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Literature Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On February 7, 2023

Introduction

A literature dissertation aims to contextualise themes, ideas, and interests that have grabbed a reader’s interest and attention, giving them a more profound meaning through the movement of time within and outside cultures.

Literature is a comprehensive knowledge of other writers’ views, and to understand them, a student must perform extensive reading and research. A writer coveys their thoughts and ideas through their literary works, including the views and opinions of writers ranging from topics on philosophy , religious preferences, sociology , academics, and psychology .

To help you get started with brainstorming for literature topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your literature dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

2022 Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: impact of the second language barrier on the social integration of immigrants- a case of chinese nationals migrating to the uk.

Research Aim: This research purposes an analysis to show the impact of the second language barrier on the social integration of Chinese immigrants in the UK. It will analyze how this barrier affects various segments of their lives by limiting their social interactions. Moreover, it will identify ways (language courses, communal support, financial support, etc.) through which government and civil society help these immigrants to overcome this barrier to make them feel inclusive in the UK and play a part in the economy.

Topic 2: The Power of the Writer’s Imagination- A Study Finding the Role of Writer Imagination in the Social Revolution in 19th-Century Europe

Research Aim: This study intends to identify the role of the writer’s imagination in the social revolution in 19 th century Europe. It will show how writers’ imagination is reflected in their writings and how it affects ordinary individuals’ mindsets. It will assess the writings of various authors during the 19 th -century social revolution when Europe replaced the monarchy with democracy. It will show the language used by the authors and its effect on the individuals’ will to achieve democracy.

Topic 3: How does an Accent Develop? An Exploratory Analysis Finding Factors Shaped Various English Accents in the World- A Case of America, Australia, and India

Research Aim: This research will analyze how an accent develops when a language is imported from one region to the other. It will identify how various factors such as culture, norms, politics, religion, etc., affect accent development. And to show this effect, this research will show how the English accent changed when it came to America, Australia, and India. Moreover, it will indicate whether social resistance in these areas affected the accent or was readily accepted.

Topic 4: “Gender Pronouns and their Usage” a New Debate in the Social Linguistics Literature- A Systematic Review of the Past and Present Debates

Research Aim: This study sheds light on a relatively new debate in politics, sociology, and linguistics, which is how to correctly use gender pronouns in all of these contexts. Therefore, this study will explore these areas, but the main focus will be on linguistics. It will review various theories and frameworks in linguistics to show multiple old and new debates on the subject matter. Moreover, a systematic review will determine the correct usage of gender pronouns.

Topic 5: Are Men Portrayed Better in the English Literature? A Feminist Critique of the Old English Literature

Research Aim: This research will analyze whether men are portrayed better in English literature through a feminist lens. It will assess a different kind of English literature, such as poems, essays, novels, etc., to show whether men are portrayed better than women in various contexts. Moreover, it will analyze multiple classical and modern-day writers to see how they use different male and female characters in their literature. Lastly, it will add a feminist perspective on the subject matter by introducing the feminist theory and its portrayal of men and women.

Covid-19 Literature Research Topics

Topic 1: the scientific literature of coronavirus pandemic.

Research Aim: This study will review the scientific literature of Coronavirus pandemic

Topic 2: Literature and the future world after Coronavirus.

Research Aim: This study will reveal the world’s literature predictions after the pandemic.

Topic 3: Coronavirus is a trending topic among the media, writers, and publishers

Research Aim: Covid-19 has disrupted every sector’s health care system and economy. Apart from this, the topic of the Coronavirus has become trending everywhere. This study will highlight whether the information provided about COVID-19 by all the sources is authentic? What kind of misleading information is presented?

Literature Dissertation Topics for 2021

Topic 1: dependence of humans on computers.

Research Aim: This research aims to study the dependence of humans on the computer, its advantages and disadvantages.

Topic 2: Whether or not the death penalty is effective in the current era?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify whether the death penalty is effective in the current era.

Topic 3: Fashion Industry and its impact on people's upward and downward social perception

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the impact on people’s upward and downward social perception

Topic 4: Communication gaps in families due to the emergence of social media

Research Aim: This research aims to address the communication gaps in families due to the emergence of social media and suggest possible ways to overcome them.

Topic 5: Employment and overtime working hours- a comparative study

Research Aim: This research aims to measure the disadvantages of overtime working hours of employees.

Topic 6: Machine translators Vs. human translators

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a comparative study of machine translators and human translators

Topic 7: Freelancing Vs 9 to 5 jobs- a comparative study

Research Aim: This research aims to compare freelancing jobs with 9 to 5 jobs.

Literature Dissertation Topics for 2020

Topic 1: the effects of everyday use of digital media on youth in the uk..

Research Aim: Digital media is a normal part of a person’s life. In this research, the aim is to examine and analyse; how young people between the ages of 15-25 in the UK engage with digital media. The study includes the amount of time interaction occurs and the role of time-space, time elasticities, and online/offline intersections.

Topic 2: Critical analysis of the teenager protagonist in “The Room on the Roof” written by Ruskin Bond.

Research Aim: Many Indian writers and children’s book authors regard Ruskin Bond as an icon. This research will systematically study the alienated teenage protagonist in Ruskin’s “The Room on the Roof” and how Ruskin evolved the character gradually throughout the novel. The way Ruskin used this protagonist to reflect his feelings and convey them to the reader.

Topic 3: Promotion of women empowerment through mass media in Nepal.

Research Aim: The primary purpose of this study is to analyse the role of mass media, including audio, print, and audio-visual, in the empowerment of women in the Nepal region. It also discusses the development of mass media in Nepal and spreading awareness of women’s empowerment.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service , which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: eighteenth-century british literature..

Research Aim: This study aims to study the evolution of modern British literature compared to eighteenth-century literature. This research will focus on the genre of comedy only. The research will discuss the causes of laughter in the eighteenth century compared to things that cause laughter in modern times.

Topic 5: A systematic study of Chaucer’s Miller’s tale.

Research Aim: This research aims to take a closer look at Chaucer’s heavily censored story, “The Miller’s Tale.” It seeks to look at why “The Miller’s Tale” is criticised and categorised as obscene and unfit for a general read. The study will analyse the writer’s writing style, language, and method for the research paper.

Topic 3: Understanding 17th-century English culture using a model of Francis Bacon’s idea.

Research Aim: This research aims to take a more in-depth look into Francis Bacon’s idea of modern economic development. To conduct the study, machine learning processes will be implemented to examine Francis’s ideas and their implementations in contemporary times.

Topic 4: The relation between early 18th-century English plays and The emerging financial market.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the relationship between eighteenth-century plays and a flourishing financial market. Most theatrical plays were written and performed in the middle of the 1720s, but writing carried out contributed to the financial market.

Topic 5: Issues of climate change used in early English literature: Shakespeare’s View of the sky.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse climate change’s impact on early English writings. Climatic issues were faced even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, providing writers with another topic to add to their published work. This research will focus on the work of Shakespeare, in which he included the specifics of climate change.

Also Read: Medicine and Nursing Dissertation Topics Free

Nineteenth-Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: impact of nineteenth-century gothic vampire literature on female members of the gothic subculture..

Research Aim: This research will look at the introduction of gothic vampire literature and its impact on female members of the gothic subculture. It includes a complete analysis of writing style and the impression it left of the female readers’.

Topic 2: Women theatre managers and the theatre in the late nineteenth century.

Research Aim: This research aims to view the impact on theatres under the management of women theatre managers. The improvement to theatre shows, along with the hardships faced by some managers, is discussed. The proposed study analyses the categories of theatre plays.

Topic 3: The history of American literature.

Research Aim: This research aims to give a brief history of American literature’s development and evolution throughout the centuries. The timeline begins from the early 15th century to the late 19th century. Word variations, sentence structures, grammar, and written impressions will be analysed.

Topic 4: “New women” concept in the novels of Victorian age English writers.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse women’s position in the early nineteenth and how later Victorian writers used their work to give women a new identity. The method employed by these writers who wrote from a feminist point of view will also be discussed.

Topic 5: Discussing the role of the writer in their own story.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the form in which the writer reveals their presence to the reader. The methods can be achieved directly or use the characters to replace themselves in the narrative. The study observes the phrases, vocabulary, and situations the writer uses to narrate.

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Twentieth Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: effect of gender association in modern literature..

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the issue of gender association in twentieth-century literature. Currently, male characters are described in a more masculine term than before in comparison to female counterparts. This research will also explore the possible approach of the possible characterisation of the two genders.

Topic 2: Feminism and literature.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the impacts of feminism on modern English literature quality. The study will look into the ideology of feminism and how feminist thoughts impact the readers’ view.

Topic 3: Modern literature based on climate change and eco-themes.

Research Aim: This research will study the various works of writers who tackled climate change and other eco-themes in their work. The study discusses the way they portrayed the item along with their views on preventing climate change. Modern work is compared to the work of previous writers who wrote about climate change.

Topic 4: How are fathers portrayed in modern literature?

Research Aim: This research will study the role of fathers in modern literature. The way the father character is portrayed in recent times has changed compared to writing in the early centuries. This research will look into the evolution of the father figure over time.

Topic 5: Literature for Asian American children.

Research Aim: This research will examine the fusion of classic American literature and Asian literature for children. The different genera’s that are produced and the style of writing will be analysed.

Also Read: Free Law Dissertation Topics

Children’s Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: the influence of the intersection of race and bullying in children’s books..

Research Aim: This research will analyse the literature made for children from 2015 to 2019 in which the intersection between race and bullying is made. The study will evaluate the impact of literature read by a child in which there is bullying. Various picture books are analysed to observe the influence of racism on bullying.

Topic 2: Diversity of culture in children’s literature.

Research Aim: This research will observe the influence of the various cultural aspects of children’s books. The study will analyse the impact of mixed cultures on literature in a community and how it affects children’s mindsets from a young age.

Topic 3: The use of literature to shape a child's mind.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the effects of literature on a child’s mind. Behaviour, intelligence, and interactions between children and their age fellows are to be observed. A child’s behaviour with adults will also be analysed.

Topic 4: Evolution of children's literature.

Research Aim: This research will explore the change in children’s literature trends. This research will compare the literary work from the mid-nineteen century with modern-day children’s books. Differences in vocabulary, sentence structure, and mode of storytelling will be examined.

Topic 5: Racial discrimination in “the cat in the hat” impacts children’s racial views.

Research Aim: This research will take an in-depth analysis of the children’s story, “The Cat in the Hat,” to observe if it has any racial remarks which cause an increase in racism among children. The words used and the pictures found on the page will be thoroughly analysed, and their impact on the children reading it.

Topic 6: Measuring the nature of a child’s early composing.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the development of a child’s writing skills based on the type of books they read. The book’s genera, vocabulary, and the writing style of the child’s preferred book will be considered.

Topic 7: Use of a classroom to incorporate multicultural children’s literature.

Research Aim: This research will reflect on the potential use of a school classroom to promote multicultural literature for children. Since a classroom is filled with children of different cultural backgrounds, it becomes easier to introduce multicultural literature. The difficulties and the advantages to society in the incorporation of multicultural literature in classrooms are discussed.

Important Notes:

As literature looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing literature theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

The literature field is vast and interrelated to many other academic disciplines like linguistics , English literature and more. That is why creating a literature dissertation topic that is particular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field is imperative.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation , as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best literature dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample literature dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your Literature Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths whilst identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic and key terms that can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section of the paper is to link the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References : Your University’s requirements should complete this
• Bibliography
• Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Literature Dissertation Topics

The opportunity for you to demonstrate your critical writing skills and ability to manage existing scholarship, a literature dissertation allows you to make your mark on the world of academia. Much longer than a typical essay, the extensive nature of a literature dissertation allows you to examine a specific text and explain its significance, and how it relates to broader literary movements.

The choice of texts that you engage with is up to you, but you should bear in mind that you’ll get higher grades for an original dissertation. As literature is influenced by and in discourse with other disciplines, a dissertation in this field will often mean that you’ll refer to ideas found in philosophy, religion, psychology and other art forms. To help you get started with your dissertation, this article will suggest possible topics in the areas of seventeenth century literature, eighteenth century literature, nineteenth century literature, twentieth century literature, and children’s literature.

Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Literature Dissertation Topics

Nineteenth century literature dissertation topics, twentieth century literature dissertation topics, interdisciplinary subjects dissertation topics, identity and place in the literature dissertation topics, children’s literature dissertation topics, postcolonialism and literature dissertation topics, eco literature dissertation topics.

From the shifting social and political climate of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries emerged a whole new kind of fiction. Indeed, with the birth of the novel came a host of writers who used the form to obliquely commentate on the world around them. Using established literary strategies such as plot and metaphor, writers also began to experiment with interior monologues and innovative dramatic devices to express their ideas to readers. For provoking and relevant subjects for your literature dissertation, consider the following topics:

• Milton and the Bible.
• Paradise Lost and the Fall from Grace: A closer look at the redemption poetry of the seventeenth century.
• The Genesis Myth and popular literature of the seventeenth century.
• Love, loss and the geographical imagination in the poetry of John Donne.
• The first literary explorers: How new discoveries shaped the literary imagination of the seventeenth century.
• Stendhal and the onset of consumerism.
• Visions of nature: Wordsworth and the Eighteenth-Century poetical imagination.
• Interiors and interiority in the Eighteenth-century novel.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the problem of the aesthetic.
• The origins of the novel.
• How Paradise Lost shaped the future of the novel.
• The female voice: How girls became women in seventeenth century fiction.
• How and why Laurence Sterne exposed the artifices of fiction.

Responding to the fall of the pastoral and the rise of industry, the English literature of the nineteenth century reflects the drastic changes Britain underwent around this time. Celebrating new ways of living whilst mourning the past, novels and poetry became distinctly national in nature. At the same time, writers examined the effects that secularisation had on the individual and their view of life. Indeed, whilst meaning was a fixed concept for people in centuries gone by, radical scientific advancement and an increased religious doubt caused Victorians to consider their place in the world from a wholly different perspective. For these reasons, the nineteenth century in literature is a period defined by alienation, doubt, and, overall, the question of what it means to live in an increasingly unfamiliar world. Nineteenth century literature provides many topics that you could study for a literature dissertation.

• Love and loss in Thomas Hardy’s poems 1912-13.
• Recovering the buried life: Visionary aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold.
• Love and communication in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
• Bulwer-Lytton and the metaphysical tradition.
• George Eliot and religious doubt.
• Naturalist and mystic: Discovering the source of Richard Jefferies’ inspiration.
• Searching for the simple life: Rustic writing in the nineteenth century.
• A study of provincial life: Trollope writing after Austen.
• The importance of costume in the work of Dickens.
• Micro and macro: Understanding the power relations in The Old Curiosity Shop and Bleak House.
• Sex and violence in sensation fiction.
• The changing religious imagination of the nineteenth century.
• How politics changed literature in the nineteenth century.
• Gender representation in the gothic novel.
• The changing meaning of the Victorian family in the work of Gaskell.
• Ruskin and heritage.
• How Realism emerged in nineteenth century literature.
• Reading the romance: how the Bronte sisters redefined the novel.
• How Frankenstein anticipated Science Fiction.

