dash between numerical ranges.  
• Ensure that you’ve answered all questions requested by the evaluating authority.  

Key Takeaways   

Here’s a summary of the main points about research proposals discussed in the previous sections:  

• A research proposal is a document that outlines the details of a proposed study and is created by researchers to submit to evaluators who could be research institutions, universities, faculty, etc.  
• Research proposals are usually about 2,000-4,000 words long, but this depends on the evaluating authority’s guidelines.  
• A good research proposal ensures that you’ve done your background research and assessed the feasibility of the research.  
• Research proposals have the following main sections—introduction, literature review, objectives, methodology, ethical considerations, and budget.  

Frequently Asked Questions  

Q1. How is a research proposal evaluated?  

A1. In general, most evaluators, including universities, broadly use the following criteria to evaluate research proposals . 6  

• Significance —Does the research address any important subject or issue, which may or may not be specific to the evaluator or university?  
• Content and design —Is the proposed methodology appropriate to answer the research question? Are the objectives clear and well aligned with the proposed methodology?  
• Sample size and selection —Is the target population or cohort size clearly mentioned? Is the sampling process used to select participants randomized, appropriate, and free of bias?  
• Timing —Are the proposed data collection dates mentioned clearly? Is the project feasible given the specified resources and timeline?  
• Data management and dissemination —Who will have access to the data? What is the plan for data analysis?  

Q2. What is the difference between the Introduction and Literature Review sections in a research proposal ?  

A2. The Introduction or Background section in a research proposal sets the context of the study by describing the current scenario of the subject and identifying the gaps and need for the research. A Literature Review, on the other hand, provides references to all prior relevant literature to help corroborate the gaps identified and the research need.  

Q3. How long should a research proposal be?  

A3. Research proposal lengths vary with the evaluating authority like universities or committees and also the subject. Here’s a table that lists the typical research proposal lengths for a few universities.  

Q4. What are the common mistakes to avoid in a research proposal ?  

A4. Here are a few common mistakes that you must avoid while writing a research proposal . 7  

• No clear objectives: Objectives should be clear, specific, and measurable for the easy understanding among readers.  
• Incomplete or unconvincing background research: Background research usually includes a review of the current scenario of the particular industry and also a review of the previous literature on the subject. This helps readers understand your reasons for undertaking this research because you identified gaps in the existing research.  
• Overlooking project feasibility: The project scope and estimates should be realistic considering the resources and time available.   
• Neglecting the impact and significance of the study: In a research proposal , readers and evaluators look for the implications or significance of your research and how it contributes to the existing research. This information should always be included.  
• Unstructured format of a research proposal : A well-structured document gives confidence to evaluators that you have read the guidelines carefully and are well organized in your approach, consequently affirming that you will be able to undertake the research as mentioned in your proposal.  
• Ineffective writing style: The language used should be formal and grammatically correct. If required, editors could be consulted, including AI-based tools such as Paperpal , to refine the research proposal structure and language.  

Thus, a research proposal is an essential document that can help you promote your research and secure funds and grants for conducting your research. Consequently, it should be well written in clear language and include all essential details to convince the evaluators of your ability to conduct the research as proposed.  

This article has described all the important components of a research proposal and has also provided tips to improve your writing style. We hope all these tips will help you write a well-structured research proposal to ensure receipt of grants or any other purpose.  

References  

• Sudheesh K, Duggappa DR, Nethra SS. How to write a research proposal? Indian J Anaesth. 2016;60(9):631-634. Accessed July 15, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037942/  
• Writing research proposals. Harvard College Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Harvard University. Accessed July 14, 2024. https://uraf.harvard.edu/apply-opportunities/app-components/essays/research-proposals  
• What is a research proposal? Plus how to write one. Indeed website. Accessed July 17, 2024. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/research-proposal  
• Research proposal template. University of Rochester Medical Center. Accessed July 16, 2024. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/pediatrics/research/documents/Research-proposal-Template.pdf  
• Tips for successful proposal writing. Johns Hopkins University. Accessed July 17, 2024. https://research.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Tips-for-Successful-Proposal-Writing.pdf  
• Formal review of research proposals. Cornell University. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://irp.dpb.cornell.edu/surveys/survey-assessment-review-group/research-proposals  
• 7 Mistakes you must avoid in your research proposal. Aveksana (via LinkedIn). Accessed July 17, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-mistakes-you-must-avoid-your-research-proposal-aveksana-cmtwf/  

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Communication Research Topics for Writing Excellence

Table of Contents

Opting for suitable communication research topics is not puzzling when you are aware of major communication research questions and savvy in the niche. Explore engaging topics in communication and create an A+ project!

