“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” ~ Lao Tzu

Without question, one of the most important—and most difficult—aspects of starting your thesis or dissertation journey is choosing your topic. Even students with a honed passion for a specific field of study often find themselves agonizing over the exact direction they would like to go.

When you’re just getting started, it’s easy to feel as though your choice will determine your entire future. But you already know your interests…it’s just a matter of discovering the intersection of your passion and a workable project for pursuing it. So take a deep breath and consider these basics of selecting a topic that is both compelling and promising:

1. Choose a Topic That Interests You

The emphasis here is on the word you.

This point might seem obvious, but we are often tempted to make choices based on what others will think or say, rather than on our own feelings and opinions. We want our mentors to be proud; we don’t want to disappoint anyone. But when it comes to academic research, your passions and interests are important.

Consider that you will spend many, many hours reading, researching, writing and thinking about your topic. Inevitably, you will tire of your topic at times, but be sure to at least choose something that piqued your interest in the first place. Otherwise, you will lose interest and have trouble regaining it.

On a similar note, remember that your topic will never be more interesting to the world that it is to you, so choose a topic of interest to your field. Realistically, your research will not inspire passion in the general public. However, it should have relevance and be of interest within your desired field of expertise.

Questions to ask yourself in choosing an interesting topic:

• What would I like for my research to achieve?
• What difference could the answers to my questions potentially make?
• Who will be interested in the results?

2. Mine Sources for Recent Research

By design, academic research builds upon other research. You should therefore make sure, right from the start, that there is plenty of empirical material out there relevant to your area of interest. If you’re still foggy on the meaning of empirical research, here’s a concise explanation.

And not just any empirical research will do. You need recent research, as in within five years of your projected completion date. If most of your data is older than that, you may need to rethink your topic, or at least dig deeper.

Remember that as the clock runs on your project, your sources are gradually becoming more and more outdated. In fact, some of your initial sources may fall within the target date for recent research at the beginning of your journey, but expire as you near the journey’s end. That’s why you should make sure there are enough recent sources when you select your topic. Then, it’s a good strategy to continually seek out fresh, recent sources and add them as you go along.

Questions to ask about available research on your topic of interest:

• Is the research empirical?
• Is it recent?
• When will it expire [be consider no longer recent]?

3. Consider Saturation Level

On the other hand, make sure there’s still room in the field for you to squeeze in with your original research. Make sure you haven’t landed on a topic that will end up being a “been there, done that” situation.

Think of it this way: The wheel has already been invented. However, there may be room to improve upon the existing wheel, and that’s what you’re looking for in topic selection. In academia, this “room” is called the gap. You don’t need (or even want) a huge gap, but you will need a gap.

Questions to ask about the gap:

• What questions remain unanswered, according to the results of prior empirical research?
• What research has been suggested in the field?

4. Make Sure It’s Doable and Practical

There are two kinds of research candidates—those who want to research what they want to research, regardless of any objections, and those who want to complete the program as soon as possible. If you are a passionate idealist whose singular goal is to study children in detention centers, there’s nothing anyone can say that will change your mind. Please know that this is a completely fine way to be; I would be the last person to argue with your passion for that line of research. Just prepare yourself for a lot of red tape, and probably for a later graduation date.

If, on the other hand, you are a pragmatic practitioner who wants to be done with the program as quickly as you can, then this next advice is for you.

Choose research that will help you get to the finish line. Consider the following factors in determining whether or not your current idea is doable and practical:

• Cost – How much will it cost to do the research? How much will it cost to delay graduation? Is it worth it to pinch pennies or am I losing out on the back end in terms of time and earning power?
• Time – How long will it take for me to complete the project? How many steps are there, and how long will each take? How could I shorten that time?
• Paperwork – What kinds of permissions, authorizations, etc., am I going to need? Which ones could I avoid by altering my project?
• Measurable – What would be considered a successful completion of this project? What do I hope to know, and is it possible to even measure that? How?
• Meaningful to the field – Who will find my research to valuable? What does it offer to my field of interest? Will expertise in this area be of use? Where?

5. Take Advice

At the end of the day, remember that those who have undertaken this journey before you—especially those in your field of interest—have valuable experience and insight. Connect with them, run your ideas and interests by them, and then listen to what they say. They may actually be the ones who can offer you the most valuable guidance regarding the do’s and don’t’s of choosing a research topic that is both practical and inspiring. Heed them.

Your academic journey will be your own, and may not be as linear a path as you imagined it would be. That’s okay, as long as you take that first step, and then keep at it!

If you’re still looking for help choosing a topic, this link includes further resources on topic selection, including approaches, where to look, and criteria for evaluating potential topics.

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