An era defined by significant aesthetic and philosophical shifts; the twentieth century produced some of the most remarkable literature. Indeed, with the boundaries between prose and poetry being disrupted, a whole new kind of expression became available to writers of fiction and verse. A century marked by two major traditions, the first fifty years was given over to modernism, whilst the latter half of the century saw the emergence of postmodernism. Whilst these two literary movements are seemingly opposed to one another, both attempted to express a range of ideas related to psychology, philosophy, and society. For this reason, you may consider the following topics for your literature dissertation:

• “Heaving into Uncreated Space”: D.H Lawrence after Hardy.
• Visionary closure in the twentieth century novel.
• W.H Auden and poetic syntax.
• Comprehending the War: Ivor Gurney and the new poetic form.
• Water imagery in the work of Virginia Woolf.
• ‘Is there anything more to be Found?’: T.S Eliot and the Wasteland.
• Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney: A study of similarity and contrast.
• ‘Daring to break convention’: The tragedy of Sylvia Plath.
• Time and Space in The Time Machine and The Island of Dr Moreau.
• Alduous Huxley and the search for the ‘Other’.
• Discussing the notion of being in the work of Milan Kundara.
• A study of character and identity in the work of Ian McEwan.
• Freud and early modernism.
• Circular narrative structure in the work of May Sinclair.
• Experiments in Form: Joyce and the twentieth century.
• Bernard Malumud and Jewish writing.
• Magic and fantasy in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Kipling’s India.
• Jack Kerouac and travel writing.
• A study of the similarities and differences between modernism and postmodernism.
• How postmodernism attempted to destroy the novel.
• Lost in the Funhouse: How John Barth exposed the artifices of fiction.

Literature intersects with many areas of study, including philosophy, architecture, religion, sociology, art, history, and politics. Interdisciplinary study is more than placing literature within the context of another discipline – true interdisciplinary research yields insights into the techniques, themes and contexts of texts that can’t be fully understood using the disciplinary tools of literary study alone. Interdisciplinary dissertations use research from more than one subject and examine the benefits and limitations both of literary study and of the other discipline. The topics in the following list reflect these aims, and are possibilities for your language and literature dissertation:

• Architecture in the work of Thomas Hardy.
• Science and the nineteenth-century novel.
• Interpreting the space age: Literature of the twenty first century.
• Astronomy and the poetic imagination of the nineteenth century.
• Why philosophy matters to literature.
• Crossing the disciplinary boundaries: English literature and archaeology.
• Changing political relations in novels since 1900.
• The interrelation of science and the arts since 1900.
• Psychology and the modern novel.
• Memory and perspective in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day.
• Seeking the self: Psychology in twenty first century literature.
• Darwin and the evolutionary narrative.
• The importance of history in deciphering the modern text.
• Sister Arts: contemporary poetry and painting. Poststructuralist views of language and the postmodern text.
• Print culture, mass distribution, and their effects on the literature of the Renaissance.
• A sociolinguistic analysis of The Twilight series.

The themes of identity and place have been intertwined in many literary periods and genres. Apart from using landscape as a source of inspiration, authors often need landscapes to help contextualise and develop their characters. Narrative techniques associated with landscape are often used in novels to portray the inner lives of characters. Identity is closely related to, and often described as being a product, of place and its cultural associations. Therefore, a study in this subject can be useful in other areas of future research and offers an accessible, adaptable and relevant topic for your language and literature dissertation.

• Changing landscapes: how the rural/urban divide has been represented since 1900.
• Travel writing in the twentieth century.
• What were the effects of ‘Enclosure’ on the poetry of the Romantics?
• The importance of place to the Romantic poet.
• The changing portrayal of city living since 1900.
• Nature, narrative, and verse since 1940.
• Thomas Hardy and Wessex.
• Richard Jefferies’ Wiltshire.
• The Lake District as setting in poems of the eighteenth century.
• The Mountain as a symbol in the nineteenth century.
• Landscape and identity in Lesley Glaister’s Honour Thy Father.
• Writing in the desert: Narratives of Africa.
• Identity, place, and narrative in postcolonial literature.
• The importance of the sea in colonial exploration narratives.
• Cornish landscapes in the work of Thomas Hardy.
• D.H Lawrence and the Sussex Landscape.
• Dylan Thomas and the Sea.
• Ted Hughes and the Yorkshire Moors.
• Of Bawn and Bog: the Irish troubles and the North in Seamus Heaney’s poetry.
• John Fowles at Lyme Regis.
• Charles Kingsley and ‘Westward Ho! ‘.
• Representations of the Wealden Forest in Literature since 1800.
• The beach as a site for change in literature since 1900.
• Citizens of nowhere: dislocation and globalisation in post-9/11 fiction.
• Wilderness and settler nationhood in North American fiction and poetry.

Writing for children involves the effective use of imagination, humour and often, the sensitive and dynamic use of tradition. As a result, children’s literature is often imbued with complex themes and imagery, which speaks to adults and children on separate yet complementary and intersecting levels. When choosing a topic to write about on children’s literature it can be useful to target a specific age range to avoid making generalisations and to help recognise the differing levels of academic competence associated with different children’s ages. It’s also helpful to understand what is at stake in society’s understanding of what makes for appropriate children’s literature, which goes to the heart of what – and how – we teach our children. Children’s literature addresses universal themes that concern all readers – not just children. The challenge in pursuing a dissertation in children’s literature is therefore to address both the universality of the themes and the specificity of the audience. The following are some ideas that you could use for your language and literature dissertation:

• What makes an Epic?: A discussion of favourite children’s novels since 1900.
• Fabulous Beasts: Imagery in J.K. Rowling and Tolkien.
• Discovering Wonderland: Narrative technique and visionary insight in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The search for Utopia in Island Stories for children.
• Beatrix Potter and the significance of illustration.
• Animals and their function in children’s literature since 1900.
• Hans Christian Anderson and the meaning of the fairytale.
• Why humour matters in children’s literature.
• Lucy Maud Montgomery and the development of the young artist.
• Roald Dahl, the ridiculous and the sublime.
• Enid Blyton and the popular adventure story.
• A historical analysis of the origins of children’s literature.
• The importance of names in children’s literature.
• Reading to the under-fives: developing imaginations and relationships.
• Helping children to learn through storybooks.
• What the Victorians read to their children.
• Think of the children! What banning books for the young tells us about the importance and social contexts of reading.
• Representations of disability in young adult literature.

Postcolonialism is one of the most influential theories in academia. If you are interested in critical perspectives that touch upon issues of race, belonging, power, politics, and emancipation, then you might want to bring postcolonial perspectives into your dissertation. Here are some titles to consider:

• Exploring the ‘Other’ in Victorian fiction.
• Postcolonialism in Naipaul’s The Enigma of Arrival.
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement influenced contemporary black literature?
• A postcolonial reading of contemporary refugee literature.
• Postcolonialism and climate change literature.
• A postcolonial reading of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
• Postcolonial narratives in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.

‘Ecocriticism’ studies the relationship between literature and the natural world. It is a fast-growing area of study, fuelled mainly by the increased concern over climate-change and environmental protectionism. If you are interested in the natural world, you might feel inspired to write a dissertation in this area. You could choose to do a close-reading of a book that deals with the themes of nature. Or you might analyse if/how ecocritical books have inspired real-life environmental activism. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Exploring the intersection between eco and spiritual narratives in Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard.
• An eco-critical reading of poetry from the Romantics.
• Vegan narratives in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy.
• Ecocriticism as vegan/climate change activism?
• Exploring the relevance of Thoreau’s Walden in 2021.
• Exploring the effect of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring on US activism.
• Covid-19, eco-criticism and the contemporary novel.

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Finding A High-Quality Research Topic

5 Practical Time-Saving Tips & Hacks

By: David Phair (PhD) & Amy Murdock (PhD) | May 2022

It’s no easy task to take on the culminating project of your degree, the dreaded dissertation or thesis. Though it might feel like your supervisor expects you to begin your project straight away with an original research idea, in reality, no one expects you to start your dissertation with an exact focus (unless your university defines your topic for you, of course). On the contrary, the first of the many steps in the research process is finding a suitable topic.

At Grad Coach, we’ve worked with thousands of students to help them find high-quality research topics . In this article, we’ll share five practical tips to help you fast-track the topic ideation and refinement process so that you can move your thesis forward.

Overview: 5 Topic Ideation Tips

• Start with the literature and focus on FRIN
• Leverage your university’s past dissertation database
• Prioritize topics/areas that you have a genuine interest in
• Play to your strengths in terms of topic and methodology
• Keep it simple

1. Start with the literature and focus on FRIN 

The starting point for finding a solid research topic is to wrap your head around what’s out there in the existing academic literature covering your broad area of interest. Rather than solely reflecting on possible topics in your head, it is through the process of reading scholarly articles in the literature that your topic ideas will emerge. In other words, topic ideation starts with reading .

A useful tool for locating preliminary literature is Google Scholar , which allows you to type in several general keywords related to your interest areas and then provides you with a list of the most popular articles in that area. Once you’ve located a handful of articles that seem interesting (preferably empirical research studies , but review papers are also useful), you can skim through each article’s abstract . This will typically contain a summary of the methodology and the findings of the study, allowing you to get a big-picture view of the content with very little time investment.

Once you’ve got a big picture view of any given article, navigate to the conclusions and/or recommendations section at the end of the article, where you can hone in on the recommendations offered by the authors. This section is often titled “ future research is needed ” or “further research is needed” (FRIN). The FRIN section generally contains a wealth of potential research ideas, as suggested by the authors. These suggestions will indicate possible research gaps that your project could build from and contribute to the field .

It can be tempting to cease your search at that point, but it’s still important to check whether the recommended research has already been done . To do so, look up the relevant article again in Google Scholar and click on the “Cited by” link to see which studies have since cited that particular piece of work. Take some time to work through those cited studies to verify if the research gap still remains.  If it does, you can add the topic to your list of potentials.

2. Leverage your university’s dissertation database  

In addition to Google Scholar, your university library is an excellent source for both public research and research specific to your university. More specifically, your university should have a database of dissertations and theses from past students, including those from your program. Here you’ll often find existing dissertations covering topics in your interest area, and within their FRIN section, they’ll offer existing gaps in the research that you can consider. 

In addition to illustrating topic ideas, past dissertations and theses from your university database can give you insight into the format and structure/layout norms for your specific university (and program), which will be extremely helpful. It’s also common for your university library to provide access to public dissertation databases such as ProQuest and EBSCO. These databases are much larger, so it’s worth having a dig through them to get a comprehensive view of what’s been done. 

Beyond these databases, you may also find a possible research topic within the micro-level research community that consists of your program’s professors and students. For instance, it can be helpful to look up the profiles of potential supervisors, as universities often list the primary research interests of each professor on the program website. Similarly, it’s a good idea to engage with other students in your cohort to stimulate your thinking and generate research ideas by asking questions and seeking input. While it can feel a bit daunting, don’t be afraid to ask as many questions of your peers and faculty as possible, as this will help you fast-track the process significantly.

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3. Prioritize topics that genuinely interest you

Once you’ve identified a few potential research topics (i.e., legitimate research gaps), you’ll need to start evaluating the options and refining your potential topics. 

Contrary to previous short-term program modules and assignments, you’ll be engaged in your dissertation or thesis for a significant amount of time , typically anywhere from 6 months to multiple years (for Ph.D. programs). Because of this time investment, it’s essential that you prioritize and focus on topic ideas that are of genuine interest to you because you’ll need to stay motivated during your research journey. More practically, you’ll also convey a genuine interest in your writing, so, picking a topic that doesn’t excite you is going to make this difficult. 

On a separate but related note, it’s also important to be confident in whichever topic you settle on. It is quite common to feel like a bit of an imposter as an emerging scholar when comparing your work to the established literature on the research topic. For example, you may feel that your research topic doesn’t look quite as “academic” as others. However, don’t be discouraged because it’s very common for the exact focal point of your research to evolve during the research process. So, if there’s a novel topic within the literature gap that genuinely interests you, silence those niggling doubts and pursue it.

4. Play to your strengths 

In addition to prioritizing topics that you’re passionate about, it’s also wise to give preference to topic ideas that play to your strengths in terms of the research design and methodology . Some of the main questions to consider from the get-go are: 

• What kind of research approach (qualitative or quantitative) is comfortable for me?
• Where and/or whom can I collect data from?
• Will I be able to collect the intended data within the time limit of my project? 

To begin, consider your preferences in terms of work with either qualitative or quantitative, data . Qualitative research , commonly abbreviated to QUAL, tends to rely on personal engagement with people, so this kind of research makes use of interviews, focus groups, or observations for data collection. In contrast, quantitative research , or QUANT, predominantly involves analyzing numerical data using statistical methods. Mixed methods, or MIXED, makes use of both qualitative and quantitative features in a holistic manner. 

Think about what your methodological preference is (are you a numbers or words type of person?)  and look for topics that support that approach . Keep in mind that everyone differs in terms of their preference toward qualitative or quantitative data, so don’t try to force a methodological decision that feels unnatural to you . It’s worth mentioning that while mixed methods has been growing in popularity over recent years, you should only take this approach if your research aims and research questions strongly justify it, as it can be quite challenging to execute well. As a rule of thumb, a simpler design executed well will typically earn more marks than a complex one executed poorly.           

After determining your preferred approach, it’s important to be realistic about the data and people (participants) that you’ll be able to access to accommodate any given topic and approach. It can be particularly challenging to recruit participants for a variety of reasons and it’s extremely common for students to overestimate the availability of data or interviewees, which can lead to major problems down the line . Remember, without data, you have no study! 

Lastly, keep in mind that there are many things that potential participants won’t be comfortable talking about. So, be realistic in terms of your expectations, and remember that other people won’t be as enthusiastic about your project as you are. Nevertheless, don’t be shy to reach out to people and ask for favors or get feedback, as they are generally receptive, but be respectful of their time and do this well in advance. Ultimately, if you’re not confident that you can access the required data for any potential topic , avoid that research topic .

5. Keep it simple 

Our final tip is to keep it simple in terms of both your topic and methodology . One of the most commendable aspects of students as emerging scholars is their idealism when it comes to research outlook. At Grad Coach, we commonly interact with students at the start of their project who want to change the world with their research or present a breakthrough in the field. Despite the best of intentions, this kind of macro-level, overly ambitious research topic is not typically achievable (or even desired). 

In reality, your supervisor is not expecting your research project to change the world . As I mentioned earlier, what typically works best is a simple project that’s executed well, rather than a complex project done poorly. So, keep your scope narrow and focused rather than trying to connect every possible dot with your research. This can be accomplished by keeping your research focus straightforward, making sure your research questions , aims, and objectives are all in alignment, and by finding a new way to expand on existing work, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. 

Importantly, you need to be realistic about what’s manageable within your timeframe .  Your program will only last a finite amount of time, so you need to think about what you can do within that time frame. Overall, the key assessment criteria will be whether you’ve learned how to design and carry out research , not whether your research has broken new ground.  

Let’s Recap…

 In this article, we covered 5 tips to help find a quality research topic for a dissertation, thesis, or research project. To recap: 

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help with your topic ideation, be sure to check out our 1-on-1 private coaching services here.

Psst… there’s more (for free)

This post is part of our dissertation mini-course, which covers everything you need to get started with your dissertation, thesis or research project. 

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50 Dissertation Topic Ideas in English Literature

Young people who strive to obtain a master's degree face a need to write a dissertation in their chosen major. It's considered the most important paper they need to deliver during their academic career. Besides, it represents a wonderful chance to demonstrate advanced writing and analytical skills, critical thinking, and knowledge they've gained during the curriculum. Furthermore, such an assignment provides an opportunity to affect an academic environment positively and pamper your ego a bit. So, if you want to graduate with an outstanding result, you should do your best to deliver a high-grade-worthy paper. Your way to success will start with examining potentially suitable dissertation topic ideas, so it is not worth underestimating its importance. Therefore, we'll go deep down this question to make sure you have something to think about when it comes to working on your paper..