What Do Communication Research Ideas Comprise?

Communication research topics comprise interpersonal, business, health, social, technical, and mass communication research questions and further aspects related to the field. It is up to an essay writer what communications research topics to prefer since the author’s interests and background are major in the idea selection.

Although the number of communication topics for research is massive, attempt to reflect solely on relevant and authentic ideas without copying someone’s work. Communication topics are diverse and cover aspects of public and international relations, non-verbal language, social media, cross-cultural communication, public speaking, etc. Don’t dwell on communication as a process while opting for communication research topics. Turn on your creativity and generate powerful communications research topics.

Guide to Communication Research Project Performance

Whether you search for communication health research topics , interpersonal communication research topics, or others, your research project performance should go through the following stages.

• Brainstorming at least five communication topics meeting your interests and competence.
• A quick investigation of chosen communication topics and opting for the most suitable one.
• Generating an attention-grabbing title wording. 
• Diving deeper into the subject by gathering relevant statistics and information.
• Creating a project outline.
• Drafting a paper based on the gathered data.
• Text formatting.
• Thorough paper proofreading and authenticity analysis.

While a research project performance is quite a lengthy process, most learners face obstacles at the primary stage of finding appropriate communication research topics. Watchfulness proves effective when you lack the creativity to generate decent communication topics. You can check a few dozen effective communication research topics provided by experienced authors in the below lists. Expand your horizons by gleaning insights into custom communication research topics.

Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

The major niche in this field is communication between people. Check out tailored interpersonal communication research topics for A+ projects.

• Interpersonal communication in language interaction. 
• Specific stereotypes of behavior in diverse cultures. 
• Informal communication in social networks: Protecting personal boundaries. 
• Communicative space: Methodology of definition. 
• The effect of relevance and volume of information on the conversation. 
• The process of the information field formation during communication between two people. 
• The importance of deep integration of communicator and recipient to meet the needs of both parties. 
• Non-verbal means of communication in different nationalities. 
• Honing the tools of rhetoric develops eloquence.
• Observance of the traditional speed culture in the conditions of constant language modernization.

Communication research topics for college students

The variety of aspects you can explore within communication research topics for college students is immense. Which idea seems suitable for you?

• Hierarchy in communication. 
• Posed facial expression for manipulation.
• The process of generating ideas during communication.
• Does social media lead to social isolation?
• Sincere friendship vs benefits from contacts.
• Importance of acceptance of young people’s emotions.
• Information perception patterns depend on upbringing methods.
• Emigrated children’s adaptation to a new education environment.
• Ways of expressing criticism without coming into conflict.
• Communication skills honing boosts writing mastery.

Mass communication topics

Prompt influence on huge audiences with diverse cultures and languages is a globalization communication phenomenon. Communication research topics in this field are pressing and worthy of your consideration.

• Audience’s specificity in conducting mass communication.
• Information wars in the technological accessibility era.
• Destructive consequences of state’s mass communication.
• Shaping public opinion: Can there be trust in sponsored media?
• Legal restrictions on conveying information to the masses: Codes of ethics.
• Information exchange on the international level.
• Trendsetting on video streaming platforms.
• Censorship’s cruciality in mass media.
• Mass communication in marketing.
• The cycle of knowledge generation during the dissemination of ideas to a large audience.

Health communication research topics

Healthcare is a field where interpersonal, mass, business, and other communication research topics take place. Explore the comprehensive specs of people’s interaction in healthcare by opting for relevant communication research topics.

• Public health campaigns promoted by governments.
• Interaction between healthcare providers and patients.
• Sportsmen’s role in promoting a healthy lifestyle.
• Specs of online consultations with physicians via messengers.
• Online yoga classes and AI client feedback processing.
• Global stereotypes of the appropriate body weight.
• Spreading worldwide awareness of the cultural differences in healthy diets.
• Effective strategies for notifying patients about serious diseases. 
• Marketing restrictions in the pharmaceutical sector.
• Establishment of prolonged and trusting relationships between doctors and patients with chronological diseases.

