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Dissertations – how do you pick your topic?
Your dissertation or research project is a seminal piece of work that enables you to showcase and expand upon everything you have learned during your course. Picking this topic can be daunting, with many students wondering how to approach making this important choice.
Here we cover how to choose the right topic for you, with advice from our University of Bath online course leaders.
How do I choose my topic?
Choose something you are passionate about! You are going to be spending many hours doing a deep dive into your chosen topic, so it is advisable to identify something relevant to your course that interests you and you want to learn more about.
“Choosing a topic you are interested in is absolutely ideal” says Dr Michael Wright, course leader for the Computer Science online MSc. “Then you can work with your academic advisor to really tailor your topic and narrow it down and make it MSc worthy.”
As well as being based on interests, many students also choose to focus on a topic that will push them forward within their chosen industry or career.
It is crucial to look at where your skillsets are and play to your strengths – thinking critically about what you are good at enables you to choose an area of study that will showcase your abilities. Alternatively, you may wish to focus on an area you would like to improve, by picking a topic or project that will enable you to expand your knowledge and hone your skills in a lesser explored area.
What sorts of topics can I choose?
Depending on your chosen course, your dissertation can take different forms.
In the Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation online MSc the course finishes with an independent research project, rather than a dissertation. Students develop a business idea into a viable business model, applying the knowledge and research techniques learnt throughout the course. Projects fall into one of four different types of ventures; independent, corporate, family or social.
“Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation is about creating new things” says course lecturer Professor Dimo Dimov.
“How do we create something from scratch? This is different from managing something that already exists, it’s a different mindset.
“For your research project you may want to focus on your own start up, or work on a something within your own organisation – perhaps they are looking to explore a new venture or launch a new product. Alternatively, you may choose to focus on a family business, exploring how the business can transition and evolve going forward”.
Rather than being solely commercial, Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation students can choose a research project within the social and environmental space, for example encouraging people to use less plastic. “We would call this a social sustainable entrepreneurial project” says Professor Dimov.
Applied Economics (Banking and Financial Markets) online MSc has a 12,000-15,000 word research project at the end of the course.
“You can choose to study the relationship between economic growth and, for example, inflation, economic development or the impact of house pricing” said course leader Dr Simona Montagnana.
“As part of the course you have the opportunity to study economic performance globally, so you can choose to study your own country or do a cross section analysis”.
Dr Montagnana suggests that your dissertation can be based on a wider context, like your country’s economics or even the global picture, as well as being based on a more specific context, for example your current role or industry.
Dissertation preparation units
The University of Bath Computer Science online MSc includes research project preparation unit as part of the course to prepare students for making their topic choice.
“The research project preparation unit takes you through the research in computer science and helps you to define a topic that you want to pursue for your dissertation” explains Dr Wright. “The dissertation is at a masters level, where you undertake user studies and system development to tackle a novel problem and submit it as a piece of work”.
“Within the department there are four main research groups; human computer interaction, AI, visual computing and foundations of computation. This covers a significant breadth of computer science research so students have a lot of freedom in choosing the topic”.
Examples of previous dissertations include the use of artificial intelligence, for example using mathematical models to predict a persons’ propensity towards depression based on their mobile phone usage, user studies into gestural interaction which look at the best type of gesture for different situations and research into other collaborative systems.
How do I know if my topic is suitable?
Whatever your chosen course, the University of Bath will help you select the best topic to translate your passion into academic success. Your dissertation is a chance to show your ability to work independently and put all you have learnt into practice. Although you have the freedom to choose your own subject matter, it is important that the topic is addressing a unique area of original thought. To help you to create a project of MSc standards, you will be assigned a tutor who will guide you through the whole process. They will work with you from choosing your topic through to submitting your work. Your tutor will advise if the topic is too broad, or not detailed enough, or too similar to what has been covered before.
“We will support you as best we can to help you succeed” says Dr Wright. “Our objective is to transfer to you the passion we have for the topics we cover.”
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Writing your dissertation - choosing your topic
Posted in: dissertations
One of the biggest challenges when getting started on your dissertation can be choosing a suitable topic. If you're lucky, you may have a clear idea of what you wish to write about. But often, it's a lot more complicated than that and your search may seem daunting and overwhelming.
This brief guide will help you find your way through the forest and find a suitable topic for your dissertation.
Choosing a topic
- Think carefully about your own interests. What topics during your studies have you found most interesting? Is there a particular area that is linked directly to future career aspirations? Is there a topic you find straightforward and confident about? Is there an area you wish to explore in more depth?
- Talk to your classmates. Find out what topics they're investigating and considering. Does this spark your interest? Discuss your ideas and choices with them, and find out what they think. Have they encountered any problems? Their questions and feedback may help you decide if your choice is any good, or help you sharpen your focus.
- Check out past dissertations in the library (available online). Look at titles of research papers in your subject and read the abstracts of those you find most interesting. This may springboard ideas of where you could take your research.
- Look for controversies and/or topics that you've been sceptical about. Is there something in your course that has sparked debate and argument? It's often the case that controversial issues generate significant amounts of research, and so such topics are ripe for investigation with plenty of supporting evidence.