How to Work on Research Topics in English Literature

The very name of its assignment suggests that you will not do without proper research, so you should make enough room in your schedule for this stage. You will have to present a report about your findings and discuss the results provided. Bear in mind that writing a dissertation involves a completely different level of responsibility, diligence, and work than similar assignments you got in the past. It stands out from other academic papers with its complexity since it requires more reading, studying, and writing as well.

If you are new to this type of work, it is worth searching for guidelines on the internet, examining decent ready-made papers, and doing background research to understand what theme is more suitable for you. Allocate enough time to look through all thesis topics in English literature that seem appealing to you. It is a complex and multifaceted field of study, so you will hardly do everything properly if you proceed to write when the deadline is already around the corner. The best thing you can do is to choose a theme from your current field of interest. Thus, you will have enough motivation and inspiration to stay on track with research and writing. Pay attention to the following moments:

• Your dissertation should be based on high-quality research, so you can show your understanding of the subject you work on.
• You should demonstrate your analytical skills, choosing only relevant literature on your theme.
• You should develop a research question and address it in your paper, ensuring your dissertation possesses a clear focus.

Research Proposal Ideas

You will have to write a dissertation proposal and present it to your professor or committee to ensure it is suitable and up to date. Don't postpone this task for too long since time is your biggest enemy when it comes to working on such an assignment. Your research process will spin around literary texts, so you will hardly do without visiting a library. A note-taking process is crucial for developing decent ideas and the research process itself. If you don't know what categories it would be interesting to try, pay attention to the following options:

• cultural diversity;
• translated texts;
• genre studies;
• historical development;
• cinematography and literature.

How to Choose a Dissertation Topic in English Literature

If your professor hasn't provided you with a specific theme, it is up to you to decide what you want to write about. Your field of interest should become the main benchmark in picking up the right topic. Reflect on the books or literature aspects that you liked most of all while studying. The research process involves a lot of routine tasks, and if you are not interested in the subject, it will be much harder to stay focused. It is one of the reasons why experts suggest doing background research to ensure that you will not face issues with finding enough trustworthy information to back up your ideas. You can examine some critical literature to determine the most valuable perspectives to take as well as the gaps that you can potentially address in your dissertation. It will not be superfluous to create a well-crafted outline, so you have the required points in front of your eyes.

If you have selected a topic but are not sure about the exact title for your paper, you can come up with several working options. They may have a bit different focus but stay within one theme. In this case, you should keep both of them in mind when doing your research. Thus, it will be easy to make the right final choice. Even though there is no strict rule on how many primary texts a student must include in their dissertation, utilize at least two of them to make your arguments look more powerful. It is worth considering the cultural, historical, and theoretical background of a text to make sure it's reasonable and manageable for such a paper. Finally, you should develop a proper research question since it will guide the research and writing process. Keep it in mind all the time, so your paper can provide robust evidence of its significance.

Literature Topics for a Research Paper

Everyone who proceeds to work on a dissertation has tremendous experience under the belt in writing different papers. Thus, they know that choosing a broad theme is a road to nowhere since it's hard to devote enough attention to all key aspects and preserve the focus. It's worth resorting to special techniques aimed at helping you to narrow down the theme. Most of them suggest free writing within the subject, so you can define which one sounds the best. If you cannot opt for a theme, consider the following options:

• Correlation between English literature of the 18th and 19th centuries.
• How did the Renaissance affect English literature?
• Key differences between English literature in the USA and the UK.
• Fundamental writing methods of female writers of the 18th century.
• What are the most popular writers in the detective genre nowadays?
• What was the most important work of Jane Austen?
• Impact of the digital revolution on English literature.
• In-depth analysis of poetry from the Second World War.
• Feminism's growth in twentieth-century literature.
• Peculiarities of post-colonialism literature.
• Female heroes in English Literature.
• Correlation between famous Shakespeare's sonnets.
• Gender roles in classic English literature.
• Medieval traditions depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer's works.
• Ambiguous issues presented in Thomas More's Utopia.
• Development of suspense in famous English literary works.
• John Donne: A comparison of sermons and metaphysical love poems. 
• Impact of Jane Austen's novels on modern women.
• Key differences between books and film adaptations of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter.
• How Elizabeth Gaskell depicted society and family in her works.
• The most famous feminist works and their influence on modern society.
• Peculiarities and depth of Thomas Hardy's poems 1913.
• Religious doubts depicted by George Eliot.
• Main inspiration sources of Shakespeare.
• Peculiarities of rustic writing in the nineteenth century.
• Role of costumes in Dickens's famous works.
• Correlation between sex and violence in modern English literature.
• How politics affected English literature in the nineteenth century.
• The special role of water in Virginia Woolf's works.
• Gender stereotyping and patriarchy in The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Correlation between modernism and postmodernism.
• The negative influence of postmodernism on the novel.
• Travel writing in the twenty-first century.
• The crucial role of philosophy in English literature of the twentieth century.
• Depiction of architecture in Thomas Hardy's works.
• The effect Milton's Paradise Lost had on seventeenth-century literature.
• How science affected nineteenth-century novels.
• Development of modern literature with the help of high technologies.
• Psychological tools used in writing modern novels.
• Self-searching with the help of literature works.
• Poststructuralist views of language in contemporary poetry.
• Popular literature genres among representatives of Z generation.
• Why did Joanne Rowling choose a male alias for working in a detective genre?
• Can a graphic novel be considered a literature work?
• Most successful film adaptations of the last decade.
• The accuracy of history presented in historical novels.
• An analysis of homosexuality in modern English literature.
• Influence of LGBT movement on the development of modern English literature.
• The key appealing features of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
• Could literature do well without Shakespeare?

How to Structure Your Literature Dissertation

When you decide on the most appealing dissertation topic in English literature, you can proceed to create the first draft of an outline. The latter will help you keep in mind all the crucial moments you should consider when writing your paper. In addition, most professors pay special attention to the structure of dissertations provided by students, so if you want to get the highest grade for your paper, don't forget to involve the following things:

• title page;
• acknowledgments;
• declaration;
• list of contents;
• introduction: you should present background information, project value, main research purposes and objectives, and the research question;
• literature review : presentation of relevant theories and analysis of literary works within the chosen theme to address the research question;
• methodology: presentation of data and analysis methods and tools utilized;
• findings and analysis: presentation of the crucial research results in detail with the help of visual tools like charts, tables, graphs, etc.;
• discussion and conclusion: presentation of personal interpretation of findings, demonstration of the connection between the results and arguments taken from the literature, highlighting of the research significance, and summarizing of the whole research, recommendations on the further development of the theme;
• references;
• bibliography;
• appendices: presentation of some additional pieces of information, graphs, diagrams utilized to complete your paper that stay beyond its body paragraphs. The main aim of this part is to broaden some data and provide additional explanations.

In fact, your professor should specify all the requirements for your dissertation, but if they have skipped some moments, it is better to clarify everything that stays unclear to you beforehand. Don't leave such things unattended since the final grade will affect only your academic performance and further career development.

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100 Best Literature Research Paper Topics For Students

Literary research paper topics are among the most interesting to write about. Books are the best teachers for most learners. And, students love reading interesting literature books. But, when asked to write research papers, most students have difficulties choosing their topics. That’s because many issues can be investigated and written about.

For instance, literary topics can be about characters’ personalities in certain works. They can also be about particular characteristics of specific literary genres. Learners can also choose literary analysis topics that focus on the life story of famous writers or poets. But, regardless of what a learner opts to write about, they should choose interesting topics.

What are Interesting Literary Research Paper Topics?

Several factors make a topic interesting to write about. A topic for a research paper or a graduate thesis should generally be definite, specific, and innovative. Also, it should be interesting to research and write about. Here’s how to select interesting literature topics:

Think about something. Explore the idea to select a topic for which you can find sufficient research data from credible sources. Narrow down your subject if you find it too broad.

English literature topics can be classified into different categories. Here some of these categories and topics can be considered in each category.

Great World Literature Research Topics

Perhaps, you’ve been asked to write a literature research paper with a global perspective. Here are some of the literary analysis research paper topics that you can consider.

• Explain how the supernatural and spirituality help in furthering the development of the plot in the Latin American literature of the early 20th century.
• What themes are common in the Japanese poems of the early 20th century? How do they differ from those of the early 19th century?
• Compare the early Chinese literary works and European literary works of the middle ages. How different or alike are they?
• How were European literary works in the early 20th century shaped by the revolutionary works of Engels and Marx? What examples can demonstrate this influence?
• Explain how the Muslim philosophers’ work of the 15th century led to new ideas and inventions across the globe.
• Compare and contrast different anti-British works that originated in India in the 19th century with pro-colonialist works that came from England at the same time.
• How did the nightmarish utopian future ideas of Aldous Huxley influence modern-day science fiction writers across the world?
• Explain how the Antigone play by Sophocles deals with the conflict between the central characters while relating to the state laws and individual conscience.
• How are the sentiments of the authors reflected in Animal Farm by George Orwell and concerns about the October Revolution?
• Explain some of the examples of literary fiction pieces that have shaped cultures in the world. Have historic, societal, and cultural factors played some roles in shaping these literature pieces?
• Being a prolific writer in the early and mid-19th century, Charles Dickens’s works were published in serialized forms. How and why has this approach become less fashionable?
• Compare and contrast the early Japanese literature works and the early Chinese literature works. How do they differ in terms of values and culture?
• Explain how comedy differs in literature across cultures. What comedy appeared in the early theatrical performances and it’s still present in modern literature?
• Analyze chivalry and honor critically in the Green Knight and Sir Gawain. What are the qualities of these works from a similar period?
• Compare and contrast the Odyssey and Iliad by Homer the Ancient Greek. Explain how cultures across the world have adapted the themes presented in the poem.

Top Literary topics for Research Paper

Some topics for literary analysis stand out among students. These are topics that educators recommend for students across the study levels.

• How is literature an aspect of modern culture?
• Explain how feminism has influenced modern literature
• How is psychology utilized in literature?
• Explain the major social issues that have been exposed by literary works
• Explain the philosophical tradition of Daoism in the Chinese literature
• Explain the roles played by death and honor in Japanese literature in the 20th century
• Explain how the European culture influences the Mid-West literature
• How has European culture affected modern literature?
• Analyze the personality of Don Quixote
• Explain how literature differs between countries.
• Discuss poetry in the innovative ear of the 21st century
• Examine racism in the novels of the 1960s and 1970s
• Explain the exile’s perception in literature
• Literature and culture? Which one affects the other?
• How has literature addressed homosexuality?

These can also be great literary debate topics. That’s because learners can have varying opinions about them.

British Literature Research Paper Topics

Students have many topics to choose from when it comes to British literature essay topics. Here are some of the best literature topics from the works of British authors.

• Discuss Victorian England’s picture with the works of Charles Dickens in mind
• Discuss the theme of Orphans with the Oliver Twist character in mind
• Explain how British Literature has influenced different cultures
• Explain how British literature has addressed gender issues
• Explain how King Lear highlights the differences between anti-heroes and villains
• Explain William Shakespeare’s personality- Highlight facts and myths
• Choose two famous British novels and then compare the characters in them
• Explain the viewpoint of different writers about the Utopian civilization idea
• With Harry Potter books in mind, explain why some literature books are considered classics
• Explain how love and romantic love are presented in Charlotte Bronte’s works
• Explain how modern literary works have been affected by the Victorian period works
• Discuss the adultery theme in Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Who are the main characters in Lake Poets’ works?
• Explain how violent imagery was used in World War I poetry
• Explain talent as a theme in Milton’s on His Blindness
• Explain innocence loss in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
• Explain the theme of individualism versus collectivism in Oliver Twist
• Explain why the popularity of detective novels increased in the XIX century
• What role did the supernatural play in Macbeth: a case study of three witches
• Class demarcation in XVII century- The vengeance theme

American Literature Topics

Some teachers ask students to choose American literature research topics for certain reasons. If asked to write on such topics, here are some of the American literature research paper topics to consider.

• Analyze key aspects of American ideology, particularly in the literature written before the 20th century.
• Determine thematic concerns and literary styles of the major historical period of American literature between the colonial period and post-modernism.
• Show the American identity uniqueness of texts
• Propose connections between the American literature concerns and themes in the larger historical development and social issues that face the present world
• Examine major concerns and themes that reappear across the American literature
• Highlight the major themes in Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner
• Explain the African American Experience with female authors like Alice Walker, Zora Neal Hurston, and Toni Morrison
• Explain the predominant theme in The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• Explain how Jonathan Edwards epitomizes Puritan definitions in his sermons
• Explain the use of historical personalities and events by Washington Irving as the background for his works
• The Crucible demonstrates how a community can be torn apart by hysteria. Explain
• Explain how Sylvia Plath demonstrates the social pressure faced by women in the 1960s in the Bell Jar.
• Explain how John Knowles demonstrates the impact of war on everyone
• Explain the strong belief in the education power by Maya Angelou as depicted in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• Explain how Thornton Wilder conveys life as a gift in Our Town
• Discuss the themes of anger and pity in the Grapes of Wrath
• Explain how Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck portrays the Great Depression struggles
• Discuss the portrayal of the unconquerable spirit in Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
• Plays by Eugene O’Neil are tragically realistic. Explain
• God is humanized in The Creation poem by James Weldon Johnson. Explain

Some of the ideas here are great poetry topics. Nevertheless, they require careful research and analysis to write about.

High School Literary Essay Topics

Some topics in literature are ideal for high school essays. Here are examples of literary analysis paper topics for high school students.

• Compare and contrast the major characters in your preferred book
• Choose your favorite character in a book and explain your reasons for liking it
• Please explain why the quality of a literature book is not determined by its length
• Highlight the similarities of your favorite books
• Discuss the top 4 authors in horror books
• Explain why reading some books is more difficult than reading others
• Explain what it takes to write a high-quality poem
• Who is your favorite poet and why?
• Explain what makes your favorite book interesting
• Who is your favorite character in literary works and why?
• What makes some literature books difficult to read?
• Who are your favorite top 5 authors and why?
• Should the age of readers be restricted to some books?
• What is your favorite literary genre?
• Explain why the author determines the quality of a book more than the story
• Discuss the literary works of your favorite authors
• Why is it important to captivate readers with the introductory chapter of a book?
• Which book genre makes great movies?
• Why is the work of Harry Potter so popular?
• Explain why your favorite horror book is scary

Unique Research Topics in English Literature

Some literature research topics are unique and can be written about by learners at different study levels. Here are examples of such topics.

• Analyze the use of literary devices in novels
• Discuss the author’s autobiography
• Analyze literary genres and the role played by an artist in them
• Compare the works of a similar genre
• Highlight the gender roles of characters in literary works
• Social stratification and Harry Potter- Discuss
• With Charles Dickens’ work in mind, explain the peculiarity of the bildungsroman genre.
• Explain how The Lord of the Rings uses artificial language
• Explain how the Sherlock Holmes image influences the world of detective fiction
• Explain the war theme in the world literature

These are also great literary journalism topics. Nevertheless, they require extensive research to write about.

In a nutshell, students have many literary argument topics to consider. The most important thing is to choose an interesting topic that you can find sufficient data to write about. Also, don’t hesitate to check our history topics .

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Literature Topics and Research

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This handout provides examples and description about writing papers in literature. It discusses research topics, how to begin to research, how to use information, and formatting.

What kinds of topics are good ones?

