How to choose a phd thesis

How to choose a phd thesis

Oct 24,  · 1: Stop looking for the one big idea. Start investigating something anything at all, and see if it grabs your interest. This might not be what you end up researching, but just exploring your subject can lead to unexpected flashes of inspiration. You might try You are searching for gaps in knowledge and developing a PhD project to address them. Focus on recent publications (e.g. in the last five years). In particular, the literature review of recent publications will give an excellent summary of the state of existing knowledge, and Estimated Reading Time: 8 mins Aug 18,  · Tips on Selecting Your PhD Thesis Topic Before you start, familiarize yourself with current literature and trends, and make sure that you know which topics have Engage in discussions on your selected topics in your faculty, to gain even more insight. Talk to your librarian or student support 5/5

Flawless Tips on Selecting Your PhD Thesis Topic – The WritePass Journal : The WritePass Journal

One of the most common questions I get asked is how to choose a thesis topic or research project. Unfortunately it's not as simple as just "finding a gap in the literature", and there are many complicating factors to consider.

There's a lot to consider, so take your time reading this! Good research depends on many factors, how to choose a phd thesis, and a good idea alone is not enough. You can have a brilliant idea, but the ultimate quality of the research will depend on your execution; an average idea well-executed is much better than a brilliant idea executed badly.

In turn, your ability to execute the research will depend on your specific research skills existing and developingas well as your access to other resources such as equipment, funding, technical support and time. Since these factors vary greatly, what may be a viable project for one person may be entirely unsuitable for another. Your research idea needs to be of interest to other academics in the field, how to choose a phd thesis. Partly, this will depend on your ability to justify your research and the originality of your proposal, but it can also depend on timing, as technology how to choose a phd thesis new things possible and oldtechniques obsolete and as various theories and areas of study come in and out of fashion.

The interestingness of your project to others depends on who your audience is, as some projects will be fascinating to some, utterly pointless — or in some cases even offensive — to others. This is worth bearing in mind not only when you present yourcomplete research for examination or publication and nominate examiners or referees, but also when you choose whom to work with ; if your supervisor is fundamentally opposed to your project, then you should either choose another project or changesupervisor.

Although a degree of originality is a key requirement, research is never totally original. Rather, it operates on the edge of what is already known; venturing forward but still connected to and dependent on that which has been done before.

Not every aspect of your research needs to be original. The skilful application of unoriginal ideas and well-established techniques gives you a reliable foundation to work from, and even the most revolutionary research will rely upon much which is unoriginal, perhaps combining pre-existing elements from disparate fields in an original way.

Academic research is how to choose a phd thesis to learning, but on a societal scale. Rather than searching for a gap where there is nothing, it may be better to search for an edge to work on where you can take existing research further.

Another approach is to test the basic assumptions that others in the field have used. It is quite possible for an assumption to become accepted fact simply because several authors have stated or cited the same idea, even though it has never been systematically tested or proven. If you find such an untested assumption and can think of a way to test it, then your work will be of great value to the field provided it is well executed.

The decisions you make early in your PhD about what research to pursue will affect everything that follows, and this puts a lot of pressure on your choice of project. Creative processes tend to work best when you take the pressure off and allow yourself the freedom to consider many ideas without worrying about whether or not they are good. This freedom is important because, often, bad ideas serve as intermediate stages in the development of good ones, how to choose a phd thesis.

Developing an idea is not just about freedom of creativity though. Once you have a few ideas it then takes focused work to test their viability and to refine them into a potential research project. How, then, do you test viability? You will certainly need to check the existing literature to find out whether your idea has already been investigated and what similar research has been done. This is partly to ensure that your idea is original, and partly to help you think through how you might conduct your own research.

The literature can show you how other researchers have approached similar problems, but it is also useful to talk to other researchers in your department; to get feedback on your ideas and to find out what resources and expertise are available to you. This is not wasted time—it is often through investigating a bad idea that you then develop a good one.

Sooner or later though, you will have to commit to a project. There is no set formula to follow here, but there are some questions you can how to choose a phd thesis yourself, which may help you decide.

The natural temptation might be to set your aims as high as possible and make your project as comprehensive as you can. Such projects are easy to imagine, but much harder to implement. Think of the simplest possible version of your project, and how you would go about it. Then you can add extra complexity, but bear in mind that you will have to achieve the simple version first.

Using research to prove something you passionately believe in can lead to confirmation bias, where you only pay attention to results that support your existing view. Depending on your PhD programme, you may have to write a research proposal. The requirements for this differ between institutions—you may have to write the proposal before being accepted as a student, or it may happen at a much later stage.

Generally though, your proposal will need to show a clear research objective and choice of an appropriate methodology. Clarity is the key. It should be immediately obvious exactly what you are trying to do, and this is only possible to communicate if you first have clarity in your own mind, how to choose a phd thesis.

Do not attempt to write down everything you could possibly imagine doing, nor everything you know about the subject. How to choose a thesis topic By James Hayton. What makes a good project? Originality Although a degree of originality is a key requirement, research is never totally original. Find an edge to work on Academic research is analogous to learning, but on a societal scale. Developing an idea The decisions you make early in your PhD about what research to pursue will affect everything that follows, and this puts a lot of pressure on your choice of project.

Does the project have a clear aim? Do you know what techniques you will apply? What resources and funding will you need?

What skills will you need to develop? Do others in your department have relevant expertise? Are you interested in the project? Can you justify why the project should be of interest to others? And who will it be of interest to? Start small The natural temptation might be to set your aims as high as possible and make your project as comprehensive as you can. Proposals Depending on your PhD programme, you may have to write a research proposal.

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Your final PhD year: moving towards submission. Productivity comes last. Planting seeds or putting out fires? A PhD is not everything.

Academic writing: Should I cite the original source? For more detailed guidance and support The PhD Academy Weekly calls with James You don't have to do it all alone!

How to choose a phd thesis courses Build your skills and confidence with our detailed video courses. Go at your own pace and get advice and support when you need it. Writing groups Meet other students online for company and accountability.

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How To Choose A Research Topic For A Dissertation Or Thesis (7 Step Method + Examples)

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How to choose your thesis topic* | James Hayton's PhD advice website

You are searching for gaps in knowledge and developing a PhD project to address them. Focus on recent publications (e.g. in the last five years). In particular, the literature review of recent publications will give an excellent summary of the state of existing knowledge, and Estimated Reading Time: 8 mins Aug 18,  · Tips on Selecting Your PhD Thesis Topic Before you start, familiarize yourself with current literature and trends, and make sure that you know which topics have Engage in discussions on your selected topics in your faculty, to gain even more insight. Talk to your librarian or student support 5/5 Oct 24,  · 1: Stop looking for the one big idea. Start investigating something anything at all, and see if it grabs your interest. This might not be what you end up researching, but just exploring your subject can lead to unexpected flashes of inspiration. You might try