Thursday 23 August 2012

Guidance for Selecting Dissertation Topics


Universities and colleges in the United Kingdom typically require their graduating students to accomplish and submit a dissertation as a requirement for graduation and conferment of degrees. Choosing a topic is the initial phase of writing a UK dissertation. But it is also the phase where many students get stuck in, as they found it difficult to choose a topic.

But how should a student choose a topic for his UK dissertation? Here are some guide questions that students could ask themselves when choosing dissertation topics.
  • Am I really interested in taking up this dissertation topic? Writing a dissertation is a long process. Unlike essays which could be composed in a matter of hours, a dissertation does not only take days or weeks, but months to compose. The amount of interest that a student has for a dissertation topic usually reflects the amount of effort, time and resources he would be willing to spend just to accomplish success.
  • Is the topic relevant to the course and to the times? A dissertation is result of a methodical research in a treatment of a certain subject, which should be in line with course being undertaken. It would be weird, unusual and useless to select a dissertation topic that is not relevant to the course of the student. It would also be weird, unusual and useless to tackle a topic that has been discussed before in a prior dissertation.
  • Is the topic realistic enough? There are limitations to what a student can do. There is a limit to how much time he could allocate for the project. There is also a limit to the resources that he could spend for his UK dissertation. Thus, when selecting a dissertation topic, the student should determine if he could realize the goals of his project.
  • Could I obtain dissertation help with the selected topic? One of the keys of success in writing dissertations is the availability of academic help and advises. When selecting a topic, the student must make sure that he could get dissertation help from credible sources and field experts.