Thesis is often required for completion
of Bachelors and Masters degree. Selecting a topic for thesis seems challenging
for every one. Many students go through this bewildered stage once in their
study period. Every graduate accept this fact that choosing a topic for thesis
is really difficult and selecting a topic is considered thesis half done.
I have met some people, who weren’t
satisfied to the topics they selected whereas some rejoiced their thesis they
undertook and used it as base of their career as well. So, based on professional
experience and the people’s experience, I would like to share some tips for
selecting a topic. You all might have heard about the criteria like the
research question should be novel, feasible, and blah blah. However I would
like to focus on some major features, then you need to look for all those
criteria.
1. Career Goals: While selecting a
course for you, you must have some career goals in the background of your mind.
You must have it somewhere; some might be open about it; some might keep it
silent. If you don’t have it, it is certainly better to have one because you
will work and follow the career path to reach your career goal. If you have
that career goal in your mind, It will be better to select such research topics
related to your career goal. If I want to work as employee of UNFPA at some
point, it is better to select the related topics like population control
measures such as family planning measures, fertility. This will certainly
assist you in increasing your credibility and improving CV for your future
career goal.
2. Interest: Thesis cost your bulk of
time. You search numerous relevant literatures; you delve into its details. You
need to invest your time, concentration, mind, thoughts, labour, and money on
it so it’s very important to have interest on that topic or the subject and the
population you are studying. You should have love for that topic. Your heart
should be there, so you will enjoy, when you work on it. If you are detached
from the subject of study and if you don’t have passion for it, it will become
burden to you. You might learn the basics but you wouldn’t enjoy it and wouldn’t
get the best of it.
Nevertheless, the very interested
topic might be uninteresting at some point and some starts some topic without
any interests but later on develop interest as they work on it. It remains
highly subjective and might fluctuate but you also need determination to make
you interested all the time.
3. Research Methods: Some of you might
be interested to study such topics, which is fit for particular methods. You
might be interested to do randomized clinical trial or case control study or
cohort study. You could be interested to learn such methods rather than
particular issue. You must keep this into your thought as well.
4. Scope: sometimes its better to flow
to the direction, where the air is flowing. You will easily catch something on
the way. You can also choose the specific topic, which has great scope, which
has many projects around. For example, Non-communicable diseases are rising in
epidemic fashion and have become issue of global importance in both developing and
developed countries; similarly, emerging infectious diseases, population health
also have great scope. In some area, though the scope is higher, it can be
competitive somehow. All of these things should be kept in the mind.
A thesis mightn’t decide your future
and your career path, but will certainly be a pillar in forming your career.
You can use this as your strength and your experience. There are people, who
change their area of specialization; anyone is free to do it. However, you can
make thesis your ladder for future so need to focus on your future prospects
too. Based on above mentioned factors, you can select an area of interest and
while formulating research question; you need to look for other criteria such
as FINER. The research question should be feasible in terms of sample size,
time and money, technical expertise, Interesting to the scientific community,
Novel: should provide the results that confirms, refutes or extends previous
findings, Ethical: must adhere to the principle of ethics, Relevant to the
scientific community, future research, current practice and policies.
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