The best topics are ones that originate out of your own reading of a work of literature, but here are some common approaches to consider:

• A discussion of a work's characters: are they realistic, symbolic, historically-based?
• A comparison/contrast of the choices different authors or characters make in a work
• A reading of a work based on an outside philosophical perspective (Ex. how would a Freudian read Hamlet ?)
• A study of the sources or historical events that occasioned a particular work (Ex. comparing G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with the original Greek myth of Pygmalion)
• An analysis of a specific image occurring in several works (Ex. the use of moon imagery in certain plays, poems, novels)
• A "deconstruction" of a particular work (Ex. unfolding an underlying racist worldview in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness )
• A reading from a political perspective (Ex. how would a Marxist read William Blake's "London"?)
• A study of the social, political, or economic context in which a work was written — how does the context influence the work?

How do I start research?

Once you have decided on an interesting topic and work (or works), the best place to start is probably the Internet. Here you can usually find basic biographical data on authors, brief summaries of works, possibly some rudimentary analyses, and even bibliographies of sources related to your topic.

The Internet, however, rarely offers serious direct scholarship; you will have to use sources found in the library, sources like journal articles and scholarly books, to get information that you can use to build your own scholarship-your literary paper. Consult the library's on-line catalog and the MLA Periodical Index. Avoid citing dictionary or encyclopedic sources in your final paper.

How do I use the information I find?

The secondary sources you find are only to be used as an aid. Your thoughts should make up most of the essay. As you develop your thesis, you will bring in the ideas of the scholars to back up what you have already said.

For example, say you are arguing that Huck Finn is a Christ figure ; that's your basic thesis. You give evidence from the novel that allows this reading, and then, at the right place, you might say the following, a paraphrase:

According to Susan Thomas, Huck sacrifices himself because he wants to set Jim free (129).

If the scholar states an important idea in a memorable way, use a direct quote.

"Huck's altruism and feelings of compassion for Jim force him to surrender to the danger" (Thomas 129).

Either way, you will then link that idea to your thesis.

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100+ English Literature Dissertation Topics in 2024

Vandana Thakur ,

Mar 4, 2024

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Dissertation Topics in English Literature include research topics from poems, stories, literature study etc. It contains topics like Milton & the Bible, The Origins of the Novel, George Eliot and Religious Doubt, Ruskin and Heritage, etc.

Dissertation topics in English literature consist of academic topics in literature that allow students to present their creativity and imagination through writing. It allows students to examine a topic, analyse its significance and portray their views after research in their dissertation.

The dissertation topics in English literature contain topics like Freud and early modernism, Bernard Malumud and Jewish writing, Kipling's India, Psychology and the modern novel etc.

List of 100+ Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are a wide range of dissertation topics in English literature that students can choose from, research and create their dissertation. Below are the category-wise Dissertation Topics in English Literature.

17th and 18th Century Dissertation Topics in English Literature

19th century dissertation topics in english literature, 20th century dissertation topics in english literature, interdisciplinary subjects dissertation topics, identity and place dissertation topics in english literature, children's dissertation topics in english literature, postcolonialism and dissertation topics in english literature, eco literature dissertation topics in english literature.

The 17th & 18th centuries witnessed the emergence of the novel script, permitting writers to crossways comment on the world utilising plot, metaphor, interior monologues & innovative dramatic devices. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for students to choose from.

• Milton & the Bible.
• Paradise Lost & the Fall from Grace: The nearest look at the redemption poetry of the 17th century.
• The Genesis Myth & famous literature of the 17th century.
• Love, loss & the geographical vision in the poetry of John Donne.
• The foremost literary explorers: How findings shaped the literary vision of the 17th century.
• Stendhal & the onset of consumerism.
• Visions of nature: Wordsworth & the Eighteenth-Century poetical vision.
• Interiors & interiority in the 18th novel.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge & the issue of the aesthetic.
• The roots of the novel.
• How Paradise Lost formed the future of the novels.
• The Female Voice: How Girls Become Ladies in 17th Century Fiction.
• How & why Laurence Sterne revealed the artefacts of fiction.

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The nineteenth-century English literature reflects Britain's transformations due to industrialisation and the fall of religious life. It marks new ways of living while grieving the past, exploring the effects of secularisation on individuals. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for candidates to research.

• Love & loss in Thomas Hardy's poems (1912-1913)
• Retrieving the buried life: Imaginative aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold.
• Love & transmission in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
• Bulwer-Lytton and the magical tradition.
• George Eliot and holy doubt.
• Naturalist & mystic: Discovering the origin of Richard Jefferies' inspiration.
• Digging for the simple life: Rustic paper in the nineteenth century.
• An analysis of provincial life: Trollope writing after Austen.
• The extent of costume in the work of Dickens.
• Micro & macro: Comprehending the power relations in The Old Curiosity Shop & Bleak House.
• The changing spiritual imagination of the 19th century.
• How did politics alter literature in the 19th century?
• Gender expression in the gothic novel.
• The changing sense of the Victorian family in the creation of Gaskell.
• Ruskin & heritage.
• How did Realism emerge in 19th-century literature?
• How did Frankenstein expect Science Fiction?

The twentieth century noticed significant aesthetic & philosophical shifts that disrupted the boundaries between prose & poetry in English literature. Below are some of the unique dissertation topics in English literature for students to pick for their dissertation:

• Imaginative closure in the 20th novel.
• W.H. Auden & poetic syntax.
• Understanding the War: Ivor Gurney & the new poetic format.
• Water imagery in the creation of Virginia Woolf.
• 'Is there anything better to be Found?': T.S Eliot & the Wasteland.
• Ted Hughes & Seamus Heaney: An analysis of similarity and difference.
• 'Daring to break convention': The catastrophe of Sylvia Plath.
• Time, Space in The Time Machine & The Island of Dr Moreau.
• Aldous Huxley & the quest for the 'Other.'
• Concerning the idea of being in the position of Milan Kundara.
• A breakdown of character & identity in the creation of Ian McEwan.
• Freud & before modernism.
• Circular narrative form in the work of May Sinclair.
• Investigations in Form: Joyce & the Twentieth Century.
• Bernard Malumud & Jewish writing.
• Magic & fantasy in the innovation of Robert Louis Stevenson.
• Kipling's India and its impact on the readers.
• Jack Kerouac & travel script.
• An analysis of the similarities & distinctions between modernism & postmodernism.
• How did postmodernism try to kill the novel?
• Lost in the Amusing House: How John Barth revealed the artefacts of fiction?

Also Check: 100+ Dissertation Topics in Education in 2024

Interdisciplinary study concerns combining literature with various disciplines like philosophy, architecture, religion, sociology, art, history, etc. It helps students to gain knowledge regarding techniques, themes, and contexts. Below are the dissertation topics of English literature regarding interdisciplinary subjects.

• Describe architecture in the work of Thomas Hardy.
• Science & the 19th-century novel.
• Solving the space age: Publications of the twenty-first century.
• Astronomy and the poetic fantasy of the 19th century.
• Why philosophy counts as literature.
• Travelling the disciplinary boundaries: English writings & archaeology.
• Transforming political relations in novels since 1900.
• The interrelation of science & the arts since the 19th century.
• Psychology & modern fiction.
• Memory & view in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the day.
• Pursuing the self: Psychology in twenty-first-century publications.
• Darwin & the Evolutionary Chronology.
• The significance of history in interpreting the modern text.
• Sister Arts: modern poetry & painting. Poststructuralist theories of language & the postmodern reader.
• Print culture, mass diffusion, and their effects on the publications of the Renaissance.
• A sociolinguistic study of The Twilight series.

Also Check: 50+ Economics Dissertation Topics in 2024

Landscapes serve as inspiration and character development tools for writers of different literary genres. Novels use narrative techniques to portray inner lives, and identity is closely related to place and culture. Students can find dissertation topics in English literature given below regarding identity and place.

• Transforming landscapes: How urban or rural partition was represented in the 19th century.
• Travel documenting in the 20th century.
• What were the consequences of 'Enclosure' on the poetry of the Romantics?
• The significance of place to the Romantic poet.
• The changing depiction of city living since the 19th century.
• Nature, narrative, and poem since 1940.
• Thomas Hardy & Wessex.
• Richard Jefferies' Wiltshire.
• The Lake District is placed in poems of the 18th century.
• The Mountain was a character in the 19th century.
• Landscape & uniqueness in Lesley Glaister's Honour Thy Father.
• Reporting in the desert: Narratives of Africa.
• Identity, place, and history in postcolonial literature.
• The essence of the sea in colonial exploration narratives.
• Cornish terrains in the work of Thomas Hardy.
• Charles Kingsley & ‘Westward Ho! ‘.
• Terms of the Wealden Forest in Literature since 1800.
• The beach has been a site for transformation in literature since the 19th century.
• Post-9/11 fiction: dislocation and globalisation.
• Wilderness and immigrant nationhood in North American fiction and verse.

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Children's literature utilises imagination, humour, and tradition to create complex themes and imagery. When writing a dissertation on children's literature, consider the age range and societal expectations for appropriate content. Below are some of the children's dissertation topics in English literature.

• What creates an Epic?: A dialogue of favourite children's novels from 1900.
• Fabulous Beasts: Imagery in J.K. Rowling & Tolkien.
• Finding Wonderland: Narrative method and visionary understanding in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The quest for Utopia in island stories for children.
• Beatrix Potter & the importance of illustration.
• Animals & their role in children's literature since the 19th century
• Hans Christian Anderson & the essence of the fairytale.
• Why humour counts in children's literature.
• Lucy Maud Montgomery & the story of the young artist.
• Roald Dahl, the absurd and the sublime.
• Enid Blyton and the famous adventure story.
• A historical study of the origins of children's literature.
• The significance of names in children's literature.
• Reading to the under-fives: growing imaginations & relationships.
• Enabling children to learn through storybooks.
• What did the Victorians read to their kids?
• Replicas of disability in young literature.

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The subject matter of postcolonialism, an influential academic theory, provides critical perspectives on race, belonging, power, politics, and emancipation. Below are some of the specific dissertation topics in English literature regarding postcolonialism.

• Exploring the 'Other' in Victorian novels.
• Postcolonialism in Naipaul's The Enigma of Incoming.
• How has the Black Lives Matter campaign impacted contemporary black literature?
• A postcolonial lesson of contemporary refugee publications.
• Postcolonialism & climate adaptation literature.
• The postcolonial reading of Things Fall Apart by Achebe.
• Postcolonial information in Toni Morrison's Beloved & Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.

Ecocriticism is a rapidly evolving field that examines the connection between literature and the natural world. It inspires dissertations, close readings, & real-life environmental activism. Below given are some of the dissertation topics in English literature regarding ecocriticism.

• Exploring the corner between eco and spiritual histories in Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard.
• An ecocritical reading of verse from the Romantics.
• Vegan reports in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy.
• Ecocriticism as vegan/climate modification activism?
• Exploring the applicability of Thoreau's Walden in 2021.
• Exploring the influence of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring on US activism.
• Covid-19, ecocriticism & the modern novel.

Important Points for Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are certain pointers that students must acknowledge while working on their dissertation topics in English literature. The topics must meet the following criteria in the initial stage for a better dissertation copy. The important pointers are stated below.

• Students should select a topic that is logically valid and allows them to research practically.
• Students must seek genuine advice from their mentors and peers before creating their dissertation.
• Students must select a trending dissertation topic in English literature to identify gaps and create a winning dissertation.
• Candidates must acknowledge that their dissertation topic must address the problem, be unique and be practically useful.

Also Check: 100+ Psychology Dissertation Topics in 2024

How to Structure Dissertation Topics in English Literature?

A well-structured dissertation topic helps students to get better scores and excel in their studies. Students must follow the below-mentioned dissertation structure to create a winning dissertation copy.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Declaration
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings & Analysis
• Discussion & Conclusion
• Bibliography

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How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on 11 November 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George.

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

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

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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, frequently asked questions.

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.

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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 .

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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)?
• Analysing 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 analyse public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalise 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, sociallym 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.

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.

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626 Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. and Thesis Ideas for Master Students

If you are about to go into the world of graduate school, then one of the first things you need to do is choose from all the possible dissertation topics available to you. This is no small task. You are likely to spend many years researching your Master’s or Ph.D. topic and writing the text. This means that choosing a dissertation topic should not be taken lightly.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

No worries! Just read this article by our Custom Writing service , and you’ll find:

• a collection of great thesis topics on finance, education, management, law, etc.
• a range of tips on choosing a killing Ph.D. topic.
• 👍 Top 10 Dissertation Topics
• 🆚 Thesis vs Dissertation
• 🔝 Top 10 Thesis Topics
• 🎓 Thesis Topics List
• ✅ How to Choose a Topic

👍Top 10 Dissertation Topics

• Ethical alternatives to animal testing.
• What’s the future of the Dead Sea?
• Does accent affect singing ability?
• The importance of corporate values.
• Can we regulate influencer marketing?
• How does inflation affect small businesses?
• Is homeschooling the future of education?
• How does Tourette’s syndrome affect one’s daily life?
• How to conduct market analysis for e-commerce.
• Has globalization affected cultural appropriation?

🆚 Dissertation vs. Thesis: Is There a Difference?

People often consider a thesis and a dissertation to be the same thing. Yet, there is an important distinction between them. The key difference is that you need a thesis to complete a master’s degree, while a dissertation is necessary for obtaining a doctorate. Keep in mind that it’s vice versa in European higher education.

Here are some other differences:

Despite these differences, theses and dissertations have a lot in common:

• You need them to complete a degree.
• Both require certain levels of expertise and writing skills.
• You defend an argument in both of them.
• Plagiarism is prohibited in both theses and dissertations.

🔝 Top 10 Thesis Topics for 2024

• The consequences of obesity.
• The influence of social media .
• Economic development and happiness.
• Feminism in the United States.
• The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Racism in schools and colleges.
• Overeducation in the labor market.
• DNA evidence in criminal justice.
• Sales forecasting techniques.
• Wage difference among athletes.

🎓 Thesis Topics & Ideas

Below, you’ll find a collection of excellent topics for a thesis. To simplify the task, it’s not a bad idea to use a topic chooser . We’ve also prepared a checklist that will help you make the right choice. If you agree with the following statements, you’ve chosen a good thesis topic:

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• You are interested in this subject.  It will be easier for you to work on it if you like your area of research. Remember that you will have to spend long hours looking through various data. You need to stay motivated.
• The topic is helpful in your career path.  Choose a topic that you can apply to further research if you plan to pursue your career in the academic field. Choose something that you can use in your CV if you decided to work in the industry.
• There is enough available research data.  Don’t choose a topic that is too trivial or uncommon. It is essential to find enough relevant information. Consult your supervisor to understand if you can proceed with it.
• The topic isn’t too broad or too narrow.  Otherwise, it will be harder for you to find credible sources and relevant data.
• You already have an understanding of it . Make a list of thesis topics that include the issues you have researched before. It will save you some time and allow you to evaluate your opportunities.
• Your topic is unique.  Make sure there are no other papers that explore exactly the same issue. The value of your work is your original contribution to the research. If somebody has already investigated the topic, there is not much sense in proceeding with it.

Wondering where to find the most current topic for your research? We’ve collected them below.

Computer Science Thesis Topics

Computers surround us everywhere. From hospitals to home offices, it’s impossible to imagine life without them. A doctorate in computer science can allow you many career opportunities!