Business communication research topics

Seeking communication research topics about business and corporate relationships? Look through the following communication research topics provided by savvy authors.

• Productive and long-term cooperation is the major goal of business communication. 
• Techniques for improving partnership relations: Personalization of solutions. 
• Building a sustainable business image through consistent and responsible cooperation with clients.
• Business discussion culture: Communication professionalism.
• Support of periodic cycles of communication with partners.
• Regulation of relations between economic entities based on legal agreements.
• Diplomatic protocol at business conferences.
• Effective negotiating positions.
• Manipulation of trust in establishing cooperation agreements with partners.
• The success of negotiations depends on the place and time, as well as the participants’ psychological state.

Technical communication research topics

IT, AI, digital marketing, and related industries are growing rapidly. Communication research topics with an emphasis on technology is a viable option. Check a few decent communication research topics below.

• Static text documentation is a major component of technical communication.
• Onboarding procedures for newcomers in IT companies.
• Product localization to enter the international market.
• Visual formatting peculiarities of technical documentation.
• Interactive methods of conveying the product’s technical characteristics.
• Instructions for using devices and programs as an example of technical communication: Standard layout vs creative approach.
• The structuring of requirements in the technical tasks is the key to timely project completion.
• AI technical documentation proofreading.
• Technical communication influences software development progress.
• Client-centered approach to technical documentation creation.

Finding successful communication research topics is not a myth but a consistent set of steps you can learn from competent authors. Benefit from the 60+ working communication research topics and generate your idea for in-depth investigation. Craft appropriate wording for topics in communication and forget about boring paper titles. Here are your ideal communication topics for research!

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16+ Best ChatGPT Prompts for Writing All of My Best AI Writing Prompts + The Perfect Prompt Formula (Explained)

Here’s all of my best ChatGPT prompts for writing great content, free for you to copy & paste straight into ChatGPT and get better content outputs immediately. AI tools like ChatGPT are powerful, but only if you understand how to use them. These writing prompts (and my breakdown of how to structure great AI writing prompts) will save you tons of time.

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I’ve been using AI (and ChatGPT) since it first rolled out and blew all of our collective minds. As a result, I’ve spent literally hours fine-tuning these ChatGPT prompts for writing great content that get me results—ranging from generating entire SEO-optimized blog post drafts, to social copy, content calendars, meta details, and everything in-between.

So without dilly-dallying here, please enjoy my breakdown of all my favorite ChatGPT writing prompts, and what makes for the perfect prompt formula when you go to craft your own prompts:

Let’s dive into each of my ChatGPT writing prompts, one at a time. Real quick though, if you’re anything like me, you like to work smart , not hard . So, I wanna introduce you to my suite of 75+ AI-powered tools for creators, inside RightBlogger (you can create a 100% free account to take all our tools for a spin). These are the tools I wished I had when I first started creating content, built by me.

RightBlogger takes the complex AI prompting out of the equation for you. We handle all that behind-the-scenes, and we’re damn good at it. Thousands of creators, bloggers, marketers, writers, and SEO pros are using our tools instead of ChatGPT—because it simplifies the AI-assisted creation process & allows you to focus on getting results from your content. Come take our tools for a spin with a free account today.

Try RightBlogger : My 75+ Hand-Crafted Tools for Bloggers

Join 4,516+ creators, bloggers, marketers, writers, freelancers & entrepreneurs in using my very own kit of powerful tools for content creation: RightBlogger . You’ll unlock 75+ blogging, SEO, marketing, sales and productivity-focused tools to create content faster & more effectively today.

Here are all my top ChatGPT prompts for writing, broken down by category, so you can hop around to your heart’s content:

16+ ChatGPT Prompts for Writing (and My AI Prompt Formula)

• Core Writing Components (The Greatest Hits)
• Ideation & Planning
• Research & Opportunity Identification
• SEO-Optimizing, Improving, Repurposing & Promoting
• My AI Prompt Writing Formula

Now, let’s dive right in with my greatest hits—the ChatGPT writing prompts I use (and share) most often.

Core Writing Components: My Fundamental ChatGPT Writing Prompts

One of the best ways to think of ChatGPT, is as a powerful writing assistant. It’s not a replacement for you , and it never will be (because it can’t).