- Create a shortlist and generate some provisional research questions. These questions can range from simple definition and explanations to more complex critical and evaluative types. Do some initial digging and you may find that one or two of these questions become the actual research questions(s) you use for your dissertation.
- Choose a topic with sufficient, relevant and up-to-date resources. It's vital that you're able to fully support your research with evidence - academic papers, data and stats, studies, theories, arguments, positions, experimental development etc. If you find it difficult to locate related and relevant sources, then you may be heading down a dead end and you should consider another topic.
I hope this short guide has helped you focus your thoughts and ideas, and kickstarts your writing.
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Dataset for "Systematic Design and Characterisation of Photoelectrodes for Light-Driven Water Splitting", a PhD Thesis
- Thom Harris-Lee (Creator)
- Department of Chemistry
- Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies (CSCT)
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- [email protected]
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Undergraduate dissertations and project reports. Undergraduate dissertations and project reports are not provided by the Library in either online or printed format. Masters dissertations. A sample of dissertations submitted for taught Masters degree courses are kept for five years and made available online to members of the University of Bath only.
The University's Library has a number of resources which you might find useful as a doctoral student, including a guide to using the Library, information on study areas and bookable work rooms, good practice for attracting citations, a guide to citing references and information on submitting your thesis. Using Pure and the University of Bath ...
Author: Gunawardena, H., 1 Sept 2010. Supervisor: Stevens, C. (Supervisor) & McHugh, N. (Supervisor) Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD. File. A combined clinical and experimental study to investigate a potential model for improved osseointegration in sickle cell bone disease patients with avascular necrosis.
Writing your dissertation - creating your 'working title'. Writing your dissertation - designing an effective structure. Writing your dissertation - structure and sections. Writing your dissertation 1 - sections and contents page. Writing your dissertation 2 - literature review checklist. Writing an abstract - a six point checklist.
Limitations of the Dominant Definition in International Development. Annalena Bruse-Smith, 2019. Female Genital Mutilation and its Link With Sexual and Reproductive Health and Female Empowerment in Mtwara, Tanzania. Olubunmi Adebayo-Oke, 2019. My experience as Communications Intern for the Centre for Development Studies, and a critical analysis ...
Absolute stability results for infinite-dimensional discrete-time systems with applications to sampled-data integral control Author: Coughlan, J. J., 2007 Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › PhD
The University of Bath Computer Science online MSc includes research project preparation unit as part of the course to prepare students for making their topic choice. ... "The dissertation is at a masters level, where you undertake user studies and system development to tackle a novel problem and submit it as a piece of work".
The University of Bath Library offers a range of useful resources on conducting your research and writing up your dissertation. Find further literature on a topic by using resources selected by professional library staff and access the referencing guide to avoid plagiarism in your dissertation. 9. Take care of yourself
A database for drug research and development, disease treatment and decision. making, based on scientifically sound data. It brings together essential information on drugs in commercial development, key clinical trials, deals, safety profiles, and patents. All data on the platform is reviewed, assessed and summarised by a team of scientists.
Such building frameworks are collectively referred to in this thesis as zero climate change (ZeroCC) frameworks. Environmental building performance has traditionally been defined in terms of operational energy demand and/or associated carbon emissions, usually measured with reference to a building's floor area.
Depositing your thesis with the Library. We are developing some detailed guidance on preparing and submitting your electronic thesis to the University of Bath's research repository, Pure. Watch this space! In the meantime, guidance is available on the web at: Deposit your thesis with the library. In addition, If you are writing an 'alternative ...
University of Bath: dissertations and theses. Other institutions: theses and dissertations. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window. PQDT Global is the world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses.
Recent developments in analytical chemistry. You can search by analyte, matrix or technique. Extensive index for physics, engineering and computing literature covering journals, conference proceedings, reports and dissertations from 1898 onwards. Recent developments in natural products chemistry.
4. Under each sub-heading, list the main content, creating sub-sub-headings if needed. You need to ensure that all the content you want to include has been allocated a place. 5. As you build your structure, you can slot in ideas, references, quotes, clarifications, and conclusions as they occur to you, to make sure they are not lost in the mix. 6.
A research proposal will help you: focus / distil your ideas and research so far. address suggestions and recommendations from your supervisor. think in detail about what you are going to do. identify and define your research problem. produce possible research questions. start planning the structure of your dissertation.
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Do some initial digging and you may find that one or two of these questions become the actual research questions (s) you use for your dissertation. Choose a topic with sufficient, relevant and up-to-date resources. It's vital that you're able to fully support your research with evidence - academic papers, data and stats, studies, theories ...
University of Bath: Contact. [email protected]; DOI. 10.15125/BATH-01391. Cite this. DataSetCite Harris-Lee, T. R. (Creator) (22 Apr 2024). Dataset for "Systematic Design and Characterisation of Photoelectrodes for Light-Driven Water Splitting", a PhD Thesis. University of Bath.
The University of Florida Graduate School's Thesis & Dissertation team helps you format and submit your master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.. As you work on that crowning achievement of your graduate education experience, our Thesis & Dissertation team can inform you about policy and procedure, lead you to helpful resources, and offer sage advice so that you complete and submit your ...