• The latest developments in AI use for healthcare services . Healthcare in the US is expensive for its citizens. One way to reduce the cost is using computer algorithms. This technology research topic lets you explore how AI helps physicians with their tasks.
• Computer security for public institutions. Several allegations about hackers stealing data from the US government emerged in recent years. With this dissertation idea, study public cybersecurity. Also, discuss ways to improve cybersecurity practices.
• Visual recognition system architecture: real-time object detection. Discuss a system based on neural networks capable of detecting objects. Focus on the virtual environment. You can alter this trending topic in computer science for real-life settings.
• Blockchain application outside financial technologies. Analyze and discuss the implications of using blockchain systems outside of the fintech sector. For example, study its use for public services and in government agencies. This topic allows exploring ways of applying established algorithms.
• Machine learning and text structures. Discuss ways of visualizing text categorization. Focus on complex hierarchical structures of texts. This topic is suitable for postgraduates.
• Encrypted search: security, performance, and usage. Discuss the use of encryptions to protect data. Say how we can improve it for effective information search.
• Use of computers in education . Study how algorithms can improve learning. This topic can be altered for other fields. For example, choose AI in business or agriculture.
• Graphics and visual computing: current state and the future. By now, CAD programs are an integral part of every engineer’s tool kit. Your thesis can analyze the potential of those programs. What would improve their performance? Is there a chance that they will become obsolete?
• Multimedia databases parsing and indexing. Netflix and YouTube require technology to search across their multimedia databases. This dissertation can be a survey on best practices. Or, add a company name to the title and focus your research on it.
• AI Marketing: the use of algorithms to improve advertising. In the previous list of research question examples, you can choose a narrow marketing theme. Then, discuss the implications of such algorithms.
• Study computation of models for virtual environments .
• Cybersecurity challenges for automated vehicles.
• AI and vehicle automation: potential safety gaps.
• Computer graphics : perspectives for medical imaging.
• Research the use of computer algorithms for medical analysis .
• Discuss the role of bioinformatics in healthcare improvement.
• How is a computer-aided design used in creating automobile parts?
• Review the best practices for System Level Testing of distributed systems.
• Agile project management for software engineers .
• Software development risks analysis for successful employment.
• Study the security mechanisms for WLAN networks .
• Malicious botnets and network worms: an overview.
• What are the best practices in ICT systems development?
• Web-based document management systems using XML.
• Best algorithms for cluster generation.
• Methods for improving Open Web Architecture.
• Analyze software solutions for the increased energy efficiency .
• Protection of systems against terror attacks : a case study and analysis.
• New methods of risk management during software development.
• Analyze how Web space requirements are changing.
• Analyze how e-publishing is affecting libraries.
• New methods for studying the behavior of malware, viruses, and worms with the use of secure programming and runtime environments.
• Analyze redundancy and fault recovery in the 4G wireless network .
• Analyze the implementation and analysis of the optimal algorithm vs the heuristic algorithm for the generation of clusters.
• Analyze how full-text databases affect search engines.

Humanities and Art History Thesis Topics

Do you want to put your passion into words? Would you like to share your ideas with the world? Then pursuing a Ph.D. in the arts or humanities is the right path for you.

• The history of cinema : past and present. With this history dissertation topic, focus on how cinema developed. Explore the period starting from the first short films by the Lumiere brothers. Finish the discussion with modern-day Hollywood examples.
• Art or commerce: a case study of Hollywood films. Discuss the intersection between artistic expression and profit. This exciting arts topic focuses on modern cinema. You can use examples of art-house movies and modern commercially successful ones.
• Hollywood vs. Bollywood . Compare the two distinct film production centers for this art thesis. Next, discuss how local cultures impact Hollywood and Bollywood movies’ direction, genres, and plots.
• The use of visual tools in interior design . This dissertation topic is an intersection between arts and computer science . The focus is on how visualization tools help to create design projects.
• Racism in the 21st-century literature. Focus on how the narratives about racism have changed. Include examples from poetry and prose of this era. Compare it to works published in the past.
• The cultural aesthetic of Afrofuturism in literature. This dissertation idea allows you to explore the intersection of arts. Specifically, see how culture, philosophy of science, and history manifest in Afrofuturism .
• The social value of ecopoetry. Analyze how literature that focuses on ecological problems. Discuss environmental consciousness and environmental issues .
• Graphic novels: the best examples and implications for the development of literature. What does it mean when literary classics are converted into graphic novels? Incorporate the question if graphic novels can become part of the literary canon.
• Theater of the Absurd in the 1950s and 1960s. Discuss this form of theatrical art. Examine how it emerged and why it became influential.
• Post World War II art : cinema and literature. Use examples of films and literary works. Discuss major works of the post-WWII era and their themes.
• Futurism and the Czech avant-garde : the artistic connection between Europe’s East and West.
• Study the phenomenon of the hero archetype.
• Assess dancing as a form of meditation .
• Review the common elements of various African dances.
• Folk dances across Western Europe.
• Discuss regional dances and dance as a ritual.
• Animation as a modern art form.
• Research the art of glass-making and its prospects for the future.
• Analyze the cultural impact of The Beatles beyond music.
• Literature censorship in the US.
• Examine the intersection of ecology and arts.
• Heidelberg Project: is it a model for creating art in urban areas?
• Study kinetic sculptures of the 20th century.
• What characterizes social activism in 20 th -century rock music?
• Jazz in the 21st century: a potential for revival.
• The history of design in various periods of human existence (the ancient times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, etc.).
• Design as art .
• Philosophy of design.
• Separate branches of design ( interior design , car design, toy design, etc.).
• Stylistic peculiarities of a certain designer.
• Web design as a modern quintessence of design.
• Social significance of design.
• The birth of Communism as it relates to Stendhal.
• The relationship between politics and literature in the 19 th century.
• An analysis and case study of artists and art during times of war.
• How contemporary art is related to American suffering.
• Analyze of how racism relates to the family unit.

List of Science Topics for Your Thesis

A dissertation in science will probably require you to run numerous experiments. Many of them will probably go wrong. But the one that does work might be the next big breakthrough! Find a suitable research theme in the following list of topics:

• Bacterial injections for the treatment of cancer tumors. Injecting bacteria into tumors is a fairly new approach to treating cancer . Review the mechanism of action and evaluate the potential of this method for curing cancer.
• Computer imagining and AI for cancer detection . Examine how AI-assisted cancer screening improves accuracy. Include early detection implications and usage in hospitals.
• Ethics of organ donations and transplantation. With this dissertation topic in science, examine the ethics of encouraging people to donate their organs. Include the implications for medical research and practice.
• An epidemiological and molecular approach to cancer prevention . This topic idea suggests assessing the current understanding of how cancer develops as well as potential prevention strategies.
• Ways of speeding up vaccine development and testing. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the process of vaccine development is relatively slow. It takes a long time to ensure proper testing. You may discuss these issues in your biochemistry dissertation.
• The current state of research into ultra-fast rechargeable batteries. The topic of batteries and energy attracts lots of attention. With this topic, you can examine how to improve the design of aluminum-ion batteries. Include ways to decrease their charging time.
• Nanotechnologies in drug delivery: electrospraying. Current research shows the great potential of nanotechnologies. In particular, the electrospraying technique makes nanoparticle delivery more efficient.
• Prevalence of various Helicobacter Pylori virulence in a population. Conduct quantitative research and examine a sample of patients to determine the number infected with Helicobacter Pylori.
• The relationship between gut microbiota and the person’s appetite . Your research can explore the theory that the gut microbiome has varied effects on the person’s body. Review the implications for obesity treatment for different gut microbiomes.
• The age of antibiotics: is it over? Examine the use of antibiotics and the reasons for its decline. Discuss the evolving nature of bacteria that require remedies other than antibiotics. Include quantitative data in this dissertation for a specific type of disease.
• CRISPR method for studying human DNA.
• The study of human evolution : latest discoveries.
• Denisovans from Siberia: a new type of hominid discovered.
• Study the use of AI in archeology .
• Conduct a study of the Neanderthal genome sequence.
• What are the ways of improving solar cell efficiency?
• The carbon footprint of modern production: how do companies damage the environment?
• Research the use of cesium in solar panels .
• The era of supercapacitors: are we ending the use of batteries?
• Assess the efficiency of Robot Suits for people with permanent paralysis.
• Microscale medial robots: potential applications.
• Look into stem cell mobilization and its mechanisms.
• Discuss the ethics of automated cars .
• Space robotics: can we design robots capable of exploring space?
• Evaluate the efficiency and potential of lithium-based rechargeable batteries.
• Morality and ethics of stem cell research .
• Is behavior controlled or affected by genetics and to what level.
• A look at methods of improving risk factors post-stroke.
• Analyze of Chinese herbal practice and its relevance to conventional medicine.
• Analyze the effect schools have on childhood obesity .

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• New methods of using existing data to gather information that is useful.
• An in-depth look at the factors affecting the decline of the immune system with age.
• Analyze of the potential effect of nanotechnology on health and the environment.
• Analyze of toxicity levels of inhaled nanoparticles.
• The usefulness of nanotechnology in curing some types of cancer .
• An analysis and case study of the treatment of patients who have experienced a loss of memory.
• Analyze the use of DNA typing of remains to identify missing people and the victims of crime.
• The response of immune deficiency diseases to the activation of T-cell subsets.
• The influence and importance of IT in the field of biomedicine.

Architecture Thesis Topics

Architecture is more than just aesthetics. That’s become especially clear ever since the doctrine “form follows function” gained traction. Whether you’re into baroque or Bauhaus, there’s plenty to discover about architecture.

• Religious architecture in the British Empire. Research the transformation of religious buildings and how it affected architecture in general. 
• Modernist architecture in the USSR at the beginning of the 20th century. Compare modernist architecture in the USSR with other countries. 
• Urban greening and its influence on buildings’ design . The dissertation proposal can include green roofs as the main point of research. 
• Brutalism and its history in New York . Provide historical research of brutalism in New York and discuss how it affects modern architecture. 
• Modern-day aboriginal settlements in Australia. Using examples from media and research, indicate how aboriginal settlements are perceived and handled today. 
• Transformation of the urban design in the 21st century. Using London, Hong-Kong, and New York as examples, provide an in-depth discussion of changes in the urban design. 
• The architectural history of Seattle. Conduct research and write a proposal that will compare different architectural styles seen in Seattle. 
• Integration of culture in environmental design. In this proposal, you can use large cities in Asia as primary examples of the synergy between culture and architecture. 
• The architecture of residential buildings during the second half of the 20th century. Choose one or several large cities (e.g., Berlin, Miami, Kyoto) as the basis for your research. 
• The history of Moscow Avant-Garde. Use both Soviet and modern Russian research on Avant-Garde to present the topic accurately. 
• Use of computer visuals in architecture. 
• Review the trends in modern furniture design. 
• Ecology and architecture: integration of green technologies. 
• Discuss the multiculturalism of contemporary urban architecture. 
• The history of architecture in urban areas of the US: the study of New York. 
• Modern city design case study. 
• Research ways of using wood in modern architecture. 
• Commercial architecture: aesthetics and usability. 
• Evaluate the design of municipal buildings in the US. 
• Creativity in postmodernist architecture. 
• How do we integrate smart home technology into architecture? 
• Small scale homes: a study of growing interest in small housing. 
• Discuss the use of lighting in building design. 
• Study innovations in structural design in the digital age. 
• What are the implications of inclusive architecture? 
• Sustainable architecture: recycling spaces and materials.  
• Renewable energy in home design. 
• Assess open concept homes for American families. 
• Conduct a study of family homes design. 
• Research architecture suitable for middle-class families. 

Thesis Topics in English Literature & World Literature

Was your New Year’s Resolution to re-read the 100 most influential classical works? Then you might want to consider writing a thesis in advanced higher English. Check out these engaging prompts:

• In-depth stylistic analysis of The Trial by Franz Kafka . Explain what stylistic devices Kafka used in his story. 
• The influence of The Hound of the Baskervilles on the development of modern detective stories. Prepare several comparisons of The Hound with modern detective stories to pinpoint its influence. 
• The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum : women characters in Heinrich Böll’s fiction. Using the book mentioned in the topic, examine how the German writer depicted women in his prose. 
• Analysis of the terrorism portrayal in modern journalism: The New York Times case study. Pick several articles related to terrorism published in NYT and describe in detail how it is portrayed (keywords, images, etc.).
• A formalist approach to Dostoevsky: analysis of The Brothers Karamazov . Provide the reader with an explanation of the formalist approach and use it to analyze the novel. 
• The depiction of sexual violence in young adult literature. Pick several YA novels published in the 2010s for your research. 
• The use of repetition in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot . Analyze how repetition is used for emphasis and other effects in the play. 
• Feminism and gender in Margaret Atwood’s Cats’ Eye . Review the book from a feminist point of view and discuss how gender issues are presented in the book. 
• How does Phillip K. Dick use intertextuality in The Man in the High Castle ? Find as many references to other literary and historical sources as you can and elaborate how Dick uses them and for what aims. 
• The influence of Steppenwolf on postmodern American literature: the contribution of Herman Hesse. Using Steppenwolf as the primary source, discuss what characteristics common for postmodern literature Hesse uses in this novel. 
• How does racism manifest itself in classical literature? 
• Discuss the oppression of women in The Handmaid’s Tale.  
• Gender roles in The Miniaturist and A Doll’s House : a comparison. 
• Moral ambiguity in David Harrower’s works. 
• Literary techniques in the Perks of Being a Wallflower.  
• The setting in The Murder in the Rue Morgue and its influence on the detective genre. 
• Review the tropes first introduced in The Moonstone .  
• Study the depictions of police’s work in Skinner’s Rule . 
• Assess the influence of Victorian Gothic horror on popular culture. 
• Social criticism in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  
• Analyze cyberpunk elements in Gibson’s Neuromancer .  
• Themes of social equality in modern literature. 
• Research the views on Native American writers in Nature’s Poem.  
• Critique of contemporary children’s literature . 
• Gothic elements in Charlotte Bronte’s works . 
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Dracula : a comparative analysis. 
• Terror in The Picture of Dorian Gray .  
• Examine the connection of mental health and society in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye . 
• Magical realism and romanticism in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.  
• How does the cut-up technique contribute to the narration in William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch?  

Criminal Justice Thesis Topics

Are you a forensic science student who prefers research to actual police work? In that case, a dissertation in criminology is a great idea. This way, you can work on preventing crime from the comfort of your desk.

• Recidivism rates among underage Latino first-time offenders: a quantitative study. Research a group of first-time offenders of a particular age (e.g., 18 to 25 years old).
• A comparative analysis of the incidents of gun violence in the USA during the 2010s. Choose several prominent examples and compare them to each other.
• Troublesome statements: the role of witnesses in potentially false accusations. In this dissertation, you can write about the unreliability of statements, using documented examples.

• The patterns of drug trafficking in Germany’s largest cities: a case study of Berlin and Hamburg. Analyze the changes in these patterns in the 2010s.
• Money laundering and corruption in the United States in the 21st century. Using media reports, create dissertation research about corruption schemes.
• Mental health and self-perception of second-time sex offenders . Determine if their self-perception changes.
• School shootings in the USA: causes and risk factors . Using recent and historical data, analyze the cases of mass shootings.
• The influence of cyberbullying on suicide rates among Australian adolescents (13-17 years old). You can base your dissertation report on various research on cyberbullying published in Australian scholarly journals.
• Child abuse and its influence on serial killer’s perception of victims. Discuss interconnections between abuse and potential sadistic behavior.
• The history of forensic interviewing in the USA. Present research and practices that contributed to its development.
• Use of artificial intelligence for forensic investigations.
• Criminal behavior at a young age and its implications for the future.
• Drug use: pattern of recurring arrests among American youth.
• Incarcerated parents: the impact on the child’s perception of crime.
• Research the reforms of the US criminal justice system.
• Propose strategies for improving the juvenile detention system.
• Police officer’s abuse of power: analysis of reports.
• Race and criminal justice: the case of War on Drugs .
• What are the possible alternative forms of incarceration?
• A study of public perception of modern serial killers .
• Training of sniffer dogs.
• The implications of eyewitness testimony.
• Abuse in Hollywood: a case study of Harvey Weinstein.
• Bias against African Americans during investigations.
• A study of college violence.
• Legal implications of medical marijuana legalization .
• Ethics of criminal justice : the problem of confidentiality.
• Review the challenges linked with domestic violence investigations.
• Suggest ways of preventing crimes in schools .
• Gender bias during crime examinations.