However, AI blogging tools like ChatGPT do a fantastic job of laying a foundation, crafting first draft components, and allowing you to dodge blank page mania for one more day… or steering clear from throwing your typewriter across the room…

Here’s how to use ChatGPT to quickly generate useful first drafts for the core components of your writing—introductions, conclusions, outlines, sections within your articles, full articles, and FAQ content that’ll help you help your audience, faster.

1. Introductions

First up, writing introductions with the help of AI. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’m just not feeling inspired when I sit down to write. Even if I have the kernel of a good idea, it helps me to get some inspiration on ways I could start my blog post. ChatGPT is great for that.

Here’s my ChatGPT prompt for writing introductions that don’t suck, and give you a great starting point to begin your writing process. I also have a free AI blog introduction writer you can use, too.

Here’s what this ChatGPT writing prompt looks like in action, generating an introduction for a blog post (I need) about meditation tips:

Write first draft introductions in just a few clicks using my free blog introduction writer .

2. Conclusions

All great blog conclusions share one thing in common: they effectively call your reader to action. Someone who makes it to the end of your article, is highly engaged with what you’re sharing. This ChatGPT prompt for writing action-oriented conclusions, will steer you in the right direction, to building deeper relationships with your readers.

And here’s a preview of what you can expect ChatGPT to do, using this conclusion prompt:

Craft compelling conclusions in just a few clicks with my free blog conclusion generator .

3. Outlines

Let’s say you have the right blog post idea already loaded up and ready to go… but you’re not so sure about all the details the article should cover. I recommend outlining as much of an article from your own base of knowledge & experience when you can—but in those times when you could use a little inspiration, this ChatGPT prompt for writing an outline, will give you some fantastic starting points to consider.

Here’s a preview of what you can expect with this ChatGPT prompt for writing article outlines:

Create full outlines for your articles using my free blog outline generator tool.

4. Sections of Articles

Another great use case for AI tools like ChatGPT, is in creating smaller chunks of content (think paragraphs and header sections), that take your stance on a particular topic, then expand a bit—giving you more to work with and weave into your articles.

Using this ChatGPT prompt to write sections of your content, here’s an example of what you can expect:

Take my free Paragraph Generator tool for a spin, to speed up this process.

5. Full SEO-Optimized Articles (First Drafts)

Ah yes, writing full SEO-optimized articles using ChatGPT. I knew why you were really here.

I have an entire guide to my personal AI blogging process that goes deeper on my thoughts around how to best utilize tools like ChatGPT and RightBlogger to write blog posts with the help of AI—but the key takeaways are two things:

• Treat AI-generated blog posts as first drafts : We’ve all seen the imperfection of AI on full display more times than we can count, and nothing is more true than if you give AI very little direction to work with, it’s going to be wildly unpredictable in its output . The more guidance you give it (in the form of a detailed prompt), the better your first draft will be, but it’ll always be a first draft, because…
• Weave as much of yourself & your take into the creation process as possible : AI doesn’t have a lived body of human experience, it can’t draw on the real examples inside your head, and it won’t be able to tap into your human emotion. It’s an imitation of all these things, and in that sense it’ll always be non-human. Full articles from sources like ChatGPT and RightBlogger can be pretty impressive, but they still need your editing, your style, real-life examples, stories, and personal experiences.

The first step to writing an SEO-optimized first draft article that uses real-time Google search data, is crafting a great outline.

Step 1: Generating a detailed, SEO-forward outline for ChatGPT to use as a foundation.

Here’s step one of writing a full article draft using ChatGPT, focusing in on creating a great outline first :

Step 2: Make edits to refine your outline.

Interact with ChatGPT to make any necessary edits and revisions to the outline you’ve created.

Please don’t skip this step, it’s crucial to making sure you’re injecting your take, beliefs, style, personality, and experience into the AI writing process. Without you , I can promise your ChatGPT outputs will sound more like AI and be a total pain to level up during your editing process.

Step 3: Write the full first draft of your article using the dialed in outline you’ve created.

And here we go—a preview of what ChatGPT’s doing with this prompt. Not bad, but could use a whole lot of love in the formatting department:

This is kind of a lot, I know. Simplify your AI writing experience by using my free AI article writer . For a super-powered version of this tool, you’ll wanna use RightBlogger’s Article Writer , where we’ve really dialed things up about a hundred notches.

If you dig these ChatGPT writing prompts, you’ll find even more in my roundup of all my top ChatGPT prompts for bloggers , too.

6. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Researching the most frequently asked questions on a topic you’re considering writing about, is one of the best ways to create genuinely helpful content that real people are already searching for answers about. Use this ChatGPT writing prompt to get the best FAQs (and their answers) in seconds:

Here’s what you can expect from this ChatGPT prompt for writing relevant FAQ content:

We built an FAQ Generator Tool inside RightBlogger that’ll quickly source the most relevant key questions related to your topic, and provide helpful answers, too. Just be sure to double check everything is lookin correct—we know AI sometimes has a mind of its own.

Ideation and Planning ChatGPT Writing Prompts

For me, when great ideas are flowing, they usually come in huge waves and I do my best to capture all of them—even if it’s in the form of a quick audio note or jotting them down in my creative journal if I’m away from my studio.

Yet other times, I can feel totally uninspired. It’s a crazy hot & cold thing sometimes, being a creator.

In times of need, I’m a big fan of turning to tools like ChatGPT to stock me back up with potential ideas and plans for shaking myself out of a creative funk. Here are my favorite prompts for just such occasions.

7. Article Ideas

When your content calendar is running low, and you’re not feeling particularly creative, try using ChatGPT as a tool to spark your fire again. Here’s my ChatGPT prompt for getting a crop of new article ideas within my niche :

Here’s what a slightly tweaked version of ChatGPT ideation prompt looks like in action (you’ll get very similar results):

Try my free blog post idea generator to get a jumpstart on your brainstorming process in just a few clicks.

8. Content Plan + Publishing Schedule

Knowing what you’re going to publish, and when, is a great practice to keep once you’re running a content-fueled business that shows a clear ROI for your time spent creating great content. Here’s my ChatGPT prompt for creating a content plan (aka publishing schedule):

Here’s one example of what this ChatGPT content planning prompt looks like in practice:

Now, let’s dive into using ChatGPT for research and identifying opportunities where you could create content that’ll attract an audience.

Research and Opportunity Identification ChatGPT Writing Prompts

If you think you can do more research than AI models that are trained on virtually the entire Internet, then I’d like to be your friend. For the rest of us, we now have ChatGPT to help with more targeted research.

Perhaps one of the top areas where AI writing tools like ChatGPT and RightBlogger really stand out, is in conducting research to figure out the absolute best, audience-informed topics for you to create content about.

Not knowing how to properly research is a common challenge in your early writing days. The right ChatGPT prompts can help activate this powerful assistant and help you maximize your researching time investment.

9. Keyword Research

There’s an entire art and science to doing keyword research , but in the world of AI, you can get some really fantastic, actionable insights from the right ChatGPT prompt. Here’s mine:

Here’s what this ChatGPT prompt for keyword research looks like, in action:

My free keyword research tool has quickly become one of the most popular in my stable of free blogging tools. Take it for a spin to simplify your keyword research process today.

10. Keyword Clusters

Keyword clusters are a group of related keywords that all have some topical overlap and often, similar search intent. Creating a keyword cluster is a brilliant way to approach mapping out a content strategy that has the potential to rank your writing for tons of terms in your niche. Here’s my ChatGPT prompt for keyword clustering:

Here’s what this keyword clustering prompt looks like inside ChatGPT:

Dig this one? I made a free keyword cluster tool , because I love cluster mapping so much. I think you’ll love it, too.

11. Long-Tail Keywords (People Also Ask)

Now for one of my favorite content research secret weapons—the People Also Ask section of Google search results:

Literally all 4 of these topics would make FANTASTIC articles & videos for a creator in the running or hiking space that wants to earn from affiliate programs . Sheesh, I wish I had more free time…

Anyway, AI tools like ChatGPT and RightBlogger have access to real-time Google search data, so they can quickly perform a search and list out all the most relevant long-tail keyword topics that real people are searching for online—giving you some of the richest, least competitive content ideas to get working on.

Here’s what you can expect with this People Also Ask ChatGPT prompt:

Try RightBlogger’s People Also Ask Tool to instantly source long-tail keyword opportunities and get fantastic starter copy to answer those questions in content for your site.

SEO-Optimizing, Improving, Repurposing, and Promoting Your Content

Once you’ve created your content, there’s still a whole lot more that goes into growing a successful business around your writing .

These are my favorite ChatGPT prompts for everything from SEO-optimization, to promoting my writing, and repurposing it for different formats & platforms.