Geography Thesis Topics

If you enjoy unveiling Earth’s secrets, this section is for you. Here you’ll find geography dissertation ideas ranging from studies of movement to regional phenomena.

• Species that became extinct in the 20th century: qualitative research. Address the human influence on various species .
• Current issues in the exploration of Arctic. Discuss difficulties and specifics of such explorations.
• A comparison of urban back gardens in the USA and the UK. You can compare their design and other features (for example, vegetation used for decoration).
• The causes and outcomes of floodings in the USA in the 2010s. Address climate change as one of the leading causes.
• Prevention of ecosystem changes with modern technology. Provide various examples of how technology is used to sustain ecosystems.
• Changes in travel destinations in the 2000s: a comparison of the USA and Canada. Demonstrate what changes in preferences were documented in these countries and show what destinations were especially popular.
• The perception of environmentally friendly technologies and their impact on the environment by citizens of large metropolitan areas: a case study of Miami. Explain how various projects based on environmentally friendly technologies are launched in Miami.
• A negative impact of global warming on weather conditions in Iceland. Discuss how tourism in Iceland is affected by these changes.
• The influence of industrialization on climate change. Address the causes of climate change, using industrialization and its consequences as a basis.
• Compare Greenfield and Brownfield land use for construction projects.
• Investigate the significance of red salmon for Kamchatka.
• The social impact of climate change : a study of migration patterns.
• The potential of community gardening in underprivileged neighborhoods.
• Study the link between the strengths of hurricanes and climate change.
• What can be done to stop gentrification in your community?
• Evaluate coastal tourism, its effect, and implications.
• The impact of reservoir locations on water quality .
• How did industrialization affect the development of Chicago?
• Study soil pollution levels in your community area.
• Conduct an analysis of air quality in your city.
• Eco-tourism , its history, and perspectives.
• Differences in soil chemistry across several locations.
• The impact of organic farming on water quality in your area.
• Compare the sustainability of organically vs. conventionally farmed tomatoes.
• Research air pollution levels and data on airborne illnesses in your area.
• What’s the relationship between rock climbing and cliff vegetation?
• Study the changes in soil fertility upon volcanic eruption.
• How does the Chernobyl disaster continue to affect the surrounding area?
• Determine the patterns of floods in a particular area of your choice.

Sociology Thesis Ideas

Sociology studies how humans live together. A dissertation is a great way to dive deeper into a particular subject. You can get as specific as your heart desires! Check out our sociology thesis topics:

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• Single parent stigma and its influence on family’s quality of life and parent-child relationships . Present examples from recent research that illustrate how the dynamics of these relationships change over time due to stigma.
• Women empowerment in Saudi Arabia in 2000s: breakthroughs and challenges. Discuss how this empowerment affected legislation and women’s rights .
• Long-term alcohol addiction and self-perception in young adults. With the help of research, demonstrate whether self-perception of these adults transforms significantly due to their addiction.
• Adoption and its influence on parent-child relationships. Present and discuss challenges that such families face.
• Comparison of traditions related to family dinners in the USA and the UK. What specific differences are there and how can they be explained?
• Influence of the emo culture on suicide rates in high school students. Address the influence of such cultures on adolescents’ behavior.
• The rates of secularization in elderly individuals living in urban and rural areas. Compare the rates and explain why they are different.
• Influence of forced outing on transgender individuals and concomitant changes in their quality of life. Explain the effects of forced outing and why this impact is dangerous.
• Comparison of anti-nuclear movements in Germany and Japan in the 21st century. Explain in detail what differences and similarities are prominent.
• Performance rates of teenagers in schools in low-income neighborhoods: a case study of Boston schools. When writing your dissertation proposal, consider various factors (poverty, limited access to technology, etc.) that affect performance rates of these teenagers.
• Black Lives Matter movement’s immediate impact on racism.
• Research causes of minority bias in the US.
• Affirmative action and its impact on the perception of varied racial groups.
• The impact of religion on people’s attitudes towards race.
• Review the challenges of the US LGBT community.
• Bias towards transgender studies.
• Social activism against gender discrimination in the 21st century.
• The impact of social assistance in schools on a child’s future.
• Research the changes in education after WWII.
• Analyze scholarship policies in the US.
• The impact of student debt on youth’s perception of education in the US.
• Outcomes of public vs. private schools: a comparison.
• Research the preservation of culture in American immigrant families.
• Applying Marx’s conflict theory to social justice movements.
• Assess changing trends in social norms in a country of your choice.
• Attitudes towards prejudice among people of different social backgrounds.
• Comparison of women’s rights in Western and Middle Eastern countries.
• The impact of capitalism on one’s social values.
• How does capitalism benefit society across multiple post-soviet countries?
• Compare healthcare access in autocracies vs. democracies.

💡 Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. students

Below you’ll find a list of excellent dissertation ideas in different fields of study. They are more difficult than thesis topics and require more research. Jump to the section that interests you and find the topic that suits you best! But first:

What Makes a Good Ph.D. Topic?

Usually, universities would expect your dissertation to be original and relevant in the field of the research. Moreover, it would be worthwhile if it has the potential to make a change.

This checklist will help you see whether you’ve made the right choice. Your dissertation topic is good, if:

• You have an opportunity to research it fully.  You need to know that there is enough data and a theoretical basis. Do some prior research to understand if you will be able to answer all your dissertation questions.
• You can fill the gaps in the existing knowledge.  Your research matters if you can provide some new information that contributes to the field of your studies.
• Your dissertation title is catchy.  Try to make it worth the reader’s attention from the first glance.
• You can evaluate how much time you need.  It is vital to understand all the stages of your research and the challenges you might face to plan your work.
• You know the subject well.  You will need to explore your topic in-depth. It’s good to have some previous knowledge about it. Starting the research from the very basics will take more time and effort.
• You have enough resources to investigate it.  Both time and money matter in this case. You need to do high-quality research and meet your deadlines.

Dissertation Topics in Education

Learning is a lifelong experience, and the importance of schools cannot be overestimated. Research in this area is critical to improving education standards. Have a look at these topic ideas to get inspired:

• Gamification as tools for enhancing learning abilities: theory and practice . Many studies have been conducted on different learning approaches. For young learners, engagement is as critical as the outcome. Therefore, this work focuses on gamification and its effect on children’s improvisation and learning. 
• Studying the connection between classroom quality and the learning outcome in kindergarten . Children are strongly affected by their environment, especially when it comes to learning. This dissertation topic example is all about looking into different classroom settings and their effect on kids’ learning outcomes. 
• Evaluating the process of implementation of inclusive education in the US. Professionals argue that inclusive education carries multiple benefits for all students (not just those with limited abilities.) However, it is quite a challenging process to implement all the changes. 
• Factors influencing the decision to transfer to the higher education abroad . In this work, you can focus on finding out the reasons for such a decision. Why do undergraduate students choose to leave their home country? What are the most important factors? 
• Online education vs. traditional face-to-face lessons for adult learners: compare and contrast. Online courses have their own benefits. However, would adult learners prefer them to in-person classrooms? How does it affect their learning and motivation? 
• How does working as a taxi driver and navigating change a person’s brain? 
• To what extent can reality television be disempowering for students?  
• The role of homework in the lives of immigrant adolescents. 
• The impact of teachers’ shocking behaviors in fostering students’ creativity. 
• The determinants of flossing behavior in college students . 
• The classification of drinking styles in the college-age population. 
• Integrating the computer into the curriculum: why you can’t simply plug it in. 
• The preconditions for serious music-making avocation in computer science students. 
• Adult graduate difficulties with learning new technologies. 
• The effect of academic performance on the health of students . 
• The impact of mathematic coaching on students’ self-esteem . 
• The influence of internet on the emotional maturity of students. 
• Academic achievements of students who decide to become teachers. 
• Is it true that students are more likely to do homework given by good-looking professors? 
• Informal learning in rural areas via social networks. 
• Educational blogging for professors: the social networks of educationists. 
• Does learning existentialism cause suicides? 
• Is it possible to reduce summer learning loss without students’ consent? 
• Can we reject classical math and do it at the same time? Yes, we can. 
• What are major career prospects with a degree in Liberal Arts ? 
• Using electronic games in museums as an effective education tool. 

Business Dissertation Topics

There are many things a business administrator should keep in mind. Finances, marketing, and development are just the tip of the iceberg. So, the choice of topics is practically endless. Check out this selection to narrow down the possibilities:

• How are business strategies adjusted to the globalization process? Small businesses’ perspective. Globalization means huge and profitable opportunities. To seize them, all businesses and companies should make some changes in their strategies. Investigate what would be the best action plan for them. 
• Cultural changes and the effect of feedback in an international company: a case study. Choose a multinational company. Study the impact of feedback (both from the employees and customers) on its organizational culture changes. What reaction does it provoke in the company? 
• Human resource management approaches in international non-profit organizations. In this study, look into the strategies HR managers apply in non-profit organizations. One of their main responsibilities is to monitor the performance of the employees. However, at the international level it becomes more difficult. 
• Leadership and organizational culture in making decisions about business strategies. In this research, you study the influence of the organizational culture on leaders. In the case of trying to initiate changes in the business strategy, how is a leadership decision taken? 
• The role of “ foreign direct investment ” in companies in developing countries: a case study of a large business. For this paper, pick a suitable company first. Aim for large companies in developing countries. Then conduct research and find out what strategies they have for foreign direct investments. 
• COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on workplace management in small businesses . The COVID-19 pandemic caused many companies to readjust their HR policies. For instance, they allowed their staff to work from home. Research this phenomenon in your thesis. 
• Social entrepreneurship for large companies. If you want to make the world a better place, social entrepreneurship is a suitable method. We usually associate it with small start-ups. But what about large companies? With this topic, you can research how the concept works for big firms. 
• How innovation affects demand in technology-driven businesses. This MBA dissertation topic combines business studies and technology . Examine how companies create products for establishing markets. 
• Management strategies in times of COVID-19: a case study . The pandemic has forced companies to use Zoom , Skype, and messaging instead of regular meetings. Review how executives can apply traditional management models in the digital space. 
• The impact of burnout on employees . Interview staff members and determine how burnout affects performance. Include the name of a company or industry in your dissertation’s title. 
• Tourism management in the Middle East. 
• How do natural disasters impact the demand for essentials?  
• Compare and contrast Asian and American leadership styles . 
• How does fluctuation in the stock market impact business operations? 
• The art of delegation : how to do it effectively and when to avoid it. 
• How can one efficiently lead a company when unforeseen circumstances occur? 
• What factors determine employees’ work satisfaction?  
• Study the link between a company’s success and innovation . 
• What can business managers do to bridge the gap between generations ? 
• Research the benefits of global and local brand management. 
• What causes changes in Chinese business culture? 
• Choose a small business and analyze its strategy.  
• Organizational changes : what factors impact transformation? 
• Internet banking : barriers to usage. 
• Create a business plan that is focused on a specific issue. 
• Conditions necessary for quality management in MNCs. 
• The role of E-commerce for food retailers. 
• Conduct a case study with the purpose to analyze one or several social phenomena. 
• Workplace ethics in small businesses.  
• The phenomenon of remote working and how it is affecting businesses. 
• Comparison of Generation X and the Millennial Generation . 
• Managing the Millennial Generation. 
• Current trends in consumer behavior in relation to advertising. 
• Analyze which countries margin financing is effective and why. 
• Analyze the macroeconomic factors affecting exchange rates. 
• An empirical analysis of the impact of organizational performance and leadership . 

Law Dissertation Topics for Ph.D. Students

Legal science is not dull as one may think. It’s crucial to evaluate laws at any point in time. Do they fit the current norms? Does something or someone need more protection than before? If you want to garnish your legal education with a Ph.D., here are some topic suggestions:

• Trust law: the circumstances when fully secret and half-secret trusts are necessary. Find out what are the principles that dictate the enforcement of the trusts. There are specific circumstances that determine whether creating trusts would be adequate and relevant. Make sure to take them into consideration.
• Termination of employment in case of employees tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Your task would be to conduct research and see how HIV/AIDS employees are influenced in the workplace. The most common issues are discrimination and termination of employment.
• The influence of the Global War on Terrorism on international criminal law. When the US launched the campaign against terrorism in 2001, international criminal law faced some changes. You can study the most significant changes that have been made.
• The level of effectiveness of the US copyright law in relation to the rights of users. It’s an empirical research topic that would require collecting lots of data. Try to find some cases when the users were left cheated by copyright law. It would bring some diversity to the research and make it more interesting.
• Study the effect that the US immigration policy has on education right now. Educational institutions are also required to adjust to changes connected with immigration. Different requirements and different curriculums are implemented to fit their needs. You are about to look into this issue.
• Select a country and analyze its worker protection laws. Compare the rights and obligations of employees in two countries of your choice. What potential improvements can solidify employee rights ?
• Protection of minorities, legal precedents. Minority rights are becoming more and more relevant. This topic allows you to discuss how laws can be changed to reflect it.
• Regulation of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies allow for anonymity. Besides, they are not regulated by any state. In your thesis, you can analyze cryptocurrency regulations.
• Fake news : legal responsibility. Review how the United States legal system approaches disinformation. Focus on false publications on news resources. Another possible topic is improvements to defamation laws.
• Freedom of expression : a case during a pandemic. This topic is about false information in times of COVID-19. Examine how a state can balance freedom of expression with the spread of false information. Focus on this disease and the fake news about it.
• Legal practices for preventing possible future pandemics.
• Research ways of online journalism protection.
• International law vs. the right to self-determination: comparative case studies of de facto states.
• Review the history of fiscal laws in America.
• Limits to freedom of expression in the US legal system.
• Enforcing regulations concerning domestic violence .
• Study criminal responsibility for drug possession in the US.
• Criminalization of violence against women.
• Review the legal framework for addressing foreign involvement in elections.
• What was the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
• Health standards for immigrant detention centers in the US .
• Research the loopholes in the US immigration laws .
• Birthright citizenship in the US: pros and cons.
• 1951 Refugee Convention: is it obsolete?
• Illegal immigrants and their rights in the US justice system.
• How criminal laws have been impacted around the world by the war on terror .
• Choose a country and analyze their policies on discrimination.
• Evaluate the protection given to minority shareholders as dictated by company law.
• Provide a critical analysis of the law of omissions liability.
• Investigate and analyze complaints filed in the criminal justice system .
• A critical analysis of the reform of homicide laws .
• The morality and impact of euthanasia and how Canada sets a precedent.
• A detailed analysis of gender and race profiling of suspects in the criminal justice system .
• Analyze the right to bear arms relative to the context in which the law was written into The Constitution.
• Create case studies that represent a review of criminal negligence related to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

Psychology Dissertation Topics

The mysterious ways of the human mind offer many research opportunities. Psychology encompasses sub-fields such as behavior and cognition. Whatever your area of expertise, you’ll undoubtedly find something interesting in the list below.