12. SEO-Optimize Your Writing

SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of thoughtfully finding the balance of writing for humans & search algorithms at the same time. It’s a far more in-depth process than we can cover here, but it essentially helps you tune up an article you’ve written—in a way that gives it the best possible shot at ranking high in Google search results .

This is the ChatGPT prompt I use for optimizing an article that’s already published. Alternatively, if you have the copy from your working draft, you can paste that into ChatGPT and get the same analysis.

Here’s that AI prompt, in action over inside ChatGPT:

You’ll still need to take action on the SEO-optimization suggestions, but you can sleep real good at night knowing these insights come from a deep well of ‘knowledge’ about what Google will rank high in their search results.

13. LinkedIn Posts

I try and post to my LinkedIn at least a few times each week, but sometimes I go literally months without sharing updates or weighing in with my take on something that’s going down in the content creation space. This ChatGPT prompt for writing LinkedIn posts is super helpful in those moments when I’m not feeling inspired.

Here’s an example of what you can expect with this ChatGPT prompt for writing LinkedIn posts:

Take RightBlogger’s LinkedIn Post Generator for a spin with a free account, today.

14. Tweets (X) Posts

Same story, different platform for me. I used to spend a lot of time on Twitter, but these days, I don’t get as much personal joy out of social media—so when I need some ideas for what to share with my community, here’s the AI prompt I keep handy:

Here’s this ChatGPT prompt for writing tweets, in action:

Take RightBlogger’s Tweet (X Post) Idea Generator for a spin with a free account, today.

15. Grammar and Spellcheck

There’s nothing wurse than hitting publish and having a few unnoticed typos or grammar mistakes sprinkled throughout your writing. Use this ChatGPT prompt for checking your grammar and spelling, in a snap:

This one’s pretty self-explanatory, so no example image necessary—get your content edited & cleaned up by a powerful AI assistant.

Take my free grammar fixer tool for a ride today, and make your blog editing process even quicker.

16. Content Gap Analysis

Ever wonder why some articles outrank yours in Google search results and drive more traffic as a result? Well, it turns out AI tools like ChatGPT and RightBlogger (our Content Gap Analysis tool is sick), are absolutely fantastic at conducting this kind of analysis & reporting back with actionable takeaways to improve your writing in the eyes of search engines. Here’s my content gap analysis prompt:

Here’s a preview of what this content gap analysis prompt will generate for you:

We have an even more powerful Content Gap Analysis tool inside RightBlogger that utilizes multiple different data sources and complex prompting. I know you’ll dig it if you give it a try.

My AI Writing Prompt Formula (to Get Better AI Outputs)

If snagging some good prompts is like being handed a fish, then learning the skill of prompt engineering and how to use ChatGPT like a pro, is like teaching yourself to fish. Oh, and you can even use DALL-E inside ChatGPT to generate unique stock images. Not bad…

Learning to prompt is a skill, and a great investment in your future as a writer, to learn how to weave in powerful AI tools to your process where it makes sense for you .

Here’s my ChatGPT prompt formula that’ll significantly level up the outputs of any prompt you give it:

• Task : This one is straightforward. Tell the AI what you need. It could be writing an intro, drafting a blog post, or generating ideas.
• Context : Give as much background and detail as possible at this stage. The more specific you are, the better. Let the AI know details that are important to the task (like what your take is on a subject you’re writing about).
• Exemplar : Just a fancy way of saying “example.” Explain to ChatGPT exactly what kind of output you’re looking for. Including real examples will help it get closer to what you envision.
• Persona : Who should the AI “be” while writing this content for you? Imagine that AI can wear different hats for different tasks. Explain who it is within your prompts, and it’ll have a much better understanding of how to go about creating your output.
• Format : Share which format you want the final product to come in. What exactly should the AI output look like? Do you want a list, a paragraph, a blog post with multiple sections, maybe just some bullet points? Be specific here.
• Voice : Always define the style and tone when you’re writing a ChatGPT prompt. Do you want your output to be casual, formal, playful, something much more nuanced? Let these tools know, so your writing outputs will match your vibe.

If you can nail these elements at a high level within your ChatGPT prompts, then I can promise this AI prompt formula will serve you well.

Drop any questions or share your experiences with AI in the comments. Let’s help each other grow and write amazing content!