• The current effect of the “price ending” method on the consumers’ behavior . Nowadays, everybody knows the most popular trick that shops pull to make customers buy the products. However, does understanding it make it easier to resist it? Is this psychological trap still working?
• Burnout at the executive positions in massive US corporations: is it possible to prevent? The phenomenon of burnout is the most common issue that employees face nowadays. But there are ways to detected it at an early stage. Could they be used to predict and prevent this problem?
• Mindfulness practices and their influence on students’ learning abilities at the top universities (e.g., Harvard). Mindfulness is proved to be extremely useful in overcoming stress and anxiety issues. However, does it affect the learning outcome of the students who study at the best universities in the world?
• The individual struggles with gender issues and their impact on global gender inequality . Everything always starts with a small thing. For this paper, study the relation between some individual cases and the global issue. How do personal struggles contribute to the worldwide movement for justice?
• The positive influence of irrational beliefs on mental well-being. In psychology, irrational beliefs are a set of values and opinions that people believe in despite rational evidence against them. However, what positive effect can they bring?
• Ways of raising awareness of mental health problems. Mental health has been discussed more openly in recent years. Review how this open discussion affects views on personal mental health. As another idea for a psychology dissertation topic, research a specific illness.
• Student burnout and ways to prevent it. Focus on the problems students face and what strategies can reduce their stress.
• Pandemic and mental health . The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to be in isolation from social contacts. Review the potential effects of this practice on people’s well-being. Discuss possible strategies for supporting mental health during possible future pandemics.
• Weight, self-image, and mental health. A clinical psychology thesis can focus on the psychology behind excess weight. Discuss how weight affects a person’s perception of self. Assess implications for clinical psychologists who work with overweight patients.
• Social media vs. reality: normalizing real people. Review current efforts of social media accounts in normalizing body image . Explain how this can reverse the damage that edited photos have on mental health.
• How does gender bias affect mental health in America?
• What factors affect women’s self-esteem in the workplace?
• Specifics of transgender mental health.
• Research the effect of immigration on mental well-being.
• Study the psychology of racism and ways to combat it.
• What distinguishes the mental health of minorities in the US?
• Research the psychology of dissent in the Soviet Union.
• The connection between stress and overeating: latest developments.
• Assess the role of social support for losing weight .
• What’s the role of prejudice in politics?
• Assess the role of endurance in combating stress .
• Developing hardiness: strategies and exercises.
• What’s the effect of emotional resilience on mental health?
• Helping teenagers overcome stress via relaxation techniques .
• Look into the perception of anger and its effect on mental health.
• Understanding the function of the prefrontal cortex in terms of how it is connected to other parts of the brain.
• Understanding how the prefrontal cortex makes us human.
• How emotional and anxiety disorders are connected to social cognition that is impaired.
• Analyze the ability of an MRI to determine brain function.
• Analyze the relationship between emotional and episodic memory.
• A comparison of the plasticity of the child’s brain and the adult brain.
• Analyze the continued relevance of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
• An in-depth look at the social intuitionist model and how it relates to the emotion and reason involved in moral judgement.
• How the evolution of the human brain can be understood in terms of children cognitive development .
• A demonstration of the multi-dimensional nature of schizophrenia.
• How rational thinking and impulse contribute to decision-making.
• A systematic analysis and review of the psychology of religion.
• How exposure to nature affects happiness.

Nursing Dissertation Topics

A nurse’s work is hard. Unfortunately, they rarely get the credit they deserve. With a Ph.D., you could become an advocate on the problem. Or you could concentrate on optimizing their work environments.

• Exercise, changes in lifestyle , and self-tracking for diabetes prevention and management. Center your research on different lifestyle changes (exercise, reduced smoking and drinking) and explain how and why it prevents diabetes .
• Influence of stigma related to HIV/AIDS on representatives of ethnic minorities: a case study of Native Americans. Using research, provide compelling evidence of how Native Americans are stigmatized and discriminated against.
• Chronic illness management at home: recommended evidence-based practices. Using current nursing and other professional research, discuss how adults and seniors manage chronic and autoimmune diseases.
• Depression and stress and their relation to preterm births in first-time mothers. Collect several articles about the issue and using their conclusions show how depression causes preterm births.
• Burnout in nurses: factors that cause it and practical solutions for prevention . Present outcomes of burnout (decreased performance and concentration, subpar workplace environment) and illustrate how it affects hospitals on a more significant scale.
• Public health: community-based measures to prevent morbid obesity. In this research, you can list various methods that include exercise and education and explain in detail how they prevent the spread of obesity.
• Risk factors and injury rates in psychiatric nursing. Present statistics on different types of injuries in psychiatric institutions .
• Cultural diversity and inclusion in nursing education . When researching diversity, make sure you are using examples of different minority groups’ perception of education.
• Euthanasia legislation in the USA: ethical issues and debates . Provide a thoughtful discussion of ethical and legal issues surrounding euthanasia.
• Organizational climate and its influence on perceived patient safety . Your study should focus on the importance of positive relationships between staff members, and its influence on the prevention of medical errors.
• Dietary practices and their influence on the quality of life in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. SLE is a complex disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach. Describe nutritional research approaches to SLE.
• Fluoride application training in dental nursing.
• Describe the specifics of nursing care for patients with diabetes .
• Assess gender disparity in nursing research.
• Study nurse burnout prevalence in neonatal care in your community.
• Nursing staff advising DASH diet: effects on patients’ blood pressure.
• What are the challenges of asthma management for nurses?
• Nursing for autistic patients : the best strategies.
• Racial differences in nursing care: a case study.
• Evaluate nurses’ role in pain management for patients with dementia.
• Study the connection between nursing staff turnover and burnout.
• How is the role of a nurse changing in the modern healthcare system?
• Review nursing practices for managing elderly patients.
• A holistic approach to obesity management in nursing.
• Describe the specifics of nursing in rural areas .
• Physical activity and mental health: a nursing case study.
• Discuss nursing pain relief strategies for general care.
• Determine the ethical implications of nursing malpractice.
• Nurses consultations for spinal cord injuries .
• Nursing in an urban setting : challenges and prospects.
• What are the specifics of pain management in obstetrical nursing?

Marketing Dissertation Topics

Good marketing is what made you buy that product you didn’t know you needed. Marketing needs plenty of scientific research for it to be successful. You can contribute to this effort with one of the following topic ideas:

• Compare and contrast the effectiveness of traditional and digital marketing in the last five years. Marketing moves towards digital campaigns more and more every year. Though, traditional marketing still exists, of course. Your task is to compare every aspect of these two types in the span of the previous five years.
• The specifics of the relationship marketing and its influence on the loyalty rates among customers: a case study of fast-food chains. Take a few fast-food chains to conduct this research. Then analyze their relationship marketing strategies. There should be a correlation between the methods they use and the loyalty of their customers.
• Direct marketing and artificial intelligence: how do companies use it? The industry of marketing couldn’t have missed the opportunity to use the latest technologies for their benefit. Artificial intelligence helps some companies gain a competitive advantage. Find out what those benefits are.
• Collectivism and individualism : how does culture influence supermarkets? There are some apparent differences in cultures when it comes to shopping. Each shop owner has to implement a specific marketing strategy for targeting the customers. Work on aspects that make those strategies successful in different cultures.
• The strategies that make personalized products sell effectively. Everybody loves customized products, but it seems like not everybody is willing to share their data to get it. Therefore, businesses are forced to work it out. This research looks into marketing tools and methods they use to sell personalized products.
• Influence of online shopping apps on impulsive buying behavior . Using prominent examples such as Amazon and eBay , elaborate how apps affect customer’s decision to purchase an item through recommendations.
• Product design and its impact on consumer’s purchase decision. When preparing this thesis topic, consider using examples of large corporations such as Apple or IKEA to prove your point.
• Customer loyalty : the importance of satisfaction and loyalty programs. Conduct research using available surveys on satisfaction and draw conclusions from these statistics.
• Ethnic differences and their impact on brand perception. This research can review the types of products that target White or Black Americans specifically.
• Preferences for green products: analysis of the income’s influence on consumer decisions. Compare what households are more likely to prefer green products.
• Shopping habits of Muslim consumers in the USA: qualitative research. Here, you will need to do research by engaging Muslim Americans in your study; you can use interviews or surveys for this topic.
• Social media and its impact on the promotion of small business. Make sure your reader understands how social media can promote or negatively present small business through customers’ comments.
• Does globalization make preferences of customers from different socioeconomic backgrounds similar? Interview people from lower, middle, and upper class and discuss the preferences of American households.
• Social media usage by international companies: a case study of Electronic Arts. Study the influence of customers’ reviews and opinions on EA’s sales.
• Consumers’ perception of transaction safety in online shopping applications. Discuss how consumers learn to differentiate between reliable and unreliable apps for payments .
• Marketing high tech products: a case study.
• Study changing marketing techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The future of big data uses in marketing.
• Conduct a comparative analysis of offline vs. online advertising .
• Explore the relationship between marketing strategies and sales.
• Holiday marketing strategies in the 21st century.
• Is marketing tailed towards model devices effective?
• Study the rise of influencer marketing .
• Review the newest trends in digital advertising .
• Brand management in 2020: an analysis.
• Assess the effect of advertising on consumer behavior.
• Targeted ads: are they efficient?
• How did marketing change during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• Assess brand management’s contribution to consumer loyalty .
• Impact of social media marketing on brand perception.
• Google Analytics insights for marketing campaigns.
• Marketing for minority populations.
• Youtube marketing: the effectiveness of videos for brand promotion.
• How does partnering with influencers impact brand perception?
• Social influencer marketing for SMEs.

History Dissertation Topics

History is written not only by the victors but also by history students. Your dissertation can shine a light on understudied cultures. Or perhaps you want to focus on how a specific event impacted the world. Find inspiration among the following dissertation questions and ideas:

• The historical context of the creation of Guernica by Pablo Picasso . War wasn’t the only inspiration for Pablo Picasso during the process of making Guernica . In this paper, you would look into the environment of the artist and try to identify what else brought him to the creation of this masterpiece.
• Bismarck and radical nationalism: what influenced the political state? For this research, you would study the underlying reasons for German Nazism before the beginning of World War II. What factors gave it a start when Otto von Bismarck was in charge?
• The rise of Bollywood: historical context. This paper focuses on the success of Indian Bollywood movies in the 1930s. You would need to look into the events that made those movies famous in the whole world. Don’t forget to mention the social views of Bollywood movies.
• The influence of secrecy in the technology intervention during World War II. You would study the role that the US Patent and Trademark Office played in the development of special war technology . Secrecy helped to keep it away from the public and enemies. How did it influence the war?
• Italian prisons in the 19th century: how were they managed after Unification? This paper would require you to study documentation on the management system prison used in Italy at the beginning of the 19th century. You should try to find some practices that might have been socially harmful.
• Gender perceptions in the Middle Age. When preparing the dissertation, use both historical and literary sources to show how gender was presented.
• Secularization in the American South during the post-war period. Provide a detailed discussion of secular societies forming in the South after the 1940s.
• Representation of Jewish history in contemporary art: a case study of Art Spiegelman’s Maus . Using the comic book as the primary basis, explain how Jewish culture and history are presented there.

• The history of medieval warfare and its influence on Modern Era warfare . When constructing this thesis, make sure you are using both historical and current research to provide details.
• American-British relations during the Cold War Era . Explain how the Cold War Era changes these relations and what has affected it the most.
• Germany’s foreign relations during the 1980s. Present a detailed overview of different foreign relations (e.g., with the USA, the USSR, the UK) Germany had during this period.
• The financial crisis in the USA in 2007-2009. Using research and media sources, explain to the reader how the crisis is still affecting the USA.
• The development of Austrian identity after World War II. In this case, you can use both historical evidence and Austrian literature that provides personal opinions of writers and artists on the issue.
• The impact of the Great Depression on the American involvement in the World War II. To show your understanding of historical processes, demonstrate how the Great Depression affected the USA’s perception of WWII.
• How I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb: the development of nuclear warfare in the 20th century. Discuss the development of nuclear warfare in the USA and the USSR.
• What was the role of China in the Cold War?
• How did the Spanish Flu affect the pandemics that followed it?
• Determine the influence of the stock market crash in 1929 on the World Wars.
• First Battle of Marne’s impact on the outcomes of WWI.
• Tool usage and creation: Aztecs vs. Mayas.
• How did the enlightenment philosophy impact the development of the natural sciences?
• The effects of Christianization in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Assess the role of slavery in the US civil rights movement.
• Study the history of LGBT rights establishment in the US.
• What are the origins of slavery in Africa?
• The Moon Landing and its impact on space exploration.
• Explore the role of the Bible in Jewish history.
• The US’ involvement in WWII.
• The aftermath of WWII: major historical events.
• Research the link between the Mexican-American War and the Gold Rush .
• Cold War insights: lessons from the Suez Crisis.
• Explore the role of democratization in the Soviet Union collapse.
• Global cooperation in early modern Europe.
• Study the legacy of the arms race.
• How did the First Ladies influence life in the 20th century America?

Dissertation Topics in Management

Companies and employees alike benefit from well-thought-out management strategies. So, a thesis in management has the potential to improve work environments even further. Kickstart your research by choosing one of the following topics:

• Ecotourism in Canada: issues and trends in small business. Explain issues that arise in ecotourism with climate change.
• Management ethics: how social media affects employees’ privacy and organizational climate. Present examples of negative and positive influence.
• Leadership styles : a comparison of democratic and autocratic leadership. Discuss what leadership style should be chosen to rule various companies, depending on their business plan.
• Political risk and its influence on emergency management . Explain how political crises affect and shape emergency management.
• Cultural diversity and its impact on employees’ satisfaction and commitment. Show what advantages and disadvantages there are in cultural diversity.
• Economic growth and unemployment rates in Australia during the 1990s: a historical perspective. Explain the causes of economic growth and unemployment.
• Challenges in human resources management working with millennials: qualitative research. Discuss what particular challenges HR managers face and how they can be addressed.
• The significance of organizational routines in international corporations: a case study of Google. Conduct research on the importance of routine and its impact on performance.
• Computer skills and management: the effectiveness of computerized management information system in rural areas. Describe how digital management can be effectively applied in companies working in rural areas.
• The history of digital rights management in the USA. Present the changes in the field during the 1990s-2010s.
• Analyze the best leadership styles for SMEs.
• Examine the changes entrepreneurship underwent in the past decades.
• How do leadership styles relate to work satisfaction ?
• Overview of business negotiation methods using technology.
• Ways of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.
• Discuss the specifics of airline companies’ management .
• Choose a theory of motivation in the workplace and make a case study on it.
• Study change management in SMEs in times of a crisis.
• Managing diverse workforce: a qualitative analysis.
• Use of employee voice in US companies.
• Research the relationship between the organization’s goals and a manager’s behavior.
• What are the best current practices in public administration ?
• Applying strategic human capital principles in practice.
• The study of female CEOs in a country of your choice.
• Employees’ perception of change management : a quantitative analysis.
• A study of employees’ resistance to change.
• What’s the correlation between a CEO’s leadership traits and employee motivation ?
• Workplace risk management : a study of psychosocial hazards.
• Conduct a quantitative study of the gender pay gap for CEOs.
• Research the relationship between management style and employee productivity .

Qualitative Dissertation: Ideas for Proposals

If you want your thesis to be more practical, you’ve come to the right section. Common approaches for qualitative dissertations include researching case studies, surveys, or ethnographies. Because of this, fieldwork will be an integral part of your doctorate journey.