Hi I'm Ryan Robinson

I'm a blogger, but I'm not my blog. I am not my business either. Occasional podcaster and very-much-recovering side project addict. Co-Founder at RightBlogger . Join me here, on ryrob.com to learn how to start a blog and build a purpose-connected business. Be sure to take my free blogging tools for a spin... especially my wildly popular free keyword research tool & AI article writer . They rule. Somehow, I also find time to write for publications like Fast Company , Forbes , Entrepreneur , The Next Web , Business Insider , and more. Let’s chat on Twitter (X?) and YouTube about our feelings (and business, of course).

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4 replies to “16+ Best ChatGPT Prompts for Writing (My AI Prompt Formula)”

Thanks for the helpful blog Ryan.

Thanks for the 16+Best ChatGPT Prompts for Writing . More Grace to you. l am a newbie, attempting to write blog on Christian topics, and other topics as l May consider relevant. kindly, guide and advice me on how to get started.

Thanks for your helpful Prompts for Writing.

Great! Information.

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• Knowledge Base
• Starting the research process

How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on November 11, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Choosing your dissertation topic is the first step in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible. When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider:

• Your institution and department’s requirements
• Your areas of knowledge and interest
• The scientific, social, or practical relevance
• The availability of data and resources
• The timeframe of your dissertation
• The relevance of your topic

You can follow these steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.

Table of contents

Step 1: check the requirements, step 2: choose a broad field of research, step 3: look for books and articles, step 4: find a niche, step 5: consider the type of research, step 6: determine the relevance, step 7: make sure it’s plausible, step 8: get your topic approved, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about dissertation topics.

The very first step is to check your program’s requirements. This determines the scope of what it is possible for you to research.

• Is there a minimum and maximum word count?
• When is the deadline?
• Should the research have an academic or a professional orientation?
• Are there any methodological conditions? Do you have to conduct fieldwork, or use specific types of sources?

Some programs have stricter requirements than others. You might be given nothing more than a word count and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of topics and approaches to choose from. If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask your supervisor or department coordinator.

Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:

• Twentieth-century literature
• Economic history
• Health policy

To get a more specific sense of the current state of research on your potential topic, skim through a few recent issues of the top journals in your field. Be sure to check out their most-cited articles in particular. For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar , subject-specific databases , and your university library’s resources.

As you read, note down any specific ideas that interest you and make a shortlist of possible topics. If you’ve written other papers, such as a 3rd-year paper or a conference paper, consider how those topics can be broadened into a dissertation.

After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down options for your potential topic. This can be a gradual process, and should get more and more specific as you go. For example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:

• Twentieth-century literature   Twentieth-century Irish literature   Post-war Irish poetry
• Economic history   European economic history   German labor union history
• Health policy   Reproductive health policy   Reproductive rights in South America

All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and articles about them. Try to find a specific niche where you can make your mark, such as: something not many people have researched yet, a question that’s still being debated, or a very current practical issue.

At this stage, make sure you have a few backup ideas — there’s still time to change your focus. If your topic doesn’t make it through the next few steps, you can try a different one. Later, you will narrow your focus down even more in your problem statement and research questions .

There are many different types of research , so at this stage, it’s a good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:

• Collecting original data (e.g., experimental or field research)?
• Analyzing existing data (e.g., national statistics, public records, or archives)?
• Interpreting cultural objects (e.g., novels, films, or paintings)?
• Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g., theories, methods, or interpretations)?

Many dissertations will combine more than one of these. Sometimes the type of research is obvious: if your topic is post-war Irish poetry, you will probably mainly be interpreting poems. But in other cases, there are several possible approaches. If your topic is reproductive rights in South America, you could analyze public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this as you narrow down your ideas.

It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant to your field.

• Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
• Social relevance means that the research can advance our understanding of society and inform social change.
• Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve concrete problems or improve real-life processes.

The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in society at large or in your academic discipline. The relevance must be clearly stated when you define your research problem .

Before you make a final decision on your topic, consider again the length of your dissertation, the timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the practicalities of conducting the research.

Will you have enough time to read all the most important academic literature on this topic? If there’s too much information to tackle, consider narrowing your focus even more.

Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you think you might struggle to find information, consider broadening or shifting your focus.

Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical access.

Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!

Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of your topic, called a research prospectus or proposal .

Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch focus early in the dissertation process. Just make sure you have enough time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or department.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

All research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

Cite this Scribbr article

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McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 20). How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow. Scribbr. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/dissertation-topic/

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