• A comparison of teaching techniques that targeted children with autism in the 20th and 21st centuries. Provide a detailed overview of techniques and explain how research affected them.
• The development of cognitive-behavioral therapy and its effectiveness in patients with eating disorders . Present the history of CBT and use recent research to demonstrate its effectiveness.
• Ageism and sexism in international organizations of the fashion industry. Describe how the fashion industry defines what it means to be “young and beautiful.”
• Addressing sexual harassment at the workplace : the influence of organizational policies on targets’ decision to file a complaint. Explain what policies can support the target and what can prevent such decision.
• Strategies to eliminate bias in self-evaluation reports of employees. Using research in HRM, outline the best strategies that are currently used to avoid bias .
• Post-cancer therapy: issues and trends. Present and discuss various trends, the research behind them, and the effectiveness of different types of therapy.
• A family history of abuse and its influence on drug use in adults. Explain how abuse can provoke addiction in the future.
• The importance of trusting doctor-patient relationships on patient’s medication adherence and management of a healthy lifestyle. Describe how such relationships negatively or positively affect a patient’s decision to take medicine as prescribed.
• Barriers to the acquisition of social support among young men and women veterans in the USA. Discuss mental and physical disorders as major barriers.
• Single mothers’ perceptions of breastfeeding in public places: qualitative research. Conduct interviews to find out their opinion.
• The impact of online learning on student’s academic performance.
• A study of the youths’ perception of learning smartphone applications.
• Research the issue of gender bias in college education.
• Student’s perception of the mental health support and impact on campus.
• Perceptions of charter school education in the 21 century.
• Discuss homeschooling and its effect on a child’s socialization.
• What’s the impact of cyberbullying on teenagers’ mental health?
• How inmates perceive alternative forms of incarceration.
• Gun violence from the perspective of victims.
• Research bias towards video games as an art form.
• In what ways are minorities disadvantaged in America?
• Evaluate cooking as a therapeutic exercise.
• Assess the link between a principal’s leadership style and the school’s rating.
• The effect of online counseling on patients’ mental health.
• Perception of mental health stigma among students.
• How does gig economy re-define work?
• The implications of freelancing in the 2020s.
• Opinions about a 6-day work week in your community.
• Assess the process of adaptation to working from home .
• Conduct a research study of views on the BLM movement outside the US.

Quantitative Dissertation Proposal Topics

Some scholars just love working with data. Are you one of them? Then you’ll probably enjoy quantitative research. If you’re into finding patterns and making predictions, here are some enticing topics:

• A study of a major city’s livability index. Choose a city and assess whether it’s well-designed or not.
• A quantitative study of biofilms in technology. Discuss methods of using biofilms in technology. Include a list of recent advances and new tools.
• A quantitative study of teachers’ perception of online learning . This topic prompts you to use an evaluation scale.
• An assessment of a link between product reviews and intention to purchase. Study the effect online reviews have on potential customers.
• Immigration and its connection to crime statistics . Analyze data on immigration to the US and the number of violent crimes. Determine the relationship between the two phenomena.
• The relationship between obesity and occupation. Assess the BMIs of participants of different professions. Then, test the results for a correlation and discuss its implications.
• A relationship between nurses’ knowledge of diabetes management and patient satisfaction. Assess the nurses’ knowledge about diabetes and compare the results with patient satisfaction scores. Thus, you can determine if expertise translates into better care.
• A study of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs financial operations. With this qualitative dissertation proposal in business and management, choose a small company. Analyze its financial data pre- and post-pandemic. Include a discussion of financial management during pandemics.
• A study of millennials ’ pet ownership. Determine the percentage of millennials who have pets. Compare these patterns with previous generations.
• Economic growth and urbanization. Compare the empirical data about the state of economics and the number of people living in cities.
• Determine how urbanization affects bacterial community compositions.
• The economic impact of immigration on SMEs.
• Study the rates of crimes in the US in relation to nonviolent crimes.
• How do various teaching styles affect learning?
• Compare overconfidence in CEOs of SMEs and corporations.
• How does inclusive language influence social behavior?
• Assess consumers’ satisfaction with online banking in your area.
• Evaluate crude oil price prediction methods.
• Is there a link between smartphone use and mental illness?
• Correlation between eyewitness identification and memory
• What are the attitudes towards AI development among women?
• Determine the rates of cybercrimes since the 1990s.
• A study of the police brutality cases across the US in the last decade.
• Correlation between education level and employment.
• The presence of sleep disorders in mental illnesses.
• Assess the attitudes towards medical care in the US .
• Determine the correlation between eating disorders and physical illness.
• Study the rates of cyberbullying among minority students.
• How various religious groups influence politics : a game-theoretical approach.
• Does regular exercise decrease symptoms of depression in adults?

Dissertation Topics in Educational Leadership

Educational leadership is a science focused on helping students to achieve their academic goals. It includes the motivation of staff and learners, improvement of educational programs, and creation of a healthy, productive environment in institutions. Want to dedicate your research to it? Take a look at these topic samples:

• Fatigue among American medical students. Medical students often need to memorize and analyze big portions of information. That is why many of them don’t sleep enough, get tired quickly, and find it hard to concentrate. What can be done about it?
• How did the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning affect students’ motivation? Online education has multiple benefits and drawbacks. Some students might find it easier to get access to various textbooks online. Others want to return to campus. What is their motivation ?
• Creating better learning conditions on campus : the challenges in 2022. With the increasing speed of technological progress, it is hard to catch up with the latest innovations. Explore them in your dissertation. For instance, you can focus on facilities for students with special needs .
• How can we enhance discipline among first-year students on campus? For some younger students, it is hard to get used to living on their own. They need to accept new responsibilities, find time to take care of themselves, and organize their lives. How can we help them?
• Development of soft skills among undergraduate students. For future employers, soft skills are as important as hard skills. That is why colleges need to pay attention to soft skills such as time management , communication, and creativity.
• The efficiency of workshops for enhancing students’ creativity.
• Do nutrition habits influence the studying process?
• The importance of mental health care in high school.
• What leadership styles are the most efficient in college communities?
• Does the implementation of early childhood education lead to further academic success?
• What is the role of school counseling among teenagers?
• What psychological factors make students drop out of college?
• Developing leadership qualities among MBA students.
• How to help college athletes to cope with psychological and physical pressure.
• Ways of reducing anxiety levels among criminology students.
• Helping students to choose their majors and find a career path.
• How to enhance communication between higher education administration and students?
• Motivating students to succeed after graduation .
• Why do we need psychology classes in high school?
• How can we prevent the bullying of Latin American students in middle and high school?

✅ How to Choose a Thesis Topic: Main Steps

In case you have no idea where to start from, here is a quick guideline on how to choose a Ph.D. thesis topic:

We hope this article helped you to choose a suitable topic for your dissertation. We wish you good luck with your research!

Learn more on this topic:

• Dissertation Critique: Examples, How-to Guide
• The Ultimate Guide to Writing an Outstanding Dissertation
• How to Write an Abstract: Brief Steps and Structure Example

✏️ Dissertation FAQ

While working on a dissertation, you might deal with several types of research. The main research types are primary, qualitative, quantitative, and legal. In any case, it’s the way in which a researcher studies the subject using a particular methodology.

First of all, make sure that you are personally fascinated by the subject. This is essential for any thesis, be it master’s or an undergraduate dissertation. Besides, make sure the topic is feasible and hasn’t been studies much.

A good dissertation title is the one that represents the subject under study. To state which aspect is being studied is also important. The title should include neither a hypothesis nor a conclusion: think about it as “spoilers”—nobody likes them.

Just like any paper, a great dissertation is the one that is well-organized. The topic of the paper should correspond to the title. The text should have a cohesive structure with a definite introduction, argumentative main part, and a logical conclusion.

🔗 References

• Dissertation Topics 1961-Present: Rudgers University
• Completed Thesis and Dissertation Topics: University of Florida
• Current Legal Topics: Library of Congress
• The Right Dissertation Topic: Academics.com
• Days and Nights at the Museum…there’s a Dissertation for that!: Proquest.com
• Dissertation Titles: University of Michigan
• How to Pick a Master’s Thesis Topic: Medium.com
• How to Come Up With a Thesis Topic: Gradschools.com
• How to Choose Your Thesis Topic: Central European University
• How Do I Choose a Thesis Topic?: Grad School Hub
• Senior Thesis Topics: Hamilton College
• Arizona Research Topics: Arizona State Library
• Dissertation Proposal: Bartleby.com
• Dissertation Guide Essay
• How to Start Your Dissertation: 10 Top Tips: Studential.com
• How to Write a Dissertation or Bedtime Reading for People Who do not Have Time to Sleep: Purdue University
• A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing a Ph.D. Dissertation: ThoughtCo
• Dissertations Guide from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Developing a Thesis Statement: University of Wisconsin Madison
• Thesis/Dissertation Writing and Editing, Formatting, and Defending: Massey University
• Business Management Research Topics: Top Universities
• Law Topics: Law.com
• Psychology Topics: APA
• Marketing Topics: Marketing Profs
• Topics: History.com
• Computer Science: Encyclopedia Britannica
• Humanities: Research Topics Ideas: University of Michigan-Flint
• Art Topics: Art UK
• Topics: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Nurses Topics: Medscape
• Architecture: Research Topics: University of Washington
• Topics in Geography: Research Gate
• New Topics in Sociology: University of Toronto
• Business Management Topics: The University of Maine
• Qualitative Case Study: Science.gov
• All Topics: Science News
• Criminology: Science Direct
• Topics in Literature: Sheridan College: Libguides
• Advanced Computer Science Topics: The University of Texas at Austin
• Application of Computer Techniques in Medicine: NIH
• Important Leadership and Management Topics: WHO
• Quantitative Research: University of Southern California
• Action Research: Brown University
• 10 Traits of Successful School Leaders: University of San Diego
• HIST 280 Topics: Texas A&M University
• The Relationship Between Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety: Frontiers In
• College of Nursing: University of Missouri–St. Louis
• All Topics: Educause
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Life’s Work: An Interview with Hernan Diaz

• Alison Beard

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author reflects on how literature shapes us and more.

In his novel Trust, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize, Diaz offered four contrasting perspectives on early-20th-century U.S. capitalism—a treatment that modern-day readers found deeply resonant. The author, who was born in Argentina, raised in Sweden, and now lives in the United States, says he likes to experiment with different voices and “mess with” American mythology. A longtime professor and academic editor, he published his first novel, In the Distance , a Pulitzer finalist, at age 44. Trust was his second.

• Alison Beard is an executive editor at Harvard Business Review and previously worked as a reporter and editor at the Financial Times. A mom of two, she tries—and sometimes succeeds—to apply management best practices to her household. alisonwbeard

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Are humanities stuck in ivory tower? Should they be?

Two literature scholars wrestle over whether and how professors can engage with pressing political, social issues of day

Eileen O’Grady

Harvard Staff Writer

Caroline Levine sees a “strong insistence on inaction” among thinkers in the humanities, and she thinks it’s the wrong way to go.

The Cornell University literature professor argued these scholars need to take action on the climate crisis in a Barker Center discussion last week hosted by the Department of English . The event featured a lively back-and-forth between Levine and Jesse McCarthy , assistant professor of English and of African and African American studies, on whether the humanities have become too activist or not activist enough on the most pressing topics of the day.

Levine made clear her position that scholars in the humanities should take more concrete action, particularly regarding climate change.

“For some years, as the climate crisis has been accelerating, I’ve been trying to figure out what would count as meaningful action … what can we do to stop the worst from happening?” said Levine. “Turns out, this is a very unfamiliar question in literary studies.”

Levine pointed to arguments from a wide array of thinkers who advise against scholars taking political action. Among them: philosophers like Michel Foucault, who disagreed with imagining a better world; environmental humanists like Levine’s Cornell colleague Karen Pinkus who warn against the “tyranny of the practical”; and literary critics like John Guillory who argue literature is valuable without needing to serve a social mission.

Even science fiction and fantasy writers who envision a utopian future, Levine noted, often avoid laying out the steps society can take to achieve those ends.

“If you or I want to figure out how to act to address the climate crisis, all of these thinkers would deliberately and on principle refuse to give us any kind of guide or map,” Levine said. “To my mind, the implications of this are profoundly disturbing.”

She put the inaction in historical context, blaming, in part, academia’s long tradition of separating scholarly knowledge from the “rough and tumble of the world.”

“As far back as Seneca and St. Jerome, the scholar is supposed to have a kind of austere separation or detachment from the world in order to generate real knowledge,” Levine said. “We still see the footprint of that idea in the university today, and particularly in the liberal arts college.”

McCarthy disagreed with Levine’s claim that humanities scholars oppose active engagement.

“We’re interested in interpretation,” McCarthy said. “For us, interpretation is necessarily open-ended. If it weren’t, not only would it be politically very dangerous, but it would cease to be recognized as humanistic inquiry to us. We’re interested in the plurality of the possibilities of interpretation of the aesthetic object or the open-endedness of something.”

Levine countered by asking why open-endedness must be humanists’ only value.

“What is the open-endedness for? How much can it do for us?” Levine said. “And what are the other things we could do with this set of literary and aesthetic objects?”

Levine believes inaction in the humanities is harmful and furthers the interests of the fossil-fuel industry, which has long used public relations campaigns on recycling and carbon footprints to place the burden of ending climate change on individual consumers, rather than on corporate polluters.

Humanities scholars can map a better way forward, Levine suggested, by applying the methods of “formalism” (an approach literary critics use to subject texts to close analysis of language and structure) to the social and political world.

For example, happy endings in hard-luck stories like “Oliver Twist” sketch out a vision of characters’ successful continuance in the future. Real-life happy endings can also sketch out an optimistic path forward, like how the success of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott propelled the continuance of the modern civil rights movement, Levine said.

Similarly, the literary trope of the “struggling team” seen often in films like “Coach Carter” provides models for organizing people into resilient changemaking collectives.

McCarthy pointed out that it’s possible for literary forms to inspire practical action without having to be pragmatic or solutions-oriented themselves. For example, the spiritual “We Shall Overcome” was a powerful part of the Civil Rights Movement despite having lyrics that focus on “one day” far in the future, McCarthy said.

“It’s infused with a tragic optimism born from the weight of a specific historical experience, and yes, those affordances brought collectives into being for practical action. But there isn’t an isomorphism between the form itself and the action that it inspired.”

Levine said in this instance she wouldn’t interpret the lyrics as a literary critic would, but instead think more broadly about the context of the form as a shared, repeated song.

“To me what’s important about the form of the spiritual is repetitiveness, that everybody knows it,” Levine said. “That they can join in the song is to bring bodies and voices together.”

Last week’s discussion, part of the English Debates series, was held with the goal of using the literary space to address important and controversial topics in today’s culture.

“We are trying to show those who claim that in the humanities you can’t have vigorous debates anymore because everyone already agrees about everything — to show that that’s not the case,” said Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, in his introductory remarks. “And to showcase the way in which English and other humanities disciplines can be brought to bear on some of the important issues of our time.”

Levine said she has learned from activist stories that the climate movement “doesn’t need more protagonists.” Making significant change like stopping the climate crisis depends on a group of “minor characters” working together to achieve one goal.

“That’s my idea of a happy ending,” Levine said.

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• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

Table of contents

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

• Working Title
• “Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
• Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
• Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
• Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
• Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
• Answer the research question in a concise way.
• Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

 Download Word template    Download Google Docs template

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, November 21). Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved April 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/dissertation-thesis-outline/

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